SNOWSWEPT

by CuddleFae

Dr. Lauren Lewis has been assigned to oversee the opening of a new hospital. Overwhelmed by all there is to know and learn in an unfamiliar land, she crosses paths with a mysterious woman with a dark past - a past that has caused her to live by one rule. Trust no one. Thrown into a desperate struggle, can they overcome the barriers between them in their fight to survive?

40. Chapter 40: Iditarod, Part 1

A/N: A note about the Iditarod chapters that follow. Some of you have been very interested in the "real" Iditarod, so you should know that I've taken liberties with the race rules to keep key characters involved in the story.

For example, mushers are required to tend to their own dogs, but Bo will have help from her "team". There are other rules I'm breaking in this story, but hey – that's why they call it fiction, right?

Sorry for the long absence – needed some sick time. All better so let's get to it with TWO long chapters!

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Chapter 40: The Iditarod, Part 1

Race Morning, Bo's camp

The small group of family and friends stood watching, unsure of exactly what was happening.

"Does she always do that?" Kate asked.

Kyle shook her head, "Not in all the years I've been here working this race with her."

"Well, you've been here the longest, so that's definitely… something new," Tamsin said.

"Maybe she's stretching," LJ suggested.

"Did she take up yoga?" Shannon asked.

Tamsin laughed, "Bo? Yoga? Are you kidding me?"

Shannon scowled, snapping her reply, "What? Yoga is a healthy form of exercise that can help to clear one's mind and ready the body for action!"

Tamsin shook her head, "Such a nurse."

"Fuck you, Tamsin."

"Fuck you, Shannon!"

"Hey! That's enough! Both of you!" Molly said, her eyes on Bo once again as she spoke, "I've seen her Mom do this."

Tosh's eyes widened as he remembered, "I think she's praying… the old way."

"Bo? Praying?" Tamsin laughed before receiving sharp elbows to the ribs on either side by both Kyle and Carolyn.

"Owa!" She said grabbing her ribs while Shannon smirked with delight.

"The old way?" Carolyn asked, scowling at her partner who immediately straightened her expression.

"The Athabascan way… to The Spirits. Remember, my mom was half Athabascan," Tosh said, his voice almost a whisper, "Listen to her – it's not English."

"You're correct, Tosh. It is an Athabascan Spirit prayer," Lauren said as she walked up to the group with Mary on her arm, "It was passed down from Bo's great, great, great grandmother."

"And we suspect, before her," Mary smiled.

Tosh raised his eyebrows, "Wow. Really? They've traced it back that far?"

Mary smiled, "Hey! I'm not that old, young man!"

Tosh laughed, wrapping his arm through Mary's free elbow and taking her hand, "You don't look a day over thirty, Mary. As a matter of fact, my beloved daughter-in-law was telling me a few days ago that you look younger than me."

Molly grinned, "Well, it's true."

Tosh nodded, "And Tamsin's jealous that I could be her twin."

"Hey!" Tamsin said, "I don't look a day over twenty and you're the one who's jealous. You look like you're pushing sixty from all that hard living you do, my friend."

LJ chuckled earning an elbow from Tosh, "Be careful, my dear grandson or you will find yourself living in Anchorage with a job at your father's General Store again."

LJ tugged his color up and shoved his hands into his pockets, "Sorry, Pops. You don't look a day over forty in my opinion."

Tamsin leaned over and whispered, "Kiss ass."

LJ whispered back, "Yea, well the last thing I want is to go back and work with my Dad."

Tamsin smiled, "He'd never send you back."

"Yea, well I'm not taking any chances."

Tosh shook his head, turning back to Mary, "So Bo did this as a child then?"

Mary nodded, "At least once a day. She had her first language lessons from her grandmother when she was only two."

"And you?"

Mary smiled, her mind filling with the wonderful memories of her youth,

"I knew my great, great grandmother. She lived to be one hundred-and-two-years young. She started speaking the language to me from birth as did every Matriarch who came after. Your sister was also taught from birth, though the language was lost to her during those… unfortunate years she spent on the run."

Mary scowled, shaking off her regrets before she continued with her eyes set firmly on her daughter,

"Now that her spirit has calmed, she's been remembering, and I've helped her along when requested. As you can see, she is particularly interested in reclaiming her relationship with The Great Spirits. Ysabeau speaks the prayer each morning before she visits the land. It is our family's custom," Mary explained.

"It's never been Bo's custom," Kyle replied.

Mary smiled, "Just because you haven't seen her perform this ritual prayer before does not mean she was not carrying it in her soul. Remember – there is much about your friend you still do not know for she is rediscovering herself. Be careful not to mistake her truths for your assumptions, Child."

Molly nodded, "We've all seen the changes in Bo and I, for one, am very happy for her. She smiles constantly now and if this keeps that smile from fading, who are we to question the practice just because we don't understand the culture or the faith."

