leash, and Becca tightened it so it fit snugly. Becca took the other end of the leash and led Jenna through the pet flap. Jenna promised to keep her eyes closed and Becca tried not to show her guilt as the moon continued to look down and the wind ominously blew across the street.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Lilith had been trying not to nod off for an hour now. She still had that feeling that someone was watching her. Most likely, one of the dogs was only pretending to sleep. She could hear that one of their breaths was not as shallow and soft as the others, or maybe that was her own, she couldn’t tell anymore. She lowered her ears to try and make any of the others think that she was asleep, and she tried to calm her own breathing, but she still listened intently. Finally after a few moments, she felt a little more at ease as the quick breathing had faded away. She rose as slowly as she could, her body still stiff from her previous position. She heard a bone crack, and she suddenly stopped. She frantically looked over each dog, and continued her ascent and she saw no suspicious movements. She turned herself around at a slowness that seemed grueling to her. She inched herself towards the hole in the barn, and made sure to watch her footing when she almost knocked over a barrel. She finally made it out of the barn, and now she could breath easier.

Lilith walked down the lane, keeping an eye out for any movement. As she gazed at the moon, she felt a sudden pricking on the back of her neck. She knew that feeling anywhere… Someone was watching her again. But she was going to try and stay calm. She knew that if she displayed her feelings, it would only make things much worse for her. So despite her fears, she pushed on, trying to hold her composure. She saw the sign from earlier, and this house that spelled sanctuary for her. She looked over her shoulder and then up and down the street. Spying no one, she walked into the building.

“Ah Sister! I’m glad you could make it!” called a voice that made her feel at home.

“Oh Burt! It was so horrible to be away for so long!” she said, nearly crying.

“And what about me Lilith? Have you forgotten about me?”

Her features hardened slightly as she heard this second voice. She stepped back from Burt and sat down.

“How could I forget about you Hal? You’re humor is always so nice to hear,” she smiled slightly, forcing cheeriness into it.

Burt sensed the tension between the two and tried to quickly change the subject.

“Alright… so now that you have returned Sister, what news do you bear? Anything of importance?”

She nodded her head. “Yes. I was taken on the sled team back to Nome because of our guest, and there I did meet our brother. He told me that he’s already set his plans into motion there, but he didn’t give me much instruction for what we should do here. I think he only wants us to try and get Star to our side, just like he is trying with the other sled dog he has captive.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be hard with a little… persuasion,” Hal chortled as he hopped from his chair and flashed his white teeth.

“We have to be craftier though. I don’t think brute force alone will be enough to successfully turn one against his own teammates.”

Hal stared at Burt for a moment before rolling his eyes, “You always have to play it safe, don’t you? What’s the harm in a little fun?”

“All in good time, all in good time. We just have to be more strategic about this. You can have your fun later.”

Hal huffed impatiently and then there was silence, more of an awkward pause.

“…Well, how’ll we do this then?” Lilith asked, trying to start conversation anew.

“Hm, how about we first ask him if he’ll join us, just to give him an option. Then we’ll-” Burt suddenly cut off mid-sentence, perking his ears up.

The others had heard it too. Breathing that wasn’t theirs, the crunch of snow, and also smells that didn’t belong to them. Burt nodded at Hal and Lilith, and they both began to do a search out of each window. Burt leaned his head near the open hole that they used for their entrance, and frowned. He silently padded to the others and whispered something into their ears. He covered his mouth with his paw as he gave a small indication of where to go. One by one they walked up a creaky flight of stairs. They had moved Star to an upper room just in case. Burt started to talk again, making sure that he could be heard.

“So, as you pointed out, that won’t do at all. I say we brainstorm.”

Burt opened the door and held it open as Burt and Lilith filed in, and then walked in also before slamming the door shut with a kick. And just as they had expected, they heard multiple footsteps entering the house. They saw Star sprawled out on the floor with a patchy blanket underneath him. Burt poked Star and saw the dog nearly fly into the air. And as soon as he opened his mouth, Burt had already shut it again, shaking his head in a disapproving manner. They listened closer as they heard footfalls inching up the staircase and towards them.

