Jenna. And to think, it was her dogs first and only pup.”

            “Well, that aside.” started Nancy. “We better prepare for her arrival. We don’t want to be caught off guard when she shows up.”

            They quickly went upstairs to the guest bedroom. This guest room was being used for storage and need to be cleared out. While they cleaned up the room their husky, Jenna, silently slipped out the doggie-door. The red and white husky traveled from her abode to well out of town. She came upon and old, abandoned fishing boat that had been washed up onto the shore. Of course it was not abandoned as some thought. When she was twenty feet away from the boat she was suddenly attacked by a flying furball.

            “Gotcha momma.” the furball yelled excitedly.

            “Ahhh! What’ll I do now? It’s a vicious monster.” Jenna screamed, obviously playing along. “Now it’s my turn to get you Alue!”

            The large pup ran ahead and wagged her tail at her mother. “Come and get me!” she yelled again.

            Jenna decided to just play along with her daughter Alue. Jenna happily ran and jumped around with her pup which looked very different from herself. Her pup had a coat of dark brown with a stripe of tan running underneath. Alue was about seven weeks old and looked very wolf-like. Balto, the resident of this run down ship, came up to the husky.

“Hi Jenna.” he cheerfully greeted. “What brings you here?”

“She wanted to play with me that’s what.” interrupted Alue.

Balto looked like his daughter except wasn’t quite as wolf-like.

“Well actually-” Jenna began, “I just wanted to tell you that my parents are coming for a visit.”

“Well that’s great.” Balto smiled before he was pounced on by Alue. “Oh I see that someone’s feisty… Hey Boris, wanna help me out?” he asked as the goose came off from the ship.

“Uncle Boris!” cheered Alue.

Boris was instantly attacked. The four continued chatting and playing until the day grew to late sunset. A dog-like figure watched them from atop a hill. The dog slunk off the hill and headed for Nome. He may not have been welcomed but he was going to find any information that he could use for his plot.

The setting sun cast shadows through the town that were perfect to hide in. The dog quickly hid behind a barrel by the general store as two dogs walked by. One was small with bright, purplish fur and the other was bigger with long ears and blonde fur.

“Hey Dixie, did you hear the news?” asked the blonde dog which then stopped walking.

“What news Sylvia?” Dixie asked back ,stopping along with her.

“Well.” Sylvia started. “I heard that a certain rich person is coming to town. And her name is Susan Whitley.”

“Well what does she have to do with us?” Dixie asked again.

“Oh nothing with us. But with Jenna.” Sylvia stated. Dixie showed a look of confusion. Sylvia sighed and shook her head. “In other words, her parents are coming to visit her here.”

“Ahhh. Why didn’t ya say that first?”

            “Because I thought you had enough of a memory to remember the last time they came.”

            “Well I’m sorry that I can’t be as intruded as you.”

            Sylvia shook her head. “Anyways, I also heard that-” The sound of a falling tin can could be heard before she could finish. “….We should probably be getting back to our homes, now.” she finished quickly. “Don’t know who could be out.”

            As soon as the two dogs walked away the dog grinned widely. “Perfect.” he murmured. ‘Although I should’ve watched out for the stupid can. I could have gotten more information. But I got what I needed.’ he thought.

            He swiftly ran from town, already thinking of the many possibilities for his plan.

Chapter Three:

            The next morning a steaming locomotive hissed into the station in the town of Nenana. There was a gently breeze as snow fell from the clouds above. The conductor folded down the steps so that the passengers could exit the train. Many of the passengers headed directly to the baggage car to collect their possessions that they had brought with them. Susan, on the other hand, headed out of the station and started to take a quick look about the town, with her two dogs, Ritchie and Duchess, following her.

“My-my, things sure have changed here… Like they always do.” sighed Susan.

            She walked down a lane with different shops and stores following the path. She set her sled and bags down on the ground and went into one store that was labeled, in gold letters, “Butcher’s Shop”. She opened the door and a little bell above jingled. Susan walked up to a counter in the back of the shop. She saw a tall, skinny, man with his back turned towards her, behind the counter. He wore a green suit with a white apron and a stout white cap.

            “Excuse me.” she spoke up.

            “Yes?” asked the man as he turned around. “How can I help you miss?” He looked down at her dogs. “Um. I’m sorry. But we don’t allow animals here.”

            “Oh don’t worry. We’ll be out of here quick as a jack rabbit,” she insisted, “just as soon as I can buy some things.”

            “Okay then.” said the butcher, not at all happy about having dogs in his shop. “Well let’s get it over with then.”

            “Righty-o. I would prefer six pounds of jerky and maybe, mmm, three and a half pounds of beef please.” Susan ordered.

            The man went into back and returned minutes later. He brought out two different packages. One for the jerky and the other for the beef.

            “That’ll be sixteen cents please.”

            Susan opened up her purse. “Well that’s a bargain.” she said while she handed a dollar bill to the butcher. The butcher took the bill and put it in the cash register. He then gathered some coins to make her change. Susan happily took her change and exited the shop.

            “Okay, Ritchie, Duchess, let’s get going. Being late isn’t an option.”

             She put the meat in one of the bags and tossed it back on the sled. Ritchie and Duchess were hooked up to the sled and they were off.

            They traveled through the lush pine forests and icy plains for days, only taking short breaks to rest, but on the third night they decided to rest the whole night and leave in the morning. They decided to stop in a clearing in one of the many forests. It was way past sunset and Susan was cooking some of the beef she had bought on a skillet she had brought with her. She had built a roaring fire using some of the twigs, needles, and branches she had found in the forest and matches from one of her two bags. Although the branches had been wet, she found a way to dry them off. Her heavy, blue coat with white fluff kept her warm, but the fire helped immensely.

            Susan smiled to the fire. “I’ll let that beef cook while I set up camp.”

            She trotted over to her sled where Duchess and Ritchie were sleeping. She went to bend down to grab her folded up tent when she heard a noise behind her. It sounded like the rustling of bushes. She turned to see a little puppy staring at her.

            “Oooh. Aren’t you a cutie.” she cooed. “You must be hungry.”

            Susan opened up her bag that had her supplies and checked her meat. While she was doing that, Duchess had woken up to see the pup. She sniffed the air.

“Wolf.” she said quietly and then she nudged Ritchie.

            Ritchie didn’t wake up and started mumbling. “But Grandma Bob scares me. And so does her seafood surprise.”

            Duchess was just about to speak, “… Never mind.”

            She then flicked some snow in his face. He jumped up and shook off the snow.

            “What was that for!?”

            “Well. You were having such a wonderful dream about Grandma Bob that I woke you up the best way I thought possible.” Duchess simply replied. “And on another note, we have a slight problem.” she said pointing to the pup. “I don’t think that it is going to attract friendly company.”

            “Then we should get it out of here, and