nodded.  “Did you…did you really know her before she…”

“Yes I did.”  He sighed.  “And now that I’ve met you I feel worse than ever for not trying hard enough to warn her.”  He gritted his teeth and slammed a paw against the floor of his cage.  “If I had just tried harder, maybe she would be alive right now!”

Taya shook her head.  “Don’t blame yourself,” she said.  “You did the best you could.  You didn’t fail her, she failed you, and her friends, and herself.”

“Thanks,” said Blaze.  “Do you really believe that?”

Taya nodded.  “If I didn’t believe that effort counts I’d be in big trouble.”  Both of them were silent for a moment.  “What was my mom like?”

“She was about the best dog in Nome before Steele came along.  She didn’t have a home, and her father was a real rotter, but she was always willing to help somebody else.  Her one shortcoming was that she always wrapped her life around being with boys.”

Taya looked at the floor of her cage.  “Well, it’s great to know my mom was such a great dog,” she groused.

Blaze’s voice softened.  “I’m sorry, Taya.  I can’t begin to imagine how hard it must have been, growing up without your mother.  But I can tell you this: she loved you even before you were born.  And if she had survived, you would’ve had the most loving mother any dog has had since the beginning of time.  I know she’s proud of you for thinking about your family when you’re stuck in here.”

“What do you mean, ‘she is?’” asked Taya.  “She’s dead, right?”

“Yes, but you love her even if you never knew her.  And no one you love is ever really gone.  Your mother, your family, everyone you hold dear is here right now in your heart, where they’ll always be.”

Taya’s mind drifted back to another time she had been in a cage. She had just been pulled from her secret compartment in the side of this very building and there was a dog right outside her cage.

 “Who are you?” Taya demanded.

 “I’m a friend,” he said, “And I’m here to get you out.”

 “Out?” she seethed.  “My owner’s going to be back for me, so quit playing with the lock!”  The dog tried to open the lock but she swatted a paw at him, driving him back.

 “Carson’s not coming for you,” he told her.  “He got arrested, and it sounded like they’re going to be keeping a very close eye on him.  Didn’t you hear?”  He studied her.  “Oh, maybe not.  Anyway, he’s not coming back.  And you can’t stay locked up in a cage like this under that panel.  You’ll suffocate, or starve.  You’ll die.”

 Taya muttered and turned away, slumping to the floor.  “Then let me die.  I deserve it.”

 A slam behind her shook the cage and startled Taya to her feet.  “Alright!” the dog snapped.  “So you deserve to die!  So you hurt and even killed a lot of those dogs in the ring!  Maybe you deserve the worst death imaginable for all the torture and stuff you did to those other dogs!… Well, guess what.  Maybe you don’t.”  He lowered his voice and stared into her eyes.  “You haven’t even seen the half of what’s out there in the world.  It’s not all fighting and winning money and your owner whipping your hide off every chance he gets.  Believe it or not, there’s some things I like to call family… and love.”

 Taya snorted contemptuously.  “Family,” she sneered.  “Don’t think I’m completely ignorant.  I’ve had a family.  A lot of help they were.”  She stopped, just glaring at him.

 “Alright,” he said.  “Fine.  Think of it that way.  But whether you like it or not, I’m getting you outta here.  No dog deserves to be like this.”  He tried to fiddle with the lock, but she snarled and drove him back again.  “I just want to help!” he protested.

 ‘What is with this guy?’ Taya wondered.  “Don’t be so sure of it, hot shot!” she hissed.  Smugly she added, “How are you going to get the cage open?  Your nails won’t work.  You don’t even have the key!”

 “I have the keys to the city,” he said softly.  “Or the cage, in this case.”  And using his claws he carefully pulled out the nails holding the hinges on.  To Taya’s amazement, the cage door swung open.

Taya sighed.  That was the first time she had met Copper.  But now he wasn’t here to save her… or was he?  ‘That’s it!’ she thought.  ‘The keys to the city!’  Sticking her paw through the mesh and working by feel, she duplicated Copper’s trick and worked the nails out of the hinges.  With a kick, she knocked the door open and strode out.  Unfortunately she kicked the door a little too hard.  It swung back and whacked against the side of the cage with a loud clang.

“Hey, what’s going on in there?” came Carson’s angry voice.  Taya dashed to the window, then looked back.  “Blaze!” she called.

“I’ll be all right!” he told her.  “Now get yourself out of here!”

Taya clenched her teeth and jumped through the window, shattering the glass.  Landing in the snow she shook the bits out of her fur and looked back at the window.  Carson was sticking his head out, yelling at her.  “Hey, dog!  You get back here right now!”

Taya turned and ran back toward Nome.

About half a mile further along Taya’s trail Copper started to see familiar landmarks.  And they weren’t good ones.  “Oh, no,” he said out loud as he slowed for a minute with the realization.

“What’s up?” asked Luna.

“Trouble,” answered Copper.  The last time he had come this way had been at night and he had been hitched up to a sled with a team of strange dogs.  Now, with no sled to pull and his fear and anger driving him on, he was running at a pace that would have made his brother Kodi green with envy.  He slowed as a squat building came into view.  It looked as if it hadn’t been used in years.

“What’s that doing all the way out here?” asked Luna, looking around.  “There’s not another building in sight.”

“That’s exactly why it’s there,” explained Copper.  “That’s the former gathering place for the Northern Fights.”

“But why would Mom come here?” asked Luna.  “I thought she hated this place.”

“She does.”  Copper pointed to the tracks.  “Obviously she was chased here.  I don’t know whether it just happened or if Steele told his gang to chase her here on purpose, but that place seems to be where the tracks end.”  He walked up to the door.  “Or at least where one set ends.  The other two break off here.”

Toby checked the tracks.  “Taya’s are the ones heading inside,” he announced.

“I was afraid you were going to say that,” said Copper.  He looked up at the closed door.  “She must have shut the door to keep the other two from getting her.”

“So?” asked Luna, holding up a paw and flexing her claws.  “We’ve got the ‘keys to the city,’ remember?”

Copper studied the door.  “Nope.  No hinges out here.”

”So we’ve gotta find another way in,” said Toby.

“Why don’t we just bark?” suggested Luna.  “Mom knows the hinge trick.  Once she knows Steele’s goons are gone, she can get the door open and we’re out of here.”

The dogs began to bark and scratch at the door.  “Taya!” Copper yelled.  “It’s all right!  It’s just us!”

All at once the door opened and there stood a man looking at them in surprise.  Copper’s jaw fell open.  “You!” he growled.  But that was all he had a chance to say before a net fell over them.

“I’m not used to dogs coming to my door,” laughed the man, “But I’m not complaining!  And just in time, now that my best dog is gone.”  He peered at Copper.  “Oh, I remember you.  Comet, wasn’t it?”  After a moment’s inspection he chuckled.  “And it looks like the rumors were true.  Part wolf.  You’ll make me a handsome profit once I re-open my little business.”  He studied Luna.  “You look just like Taya,” he observed.  “I wonder if you’ll fight just like her too.”

Taya was racing back toward Nome when a raven swooped over her head.  At first she paid it no mind.  When it dove at her again, cawing and pecking, she growled and snapped at it.  “Buzz off, you old bird!” she snapped.

The raven flew into some bushes, and a moment