A Shot in the Dark

"I wish I was back at Balto's house," Chipper muttered as he paced around the tent. This was his second night in the camp, and already he was tired of it. "At least there a warm bed. Good food. A warm bed. Yeah, I'd give anything for a warm bed. My paws are cold, my ears are cold, my nose is cold, my tail is cold . . ."

"Chipper! Go to bed, Son, the rest of us are trying to sleep," Dash moaned.

"I'm too cold to go to sleep," Chipper argued.

Dash raised his head. "You can curl up between your mother and me if you stop chattering."

"I can't help chattering, Dad. It's freezing in here."

"You know what I mean. So come over here and get some shuteye."

Chipper crawled in between his parents and closed his eyes. Then he stood again, turned a bit, and lay down again. Still unable to get comfortable, he stood again.

"Chipper! Go to sleep!"

Chipper lay down immediately and stayed in one place until he was sure his father was asleep again. This just isn't going to work. He stood slowly, hopped over his sleeping parents, and walked outside the tent. Stupid humans. They argue and we dogs get the short end of the stick. He began to walk around camp, looking for anyplace that appeared warmer than his current location. Suddenly, he fell through the snow with a startled yelp. He jumped out when his feet landed on something furry.

A gray husky stuck his head out of the hole. "Hey! Find your own bed!"

"I . . . I . . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean to . . ."

"You heard what I said! Scram!"

Chipper backed up, still offering apologies, only to fall through the snow again.

"What the . . . Hey! Get out of here!"

Chipper tried another direction, but fell through another hole. "Hey ya stupid city mutt! Get lost!"

Completely flustered, Chipper made a dash toward the camp, but again found himself on something soft. "What the . . ." A white female husky quickly jumped up at the same time as Chipper. "Some nerve you've got! It took me ten minutes to finish this nest!"

"I 'm sorry. I didn't mean to . . . I mean, I'm just trying to get back to camp."

"What are you doing out here in the first place?"

"Just trying to keep warm."

The husky shook her head. "Southlanders don't belong in the Yukon."

"Try telling that to my human," he muttered.

She backed up a few steps and gave him a once-over. "You're kinda cute for a city dog, but I don't think that'll help you much with some of the guys around here. I'm afraid you've walked into a bit of an icetrap. If you want to keep the peace, not to mention your skin, you'd better wait until morning before heading across."

Chipper's face fell. "But what am I supposed to do until then?"

The female frowned. "Well . . . say, what's your name, anyway?"

"Chipper."

"Well, Chipper. I'd feel bad if I got you killed, so it appears that I have no choice but to let you stay here tonight. My name's Alyline. Ali for short."

"Thanks a lot Ali! I really appreciate this. I promise I won't bother you."

"A little late for that, don't you think?" Before he could reply, she curtly nodded at the hole. "Go on, now. Hop in."

He walked over to her nest, but as he prepared to climb in, he froze.

"Are you hard of hearing, Kid? I said to hop in. What's the holdup?"

Chipper stood for a moment, staring hard at the camp before shrugging. "Nothin'. I thought I saw something." Without further ado, he jumped into the hole, followed by Alyline. Within a few minutes, the hole was completely covered with snow, and both dogs were snug and warm inside. They didn't hear the muted noises, nor the pained yelp within the camp.


Dash awoke with a start. Something doesn't feel right. He sniffed the air, but even his sensitive nose was overwhelmed by the many odors of the camp so that he could not detect anything alien. Suddenly, he heard a cry of pain very close to their tent, and he was instantly on his feet, fur bristling.

Aurora rolled to her feet, crouched low. "What was that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was just . . ." Dash was cut off by the sound of a gunshot, quickly echoed by another. "Trouble."

Their human sat up sharply. "What on earth . . ."

A moment later, a man burst into their human's tent. "Mr. Ramsey! There's something you should probably see."

Ramsey arose and followed the worker, the two border collies tailing him. A small group of men were inspecting what was left of their supplies. Sacks that had once contained food were reduced to rags, their contents rent and scattered about. Ramsey shook his head. "How did this happen?"

The cook nodded at a torn sack of flour. Imprinted in the white powder were two perfectly preserved pawprints. Large, canine prints. "My guess is it's them wolves hereabouts. Ain't nothin' else makes prints like them 'cept sled-dogs. And they wouldn't've left that over there," he declared, pointing toward the back of the tent.

Ramsey slowly walked over and winced. Dash and Aurora peeked around his legs. Aurora gasped and Dash closed his eyes. One of the camp's sled-dogs was lying on the ground. His throat had been torn open. James turned his eyes away from the macabre sight. "I heard gunshots. Did anyone hit whatever did this?"

One worker, still holding his rifle, shrugged. "I think so, but I can't know for sure until morning."

"Let's get this mess cleaned up. Have someone guard the stores at night from now on." Ramsey paused before motioning toward the dead husky. "And take care of him."

The head foreman nodded. "You'd better keep an eye on those dogs of yours, too. If a husky can't handle a wolf, a southland dog certainly can't."

"Chipper!" Aurora quickly looked around. "Where's Chipper?"

A sickening dread came over Dash. "Let's check around. He's probably in camp somewhere." He tried to sound more confident than he felt.


Chipper was startled to awareness by the muted sound of gunfire. He opened his eyes and saw nothing but enclosing white snow. "What . . .? Where am I?! What . . .?!"

"Hey, Kid. Cool it. You're with me, remember?"

Chipper jerked his head around and felt a wave of relief wash over him when he saw the white husky. Now he remembered; Alyline had let him stay in her snow-nest. He sighed deeply and turned an apologetic glance at his host. "Sorry. I guess I woke you up, huh?"

She squeezed her eyes shut. "Nah, some idiot human in the camp must be doing his target practice earlier than usual. I should've been up an hour ago anyway." She immediately began digging at the top of hollow and with Chipper's help, broke through in a matter of seconds. They hopped out and shook the snow out of their fur.

Alyline cocked her head to one side. "What's your name again?"

"Chipper."

"That's what I thought. Sounds like someone's calling you," she said, nodding toward camp.

"Omigosh! My parents!" He started to run toward camp but slid to a halt and turned. "Thanks again."

"No problem. Drop in on me anytime . . . just try not to drop in on me next time." As Chipper bolted toward camp, Alyline shook her head. "Tenderfeet," she muttered.


"Chipper!" Aurora called. She looked around anxiously. "He's not answering, Dash! Where could he be? Chipper!"

Both cocked their heads, listening intently for any reply. They were so absorbed that they didn't hear Chipper run up behind them.

Chipper stared at them quizzically for a moment. "What are you listening to?"

Both jumped and spun around. "Chipper! You're all right!" Aurora exclaimed, nuzzling her son. "We were so worried!"

Chipper pulled away. "Worried? What for?"

Dash frowned at him. "For a lot of reasons, namely because we had an agreement. No wandering alone, remember? Where were you?"

After he explained the situation, Dash was shaking his head. "Now you see what I meant when I told you not to go wandering around if you don't know the territory? From now on, I want you to stay in camp at night." He held up a paw to stem any protests. "Something broke into the stores and killed a dog. We aren't sure, but it may be a wolf, and if that's the case, we need to stay as close to humans as possible. Wolves don't usually attack them."

Chipper frowned. So much for any fun around here.