spoke. Pirate chuckled. May growled. "Besides that could have been any dog." Avalanche said.

"I don’t know. Sounded pretty spooky to me. What do you think Ralph?" Jay looked around. "Ralph?" Everyone looked toward Nome and saw the figure of Ralph high-tailing it to the old factory shed.

"Look what you did May! You scared him out of his wits!" Kodi barked. Kodi and Avalanche were two people that May did not get along with. May gave an annoyed look.

"He’ll be fine." She spoke with an unconcerned voice.

Kirby got up. "I think I’ll be going on home. Now you’ve scared the wits out of me May!" May smoothly rubbed against Kirby.

"Then you can stay with me Kirby. I’ll protect you." Kirby growled. Even though it’s been a while since he last saw Kiska, he was still furiously loyal to her.

"I don’t think so May. Good night everyone." He got up and started to head back. Dusty and Kodi followed and not too long after the siblings, May and Jay.

Avalanche, Shasta, and Pirate stayed sitting beneath the pale moonlight. "It’s okay Pirate. It’s just a story." Shasta said. Pirate nodded. Avalanche sighed. There it was again. A howl so terrible that could have awaken the dead. "Who in what right of mind is making all that racket?" Shasta asked. Avalanche was about to open her mouth. Shasta narrowed her eyes, "Don’t even think about it." Avalanche kept her mouth shut. Pirate smirked at Shasta.

"Come on lets head on home." Pirate said softly as he rose to his feet. Shasta and Avalanche followed him, one on each side. Always with Shasta on his right, Avalanche was on his left as they walked into town. Some lights of a few houses were on as they made their way to Shasta’s and Avalanche’s home. "Thanks Pirate. See ya tomorrow." Avalanche said as she disappeared to the back door to get inside the house.

Shasta sighed and Pirate felt a little uncomfortable. He took a deep breath to ease his self. "I guess I’ll see you tomorrow." He said to her softly. The cream husky nodded.

She gave him a friendly nuzzle. "Good night Pirate." Shasta turned away and headed for the back door. Pirate sighed. With his head low he walked back toward his home on the other side of town. As he walked through the back alleys he did not realize that something was lurking in the darkness. A scent reached his nose and Pirate raised his head and sniffed around. A growl came from behind him. Pirate whipped around to come face to face with a very large dog. It didn’t even look like a dog. With its menacing claws and an evil glint in its yellow eyes, it looked more like a wolf crossed with a wolverine than anything. The muzzle of the creature seemed crooked like something broke it and it never fully healed. It snarled and Pirate growled, holding his ground. It advanced toward him out of the shadows. It spoke with a raspy voice, "What’s a morsel like you wandering the streets alone?" It started to circle him with its head low and its body swaying a bit as its mighty paws carried it. Pirate caught a glimpse of gleaming teeth as it had spoken. "Answer me." It said with its head only centimeters from Pirate’s head. Pirate nearly passed out from its breath. It was strong enough to knock a dragon off its feet.

"I was heading home." Pirate responded.

"Back to your cozy little home! Then run!" He barked. Pirate was about to turn as he fully knew that he would not be able to defeat him. But a firm command stopped him.

The creature looked behind him as well as Pirate to see who yelled. With the gleaming white coat, it was Spitz/Husky. Her green blue eyes yet again kept him captive. Her eyes glaring at the black wolf like canine. "There is nothing you can do here. Go home and never return." She spoke with a deadly tone to the canine. He snarled and she snarled back. "You heard me! Now go!" The black wolf cross did not hesitate and he walked past the white dog. Her eyes followed him until he disappeared to the shadows. When she turned back, she only smiled. "Good night…Pirate." She walked past him. Pirate was frozen and his eyes were wide. He suddenly just realized what happened and shook himself out of his trance.

"Hey wait a minute!" He called out but again she was gone with no trace. Pirate sighed before whispering, "Thanks." A silent breeze blew through gently and again Pirate felt that chill creeping up his spine. Pirate shook and trotted on home. His mind was wondering yet again about the white dog and her story but mostly the black wolf creature.

