it!” 

“Yes, you got it!” Ralph stood beside Dusty and began cheering him on. “Go, Kodi!”

“Come on, kid! You’re almost here!” Kirby shouted in an encouraging tone, then he began to chant. “Kodi! Kodi!” 

The other dogs followed along with the cheer as with a sudden new strength, Kodi was only a couple of feet from the top of the cliff where his friends awaited him.

“Kodi! Kodi! Kodi!” 

Step by careful step, the pup’s large white paws scaled each rock, each ledge, each tiny section of the canyon until he could clearly see the detailed emotions of gladness and relief on his companions’ faces. He groaned as he took a slight misstep before quickly recovering his footing, continuing onward. Once he was at the top ledge, Kirby and Ralph grabbed hold of their leader’s collar and pulled him up onto the solid ground of the mountain path while the rest of the team welcomed Kodi back with a howling cheer and a constant stream of nuzzles. Mr. Simpson hugged the brave canine, carefully hitching him back onto his lead dog harness where he belonged and settling the team back down so they could complete the race; for what the team knew, the plane had probably defeated them by now, but at least they returned home to Nome – together.

“Kodi! Kodi!” Dusty nuzzled the lead dog in front of her with a relieved tone. “ Oh my . . . How did you . . . What in the . . .” 

“What happened down there?” Ralph completed Dusty’s query.

“Yeah, how did you even survive the fall?” Kirby also asked. “We were afraid that you had died!” 

“Well, it’s kind of a long story,” Kodi gave them a smile of relief as he looked up into the sky for a quick glance at the light flurry of snow that had fallen from a light gray cloud that strangely resembled a bust of his hybrid patriarch.Thank you, Dad . . . He thought before gazing back at the figure of Mr. Simpson preparing to finish the race. “but right now, we have a race to finish.”

The team nodded, but one of the wheel dogs looked concerned. “But what about the plane?” He asked, turning Kodi’s attention to him. “We haven’t heard the plane around ever since we left White Mountain! What if it’s already reached Nome by now? What if –” 

“I know, I know, Michel,” The lead dog interrupted the gray and silver husky’s questions with a calm yet tense voice. “There is that chance. For all we know, that plane might already be there by now.” Kodi turned his attention to the rest of his team, his voice growing stronger with every word as he spoke. “However, it doesn’t mean we could give up our fight without showing the town that we are still reliable and loyal to our main priority.” The rest of the team joined in Kodi’s encouragement by smiling along and barking.

“He’s right,” Kirby agreed. “The race isn’t over yet!” 

“Well, I’m ready!” Ralph jumped up and down a little to show his excitement. “Let’s finish this race!”

“Yeah!” Dusty grinned. “This race may be our swan song, but we’ll make it worth every minute!” 

Kodi nodded as he heard Mr. Simpson’s command and the tug on his leather reins. “Come on, you guys! Let’s mush!”

With a howl of excitement, the red leader led his team from the mountain path, carefully making sure to watch his footing this time around. They had no idea whether Duke and his plane made it to Nome before them or not, but to Kodi, it suddenly didn’t seem to matter anymore. The main matter was to arrive home safely, win or lose. 

Panting hard, the team of seven dogs plus their musher drew closer and closer to home over the next couple of hours. Still the journey was treacherous as the late-winter sun descended below the woodland branches of pine and the sky’s hue darkened into a dull navy-blue, but their steps remained sure and fast; yet not a single member of the team could sense the silver bush plane’s presence over their heads. Although Kodi was focused mostly on leading his team home, he couldn’t help but wonder where the plane was now . . .

But all of his doubts were gone once the red and white quarter-wolf caught a slight glimpse of the town’s main street lanterns illuminating a gentle glow atop a snowy hill, brightly signaling that they were only about a couple of miles from either an impossible victory or an honorable defeat.  

“Come on, everybody!” Kodi quickly turned his head around to his team with a wide smile. “Nome’s only a mile or so away!” Pausing to catch his breath while still running, he continued encouraging his friends onward. “No matter what happens, we’re all winners on this day.” Seeing the response of smiles from his friends, he beamed with pride charging with a burst of speed. “Let’s sleep as winners tonight, you guys!” he barked.

