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And Aleu was just gone, the line snapped and frayed where she should have been at the front of the pack.
She remembered the way the wind had thrown the dog and swallowed down the hard lump in her throat. Her feisty, bossy Aleu.
Gone.
No. She couldn’t mourn now. She had five other healthy dogs that needed her and a sixth missing along with one frustrating, fascinating man. She would mourn when they were all safe.
Even as she had the thought, she felt tears freezing on her cheeks. She swiped them away, told herself to stop, and followed the gangline back to Norte and Diggy. They were the wheel dogs, the pullers closest to the sled, so the sled should be…
She spotted a lump of snow that didn’t look like a natural land formation. As she got closer, she saw the edge of a ski poking through. Yes! Now she had to keep her fingers crossed that the wind hadn’t damaged it beyond repair.
She trudged over and started digging it out when a low warning growl from underneath had her pausing. She knew that growl and relief loosened the knot in her throat. “Aleu?”
A pink-tipped white nose poked through the snow. Two wary blue eyes followed and eyed her suspiciously for a moment.
“It’s me, sweetheart.” She reached out carefully, slowly, and rubbed Aleu’s ear. “Are you protecting the sled? That’s a good girl. Let me see.”
Aleu clambered to her feet and limped forward, favoring her left front paw. Oh, shit. That wasn’t good. Aleu was the best runner on the team and now she was hurt.
Bree reached for the paw, intending to check the damage, but stopped short. Someone had already wrapped Aleu’s leg with a scarf. Her gaze shot to the hole the dog had made in the snow when she stood up. The sled had tipped up on its side, forming a kind of shelter. Inside, she found a red and white furball—Moonbeam curled up next to her favorite person.
“Ellis!” She started digging faster, dragging away handfuls of snow and ice. He didn’t move and terror flashed hot, then arctic cold through her. He couldn’t be dead. He’d saved her dogs yet again. If that had cost him his life she’d never forgive herself. “Ellis! Talk to me. I’m here. I’m right here.”
She’d made Aleu’s hole big enough to squirm through. Moonbeam gazed at her with sad eyes and she flashed back to the horror stories she’d heard of mushers who froze to death and how their loyal dogs stayed by their side until their paws froze to the earth.
That wasn’t the case here.
It couldn’t be.
She gently tugged on what was left of Moonbeam’s harness. “C’mon, girl. Let me look at him.”
Moonbeam resisted. She had to drag the dog away. Ellis was too pale, but when she yanked off her mitten to check for a pulse, his eyes opened.
“Bree?”
“Yes, it’s me. How are you?”
“Aleu’s hurt.” His words slurred.
“I know. I saw. How areyou?”
“I tried…to fix her. Don’t think it’s broken, but without X-ray…” He trailed off, seemed to mentally wander away.
“Hey!” She snapped her fingers in front of his face and his gaze re-focused. “Hey, you stay with me, Ellis Hunter. I’ll get both you and Aleu to doctors, but you have to stay with me.”
“I can’t feel… anything. I don’t think that’s a good sign.”
“Yeah, it’s bad, but we’ll be okay. I’m going to dig us out of here and get us to Solitaire.” She reached over him and groped around until she found the buckles for the straps still holding the gear to the sled. Either her hands weren’t working as well as she wanted, or the buckles had frozen. Maybe both. She had to punch at them with the side of her fist to get them to release. The sled groaned and creaked. Without the weight of the gear holding it up on its side, it fell back into the snow, sending up a cloud of the white stuff.
Ellis winced as he was uncovered and she called Moonbeam— who hovered like a worried mother— back over to lay beside him. Aleu limped to his other side and nuzzled in as well.
Her heart swelled. She loved these animals. “Looks like you made a new friend.”
He reached up with a shaky hand and stroked Aleu’s head. “We’ve come to an understanding.”
Aleu laid her head on his chest and narrowed her icy eyes at Bree.What are you waiting for, human? He’s in trouble.
If she wasn’t mistaken, her lead dog was ordering her to get digging. “Yes, ma’am.” She found a shovel in the pile of loose gear and did just that. Diggy joined in, living up to his name.
