Shasta watched her girl, Emily as she helped her mother put Halloween decorations on the front door. They were little stickers that hung on windows. The wacky witches were her favorite and the silly skeletons were Emily’s favorite. Shasta chuckled as Emily stuck a pumpkin sticker on her forehead. The cream colored husky got up and walked to the back door that had the doggy door. She slipped through it easily and walked around to the front of the house. Shasta and Avalanche one of the mail dogs lived together under the same roof. The two were sisters almost and when Avalanche wasn’t doing her duty or when Shasta wasn’t checking out Pirate they would always do things together. Sometimes with Dusty but mostly it was just Avalanche and her.

Shasta looked down both sides of the quiet street before crossing it. As she made her way into the busy part of Nome, she heard whistles from the boys. She sighed and kept on going, trying her best to ignore them. Except one call got her attention. "Well if it isn’t my pal Shasta!" Before Shasta could even blink, she was softly tackled to the ground with her favorite red husky, Pirate on top. Pirate chuckled and gave her ears a playful nip before he let her up. Shasta rose to her feet and gave him a soft shove. "Hey easy there!" Pirate spoke. The two laughed. "So what have you been doing?" Pirate asked.

"Emily’s putting up some Halloween decoration. I just came into the town to see how the Halloween spirit was getting around." Shasta replied. Pirate smiled.

"Ashley can’t wait until trick or treating. She’s going as a witch and I’m her loyal ghost hound." Shasta giggled as she could imagine Pirate with a white sheet and holes cut out for his eyes and ears. A very playful ghost hound. "So what’s Emily going to be?"

"She’s going as a princess."

"How about yourself and Avalanche?" Pirate asked. He leaned in a little closer and his tail started to tap at the tip as if it was counting the seconds going by. Shasta chuckled.

"Well I don’t know. I’m pretty sure Avalanche will stay home."

"You can be a ghost hound like me!"

Shasta broke out laughing. Pirate joined in with her laughing. "Pirate!" Pirate wheeled around to see Ashley running up to him. Pirate barked happily as he ran to his girl to greet her. As she stopped and went to her knees, Pirate covered her face in licks and his tail was going like 500 mph. Shasta chuckled before she walked closer. "Shasta!" Ashley gave Shasta a hug to. "I’m going over to your house in a few days to carve pumpkins!" Ashley spoke, the excitement was clearly in her voice. Shasta smiled.

"Ashley come on!" Her mother called. Ashley looked up. "Okay mother! Come on Pirate, say good bye to Shasta." Ashley gave one more hug to Shasta before she started to her mother.

"See you around?" Shasta asked.

Pirate nodded. "Have a good day Shasta." Pirate took off after Ashley, barking happily before sliding to a stop by Ashley’s mother. As the two walked away, Pirate stayed right next to Ashley’s side. Shasta smiled before she started over to see how Dipsy and Mel were doing.

***

Pirate was sunning himself on the porch of his home. He wasn’t really paying attention to anything until a clatter of trashcans from the alleyway awoke him. Pirate got up from his slumber and hopped down from the stairs and took a few sniffs. Someone was digging through the trash it seemed. The red husky walked to the corner of the house and peered around. He didn’t see anything. Pirate gave a shrug and walked out into the clearing before his eyes spotted a flash of white behind the cans. Pirate walked closer and took a few sniffs. Nothing was there. He turned around and gasped. Not too far from him stood a beautiful Spitz/Husky cross. She didn’t even look like a normal dog. She looked like an angel with her greenish blue eyes that almost seemed they belong to some mystical creature and thick white coat. He was surprised that she didn’t have wings. Around her neck was a dark blue bandana. Pirate spoke softly, "Hello. I’m Pirate. Who are you?" The dog did not respond. Instead she took off down the streets.

"Hey wait!" Pirate followed after her. He chased through the alleys of Nome until they reached the outskirts. Pirate was running out of steam but when he rounded the last corner she was gone. Pirate was puzzled, as there were no tracks in the dirt and not even a scent. Pirate couldn’t believe it. There was only two places she could have gone. First was to head back into Nome but she would have had to pass Pirate in order to do that. Or she disappeared to that old house that was outside of Nome and he was facing it. The house did not look friendly at all. Its porch was caving in. Window shutters hung by a single nail. Some windows were broken and the chimney was crumbling in. Pirate whined as he did not like what he was feeling. He felt he shouldn’t be there and felt like someone was watching him. A chill ran up his spine that gave him a horrible tingle. Pirate gulped and turned away back to his comfy home.