Mary bowed her head to her friend, "Thank you, Child."

"We are not your blood, Mary but you are family and the Morton's will always support you and Bo. Big Jim did enough damage to your daughter by announcing her as a half-breed all those years. She and Rudy will never know such hatred from this family. It's ridiculous, after all - considering how many are born of mixed blood across the globe these days."

Carolyn agreed, "Shannie and I know how it feels to experience hate because of our lifestyle and beliefs. She will always have our support."

"Ditto," Kate added as Anna nodded beside her.

Shannie interjected, "Though we'll definitely have questions. Lots and lots of questions."

"Oh?" Mary asked.

Shannie shrugged, "I'm very curious…"

"We're very curious," Carolyn corrected, "What exactly is it that she's praying for… I mean… if you don't mind my asking?"

Mary smiled, listening to her daughter, "I don't mind, Dear. Your friend asks for their guidance, blessings, safety, wisdom, calm, courage and resilience. She asks for all of the things her Spirit animal can offer while she travels the lands of the ancestors of all species."

"Spirit animal?" Shannon asked.

Lauren smiled, pointing towards the large cedar tree to Bo's left, "That Bald Eagle has followed Bo since she was in the Yukon this past summer – possibly longer. You see, her father's Spirit animal was the symbol of death and destruction and after the attack on the clinic, Kyle's burns, the dogs, the assault on the house… well, Bo felt she was a danger to all of us – that it was her karma."

"That's why she left?" LJ asked, before it hit him, "And why she thought she was to blame that I went into the lake?"

Lauren nodded, "She also mentioned to me the money you all lost the first year you teamed with her for the Iditarod. She blamed it all on the evil that lived within her, passed on from her Father."

Mary explained, "However, since then, she has studied and learned that her true Spirit animal is that of the Matriarchal line – the eagle. It's the reason she came home from the Yukon. She's shed her belief that she is destined to bring death and destruction to all she meets."

"To all she meets? That's really what she thought?" Tosh asked.

Mary shrugged, "Did this town teach her otherwise?"

Mark shook his head, his voice rising though his head was low, "No. We didn't. Even now we're standing here in judgment of what she's doing. I believe there's a God up there of some kind. Don't reckon I know him at all, but one thing I do know is that I hope to hell he blesses the shit out of our Bo. She doesn't deserve anymore bad in her life… not when it was caused by her own damn family."

Molly could hear her husband choke out his final words as he quickly turned and walked away. Lately, he had been struggling with his role in Bo's past life. He knew there was nothing he could do to change the events of that time but living with himself had become increasingly difficult.

She turned when she heard the giggles of the two youngest crew members running from behind the truck of backup dogs. She smiled at the sight of Harper with little Snow following behind. They all laughed at the young pup disappearing into the deep snowdrifts as she tried to keep up with her friends. When they finally reached the trail, Snow shook off her coat and moved to stand between Bo's legs, sitting with her paws up as if mimicking the woman. Elise and Rudy quickly moved to either side of Bo and stretched their arms over their heads, joining her in prayer. Harper sat beside Bo as the whole group seemed to pray in unison.

"Well, how about that? I've never seen anything like it," Molly said, pulling her goggles atop her head, "Mary, did you teach Elise the prayer?"

Mary smiled and shook her head, "Not directly. She learned it from Rudy who learned it from Bo – with a little help from me when Bo couldn't remember the language. Though it's been many, many years since my daughter has practiced our faith she has quickly fallen back into the practice and explained to her two young charges that it calms and centers her when she's anxious. I believe Elise feels it does the same for her. Rudy has expressed as much to me which is why she has taken to the practice."

LJ nodded, "This is what Elise was talking about, Aunt Molly. This is what she was doing to keep the bear away from her dreams… to keep the image of her parents…"

"Of course," Molly nodded, the realization hitting her, "I just… Mary, we didn't know that this was…"

"I did," LJ said, drawing Molly's eyes to his own, "Sorry. I didn't know it was… well, this. I found her out on the balcony one night. She had come into my room to sleep with me after a bad dream about the bear. I woke up freezing my ass off and there she was, standing out on the balcony with her arms up just like that. I thought she was sleep walking or something. I thought maybe the language she was speaking was from her parents since I didn't recognize it."

Anna walked up behind Mary, "Will you teach me this so that I can better understand how to help your daughter?"

Mary smiled, "Of course, Child."

Kate knelt and Anna followed. Shannon noticed and asked, "Why are you kneeling?"

Anna shrugged, "If it's prayer time for Bo, it only seems fitting that we join her. Since we don't know or understand her faith, we'll pray the way our parents taught us even though we don't really practice organized religion anymore."

Kate smiled, "Of course, we would if there was a church that would accept us and marry us."

Mary smiled, "All are welcome in the house of the Great Spirits."

Anna looked surprised, "There's a church?"

