Toby Part Three:

 Doom or Destiny

Toby crouched at the starting line as the murmurs of the crowd died down and gave way to total silence. On either side of him there were other dogs, all racing for a place on the team.

The starter’s pistol fired, and Toby was off faster than the bullet fired from it (okay, so it was a blank, but Toby wasn’t in the mood to be picky). He passed Pete, laughing as he heard his half-brother’s outraged shouts behind him. Then he passed Ralph, Dusty, Kirby, and Kodi. Finally it was just him and Balto, neck and neck, racing for the finish line. At the last moment Toby inched ahead and won the race! The crowd gathered around him as he found himself lifted into the air. “Ladies and gentlemen,” announced the musher, “The new lead dog for the mail team, Toby!”

The crowd cheered. Dogs barked, people clapped, and hats were thrown into the air like confetti at a parade. Toby was set down as dogs ran up to congratulate him.

“Toby, you did it!” barked Luna.

“My son, the lead dog,” said Terry.

“Good job, son,” Rex added.

Kodi and the other dogs trotted up. “Nice work, Toby,” Kodi congratulated him.

“You did a good job,” agreed Balto. “You truly are an amazing runner.”

Then, wonder of wonders, Pete came up and said, “Toby, I was wrong about you. You don’t have to be a purebred to be somebody.”

‘Finally, an end to Pete’s teasing about being a mutt,’ thought Toby.

“Toby! Toby! Toby!” chanted the crowd.

“TOBY!” yelled an impatient voice. It was Alicia, Terry’s owner. “Come on, Toby, you’re gonna miss the race!”

Awakened from his sleep, Toby looked around in a daze. ‘Miss the race? But I won!’ With a start, he realized it had all been a dream. ‘Oh, shoot!’ he thought. ‘I gotta move!’ He dashed past Terry, who was still eating breakfast, with a quick, “Hi, mom,” and was out the pet flap before she could even look up.

Terry ran after him and stuck her head out the door. “Toby, you get back here and eat your breakfast!”

Frustrated, Toby turned and hollered back, “I can’t mom! Kodi said never to run on a full stomach. I might get cramps!”

“The race isn’t for another forty-five minutes! What’s your hurry?”

“Kodi says a good mail dog always tries to be where he’s going on time, if not sooner. Besides, it takes an hour to digest a meal and I’ll need to catch my breath before the race!”

“Tobias, you get back here right now!”

“Sorry, mom! See ya later!” And Toby disappeared.

Toby arrived at the racetrack panting briskly. Nobody else was there, but the banner was already up marking the start/finish line. The dogs would race all the way around the block and back to that spot. He scanned the track for any trouble spots. There was a slippery part that would go unnoticed to someone who didn’t know what to look for, but luckily Toby did. For the past month Kodi had been teaching him everything there was to know about dogsled racing. Toby knew how to spot a slick patch, what to do to avoid falling over when he hit it, and how to pace himself so he wouldn’t wear out on a long run. Kodi had taught him all the tricks.

“Hey, hotshot,” came a voice behind him, startling Toby so that he jumped three feet in the air. He looked to see Luna standing behind him, giggling. “Maybe I should do that at the starting line to give you a boost,” she teased.

“Very funny,” grumbled Toby, struggling not to laugh. After a brief effort he gave in and let out a chuckle. “How’s it going?”

“Great, thanks.” She sat beside him and scanned the track. “Well, today’s the day,” she said.

Toby nodded. “That icy patch looks like trouble, but it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Luna squinted. “What icy patch?”

“Right there, where the snow is just a little bit shinier.”

Luna studied the snow, then shook her head in mild disbelief. “Boy, Uncle Kodi taught you everything.”

“Yep. Thanks for setting me up with those lessons.”

Luna shrugged. “Hey, what are friends for?” she asked.

Alicia walked up right at that moment. “Well, Toby,” she said, “I guess you were in a hurry to get here, huh?”

Terry was with Alicia, and she had one of those looks on her face. You know, the kind mothers get when they’re right about to bust you bigtime. Toby knew from years of experience that his mother was thinking something along the lines of, ‘As soon as she’s done petting you, you’re gonna get it.’

