we taken to Alaska? Why can’t we get explanations? And why can’t people mind their own business instead of stealing others possessions?!”

“Calm down. Look, we can’t do anything about this, Buck. Humans-apparently- rule the world.”

“I know. It’s just, it all came on so fast. A week ago I thought I would live at my owner’s place forever. But now I’m in Alaska doing who knows what!”

“Shh. They’re talking again.”

“Alright, I’ll go get the boat ready while you get the other dogs.”

“Okay. C’mon guys.” The man took both our leashes and pulled us.

“Okay, seriously, how do you LIVE with this?!” Curly asked as we were walking. She was trying to claw her leash free.

“I’ve lived with it my whole life. And I turned out fine.”

“Your version of “fine” is a lot different than my version, Buck. But you really let humans pull you like this?”

“My old owner never pulled me, he just tugged and I would automatically come along.”

“You house dogs…”

“You street dogs…”

Then Curly and I started laughing as we finally got into town. After that we just stared with amazement, but mostly horror.

This small Alaskan town was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I thought it was going to be someplace where people are smiling and happy, but I was dead wrong.

This place was full of people all right, but definitely not smiling and happy. They looked tough looking, mean, grim people, especially the men. And the dogs…

The dogs were the worst part! Some of them looked almost exactly like Curly when she was in her frenzy. Some looked like they were going to die any second. But the majority of them, just plain mean, like their owners. None were happy. Now I was afraid I was going to turn into those kinds of dogs while being in this town. I didn’t even want to know what was going through Curly’s mind when she saw this.

We were astounded. Was this going to be our new life? Is this our fate? What did we do wrong? So many questions!

Luckily, we were out of that horrible town as quickly as we came in. And we went to the docks. Looks like we were going for a ship ride now. I’ve never been on a ship before, so I was a little nervous at first. Curly didn’t seem to mind, though. I guess if you’ve gone through your family’s death, you can get through anything.

Soon, everything was loaded and ready to go. But where? Was this trip ever going to end? I don’t know if I’ll ever be alive for the answer!

“Guys! Come here!” One of our new masters called as the ship was leaving the dock. His name was Francisco, as I learned recently. Curly and I padded to him and he patted our heads.

“I’ve got some new friends for you to meet. They’re coming up right now. So be good.” After that he left for the other dogs. What do these men want with all these dogs? I’m sure he doesn’t want us all as pets. I guess I’d find out.

In a short minute, two dogs came up from the stairs, one wearing a magnificent collar, and one wearing nothing. The dog wearing the fancy collar was pure white, and looked very regal. The other one looked kind of lazy and bored, ready to pass out. He seemed like he was a reddish-brown husky.

Both dogs were looking at us like they just saw something utterly gross. They probably looked at Curly first (jk).

I waved my paw hello to be nice, but I don’t think they noticed.

“So, this is all our owners could afford? Must be a slow week.” The white one said.

Well that was rude. I thought.

“Lets just get something straight, mutts. And since you’re newbies, I’ll say this slowly: I. Am. The. Leader. You do what I say, and no one gets hurt. Got it?!” His face was at mine and Curly’s at that part. We both nodded, scared.

“Okay. But just remember: I’m watching you…” Then he walked away and back down the stairs as the boat was finally leaving the dock. I looked at the other dog.

“What’s his problem?”

“Eh. He’s just consumed all of that power of being the leader. I’m Dave by the way. And the white one is Spitz.”

“What’s Spitz the leader of anyway?” Curly asked.

“Oh. I thought you knew. Oh well. You’re on a dogsled team now. Spitz is lead dog and I’m at the wheel. You guys will probably be in the middle.”

“A sled dog team?” I repeated. “You mean we’ll be attached to a sled and be forced to carry things from one town to another?”

“Yep. Sound like fun?”

“Not really. Doesn’t that hurt, carrying really heavy things for about whatever miles?” Curly asked Dave.

“Well you won’t be carrying it yourself.”