Nodding, Mary smiled, "Bo's standing in it and so are we. We don't kneel before our Spirits. We stand and reach out to their energy, but you are welcome to do what feels most comfortable to you. I've always found it interesting that religions practice inside a house surrounded by statues of their figure heads. If their gods are truly all powerful and all knowing, but lack a physical body, why would you worship them inside? Without a body, don't they exist as energy around us?"

Kate smiled, standing up. She offered Anna a hand who smiled and stood beside her, "She's got a point."

Anna nodded, "She does."

They stood, arms locked, looking up to the sky as they sent out their prayers for Bo. The rest did the same, but Mary stepped forward and raised her arms overhead, joining Bo as she spoke the prayer repeatedly. Lauren smiled before joining Mary, the entire crew sending out their requests for blessings on their Champion to any being that might listen.

Mark turned from the campfire to see the group of family and friends. He lifted his eyes to the darkness of the sky and whispered,

"Whoever might be listening, please keep her safe. Please give her peace. Please give her back the dreams of a beautiful life that I helped to take from her. If you need to punish someone, punish me, but please – leave for Bo nothing but your love and blessings."

He wiped his eyes and moved to the truck to check on the work that Rudy and Elise had done. He would be sure that the dogs were secured and cared for, that Bo's sled was properly loaded for balance and that the lines were clear and clean. He would check that the schedules were on the clipboards for each team member and that the weather forecasts were updated. He knew Bo would recheck all of his work, but he would take no chances this year. When Bo left for the start line in the next hour, he would be sure she had the best possible chance for a successful and safe return.

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Iditarod, Start Line

Rudy sat in front of Mark on the tin dog, looking around at the excitement of the race start area. The only people permitted behind the barricade this year were the officials, security, staff, mushers, dogs, their race personnel and a handful of friends and family. While that meant a good sized group, she noted the streets were very empty compared to the pictures she'd seen online,

"Aren't there usually more people?" Rudy asked.

Mark smiled, "Well, remember that we're usually in Anchorage on the first day…"

"The unofficial start, right?" Rudy asked.

Mark nodded with a smile, "Yup and there are people lining both sides of the street as the mushers are introduced as they push off the line. It's a lot of pomp and circumstance which Bo doesn't really care for, but it's kind of cool to see the mushers, their dogs and an honored guest in their basket."

Rudy nodded, "So what do you think of the team Bo picked?"

Mark threw his leg over, sitting sideways on the machine. Rudy did the same as he answered, "I trust Bo to do what's best for her and the dogs."

"But that's not what I asked you."

Mark only shrugged in reply leaving Rudy to heave a sigh of frustration before offering her opinion instead,

"She said she decided to get the young dogs experience since the course is shorter this year."

Mark eyed Rudy suspiciously, "And you think that's a mistake?"

"Not at all. I'm just a little worried about what she said about the deep snow and their young feet."

Mark nodded, "Well, when Bo saw the new booties that Kyle and your mom made, she took them to Cassie and asked her what she thought. I believe if the Vet thinks they'll add another layer of protection then they should be well protected."

"So, I shouldn't worry."

"Probably not," Mark smiled, "Of course, that's why we have jobs at the waypoints, right?"

Rudy nodded, "It's smart though. She has Harper and Aphrodite at the leads so that if she drops Harp, Aphrodite is the only lead. She's the biggest, strongest and fastest after Nike and Diana so it's like she'll have a super triangle leading the sled after Harp gets dropped."

Mark nodded, "Yea, I noticed she moved Nike and Diana to the Swing position. I agree that having those three at the front in these conditions is a good move."

Rudy smiled, "She put Sadie and Keegan as the lead Team dogs because they'll follow Nike and Diana anywhere. Jenna and Muk are behind them, then Rosie and Reese, then Kikkan and Scotty. They're all the young dogs together. Then they have Nemesis and Artemis behind them. If the young dogs start to slow down, Nem and Artemis will yell at them."

Mark smiled, "She's got the biggest and strongest dogs at the wheel in Gaea and Demeter. If she gets stuck, they'll pull her out for sure. I think you helped Bo pick a good team, Squirt."

"She told you I helped pick the team?"

Mark smiled, "She sure did, kiddo. She's proud of you, ya know."

Rudy grinned and nodded, "Yea. I just hope I'm right."

"She trusts your instincts, Roo, but the final decisions are hers so if it's not a good team, it's on Bo," he said, pointing a short distance away, "Let's go meet up with Molly and your mom."

"Cool!" Rudy said, jumping off the snow machine and giving a wave to LJ, Patrick and Jake until she heard Mark's voice,

"Helmet!"

She scrambled back to him, grabbed her helmet and rushed back to where her mom and Molly were waiting near the starting line.

"Mom! Molly! We're here!"

