Rosy’s father emerged from his study. He kissed his wife on the cheek. “What kind of mail are we looking at?”

          “Let’s see. But let me take my coat off.” Hanging her dark red coat beside the door, she dumped the mail onto a small decorative desk in the foyer. “Bill, bill,” she said monotonously, snapping the crisp envelopes onto the desktop. Then her face brightened. “Oh! Here’s a letter from my mother!”

          “Is that better or worse than a bill?” Rosy’s father murmured with a grin.

          His wife ignored him, ripping open the envelope and tugging the letter out, and unfolding it with uncommon ceremony. Her eyes moved across the shaky handwriting. “She wants us to come visit this weekend! Well, I suppose we could, though it’s been awhile since we’ve been over there! And– Oh…oh, no.”

          Rosy’s father slid his pipe away from his lips. “What?”

          “Jewel, my mother’s dog – she died. Oh, what are we going to tell Rosy?”

          Balto’s eyes whipped to Jenna’s face. Jenna stood frozen, staring blankly at the crumple-edged letter in her owner’s hand. With those last few words her world had crashed into silence, save for the beating of her pierced heart.

          Balto stared at her uncertainly. “Jenna?”

          She started walking past him, slowly and deliberately as if in a dream.

          Balto turned his head to follow her. “Jen, I’m sorry.”

          She was almost to the front door when she saw Tumak standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He wore the same stricken expression as Balto. She stared at him numbly, and then turned to slip past Rosy’s parents and out the doggy door and under the front steps. There in the cold and the dark she could cry, sobs racking her body until it doubled over. The tears froze in her fur, and she smiled tremblingly at the realization that her mother was now with Jenna’s father, Ranger, and that that was all she had ever wanted.

          The next day, the snow drifted down in soft white specks that Jenna didn’t notice until they melted and trickled cold droplets down through her fur. She shivered. She, Balto, and Tumak sat waiting in front of the house while Rosy’s parents packed up the sleigh. Yes, a sleigh. They had borrowed it from a generous neighbor in hopes of keeping Rosy happy until their arrival at her grandmother’s and the inevitable announcement of Jewel’s death. “After all, Stanton isn’t so far away that we can’t have some fun along the way,” Rosy’s father had said.

          Now he was stowing luggage anywhere it could fit, and watching in amusement as his daughter ran excitedly around the sleigh.

          “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” Rosy crowed, “A real sleigh! The horses are so pretty! I bet everyone in the whole town is jealous! Thank you so much, Daddy! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Her brown eyes sparkled, and she raced around the sleigh and threw her arms around Jenna. “Isn’t this cool? I’m so glad you and Balto are coming with us! You’ll be able to see your mom again, Jenna! I bet Jewel will be so happy to see you!”

          Jenna stiffened, her brown eyes glazed with pain.

          Rosy took no notice and spun away, laughing for pure joy.

          “Rosy, stop running around, dear. You’ll scare the horses,” her mother called from the sleigh.

          “Your mother has stables, right?” her husband murmured, slamming the last trunk in.

          She shot him a disdainful glance. “You should have thought of that when you got all this,” she muttered, “But yes, she does.”

          Tumak looked at Jenna. “Thank you for…everything, Jenna. I owe you for your hospitality.” He glared up at the animal shelter volunteer holding his new collar. “Your home is probably better than the place I’m going.” His features softened, including his bronze-colored eyes. “Oh, and…I’m sorry about your mother.”

          Jenna stared at him, excavating her soul for some kind of clear emotion. She wasn’t sure what she felt for him yet. Pity? Contempt? Empathy? But she met his gaze and said, “Thank you.”

          Tumak searched her eyes, but then he turned to Balto. “It’s been an honor meeting you, Balto.”

          “I would have to say likewise,” Balto said warmly. Ever the gentleman, he was courteous even around someone he wasn’t sure he trusted.

          Instead of smiling, Jenna had to stop the tears from pricking her eyes.

          Rosy suddenly ran over and fondled Tumak’s ear one last time. “Goodbye. Be a good dog. I know you’ll get a great home!”

          Tumak looked unsure how to react, but after a few seconds he licked her sleeve.

          “Rosy!” her father called, “Time to leave!”

          Rosy whirled around and ran hard to the sleigh. “Balto! Jenna! C’mon!”

          Balto nodded to Tumak and trotted after Rosy. Jenna turned to do the same, but after only a few steps she slowed to a stop. Tumak’s face wouldn’t leave her mind. The look was so full of pain and loss and heartache that it made her already pierced heart crack in two. Without thinking, she spun back around and ran back to Tumak, skidding to a stop when they were face to face.

          He stared at her in surprise. “Jenna? Did you forget something?”

          “Yes,” she whispered, “Yes, I did.” She kissed him, gently, on the cheek.

          It was meant to relieve his pain, and maybe even some of hers, but when he backed up and refused to meet her eye she knew she had increased it tenfold. The shock and the shame ripped through her like a tornado. If only there was a way to fix what she had done.

          “I hope you find another Khara someday,” she breathed.

          He slowly tore his gaze from the snow at his feet to rest on her face. “I thought I already had.” His deep, darkening eyes shot straight through to her burning soul. She wanted to run, run back to Balto, but Tumak’s eyes held her frozen, paralyzed.

          “Jenna!” Rosy cried, “Jenna girl! Come on, we have to go!”

          A sharp whistle from Rosy’s father brought her to her senses. Breathing heavily, Jenna kicked up the snow as she sprinted away, jumping up into the sleigh and landing unsteadily at Rosy’s feet.

          “Yay, we can go!” Rosy chirped.

          “Jen, are you okay?” Balto said with concern, “What were you doing back there?”

          Jenna shivered as she sank to her stomach. “I…just had to clear some things up with Tumak.” She hoped Balto took the hint that she didn’t want to talk about it. She laid her head on her paws and tried to forget the whole thing as the sleigh started to move, and their journey began.

          Tumak watched the sleigh fade into the distance. Something stirred inside him that he remembered from the first time, but it was still as strong as ever.

          The animal shelter volunteer started dragging him away. “C’mon, mutt, we’ve got to get you to the shelter.”

          Tumak kept his eyes locked on where Jenna had disappeared while he let the man pull him through the snow. He had seen the look on Jenna’s face. He knew that she cared for him.

          Suddenly he jerked back so hard he sent the man sprawling into the snow.

          The volunteer sat up, spluttering. “What the heck…? What’s wrong with you, mutt?”

          Tumak’s green-gold eyes smoldered as he formed his plan. He knew what he had to do.