Kirby, Ralph, Dusty and the other three huskies barked with him as Mr. Simpson shouted for them to mush a couple of times. The little town by the sea was still aglow with candle, lantern and electric lights as the rest of the team ran down the hill and galloped the final straight stretch of snow that led into town and to the local post office on Main Street. 

Jenna had been waiting for hours by the U.S. Post Office building, laying beside the sitting figure of her brown-haired owner, Rosy, who sat on the top step of the walkway, her elbows planted atop her knees and her hands below her chin and jaw. Both females let out a sigh of worry, for neither of them had heard the roar of the bush plane or the barking of the mail team so far that day. The purebred whined softly, brushing her nose against the girl’s soft peach cheek and straight, auburn hair. Rosy returned the gesture with a light rub on her head with her tiny hand and slender fingers. They were both anticipating Kodi’s first sled race as a lead dog when it began earlier that morning, but now they had begun to worry whether the team would arrive first.

Their eyelids lowered in tiredness when they heard a familiar howl on the wind. It was a wolves’ howl, no doubt about it, but it was followed by the hard barks of huskies. Jenna’s burgundy ears pricked upwards at the call of canines, instantly rising to her feet and barking with happiness in her voice. 

“Kodi?” Her eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of red and white from the clearing. “Oh goodness, it’s my Kodiak! Kodi!”

Her barks woke many of the early sleepers, including the postmaster, Mr. Conner; he rushed out of his bed and covered his long pajamas with a long coat, running into his boots and out the front door of the post office with his faithful yet worried-sick terrier, Mel rushing by his side. Other people sprinted out of their cozy homes and out onto the street where local dogs barked and cried out a wake-up call to the citizens of Nome. 

The shape of the approaching team of dogs grew clearer to the young girl and her dog, and the quarter-wolf seemed to run faster the closer they got to the stirring people and animals that poured out onto the brown and white ground of the main street of town, awaiting their safe homecoming.

Once the team sprinted past the telegraph office at the beginning of Main Street, Kodi instantly slowed the team down to a brisk yet quick trot for the remainder of distance to the postal office where Rosy, Mr. Conner and Mel awaited their arrival. Jenna, quickly followed by the red and white figures of four other huskies, shadowed the sled team’s movements as if to give them a heroic escort back into town. Kodi turned to his mother and siblings, greeting them with a smile as he continued to enter the well-lit area surrounding the postal office where a large crowd welcomed the team with cheers. His head was held high, as was his teammates, for they knew not whether they had finished the race first, but they continued to feel in themselves that they were indeed winners in their own account, no matter the outcome. 

The cheering died down as the team slowed from trot to a steady walk, then halted in front of the Post Office’s steps where Mr. Conner awaited the sack of mail from the musher. Once the team stopped, Mr. Simpson leaned in front of him, grabbing a hold of the mail sack and handed it to the awaiting postmaster for word of the results.

“Here is your mail, Mr. Conner,” the Inuit sled driver announced. “Did we beat the plane?” Although he too was doubting that his team might have beaten the bush plane, he braced himself for the news, bad or good. 

“Mr. Simpson,” The postmaster began to speak after placing the mail sack beside Mel and clearing his throat for silence, allowing everyone to hear the official results of the race. “I’m sure that you and everyone present knows a mail deliver’s motto: ‘Neither snow, nor rain . . .”

“‘. . . nor sleet, nor hail will stop the US mail,’” Kodi completed the phrase in a light whisper as the postmaster muttered the same words that the quarter-wolf had first learned the day he began on the mail team. Those words had helped him realize the importance of the job of which he was chosen to be a part of. Ever since that day – especially after the night when he saw his father on the mountaintop – he had lived by that rule. 

Mr. Simpson nodded. “Yes, my team and I have worked by that motto since we’ve began this route together.”

“Indeed you have, Mr. Simpson, and all of us here would have to agree that thanks to your team, we have delivered more mail quicker than ever before,” Mr. Conner continued as the Inuit male constantly nodded his head in agreement to the comments on his team of seven. “From what I know, all the other teams from other towns lack the ability to travel with the speed and vigor that your team has performed day after day.” 

“Thank you, sir,” The musher smiled, keeping his nervousness hidden. “I appreciate your kind words, and I’m sure the dogs do as well.”

“Yes, I’m sure they do,” The postmaster responded