infect the straps as well.  It was a struggle not to cry.

“Be strong, Kodan,” said Papa.  “You as well, my daughter.”

I was upset, and at the end of my patience.  “You said you had a plan to help,” I pleaded, turning on my father.  “For heaven’s sake, what is it?!”

He smiled.  “Is this what will make you happy?”

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Leaving on a dangerous journey with a dog who is not your mate to a place you have never seen, knowing that neither one of you might ever live to return.  Is this what you truly want?”

“I do.”

He turned to Kodan.  “Am I to understand that it is your desire to wed my daughter when and if you return?”

Kodan nodded.

“Would you do it now if you could?”

“Absolutely.”  There was no wavering in Kodan’s voice, even as sick as he was.

Papa turned to me again.  “Is this what you want?” he repeated.

I nodded.  “Over life itself,” I answered.

He smiled.  “Aniu, you had better put one of those harnesses on.”

“What?” I asked, completely thrown.

“If you desire matrimony, you shall have it.  As alpha of the Bear Rock Pack, in the presence of all here, I unite the two of you as one forevermore under one condition: that you remain chaste until you are safely in Nome and well again.  Whether or not you choose to return is your decision.”

I smiled.  “I will, Father,” I half-cried, calling him Father for the first time.

Kodan smiled too.  “Hey, I’m not gonna complain.”

I had never been happier as my brother helped me put on one of the harnesses, right behind Kodan’s.  “Congratulations, sis,” he said.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little surprised.  Khoros had been one of those who objected to me and Kodan being together.  “You’re not bothered?”

He shook his head.  “Nah.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately, and I realized that Kodan is a pretty nice guy.  I guess if somebody was going to get you, it might as well be him.”

“Thanks,” grinned Kodan.  “I’ll remember you said that when we get back.”

Just then one of our scouts ran up to us.  “Sequoia!” he called.  “The sled approaches!”

Father nodded.  “Let’s go.”  The wolves all gathered with him and they vanished into the woods.  As happy as I was, I couldn’t help but shiver.  I was leaving everything I had ever known, all for one dog.

Kodan smiled at me.  “It’s all right, sweetheart.  Now just lie down and try to look like you haven’t had any food or water in days.”

As I did so, I heard the sound of dogs barking and a hissing sound which I guessed to be the sled as it rushed across the snow.  A moment later, the dogsled came into view.

“Whoa!” called the man at the back of the sled.  The dogs stopped running, and the sled pulled to a stop.  “Well, well,” he said, wiping his forehead.  “And what happened to you?”

Fortunately for us, the musher- that’s what Kodan called him- bought our act.  He wondered several times how we got to be out in the middle of nowhere with no sign of any other dogs, but apparently he was wise enough to know when to dwell on what he couldn’t understand and when to act on what he could.  Kodan and I found ourselves wrapped in furs and riding the sled.  The musher seemed to like us, and once the dogs knew that I wasn’t actually sick, they had the good sense to leave us alone.  The only thing bothering us on our journey was that Kodan continued to get sicker and sicker.

Part 12: Kodan 

I wish I could say our “honeymoon” was the best trip of my life.  But between Aniu worrying about my sickness and me worrying about getting Aniu sick, it wasn’t exactly what I had hoped it would be.   The clogged nose, coughing, and fever didn’t help much either.

When we were about three days away from Nome, I decided that I wanted to take one more walk with Aniu.  With my symptoms flaring up the way they were, I wasn’t sure if even a vet would do me any good now.  “Honey,” I suggested when the pack stopped for the night, “what do you say we take a stroll?”

She shook her head.  “You need to save your strength.”

I pushed myself to my feet.  “Ah, I’ve got the energy for a quick walk.  Maybe the cold air will bring my fever down."

She looked doubtful.

“Listen, just one more walk as wolves before we’re both stuck living like dogs for a while, huh?” I pleaded.

“Well, alright,” she agreed.

We headed off into the woods, in the direction of Nome.  I knew we wouldn’t get there, not on our own and not in one night, but it felt good to be heading in that direction.  Suddenly my ears pricked up as I heard a distant sound.  “Hel…”

“Aniu, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

I took a step forward, and then I stopped and listened.  This time the sound was a little clearer.  “Help…” it pleaded.

“Someone needs us,” I whispered.  We kept going, and soon I somehow managed to pick up a scent, even with my nose as clogged as it was.  It seemed familiar somehow.  “No, it couldn’t be,” I uttered.