As he was walking back into town, he spotted the mail team about to head to the beach for a playful run and tagging along were brother and sister, May and Jay. May spotted him and barked. Kodi and Jay looked over to see Pirate. "Hey Pirate come and join us!" Jay called out. Pirate didn’t need to be told as he was already making his way over there. He barked happily to greet the team and siblings. As the group was making their way to the beach, Kirby was talking about the trip. Over time, Pirate and Kirby became like brothers not just because of Kiska, Pirate’s sister but also they realized when the chips were down they would always be right next to each other.

"Hey guys I’ll meet you there. I’m bringing Shasta along." Avalanche called out and dashed for her home.

"Alright does anyone have a leash to hold Pirate back when Shasta gets here?" Jay asked and everyone broke out laughing.

"Oh har har." Pirate said. But he couldn’t resist the thought of him and Shasta being together. As he listened to how the run was that day and Ralph complaining that Kirby had it all wrong, Pirate’s mind wondered back to the husky cross. He wondered who she belonged to and how she can leave no tracks behind.

"Earth to Pirate!" May blew in his ears. Pirate shook his head.

"What?" He gave a confused expression and everyone else laughed.

"Got something on your mind?" Dusty asked. Pirate decided he couldn’t keep it from his friends. Maybe they knew something about her.

"I’ll tell you when we get there." Pirate said. Soon they reached the beach and sat waiting to hear what Pirate would say. Pirate looked around at everyone. "Earlier there was this stray I believe digging through the trashcans. But she didn’t look like a stray."

"What do you mean by that?" Jay asked.

"Well she looked cared for and she had a dark blue bandana. Her built was small so she had to be a husky cross. Her coat was thick and white but her eyes were beautiful."

"Well what do you mean by beautiful?" Ralph asked as he laid himself down.

"A green blue that didn’t belong to a dog but belonged to some magical creature. Anyway I told her my name was Pirate. She dashed off and of course I followed. But when we reached the outskirts, she disappeared like mist. She left no tracks, no scent."

"Wow a scent that Pirate can’t track." Jay said but his sister looked a lot more serious. Which was very uncommon for her, as she was the jester. Her expression blank and her eyes almost lifeless as they stared at Pirate.

Pirate became a little uneasy. "What? You know something about her?"

"Pirate did you see a house that looked very not cared for?" Pirate nodded and he could feel that same chill keep up his spine. "Some say that’s the dog of someone who was killed in that very house. A young woman that was killed by her own lover. Her dog a Spitz/Husky cross was very loyal and would have given her life for her master to live. Driven in rage the dog killed her mistress’s love and soon felt that she should protect her owner even through death. Every night the dog howls in grief and vows to not let anyone come near the house. Anyone who does comes face to face with death and shall never return. It’s not just that that scares them, it’s her howl. A howl so terrible even ghosts would be afraid." May ended with her low, spooky tone and started with a deadly manner, "They say just seeing the dog is a sign that you will die soon.""

Ralph whimpered and ducked behind Dusty. Dusty became a little uneasy and everyone turned to look at Pirate. He wasn’t sure what to think. "That’s just an old tale to keep people away from the house. It’s floating around even more because of Halloween." Everyone whipped around to see Shasta and Avalanche. Shasta glared at May. May growled. The two glared at each other as the sun sunk closer beneath the horizon.

"Prove me wrong then. If Pirate comes face to face with death don’t come crying to me!" Shasta rolled her eyes.

"Oh please May, Pirate’s not going to die. No one is going to die." Suddenly, a blood curdling howled ripped through the silence. Ralph jumped and Jay hid behind Kirby. Kirby whimpered and Dusty nearly plastered herself to Kodi. May smirked.

"She’s coming for you Pirate. You’re cursed."

"Curse my ass." Avalanche spoke. Pirate