“To the office,” Burt whispered in a hushed tone.

He walked Star over to the window and motioned Burt and Lilith over as well. They carefully opened up the window, not letting any sounds escape. Star now heard the sounds and looked like he was about ready to say something.

“Don’t say a thing,” he hissed, “if they hear you, or us, they’ll kill us all. And I’m not joking either.”

Star now looked even more frightened, and he took a huge gulp, but didn’t say a word. After the window had finally opened, Burt led Star onto the window’s edge and looked to his left. There was a stack of crates, barrels, and other things that made a staircase of sorts to the roof. Burt had done this multiple times, but never leading someone like this. A few times, Star almost fell off, but Burt and Hal were able to hold him in time. Lilith was the most reluctant, for she also had a slight fear of heights, but she too made it too the top, after shutting the window back down tight of course. Burt looked across the rooftops and saw the way they sparkled as the moon shown off the snow. He didn’t see any other dogs on any roofs, so he breathed a sigh of relief. The roof they were on was in the middle of two telegraph poles, so the wire hung down the lowest here. Hal walked over to the wire and saw a frozen patch hanging on it and smiled, admiring their handiwork Burt walked to the edge of the roof with which he knew the Telegraph Office was closest to. He looked down into the alley below between this house and the next and frowned once more. There were dogs patrolling down there. He turned to Star, seeing him in no condition to jump, or really run for that matter. He walked up to him and kept a straight face.

“Hop onto my back. You have to trust me, because I’m sure you want to live like we do.”

Star was hesitant. Could he really believe these dogs? After all, they had always treated him like dirt before. But he couldn’t really think about this now. He was fearful of what would happen if they really were telling the truth. Then it wouldn’t matter because he wouldn’t live another day.

“Alright,” he whispered, but his voice sounded croaky from its under use.

Burt smiled as he knelt down into the snow and Star climbed on. He nodded at Lilith, and she looked at him nervously. She walked up to the edge of the roof and then backed away slowly before suddenly sailing over the gap and clearing it easily. Hal went next and made it as well. Burt backed up farther than the other two had and got the best running start that he could before lowering himself and springing into the air. He landed just short of the edge, only his front half landing. He dug his claws through the snow and into the shingles below him. He hissed quietly as Star had tried to grab his collar and had also bitten the scruff of his neck quite hard. Hal and Lilith quickly came to the rescue. Both stood on either side and hoisted Star off of Burt first, which was the most difficult part as they almost lost him the first time. Finally they dragged Burt onto the roof. He was panting heavily from their near exposure and injury. They waited a few minutes to calm down and repeated the same process three more times, except without nearly falling.

“Well, now what?” Hal whispered.

They had finally reached the telegraph office’s roof. Burt looked at the chimney and smiled. There wasn’t smoke coming out presently, and he knew what to do. He sat Star near the chimney.

“Do you trust me Star?”

Star didn’t make any real movement for he was already worn out from there roof jumping.

“Close enough. Listen, I’m going to push you down this chimney, but I promise that you shouldn’t get hurt.”

He lifted Star by the scruff and set him on the edge. Star looked down into the black pit and then back at Burt, really questioning him now. But before Star could speak against it, he found himself falling down, and before he knew it, he landed. But not on ground. He felt his claws slipping through tiny holes.

“I take it you’ve landed already,” called down Burt, “you’re on a grating, just take a few steps around until you can find an opening, that way you’re not in my way when I come down. Just tell me when.”

Star started to walk and bumped into a wall, and sneezed when snoot entered his nose. After some trial and error, he finally felt an opening and called back up to Burt, who then fell down shortly after. Soon Hal and Lilith dropped in behind him. It was pitch black in this small area, and no one could see, but Burt took the lead, speaking to help guide them.

“Yeah, my owner built that grating to keep falling snow from smothering our fire, and he built a small stairway up here so he could clean it when needed. It goes down from the attic through both floors. We’ll be able to reach the back yard from here.”

They followed him silently as the ceiling slanted down with them as they descended. When

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