The two women turned, smiling as Rudy half hopped, half ran through the deep snow, running straight into Molly's torso when she lost her balance,

"Easy there, my young friend."

"Sorry. Thanks for catching me. I sure am glad I'm too young to race! I can barely push myself through the snow! If I had to pedal behind a sled, me and my team would be stuck for sure!"

Molly smiled, lifting Rudy onto her husband's shoulders, "Well, wait until you see your sister make quick work of this powder at the start!"

"Wait – what?"

"Well, all of the sleds are stationary at the start, and they have about one hundred yards until they're past this open space," she pointed ahead, "See the trail head at the edge of the woods? All these sleds must fit through there and they can't do it side by side."

"So, she wants to be the first one in there?" Rudy asked.

Molly nodded, "Well normally, yes, but this year she's got Harper at the front, so I think – according to your plan – she is going to settle for not being out in front as she usually is and then pick up distance on the other sleds after she drops Harper. Bo's advantage is that none of these mushers have her strength, endurance, or experience in the outdoors. Remember that the home where your sister has always been most comfortable is out there. No running water, no bathroom, no kitchen conveniences, no roof over her head, no people and no grocery stores."

Mark agreed, "Our Bo would take nothing but her dogs, their gear and her weapons if the rules would allow. She can find food no matter how barren the land."

Rudy nodded, looking over at her mom, "But you promise she'll still come back to us after living outside all week?"

Mary smiled, "Our Bo will come home, Child. If she struggles, you and Lauren will help her."

"We will?" Rudy asked, watching as her mom's smile stretched across her face. It filled the youngsters' heart with hope, "We will!"

She turned to the starting line, "Sister! Sister! We're here!"

She leaned forward, looking down at Mark, "I don't think she can hear me. Can she hear me? Do you think she knows I'm here? It's important that she knows I'm here and I'm watching her. She needs to know I have her back… whatever that means. She says it all the time. What am I supposed to do to her back?"

Mark laughed, looking at the upside-down child over his head, "Having someone's back means you're always behind them pushing them forward and encouraging them."

"Oh. So should I go out and push her?"

Mark laughed gain, "That would be illegal. Stick with the cheering thing. That's what she needs from you now."

He gave a whistle – one that Bo recognized immediately. Her eyes landed on Mark who was pointing upwards at her little sister. Rudy's face lit up with excitement, her eyes wide, her arms waving furiously over head,

"I'm here, Sister! I'm here on your back! You're gonna do great!"

Bo smiled, setting her brake and rushing over to the barrier, "I see you, Roo! Are you okay?"

"I'm nervous! Are you okay?"

Bo smiled, "I'm great, the dogs are great and we're ready to go, Roo! You've done a great job getting us ready for this! Now, you just sit back and watch the race. It's your first and I want you to have fun, okay?"

"Are you kidding? I'm already having fun!" Rudy smiled, "I got autographs from a ton of mushers and Elise got a bunch too! We met a ton of dogs and Mom said I can buy a souvenir too!"

Bo smiled, "Well, hopefully I'll bring you a medal or a trophy as a souvenir!"

Rudy's eyes went wide, "You'll give me your stuff?"

Bo grinned, "Of course! You helped me get ready and you've been helping to train the dogs!"

"I guess I am pretty important."

Laughing, Bo nodded, "You certainly are, Roo. Gotta get ready now. See you next week!"

"Okay! Don't forget to turn around at Flat!"

Bo smiled, "Thanks for the reminder!"

Once back at her sled, Bo continued with a collar check, beginning with Aphrodite until she heard a familiar voice shout,

"Hey Bo!"

She looked up, releasing her hold on Aphrodite to see Dan walking towards her. She heaved a heavy sigh, wondering why in the world he would be distracting her this close to the start,

"Dan."

He sighed, "Listen. I had all day and night to think about what I said to you in that meeting yesterday…"

"Now is hardly the time, Dan…"

He shook his head, "Now is exactly the time, Bo. My conscience won't leave me alone…"

"That's on you, Dan."

"I know, but… well, long story short, I've spoken with everyone – and I do mean everyone – who was in the meeting and told them I'm going to withdraw the challenge I made to you. Look, Bo, none of us want to see Harper get into trouble out there and I know that the Head Veterinarian gave you the clear to use her as you see fit given her circumstances, but… well… don't do it, Bo. Please. I'd never forgive myself if you lost her because of some stupid challenge. You've got a truck full of dogs there. You can swap Harper out and…"

Bo grinned, "Afraid she'll kick your ass?"

Dan laughed, "Hardly."

He shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut tight at his response. He'd insulted both Bo and Harper with the statement and he knew it,

"What I'm trying to say is that… well, you know I'm friends with Cassie and… well, I asked her about what happened. Geezus, Bo… she was near death. I had no idea. None of us did. I mean, we'd heard but we didn't know how bad it was."

Bo shrugged, "Well, if you want her to sit it out so badly, you unclip her, Dan."

