then saw Susan, “Hey Auntie, what are you doing here?… Why are you crying?”

Susan opened her arms up and Rosie bounded right into them.

“Oh, no reason. I’m feeling a lot better now,” she replied, smiling.

Rosie smiled back, “Well, maybe you can help us look for Jenna then?”

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

A chubby dog took her long ear off the of the Manson’s door and quickly took to the streets. She spied a familiar looking dog and rushed too her, lifting one of her ears that was long just like hers. She whispered to her, and the other dog’s eyes widened. Her jaw dropped and she looked down.

“Are you absolutely sure?”

Dipsy nodded her head. “Heard it all myself on the way back to the general store.”

Sylvia shook hers, “This year’s sure turned out great so far. I’m sure no one will like this, but I can’t deny them their right to know.”

“Looks like there’ll be three new additions to the Missing Dogs Board… But I gotta go, my stomach’s talking to me, and I’ve never let it down yet.”

And with that, Dipsy took off down the street as Sylvia went to find Dixie.

“I just wonder what Balto’ll say about this. Or Doc for that matter.”

Just then she saw a purple powder-puff flaunting down the street.

“Hey Dixie! Have I got news for you!” she called.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Hal looked out towards the frozen ocean as they ran beside it. He saw the first rays of sun and frowned.

“Sun’s already coming up! Almost Noon!” he exclaimed.

“I know that! But it’s a huge area between White Mountain and Nome. Considering that we haven’t been back there in a good long time, I’m glad we’ve made it this far in this time,” Burt yelled back.

Star shifted uneasily on the sled and looked out at the surface of the frozen ocean, now realizing how beautiful it looked. Well, after being locked in a house for a long time, anything seemed beautiful now. There was something on his mind though, and he was really curious to find out now. He saw Lilith quickly glancing at him once or twice over her shoulder, and decided to ask her.

“Hey, um.. Who exactly are we running from anyways?”

Her breathing came out heavily as she tried to do two things at once, “Well… I had to run with them before… and I can tell you that… they’re very ruthless and merciless… ones that you don’t want to see again in your life.”

“But you should just stand up to them, right?”

“Easy now. Curiosity killed that cat. Or, dog in this situation. Asking too many questions right now would not be the wisest of decisions,” Burt called back warily.

Hal heard Star gulp from behind him and grinned cheerfully.

“Do not worry Ally, we are well on our way to safety!” he snickered.

Star stared silently at Hal as his paws thundered against the tundra and the sun began to rapidly ascend. Had he just said… Ally?

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

A red and white husky rose his head from his paws. He stared out from his resting place and saw a team of three dogs with another dog on top of a sled race past him at breakneck speed.

“Wonder what their hurry is,” he muttered to himself quietly.

Douglas stood up, stretching and yawning as bones cracked. He padded off the main street and into an alley. He saw a trashcan with no lid on it and licked his chops hungrily. He hadn’t eaten in a day or so, so it was a ‘take it or leave’ it situation. He pushed against the can and it tipped over, landing with a soft thud into the snow. Douglas immediately rushed to the open end and started to dig through it. He pulled out a half-eaten piece of goose. He chomped down on it, ripping a piece off as he continued to dig through the can. As he pulled back out, a small, square cloth hung lazily in his grasp. It was a bright pink. He suddenly got an idea. Douglas laid the cloth so it looked like a diamond from his angle. He then dragged the farthest right corner to the center, and then the left. He wove one end under the other, put his paw in the center, and repeated this again until it formed a small knot. He smiled and slipped this makeshift bandana over his neck and admired it proudly.

“Always thinking of you,” he whispered.

The husky grabbed up his piece of goose and sauntered farther into the depths of the alley. He stopped when he reached a section of the alley that had a roof of sorts over it, and he laid down. As he ate his meal peacefully, he glanced to his left and saw a pile of soot. He stuck his paw into the black powdery mess and when he pulled his paw back out, it came out just as black. Douglas chuckled softly while the sun climbed up to the mid-section of the sky.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

“Did you hear?”

“I heard alright. Three more gone missing in the last two days. What’s next?… Who‘s next?”

These were the common conversation starters around Nome with the dogs. Everyone was wandering around, trying to tell anyone that would listen. If they didn’t have a reason to be afraid before, now they definitely had one, or three for that matter. Even the dogs that tended to stay from the rumor mill found themselves getting sucked into the twisting tales. Some claimed they had actually seen one of the dogs being aggressively dragged out of his home by rabid dogs. Others swore that there was some kind of conspiracy, the main theory being spread was that Doc was trying to hide or get revenge on those dogs who were speaking out against him. But no one could really prove the validity of these claims, and just fell victim to these crafty story weavers. And soon, they started to put faces on these characters, making their tales seem that more believable. And this was a win-win situation. They could slip in whichever dog they didn’t particularly like and paint them up as the culprit, even though they gave them some of the most outrageous reasons for doing something so wicked. 

And sometimes they gave no reasons of any sort. They gave claims of evidence that were whipped out of thing air, yet the majority ate it like they were starving for this news. What was worse was when a dog would hear one of these stories made to blame one of their own friends, and they would do nothing to stand up for him or her, and would actually go behind their backs and spread on the tale instead of confronting their friend. Yet, if they were confronted by said friend, they would put on a façade to make it seem like they really believed them, and as soon as this friend finished confiding in them and turned their back, they would spread what had just been said, but in a much more menacing light.

Doc watched this all unfold from the sanctity of his window seat and shook his head dejectedly. He saw how the dogs raced to and fro, frantically whispering in each other’s ears before rushing away quickly. This was his exact fear, and now it was becoming a reality. He sat in silence as he saw an occasional dog glance at his home with a sad, disappointed, or angry expression upon their face. He had noticed that a dog had passed his home more than any other. It was the same dog from before that had accused him of hiding the information so he could intentionally cause panic, only to save the day. He knew deep down that he had intended nothing of the sort, or even thought of doing something like that, but he also knew that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. Everyone was letting their emotions run wild, and so he didn’t even have the slightest hope of proving his innocence. And now he even felt like he was under house arrest with all the eyes that sent negative signals. But all he had to do was wait. Eventually this whole thing would either implode, or explode, and they’d need his help and guidance once more.

“Hey old boy, you alright there?”

Doc lifted his ears and turned away from the window and saw his owner ease up from a heavy armchair. His owner waddled over to him and patted him on the head, and Doc laid down, enjoying the attention. Well, positive attention. Doc’s owner looked out the window in time to see another dog shoot a glare towards them.

“Did you have a falling out with them dogs?”

Doc just groaned quietly and rolled onto his back, making his master scratch his belly. He was hoping to avoid bringing that up while being petted, but oh well.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then,” said his owner, “you only want a tummy rub when you’re really upset.”

Too bad he couldn’t really know how upset Doc felt. His reputation would never be fixed to the state it was before this whole mess, and he questioned how many dogs would actually trust him after this ordeal. Doc rolled again and stood up before walking away from his owner.

“Well… Good luck!” his owner called after him.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

By the time the three dog sled team arrived in Nome, the sun had already set far beyond the horizon, and the full moon was already making its appearance. Some of the clouds had fallen from the sky, leaving a mist that distorted the view of the town.

“Alright Boys and Girls, here we are in Nome!” Burt shouted proudly before looking back at Lilith, “So Sister, where did you say our brother’s crashing place was located?”

Lilith bit her lip as she had tried to remember. It seemed like her whole stay had been blurred together, but she pointed down the lane towards the