Lucy(c)Blackwolf123, Cody(c)Blackwolf123, Kelsey(c)Blackwolf123, Kito(c)Blackwolf123

Linder sniffed around in the snow. He could smell Cody nearby. They had just met a week ago, and had arranged to meet here. Cody didn't have much time on his paws, as he was a professional racedog. Suddenly, a huge red shape plunged out of the trees and landed right on top him. "Umm.....You're squishing me, here." Linder said. Cody jumped off of him. "Hey, how's it goin'?" he barked. Linder shrugged. "Not bad. " He tried to sound indifferent, but Cody wasn't fooled. "Things still not going well with Crystal?" he guessed. Linder rolled his eyes. "You could say that." he said. Crystal was one of the most popular dogs in town, but unfortunately for Linder she had never thought twice about a male dog goggling at her as she walked down the streets of Nome. His meetings with her always ended up with her rolling her eyes or trotting away giggling uncontrollably. Cody grinned. "Okay, what did you do this time?" Linder gave a dry little cough and told him an account of this morning's Crystal-impressing escapade, in which she had walked away rolling her eyes leaving him sprawled in the snow. At this, Cody burst out laughing. "Man!" he howled, rolling on the ground. "Just a little kindness might do the trick!" Linder shrugged and waited for Cody to get control of himself. When Cody's laughter had subsided, Linder suggested a race. Cody walked after him, still chuckling.

Crystal awoke to find Keefie, a little Samoyed puppy, standing over her. She yawned, "What is it?" Keefie rolled over on to her back and whined, "Will you play with me?" Crystal sat up. "Can't Kyra play with you?" Keefie scowled. "That's what she said!" Crystal sighed and stood up. "Yay!" Keefie yipped. As Keefie raced to the door, tripping over her own paws, Crystal couldn't help smiling. When she walked out the dog-door, she felt the usual blast of cold air hit her in the face. As soon as she was out the door, Keefie bounced around and yipped, "Let's go, go, GO! Crystal laughed as she ran beside Keefie. Then she looked down. Keefie was gone! Crystal sighed. Now it was her task to find Keefie. She turned in the opposite direction and started down the street. She passed Cody, the famous racedog's house, and then, at the next house, saw a "For Sale" sign that had been covered with another sign that said: "Sold". She stopped, interested. It wasn't often that someone moved to a little town like Nome. As she watched, a black and white female dog pushed the dog-door open and trotted down the front steps. Noticing Crystal, the dog trotted across the yard. "Hi." she said. Crystal smiled. "Hi, Are you new here?"she said. The dog nodded. "Yep. I'm Lucy, by the way. What's your name?" Crystal answered her. Lucy nodded again. Then, out of nowhere, Keefie shot into veiw and ran right into Lucy. "Sorry." she stammered, her eyes as big as dinner plates. But Lucy was laughing. "This is Keefie." Crystal said. "She lives with me." Lucy nodded, still laughing. Then Keefie rolled onto her back and said, "Can you play with me? Pleeeeeeeeeeze?"

Linder looked around the woods. A tiny scuffle in the leaves caught his eye. It seemed to be connected with the mousy smell he had noticed a moment before. Before the mouse could do anything, he struck. He demolished it in a couple of bites. Deciding he would get more in town, Linder trotted out of the forest and into Nome. "Hey Linder!" "How's it goin' Linder." He was sort of like a celebrity for being part-wolf, probably because of the famous Balto, whom he was also distantly related to. Dogs expected things like that from him, too, though usually he could avoid making a fool of himself. Crystal seemed like the only dog who did not care about his wolf heritage. She regarded him as completely normal. She was the only dog he would have liked to think him special; she thought he was just a pain. Actually, he thought, Crystal wasn't the only one who thought him a pain. Blaze, a proud, conceited racedog, regarded him as something that was just getting in the way, and Linder felt exactly the same about Blaze. Speaking of Blaze...... "Hey wolfdog." A black and tan husky strutted up to him. Linder scowled, making Blaze smirk delightedly. "Grumpy today, are we," he said. Linder growled. "Oops, " Blaze said. "Better get ahold of that 'inner wolf' before it attacks someone." Linder's patience snapped. He jumped at Blaze, who, not expecting the attack, was squashed flat in the snow. Linder jumped off him. Blaze stood up, turned to face Linder, then promptly whirled around and sped off in the opposite direction. "COWARD!" roared Linder. "YOU GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT!" Ignoring curious stares, he walked toward the beach, vaguely wondering if Crystal would be there, laughing with her friends or playing in the salty spray. Catching sight of Balto's boat, he turned, ignoring the dogs calling his name, and walked up the ramp. Balto was lying beside a pretty red husky. He smiled when he saw Linder. "Hey Linder." he said. Linder smiled. "Hi, Balto. Who is this?" he said. "This is Jenna." Balto said. Linder gulped. "Hey." he said shyly. Jenna smiled warmly. "Had a good day?"  Balto asked. Linder sighed. "Not really." Balto looked intently at Linder. "What happened?" he asked. "Blaze?" Linder shuffled his paws and nodded. Balto chuckled. "Blaze loves showing off for me, the slimy, stuck up--" Jenna glared at him. " Eh-hem.....How's Kodi?" Linder asked. Balto shrugged. "He's, um, okay. The mail team is getting better and better." Balto didn't meet Linder's eyes when he said this. The three dogs talked until dusk, and then Rosie called Jenna home, and Linder set off for his bush.