"I'd never touch your dogs."

Bo smiled, "Okay. I'll do it."

She walked to the front of the sled and unclipped Harper, "Basket."

Harper sat down.

"Basket, Harp. Let's go. Basket."

Harper turned away from Bo, looking towards the trail ahead.

Bo gripped Harper's collar, "Come on, Harper. In the basket."

Harper quickly tugged away from Bo, baring her teeth and growling before walking back to stand beside Aphrodite.

Bo turned to Dan, "Any other ideas about how I stop her from running?"

Dan shook his head, pulling off his cap and scratching his head, "Well I'll be damned."

"Tell me about it," Bo sighed, "Now, I could have Cassie give her a drug to knock her out so that we could carry her to the truck, but I think she knows, Dan. I think she knows this is it and… well, I think she plans to go all in. I don't know that for sure and I definitely don't want her to die out there, but Cassie explained the situation to the head Doc, and we all agreed that just like any human would want – Harper should have the right to go out on her own terms."

He could see Bo's eyes fill and heard the crack in her voice. He placed a hand on her shoulder, "You're a great friend to that dog, Bo. I think I understand. I won't let anyone bad mouth you over her should the worst happen… especially that Gwen chick whose been asking all of us questions."

Bo sighed, "Yea, well spread the word. She's our best chance at stopping the negative press about the race… I mean the negative press that's a generalization about how we treat the dogs. I fully intend to allow the bad owners to be exposed."

Dan nodded, "I meant what I said in that meeting, Bo. You're right and you have my support. We've got to clean up our sport or our generation really will see The Last Great Race."

Bo nodded, "Good luck out there, Dan. Stay safe."

Dan laughed, "I'll right in front of you if anything goes wrong, Bo."

She smiled, "Maybe for a mile or so, but eventually, you'll have to take care of yourself, Dan."

They parted laughing as Bo hooked Harper back up to the front of the team, "Well, you've made your decision, Harp. I sure hope you know what you're doing."

Harper barked and before Bo knew it, her entire team was barking nonstop. She looked at the uncharacteristic behavior and shook her head,

"I'm so embarrassed! Other teams get loud and rowdy. We're refined young women who show dignity outside while carrying fire and a kick ass attitude inside. Who are you guys?" Bo laughed.

She moved to each dog, giving them an individual hype speech before moving back up to Nike and Diana,

"Okay, ladies. You know the strategy. Help Harper out as much as you can, then we'll put her in the basket and use Aphrodite as the tip of the triangular spear. Got it?"

The two dogs voiced their agreement, each nuzzling into Bo before she released them and headed for the driver's station. She stepped onto the rails just as the starter moved to the side of the line. The cheers from the family and friends gathered for the start blurred in her ears, the wide trail narrowing to focus in on the specific trail she would take. She lowered her goggles, checking to be sure all her skin was covered and then gripped the handle, taking three deep cleansing breaths.

She heard Rudy's voice and imagined her as she was, sitting atop Mark's shoulders. She heard Lauren's voice and imagined her as she'd last seen her in the medical tent – hair up, lab coat on, necklace she'd given her lying gently against the bare skin of her chest. A silent moan escaped before she shook out the thought and returned her focus to the sounds around her – the trail ahead, the strong team ready to pull in front of her. She pictured her mom standing proudly as she whispered one final prayer and then smiled – finally, she was at the Iditarod watching her daughter. The sound of the rest of her family and friends were a muffled chorus of cheers until she heard Kenzi clear as a bell,

"Free drinks are off if you lose, BoBo!"

She smiled for a moment, thinking of how much she loved her friend and how much she had contributed to the load on her sled. Food, power drinks, supplements, meat for the dogs and money for the gear were all part of Kenzi's silent sponsorship – one that no one knew about at her friend's request.

When the race officials left the starter's side, Bo knew it was go time. She stepped off the rails, readying herself to peddle and push. This was the most vulnerable time for Harper and she didn't want to have to pick her up and put her in the basket before they hit the trailhead.

She saw the starter check his gun, then, as he raised it over her head, she gripped the handle tighter, pressing her toes into the deep snow to secure as much grip as possible,

"Line out, Harp!"

She watched her team adjust before standing in anticipation. She eyed Harper and Aphrodite hoping they would respond to the sound of the gun before she had to call out to the team.

The air around them grew silent. Bo listened.

There was the creaking of large tree limbs… the wind whistling past her goggles… the collective breathing of her team… the crunch of the snow beneath her boot as she pivoted her foot to dig in deep for a strong start… the sound of her breath.

Finally there was silence except for the millions of icy snowflakes that made a sound like tiny bells landing on the snow swept tundra and then the silence was broken…

'BANG!'

