Nov. Bargain, Part the Third, Subpart J.

[camwyn]

They’d long since left the encounter with the wolf behind them when Louise noticed that the cold was starting to seep through her mittens. Well, no surprise there. By her best estimate, they’d put a good fifteen miles or more behind them. No thanks to the trail, mind you. There’d been more than a few places where the path had all but petered out, only to be picked up again meandering through the trees somewhere. Once she’d had to close her eyes and just hope Bear could follow the trail, since she couldn’t see any signs of it any more. Inspector Harper had warned her that might happen. The past few weeks had seen more than a few spates of bad weather, just the sort of thing to confuse even the most seasoned of mushers. She had no illusions on that front. It was time to find a place to pull aside and wait.

The dogs seemed to share her desire, yelping joyfully and veering off to the left side of the trail as she called, “Come haw!” She anchored the sled and unhitched the dogs; Campion promptly flopped to the ground, refusing to move. For a moment Louise wondered if she’d driven the team too hard. Then she saw the twitching of the white dog’s tail, and smiled to herself. She stepped out of the Siberian’s way just in time – an instant later he pounced, catching Moose unawares. The two dogs went sprawling, rolling over and over through the snow.

Louise just shook her head and reached for Bear’s paw. For all that the black-and-white lead dog ran well, he'd still managed to get quite a bit of ice and snow between the toes. She tsk'ed to herself- should've seen that coming- and worked free what she could. It was slow going; the dog was fidgety (probably wanted to join the wrestling two) and the air too cold for her to safely take off a mitten. It occurred to her that booties might not be the worst idea in the world for sled dogs, assuming they'd put up with the things for long. Bear, she knew, would most likely try to chew them off if he weren't kept running. As for Campion or Moose-

Come to think of it, she couldn't hear either of them any more. Louise dropped Bear's last paw and got up, brushing the snow from her knees. "Moose?" she called. "Moose, where are you, boy?"

Nothing.

"Campion? Come on, now, you two, quit playing."

Still nothing. Sighing, Louise looked down to Bear. "Come on, you," she said. "I'm not going after them by myself."

The problem with a good dog team, reflected Louise as she and Bear plunged into the woods, was that the dogs had spirit. Campion and Moose had run off after each other, occasionally stopping to tussle, if the tracks and smashed snow were anything to go by. Unfortunately, it hadn't snowed in a few days. The snow on the forest floor was covered with a thin crust of ice, broken not only by her dogs' feet but by the feet of every hare, wolf, and other creature to live in these parts. Figuring out which marks belonged to her dogs was slow going. By the time Louise caught up with them, sprawled on the ground beneath a twisted, scrawny spruce tree, she was wishing devoutly that she'd had the sense to bring snowshoes. "There you are!" she cried, diving at Campion and grabbing his collar. "Bad dog! Both of you, very bad dogs! Don't ever do that to me again!"

If it hadn't been for Bear, she wouldn't have been able to get back to the sled. Campion whined piteously and hung limply in his collar. Moose didn't want to come along at all. Only the lead dog's growls and occasional snap at Moose's hindquarters got the other husky moving, and even with Bear's help it was still slow going. The Siberian eventually grew tired of being dragged, struggling to get his paws on the ground, but Louise wasn't falling for it. "Campion," she said firmly, "I will let go of you the instant you're in harness, and not a moment before."

Somewhere behind her, Moose let out a short, sharp bark. Louise glanced over her shoulder, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just Bear, nipping his teammate's flank. She turned her attention back to the unhappy Siberian. "We'll get back to the sled much more quickly if you quit struggling. You know, for someone who doesn't like being hauled around, you sure don't make this any easier on yourself!"

He didn't listen, of course, but she felt better for having said it.

Moose and Bear kept on barking at each other as she slogged the last few yards through the frozen woods. The sight of her sled, untouched, left her with a sharp pang of gladness mixed with something else. Almost she paused to look for fresh tracks, to see if she'd missed another dog team during her impromptu hunt- but Campion chose that moment to start struggling again. Wishing like mad that she hadn't been brought up not to swear, she contented herself with dragging the dog back to the anchored sled. "Come- on- you- there! There we are, you'll stay with me and like it!"

Moose barreled out of the trees, Bear hot on his heels. Dreading another wild goose chase, Louise lunged at him. She missed the collar, but got hold of the wheel dog's tail. The force of his charge sent her sprawling into the snow, tangling the sled's traces around her - but she didn't let go. Moose came to an abrupt stop, barking furiously. "Shut up!" she cried, desperately trying to wriggle free. "Just- just- you be quiet, Moose!" To her horror, Campion joined in, dancing wildly in the traces as he tried to get around Louise and jump at the other dog. With a heroic effort, she managed to writhe free of the straps and snatch Moose's collar, but she couldn't push the white dog away in time to avoid another tussle. "STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!" she screamed.

The echo of her voice through the empty forest would have shocked her, had there been any echo at all. As it was, the snow swallowed the sound and faded her words into silence. Only Bear's tense, fierce growl could be heard as the other dogs fell quiet. Louise didn't stop to think about it. She was too busy being grateful for the little respite as she worked herself free and roughly strapped the wheel dog into place. When she came around to Bear, he didn't fight her, but he didn't much seem to want to move, either. "Oh, don't you start," she muttered. "I don't see what-"

And then she stopped, because she did see. The sky back in the direction of Dawson City was all but black with cloud, save where the haze of dropping snow blurred the horizon to grayish-white. if it even starts to look like the storm’s arrived and I haven’t found him yet. . .

"No," she whispered. "Oh, no- Bear, come on!" She tugged frantically at the big dog's collar, but he only growled. "Yes, I know," she murmured. "I can see the storm, Bear, it's all right." Inside she was kicking herself for having let the dogs loose in the first place. If she hadn't been that foolish, she might've been able to get a bit farther, might've found the Sergeant. She could've just let the dogs rest for a while and gone on further before the storm hit. Now she was going to have to make it back to town on her own, without anything to show for her troubles.

She had just managed to haul the big malemute around and buckle him into his harness when all three of the dogs broke out in frantic barking. Alarmed, she whirled around.