“I’ve done it before… one more time couldn’t hurt”

                        “Do you want me to take you to the boiler room?” Mindy asked. “You look a little cold”

I studied her curiously but she looked away with a half smile. But I was cold…

“Okay” I shrugged.

She beamed at me and pranced off. I shook off, purposely a little too close to Dixieand followed after.

 

            Mindy pushed the door open for me and I gratefully hurried in. I collapsed in front of the heater with a sigh and let it warm me up. After paddling around in ice water, it felt good.

            “So… um, where did you say you were from? I don’t think you ever told us”

I opened my eyes. Mindy was still there.

“The wild” I said flatly.

Mindy shuffled her paws around awkwardly.

            “Well… um… what about your family?”

I clenched my jaw and rested my head back on the ground.

“I don’t have one” I growled softly.

            “Oh- I’m sorry” she stammered, taken aback.

Emotion started to swell up inside me but I wasn’t about to let it leak.

“Do you have a family?”

            “No, not now at least” she began. “I didn’t want to for a long time, but after Jenna and Balto had pups, it seems like all I want is a family”

I nodded and set my head back down on the floor.

            “Actually, I’m looking for a mate now…”

That was it. I was warm enough.

“I think Balto’s probably wondering where I am” I muttered. “I should probably go before he sends out a search party”

I hustled out of the boiler room, but the image of Mindy’s distraught face stayed plastered in the back of my head.

 

 

            The next morning was extremely different from any other day I had spent in Nome. First of all, Balto had finally freed me of my feathered babysitter so I could walk alone in peace. But when I passed in front of the general store, Dixieand her tall friend caught me off guard.

            “See, I told you Sylvie, heroism runs in the family!” Dixiescreeched happily.

I moaned at her high pitched voice but turned to them.

“What are you talking about?!” I spat.

            “Well you’re a hero now!” she swooned. “Balto saved our kids and you saved Taffy, Andy and Mini!”

“I’m not a hero” I growled. “And before I was a hero, you treated me like a disease”

Sylvie and Dixie exchanged glances before Dixie started to go off again about something. The only thing I could think about was how painful her voice was. With a smothered moan, I jogged away, shaking my head furiously. I only relaxed when I was out of earshot of that horrible voice. But something strange was beginning to happen…

Andy, the pup I had saved a few nights ago yipped a hello happily and I ignored him. I walked past two more small dogs on a leash and both smiled and batted their eyes. I glanced nervously at them and picked up my pace. A few sled dogs that were being hooked up smiled and wagged their tails at me. Any normal dog or wolf would have taken this as a good thing and soaked it up. Not me. That was exactly what I didn’t want to be.

The more dogs that smiled at me or greeted me, the faster I went along until I was sprinting. My breaths came faster and finally, I dived into an alleyway and hid behind some trash cans. I didn’t want to be liked… I hated myself and that meant that everyone else should too. Something rustled inside the trash can next to me and made the whole thing shake. I stepped away from it cautiously but the can yipped. Rolling my eyes, I lifted the lid off the can.

            “Boy did I think I was in trouble for a second there!” came Andy’s voice. “I musta been in that trashcan for at least an hour!”

I didn’t have enough time to tolerate Andy. Peering cautiously around the corner, I waited until there were no dogs around so I could walk in piece.

            “Whater you doin?” Andy asked.

“Trying to avoid other dogs… especially ones that talk a lot”

Not taking the hint, the little grey and white pup circled back around to the trashcan.

            “The next time they come around I’ll pound em!”

“Wait a second… did someone throw you in there?”

            “Of course I was Buckles”

I stared at him and he grinned sheepishly.

            “I mean Buck” he said quietly.

“Who threw you in the trashcan” I asked flatly.

            “Agro”

“Led the way” I said.

Not needing to be told twice, Andy took off through the alleys and I followed at an easy jog. No need to rush and chances were, Agro was just another pup that needed to be taught a lesson. Instead, I found myself being led once again to the edge of town.

“Does your mother even bother watching you?”

            “It’s boring in town, so I run away”

I shook my head. Eventually, we reached the last house on the main street and Andy pointed. On the porch sat the scruffiest looking dog I had ever seen. But it wasn’t the dog that caught my attention. The chair next to the dog contained a human, but there was something so familiar about the man. He sat in his chair and must have been watching me for a while. I narrowed my eyes and wracked my brain. I had only seen humans so many times but now that I lived in a town full of them, it was hard to separate faces.

            “So are you gonna beat him up?” Andy asked hopefully.

“Let’s get out of here now” I ordered.

Andy scurried away but I stayed behind to get one last look at the man. His right hand rested on a gun. Shivers ran down my spine and I remembered the last time I had a run in with a gun. Standing there was just another excuse to shoot, so I slowly backed away then dashed down an alleyway. I had almost made it to the other side of town when I finally glanced over my shoulder just to make sure nothing was following me. But when I turned back around, it took all my effort to stop from hitting the owner of two amber eyes. I slid to a stop just in time from hitting Mindy.

            “Buck!”

“Hey Mindy!” I said with fake enthusiasm, slowly backing away.

            “Stay where you are”

Not used to taking orders, I froze only because she thought she was in charge! Then her gaze softened.

            “I just wanted to say sorry about last night”

                        “What happened last night!?” Andy yipped, returning inconveniently.

“Scram pup!”

            “Nothing happened!”

Andy didn’t know what to make of it, so Mindy and I resumed our conversation.

“In five years, no one will remember, including me or you”

I turned to walk away but that little red husky wouldn’t give up. She jumped right in my path and braced herself. I studied her.

“You really think I couldn’t just knock you down right now?” I asked curiously.

            “I know you wouldn’t” she stated boldly.

I smirked and narrowed my eyes.

            “Something happened to you and I’m not going to give up until I find out what-”

“Until then, I’ll see ya” I said, cutting her off and spinning around.

Mindy bit her lip but determinedly hurried after me. I rolled my eyes.

            “Well you were from the wild, but you came here even though you hate it here. So something really bad and still there must be keeping you from going back”

“Actually, it’s starting to come back to me now! There was this annoying little dog out there who wouldn’t leave me alone so I had to escape!” I snorted. “Too bad it didn’t work” I added under my breath.

Mindy ignored me and thought silently.

“And you were upset your first night here so something sad must have happened too!”

That was as close as I was going to let her get.

Like Balto had showed me, I leapt from a few trashcans, onto a fence and

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