“I know, but how much weight is actually on that sled?”

Dave shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“By the way, Dave, Do you know where we’re going?” I had to ask.

“Geez, you guys ask so many questions, and I don’t know that either. Sorry.”

“No that’s fine, I’m just curious. I’ll know when I get there.”

“So Dave, when do we start dog sledding?” Curly asked Dave. She seemed a bit excited when she asked it, too, like she wanted to do back-breaking work.

“Stop with the questions! And it’s after we land in Yukon.”

“When?”

Dave gave them a mean face, but he answered anyway. “About a day or two, maybe. We’ll never know what could happen at sea.”

Curly nodded, done with questions.

But I wasn’t. I still had millions left! Why exactly are we here? Why are we stolen from our homes and be forced to work? Why do they need dogs from places like California anyway? I just had to know.

“Well, it’s getting pretty late. It’s probably been a long day for you hasn’t it?” Dave looked at us.

“Yeah. It’s really been a rough week.” I answered. Curly stayed silent.

“Okay, so I’ll show you the bedroom and you can get some shut-eye.”

We both nodded and followed Dave down the stairs, below deck. The bed room was a bit shabby, like in movies you see when they show the old lower deck of a boat- wooden walls, barrels full of who knows what, stacks of bags everywhere, and it gets pretty dark, too. The only difference is the small pile of pillows in the far corner of the room. Actually one big pile and one small one. Spitz was already sleeping on the small pile.

“Spitz doesn’t like to share.” Dave pointed out. “The big pile is for the rest of us.”

“Well that’s pretty mean. Shouldn’t you do something about this?” Curly asked.

“I tried. He broke a bone in my leg and I couldn’t walk for a week. Never doing that again!”

Both Curly and I gasped lightly.

“I can’t believe he would do such things to you. Does his owner know?” I asked.

“Apparently not. Everyone in almost all the towns of Alaska loves him. They think he’s so sweet and kind and gentile and blah blah blah… He’s famous for being the leader of a great team a while ago, but mostly because of his collar. There are only 15 of those in Alaska AND Canada! That shows he’s a heck of a sled dog, but to me, just a jerk.”

“Aww man. I’m sorry.” Curly said to him.

“Don’t worry about it. I got used to it over time. But I feel sorry for you. Because he’ll start being a jerk to you in a matter of days. He gives newbies probably a week to get used to things, then he strikes! But let’s not talk about that right now. I’m probably going to ruin your week. Let’s just go to bed.”

Curly and I nodded and we all walked to the pile of pillows. Curly and I got the softest because we were new and this was sort of a welcome present. But soon after Curly and Dave were fast asleep, I lie awake thinking. This was my home now, my family, my life. Judge Miller and I are now just a memory packed away deep in my thoughts, locked. And now I’m the servant of a great hero who is apparently a jerk.

CHAPTER 6: A New Way of Life

For the next few days, we stopped in various places around Alaska to run around and play. Spitz never gave Curly and I any trouble…yet. Dave gave us a quick run through of dog sledding just to give us and idea of what it’s going to be like. Curly probably thought it was going to be fun just by looking at her expression. But for me, this was a punishment for doing absolutely nothing. Curly always tries to perk me up, get me to practice with her when we dock. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I was not going to like this when we land for the final time.

And that time had finally come at last.

That day Dave got up early to see what our masters were doing and they said they spotted their destination! Curly and Dave shouted with glee when he told all of us. Spitz was happy, but an evil kind of happy. I was a bit joyful, but only because we’re finally getting off this stupid boat. But a bit nervous and angry as well. I never wanted to do dog sledding and I don’t want to now, but Curly always said it was now our way of life, and we can’t deny it. I, annoyingly, took her word when we finally landed. And I was ready for training, even though I never wanted to be. The minute we landed our masters got the sled ready. There were two sleds, one for training and the other for the real thing. The training sled was a little smaller, I guess lighter, but still looked heavy. But it also had nothing on it,