"Hike! Hike!" she shouted, driving forward with every muscle in her body. The sled was quickly up to speed the dogs on stride as they headed down the wide-open stretch. She knew that when they entered the woods, she wanted to be as close to the front as possible, so she kept her head down and sprinted, pushing with every ounce of strength she had,

"Drive! Drive! Come on, ladies! Up Aphrodite! Up Harp! Up Nike! Up Diana! Come on, Team!" Bo shouted, her eyes intentionally set on the snow beneath her feet as she pushed and pushed until her legs and throat burned under the effort.

Knowing they were approaching the narrowed neck of the trail and she worried about where Harper would be when she looked up. With a last push, she looked up in awe of her Champion running full stride with the rest of the team. She looked left, then right and saw no one. She looked up expecting to see some sleds in front of her but there were none.

Had she jumped the gun? Had she imagined the sound of the starter's gun? She jumped onto the rails, holding on with one hand and looked back.

"Well, I'll be damned," Bo smiled at the sight of the rest of the mushers already ten yards behind. She could see Dan shake his head and bow in honor of her most respected dog. Turning back, she shouted,

"Harper take care!"

She'd practiced the words with Harper for weeks now, reminding her to pace herself, but the veteran dog showed no signs of slowing. For a long moment, emotions caught in Bo's throat at the thought of losing her beloved companion, but she reminded herself that this was not her race.

No, this was Harper's race and she had agreed to leave the decisions up to her canine friend. She had to honor that decision. She owed it to Harper to allow her to go out on her own terms. If this was her time, it was her time. She would never race again. And while Bo would attempt one last breeding cycle with her, she knew it was unlikely it would produce another litter of pups. Harper would become a family pet, Bo's confidant and a teacher to the next litters of young – if she survived this race.

Bo heaved a sigh, putting her trust in Harper's choices and instead focusing on the trail ahead. Course experience was a great thing and Bo knew this course like the back of her hand. She could probably run most of it blindfolded. However, with the changes this year, she needed to stay aware. No naps on a moving sled. If she forgot to turn around at the town of Iditarod, she was screwed for there was no support beyond the last checkpoint and the conditions were worse than harsh considering the elderly dog and young team she carried.

"Eagle spirit, be with us," she whispered as they headed down the first steep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the Starting Line

"…but that wasn't the plan!" Rudy shouted, "We agreed that she would go easy, settle into the middle of the pack and then win with her… whatever you call it… during the last two hundred miles! Why would she run Harper so hard at the start?"

Rudy was very upset as Kyle knelt before her and took her hands, "Roo, Bo doesn't have any control over how hard the dogs go at the start. We know Aphrodite can only go as fast as Harper. What we didn't know is that Harper would go out that hard, but it's an environment that she has been conditioned to run in. I think our girl just took off because it's what she always does. I'm sure Bo will settle her down and get her on pace in a mile or so."

"But if Sister has to carry her, that's extra weight and weight makes her slower! The dogs will get tired sooner because they're carrying her."

Kyle smiled, "Roo, with the course changes, it's only sixteen miles to Deshka. Bo will stop there if Harper is in trouble, but I'm confident she'll be fine at that point. Deshka is eighty-three miles out so that is where Bo is most likely to drop Harper. For Bo's team, carrying Harper that far is a cake walk, right?"

"They are strong," Rudy conceded, "And really, really fast."

Kyle smiled, "And that's why she wins so much, Squirt. Now, you saw Harp – she looks strong, right?"

Rudy looked out at the trail, then back to Kyle, "I guess so."

Kyle looked to Mary and Molly, hoping one of them would chime in, but it was Lauren who spoke,

"Rudy, you have to trust all of them – Bo and the dogs. Remember, this isn't their first race even though it's yours. She knows what she's doing and she knows what's at stake for Harper. We have to trust her and the dogs. Now, can you do that?"

"Yes, but I want to check Harper myself when Sister stops."

Kyle smiled, "Just keep in mind that Bo will only stop at Yentna if she's going to drop Harper."

"But…"

Mary placed a hand on Rudy's shoulder, "Trust your sister, Child. Her required stops are Rohn and Swentna. She's planning her twenty-four hour stop just after the turn around to give the dogs a good long rest before the final sprint. Lauren's right. She's been running this race for almost ten years. We must trust her."

Rudy lowered her eyes, "Yes, Mamma."

Mary smiled, "Now, don't you have work to do?"

"Ohmagosh! I have to…"

Molly laughed, "Mark is waiting on the tin dog for you. Kyle will meet you there after she gets everyone else off to their assignments. Don't forget the backpack with your sled tools in it."

"Right," Rudy said, rushing off before stopping and turning back. She gave Mary a big hug and a kiss before turning to Kyle, "Are you bringing the sled parts?"

Kyle smiled, "You know I am. You have the tools, I have the sled repair kits. Elise has the camera. LJ and Mark will be driving you around. Patrick and Jake will be minding the backup dogs with us."