***

Dusty yawned before stretching out her front legs. She had a good sleep last night, as she did not feel very achy. She walked out the doggie door and looked to the sky. Wait a minute…the sky was darker than usual in the morning. She sniffed the air. There wasn’t a storm coming. Dusty headed back inside and looked at the thing that her master called a clock. She would have named it something better than that. Probably Time Checker for that was all the clock was good for. The mail run didn’t start until 6 and yet the clock read 4. Why did she wake up at four in the morning? Dusty shrugged and considering going back to the bed before a howl grabbed her curious side. Who was howling? Dusty headed back outside and looked around before there was another terrible howl to her left…too close for comfort. Suddenly, an awful stench came to her nose. She sneezed from it. She whimpered as she neared the end of the street and peered around the corner. Dusty gasped. There was that husky cross that Pirate must have been talking about. The dog turned to face her and Dusty had to agree with Pirate. The eyes didn’t look as if they belonged to a canine. The husky cross gave an alert woof before darting across the street and from Dusty’s view. Dusty blinked her eyes a few times then the story that May told made Dusty shudder. "I better be on my toes today." Dusty thought to herself as she remembered the part about the story of seeing the dog. She knew she was being silly but for some reason she was feeling extremely chilled and not just from the weather. She did not notice the yellow eyes watching her from a dark alley.

***

"You saw her?" Kodi asked as Dusty was telling about her very early morning to her teammates. Dusty nodded.

"Don’t worry Dusty we’ll make sure nothing happens to you." Ralph said hoping to cheer Dusty up. She smiled.

Pirate had been walking through town. Later Ashley would be heading to Emily’s house to carve pumpkins together. He smiled as he thought about Shasta. "Hey Pirate!" Pirate’s thought train slammed to a stop. He looked behind him to see Jay and he looked kind of worried. Once Jay reached him, the black husky took a few breaths. Pirate waited for his friend to speak. "Did you hear who Dusty saw earlier?"

"Husky/Spitz cross?" Pirate asked. Jay nodded. Pirate became concerned. "Anything bad happened?" Jay shook his head.

"Not yet anyway."

Pirate sighed. "Jay I need to tell you something that happened last night. But promise you won’t tell your sister. Because no offense I really don’t like your sister."

"Join the club." Jay rolled his eyes and Pirate chuckled. "Shall we walk as you talk?" Pirate nodded and when they began walking, Pirate told Jay about what had happened. When he was finished, Jay’s eyes were as wide as saucers. "Are you kidding me?"

"I kid you not." Pirate responded truthfully.

"I bet that was pretty scary. Sounds to me you really don’t want to meet that fellow in the night."

Pirate nodded. "I was so surprised to see her there."

"It seems as if these two know each other. The husky spitz and the wolf wolverine thingy."

Pirate busted out laughing. "The wolf wolverine thingy?" He arched a brow once he calm his laughing and Jay broke out laughing as well. "We got to give them better names."

"How about Angel and Demon?" Jay asked. Pirate chuckled.

"How about Wolverine for the black wolf cross and Angel for the husky?" Pirate asked. Jay nodded. Pirate heard his name being called. "I’ll talk to ya later Jay!" Pirate took off toward his home where Ashley waited.

"I still like Demon better!" Jay called out.

Pirate chuckled as he trotted away from the main street. Once he neared his home, he gave a friendly bark. Ashley opened the door with a smile. "Hey boy." She stroked his neck and he gave her a doggy smile. Mrs. Baker appeared at the door. "Are you ready Ashley?" Ashley nodded yes. Mrs. Baker smiled and with her daughter’s hand in her hand, she started walking with Pirate right next to them. His pace never quickened and his step never faltered as he looked forward. It seemed as if Pirate was being watched as just then he looked at her and gave her a doggy grin. Mrs. Baker chuckled before looking ahead and Ashley started to talk about what her pumpkin would look like.

Meanwhile, the mail team was heading in with the mail. Dusty was worried sick the whole way but now she was laughing at herself of being so foolish. No way was death coming for her. She ran along right next to Ralph and was glad she had Ralph as a friend. The team was moving fast through the forest and they were nearing the border. All the dogs could hear someone hacking away on a tree with their ax. The chopper came into view and it seemed he was almost done with the tree. A black dog sat by the chopper. The musher waved hello and the chopper waved back,