“What?” asked Aniu.

I looked at her, and I know I must have looked a little spooked.  “Do you believe in ghosts?” I asked.

She shook her head.  “No, why?”

I looked in the direction of the smell, sniffed again to be sure I wasn’t imagining things, then whispered, “There’s a dog out there, and it smells just like… Blizzard.”

Aniu gasped.  “But he’s dead!  I helped you bury him!”

“I know.”  We were both shaking, and it wasn’t the cold.

“Perhaps we should go back,” suggested Aniu.  I suspect she was thinking that this shock might be too much for me.

“No,” I said firmly.  “I have to know what’s making that smell.”

We pressed on through the snowy woods as the smell grew stronger.  Strangely the calls did not seem to grow any louder, even though we were both certain we were heading directly toward them.

Finally I saw it ahead of us: a white dog lying half-buried in the snow.  “Blizzard!” I cried, running forward.  Aniu hurried after me, and we skidded to a stop at the dog’s inert form.

“But how…?” asked Aniu before I stopped her.

“It isn’t Blizzard,” I told her.  “It’s Snowflake, one of his grown-up daughters.”

Snowflake lifted her head.  “Uncle Kodan?” she asked, blinking at me through eyes that hardly seemed willing to open.

“’Uncle?’” asked Aniu in confusion.  “You never told me Blizzard was your brother.”

“He wasn’t, really,” I explained.  “His kids just call me that.”

Snowflake searched with her eyes.  “Where’s Dad?” she asked.

I started to cry.  It was bad enough thinking for a minute that I might have a chance to see my friend again, even if it would have meant facing his ghost, only to find his daughter near the same death he had died.  But having to tell her what had happened to him was almost too much.  “He’s dead, Snowflake,” I told her.  “Our whole team froze.  I’m the only one left.  He died saving me.”

Snowflake looked disappointed.  “Guess I was wrong,” she whispered.  “You’d been gone for so long, but I didn’t stop hoping.  I came out all this way to try and find him.”

“I’m sorry,” I sobbed.

“Don’t be.”  She took a deep breath.  “At least I know how he went.  It was the way he would’ve wanted to go, making his death count.”  She turned her head to look at Aniu.  “So who’s your friend?”

“Oh,” I said, wiping my eyes with a paw.  “This is my wife, Aniu.  She saved me once your dad had done all he could.”

Snowflake smiled at Aniu.  “Pleased to meet you,” she whispered.

Aniu nodded.  “And you as well.”  She started to push her nose under Snowflake, trying to pry her out of the snow.  “Come.  We must get you somewhere warm.”

She shook her head.  “Nah, I’m too far gone.  I won’t make it.”

“Oh yes you will,” I growled, pushing myself under her.  “You’re better off than I was, and I’m just fine.  A little under the weather, maybe, but just fine.”

Aniu tried to push me aside.  “Kodan, you are ill.  Perhaps I should…”

“No,” I growled, standing my ground.  “I have to do this, sweetheart.  Blizzard died because of me.  I am not going to pay him back by letting his daughter freeze to death too!”  With a determined effort, I shoved my way under Snowflake and lifted her front half off the ground.

Aniu shoved her way in next to me, lifting Snowflake’s back legs.  “Then let me help you.”

I nodded, and together we returned to camp.  Aniu howled, waking the other dogs and the musher.  “Well slap me with blubber and call me a walrus,” breathed the musher when he saw us with another dying dog on our backs.  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two weren’t even dogs.”

I winked at Aniu just before I collapsed.

Part 13: Aniu 

Kodan had saved Snowflake’s life, but the effort left him badly drained.  He drifted in and out of consciousness for days.  When at last we got him to the animal doctor- or what humans call a “veterinarian”- there was some talk of “putting him to sleep.”  Not understanding the phrase, I asked one of the sled dogs what it meant.

“Putting him to sleep, huh?” asked the dog in a tone of voice that was hard to interpret.  “That doesn’t sound good.”

“What does it mean?” I inquired.

“Basically, they’re planning to end his pain.”

The idea itself sounded good, since I did not want my beloved to suffer.  But somehow the dog’s tone told me that it was not quite how it sounded.  “How would they do this?” I asked.

“Long story short, they’d do it by finishing what the disease and the blizzard started.”

I gasped.  They couldn’t kill