Crystal woke at sunrise the next morning. She stretched and yawned, thinking of another day with Linder popping up out of nowhere and going gaga. Then she remembered it was Saturday. Sara, her owner, didn't have school! But, of course, there was no point in waiting three hours 'til eight o'clock for the alarm clock to ring. She jumped off of her box-and-blanket bed and trotted into Sara's dark room. Crystal jumped on the bed and proceeded to yank at Sara's pajamas until: "Ugh....Crystal, do you have to wake me up this early?" Crystal cocked her head. Sara giggled. She sat up and slid off of her tall bed. Crystal leaped into the air and barked joyfully. They were going to go running! Kyra, Keefie, The Cat, Mom and Dad all stumbled sleepily into the room, scowling. The Cat hissed. Keefie laid her ears back. Kyra curled her lip, Mom yawned, and Dad said something that made Mom sputter and made Sara clap her hand to her mouth and giggle.

The crisp, cool wind of a fall morning in Nome woke Linder. He yawned. He wasn't too hungry....He'd walk into Nome and see if Crystal was out and about. She was. He heard her voice around a corner. It sounded shrill and angry. "I don't care if you think I am interfering with you and your precious Blaze! I don't even mean to. I wish he'd just mate you, and stop trying to corner me in the stupid boiler room!" Linder heard Riana, Crystal's friend, speak in her low, gravelly voice, "You wouldn't understand, Crystal." She sounded angry, almost jealous. "WELL," Crystal sounded almost hysterical. "I've got too many problems to cope with right now, even without you acting all jerky!" Linder heard a snarl and a yelp, and Riana came racing around the corner. She shot past Linder and out of sight. Linder stared for a minute. He shook his head. Maybe Crystal was still around the corner. Remembering Cody's words: "Just a little kindness might do the trick.", Linder strutted around the corner, but stopped when he saw Crystal's face. There was a small nick on her muzzle, but it was her expression that caught Linder's eye. There were tears in her eyes, but her teeth were bared in a snarl. "LINDER!" She barked. "I don't need you and your stupid games right now! You are just a nuisance to every dog you come across!" Linder opened his mouth angrily, then closed it again, curled his lip, and scowling, brushed past Crystal and hurried down the street.

Crystal blinked, then opened her mouth in horror at what she had just said. Linder hadn't done anything wrong. Sure, he was a nuisance and an idiot, but that didn't mean she had to say horrible things about him. Not to his face, anyway. Anxiety floated around in her stomach like little butterflies. She felt sickened at herself. Lucy's, she thought, was a good place to go. She had grown closer to the border collie-husky mix in the past few days. Mechanically, she turned around and headed up the street, toward Lucy's. Lucy was lying on her front porch, her tail trailng down the front steps. Her eyes were closed, but Crystal could tell she wasn't asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, Crystal turned around, but after a few steps, Lucy caught up with her. "Crystal," she said. "I thought I smelled your scent." Crystal smiled, but her face then fell once more into misery. Noticing, Lucy softened. "Crystal," she said. "Is anything wrong?" Crystal was silent for a second, and then the words came pouring out: "Riana nipped me because she thinks I am keeping her away from Blaze. Blaze, Lucy, Blaze! What does she see in him? He's arrogant and stupid! She only likes him because he's handsome and famous! I just wish he would get off of my tail! And then I was so rude to Linder! I said 'I don't need you and your stupid games right now.' And 'You are just a nuisance to every dog you come across.' And then he just turned and walked away, glaring at me. It made me feel so bad....." Her voice trailed away. Lucy looked sypathetic. "Wow," she said. "You've got a lot going on."