Rudy nodded, "Right. If Bo drops a dog, I grab the dog, take her to the vet, then take her to Mark or LJ who will help me get them to the truck while the vets check the dogs she's keeping."

Kyle nodded, "Kurt will eventually load all of them onto the plane after the race when he's finished running EVAC routes."

"Right," Rudy said, turning to Mary, "Is there…"

"I put a baggie of sandwiches in the tool pack and your water bottle in the side pocket."

"Thanks, Mom."

Mary smiled, "You're welcome, Child. Now go do good work for your sister."

"I will," She smiled, rushing off, "I'll be on her back!"

Mary smiled, knowing that her daughter needed a bit more explanation about the meaning of having someone's back. That would wait for now. She watched to be sure the girls made it to Mark safely before turning to the group. Lauren sighed,

"Well, I'm off to care for the ill and injured humans then. They've stationed me in the main medical tent, so I'll just be hanging out here… bored out of my skull."

"Don't be too sure of that," Kyle warned, "Ego and pride can do a lot of damage to humans who mush. Have your frostbite kits ready to go and pray you don't have to cut off any limbs."

"Seriously?" Lauren asked, "I worked the checkpoints last year and didn't see any of those."

Kyle shrugged, "That's because you were at the checkpoints and not in the main tent where the medics land emergent cases."

"Of course," Lauren nodded.

"Frostbite is the bulk of what you'll see, but there are concussions, head wounds and broken limbs from flipped sleds. Death is rare and now you'll have Kurt's team out there, so that should improve the odds for people who are in serious condition since they'll be able to treat them enroute to you and your team."

"Great," Lauren said, shaking her head, "I've got my radio and my phone, so keep me posted on Bo, okay?"

Kyle nodded, "We've got you on speed dial, Lauren. We'll keep you in the loop."

"Thank you and good luck, everyone."

"You too, Lauren," Kyle smiled, turning back to the others, "Okay, what's next?"

Tosh lifted a hand, "I'm going to pack up the truck and head out with LJ."

LJ nodded, "I loaded all of the empty crates and cleaned up the hay. Shannon, Carolyn, Kate and Anna are cleaning up the campfires. They'll load that gear into the equipment truck and lock it up before they head to the starting line."

Molly nodded, "Mary and I will be giving Mark and LJ a break supervising the girls and hauling the checkpoint food buckets by truck. There is a question about the bridge…"

"At Flat, yea we heard, and Bo knows to check her food supply before then," Kyle nodded.

"Great," Molly replied, "We'd better get on the road, or we'll be late."

"Safe travels," Kyle smiled as the pair headed for Bo's pick-up truck.

"Kenzi will be on the satellite radio and phones coordinating with Kurt and Kelly as well as the ground team," Kenzi said about her own job, "I've got the maps, the gear and the routine, Peeps. No need to tell me my job… not that you were going to… or even noticed the wee-one was here."

Kyle chuckled, "We know you're here and on the job, Kenz. We also know you're an old pro and telling you what to do would just give you another reason to snark out a one-liner about how I'm not your mom or something along those lines."

"True, but I still can't believe you deprived me of the chance to give everyone a chuckle. You guys are so tense."

Shaking her head, she chuckled, "And there it is. Anyway, where's Vex?"

"Probably hanging out with Dyson and Hale instead of covering my hotel like he's supposed to," she snarked, "With the town all but empty because of the race, those boys will have nothing to do and that's nothing but trouble."

Kyle nodded, "That would be true if Tamsin didn't make a last-minute call to Dyson to ask for Hale to help out with security for the race."

"Really?"

Kyle smiled, "You won't see him much since he'll be on a sled with Tamsin out on the course, but at least he won't be getting up to no good with his buddies."

"I'll have to thank little T," Kenzi smiled, "I'm out! See ya at the finish."

Kyle smiled at the sight of an empty camp, closed up her clipboard and headed over to her sled, "Let's get this race on the road!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Skwentna Checkpoint

Shannie set down the two heavy buckets of food before standing and leaning back. Carolyn smiled as she approached,

"Is your back bothering you again?"

Shannon turned to her lover, "Just have to make it through the week."

"And possibly then some. Remember, Bo's only guessing on how long it will take. No one really knows since…"

"I know, I know. No one has every run the Gold Trail before, yadda, yadda, yadda. I can't think of one person who hasn't mentioned it. I had no idea people would be so angry by race officials choosing to put the safety of the teams before tradition."

Carolyn shrugged, "Their claim to fame is that it's the most grueling race in the world. They accept that they could get injured, sick or worse and still run the race… no matter the conditions. Hearing them talk, they don't want their protection – they want the challenge."

"Yea, well their dogs don't get a choice with that mentality, so I'm glad the race officials make the decision and not some of these crazy ass mushers. Some of them have no clue what they're getting into – especially those two kids out there."

