“Six?!” Riley and Disk said at the same time.

            “Yeah three girls and three boys, only four of them live here though. Aleu, the one who looks the most like her father lives with a wolf pack and Rose lives in Anchorage with her adopted family.” Dusty said.

            “Ok.” Riley said and smiled up at her.

            “I’m back.” Jenna said, and the three sitting on the porch turned their attention to the red husky.

            “MOM!” Disk jumped off the porch and ran up to his mom and licked her cheek.

            “Hi baby.” She nuzzled him and walked up to Dusty and Riley.

            “Hello.”

            “How did it go?” Dusty asked.

            “I’ll tell you later tonight.” Jenna said.  “Is it alright if we stay the night at your home?”

            “You just have to wait till they call down.” She nodded towards the door, where loud shouts could still be heard.

            “What is it this time?” Jenna asked.

            “Something about dinner, speaking of which I’m starving,” Dusty sniffed the air. “Let’s go see if the butcher will give us any thing.” The four dogs made their way to the butcher. They could see from the outside all the various meats hanging in the window, their mouths salivated.

            “That looks so good.” Disk said, he was bigger than his mom and definitely had the greatest appetite.

            “Do you think we could sneak inside and get some?” Riley asked.

            “It’s easy.” A voice said behind the four dogs, “You just need a good distraction.” Eight eyes were suddenly on a female husky, she had a smile on her face and excitement dancing in her eyes. She had the same purple tint in her fur like Dusty and had a white underbelly along with three dark purple stripes on her back.

            “Bell?” Dusty asked.

            “Yea it’s been quite a while sis.” The delicate female smiled, “So do you guys want to eat or what?” The dogs nodded.

            After a bit of discussion a plan was set and positions were put into place. Bell and Disk nosed open the door of the meat shop and a little bell made a dinging sound and the butcher turned around, “Dogs?” He scratched his head. Bell started barking and jumping around and Disk copied what she did. The butcher watched them totally confused, “Get out!” He shouted.

            Meanwhile Jenna, Dusty and Riley rushed into the backdoor of the meat shop and snagged a ham and sausage links. They quickly ran back outside and Riley raced to the front of the shop and scratched on the door signaling they had the food. Disk and Bell walked out, leaving the butcher curious and confused. “Crazy dogs…” he muttered as the door swung shut.

            “We did it!” Riley smiled “Can we eat it now?”

            “Let’s take it to my place.” Dusty said, so the five dogs dragged their dinner to Dusty’s porch and gobbled down the food.

            “That was delicious, thanks Bell.” Disk smiled.

            “No problem.” Bell winked at him.

            “Where have you been lately?” Dusty asked, directing the question towards her little sister.

            “Around. My human abandoned me a few years ago so I lived with a dog pack for a while then I made my way back to Nome by train, I got here a few days ago.”

            “Well you are welcome to stay here.” Dusty said, she felt she had a responsibility to care for her younger sibling.

            “Thank you Dusty.” Bell said appreciatively.

            Riley stood up and stretched, she hadn’t thought about the red husky till now and her body shook all over. She did not want to meet up with him any time soon. She wondered if he was more of a threat than a friend, she glanced over at Disk who was looking at Bell out of the corner of his eye and trying to get the female’s attention by showing off for her. Riley rolled her eyes, she found love a waste of time and wasn’t pleased by any of the dogs she had seen yet. She sighed and glanced over at her mom who seemed finally at peace.