Alicia ruffled the fur on top of Toby’s head right where he just loved to be scratched. “You ready for the race, boy?”

Toby barked in reply and wagged his tail.

A boy about eight years old hobbled up on crutches. “Can I pet him?” he asked.

Alicia smiled and said he could, and the boy dropped his crutches and knelt down to pet Toby. “What’s his name?” he asked, letting the dog sniff his hand.

“Toby,” said Alicia, smiling as the boy scratched Toby just where she had. “He seems to like you,” she noticed.

Luna, never one to be left out of the action, stepped up next to Toby and wagged her tail. The boy laughed and petted her with his other hand. “I love dogs,” he said. “I want to get one, but we’re having a hard time finding the right one. The doctor says it’d be too hard for me to play with a puppy, so it’s gotta be a grown-up.”

Luna looked from the boy to Toby and back again speculatively. Toby furrowed his brow at her. “Don’t start,” he muttered.

“Charlie? Where are…Oh, there you are.” A man with a mustache walked up. “I should have guessed,” he chuckled, seeing Charlie petting the dogs.

“Hi, dad,” said Charlie.

Charlie’s father laughed. “Come on,” he said, picking up the crutches in one hand and holding out the other to help the boy up. “The race is about to start.”

Alicia patted Toby. “We’d better get ready too. You ready to run, Toby?”

Toby barked and wagged his tail.

“Toby’s in the race?” asked Charlie with his eyes wide.

“Yeah,” said Alicia. “Just wait till you see him run.”

Charlie’s father tipped his hat. “Nolan Winters,” he introduced himself.

“Alicia Day,” Alicia replied. “Hey, Charlie said you’re looking for a dog?”

Toby rolled his eyes. “Oh, brother,” he muttered. “Here we go again with the old ‘Grown-Up Puppy To A Good Home’ routine.”

“Yes we are,” said Nolan. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, Toby is Terry’s puppy…” she patted Terry on the head so they would know who she was talking about, “…And he’s the only one I never found a home for. Maybe he’d be right for Charlie?”

Nolan and Charlie exchanged glances, and Charlie shook his head. “No, I don’t want a sled-dog,” he said. “I want to have a dog who’ll be around.”

Nolan nodded. “Sorry, Alicia. The doctor said a dog would be good for Charlie, but…” he trailed off. “Thanks anyway,” he said.

“That’s okay,” said Alicia. “Maybe Toby won’t win.” Toby growled, and she shrugged. “But I doubt it.”

“That’s too bad,” said Nolan. He and Charlie turned and walked away.

“The poor boy,” said Luna softly.

“Why wouldn’t he want a sled dog anyway?” wondered Toby. “Not that I want a home with humans,” he added, trying not to admit to himself that he half-wished Charlie had wanted him.

Luna looked hard at him. “Because he wants a friend who’ll be there when he really needs one. Like when I broke my legs. I asked you to promise you’d come by and visit often. Just try to think how hard it must be for Charlie not to be able to play with other kids. And he’ll probably always be that way.”

Toby nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But right now, I’ve got a race to run.” And he trotted off to the starting line.

Luna just shook her head. Toby was a good friend, but he just couldn’t seem to see beyond being a sled dog sometimes. ‘Maybe that’ll change after the race,’ she thought as she watched him join the other dogs.

As he lined up with the other sled dogs, Toby glanced right and left to size up the competition. The current mail team was there…minus Dusty? ‘Where is she?’ he wondered. ‘Normally she’d be right by Kodi.’ He shook his head. Never mind dogs who weren’t there, this was a time for focusing on the ones who were.

Kodi gave Toby a nod in greeting. Normally they would have chatted a bit, but this was serious business. The other dogs included Pete-Toby’s half-brother-as well as Kodi’s three-legged sister Chase. Toby had seen them both run, and he knew that Chase would never be on the mail team even if she won. She didn’t want to be on the team, and that was that. She just ran because she loved to run. And as for Pete…’He’ll never win anything until he gets over that case of showdog-neck,’ Toby thought, seeing the way Pete held his head up straight so the female dogs could see him. ‘Too much drag.’

The musher took his place beside the starting line. “On