Carolyn nodded, "Well, Bo thought it was a good decision and while she's disappointed to not be running the entire course, she understands that no musher has the conditioning she has."

"Well, to Bo, this race is like going home," Shannon sighed, looking over to Rudy who was sitting alone on a log next to the checkpoint official staring back at the trail, "She's worried that the old Bo will come home."

Carolyn nodded, "I know, but we won't let that happen."

"Or, at least, we won't let it happen for long."

Carolyn shrugged, "I just think that for each of Bo's three mandatory checkpoints, we have to put Rudy front and center. She'll keep her human."

"Lynnie!"

"What? I mean, even Bo admits she was more animal than human when we first met her."

"I know, but she's not now, so no need to bring that back up."

Carolyn nodded, "Fair enough. Now, are you going to go talk to her?"

Shannie shrugged, "I don't know what to say to her, Lynnie. She wants to know when Bo will get here and if she's going to stop. She wants to know how Harper is doing. I can't answer any of those questions."

Lynnie placed a hand on Shannon's shoulder, "No, but you can talk to her, Shannie. Everyone else is busy and I have to call the hospital and check on things."

"You left Marie in charge. What can go wrong?"

Lynnie lowered her eyes, shaking her head, "I'm worried about another late supply delivery. We're short surgical tubing and if any of these mushers have a serious injury that requires surgery, I'm afraid we'll run out."

"in that case, Lauren would think of something."

"But Lauren isn't there, Shannie and it's my responsibility. I put a call into Stephen so he's aware, but I don't want Marie taking the heat. I should have doubled the last order."

"And if there wasn't enough to fill the original order the double order would have been even later."

"It just sucks getting stuff up here. I don't know these people like I did the people in Boston. There, all I had to do was phone a friend because I had friends in every aspect of the medical supply world. Now…"

"We're starting from scratch, Lynnie. It'll be okay. Soon, people will be totally taken in by your glowing personality and they won't be able to resist doing whatever you ask of them."

"Yea, right," Lynnie frowned, "I'm going to go call Maria. Go talk to Roo, please? It breaks my heart seeing her sitting by herself."

Shannie nodded, giving Lynnie's hand a squeeze before she turned and walked away from their small camp set up. She was sure she had set everything up for nothing. From what she'd heard, Bo wouldn't be making a stop here, but that was even more reason for her to be standing next to Rudy when her big sister blew through the checkpoint. Shannie could only hope that Bo would see her little sister and at least wave.

She walked over to Rudy, slipping in from behind and plopping down on the log beside her,

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Rudy was startled, but gave a weak smile when she recognized Shannon, "You say that too?"

Shannon smiled, "Of course."

She reached into her pocket where she had stowed a handful of pennies for the week just in case a situation like this arrived,

"Here's the penny. Now pay up."

Rudy smiled, taking the penny and slipping it into her mitten, "Do you know what was wrong with the sick people that Togo got the medicine to?"

Shannon smiled, "I read that they had Diptheria."

"Is that like the flu?"

Shannon shook her head, "No, Squirt. Diptheria was much, much worse than the flu – especially since they didn't have medicines and hospitals like we do today."

"Can you tell me the story?"

Shannon smiled, giving Rudy a nod. She had read about that first trip along this route several times now and learned a little more about what this race was all about each time,

"It was January of 1925 and a deadly outbreak of Diptheria had swept through Nome, Alaska…"

"That's where the race usually ends, right?"

Shannie nodded, "That's right."

"So people died?"

"Thousands of people would have died unless an anti-toxin serum could reach them in time. The serum was in Anchorage and the sick people were in Nome a thousand miles away."

"Wow. And here I'm getting nervous just waiting for Sister to go eighty-three miles!"

Shannie smiled, "I know, right? Now imagine you have to wait to feel better until Bo finishes the whole race!"

"That would be terrible! So, what happened?"

"Twenty mushers banded together to get the serum to Nome. You've run relays in gym class, right?"

"I love relays! I really love when my team wins!"

Shannie grinned, "Me too, Squirt. Me too. Anyway, these twenty mushers ran a relay from Anchorage to Nome, only they weren't racing against another dog sled relay team. They were racing against time."

"Because if they didn't do the relay fast enough, people would die?"

"That's right, Squirt."

"Kids like me too?" she asked.

Shannie frowned, "Unfortunately, kids and the elderly especially. Their little bodies didn't have the strength to fight the virus as well as others."

"So, if it takes over a week to do the relay, a lot of kids and people must have died, huh?"

Shannon shook her head, "Well, because all of the teams were fresh when they ran their part of the race, they could run hard the whole way and didn't need to take a rest until they handed off the serum."

"Oh. That's really cool! Why don't they run the Iditarod like a relay? Bo has plenty of dogs to replace them each leg. The dogs wouldn't get hurt or sick or die and it would be just like the original race."

"Actually, that's a good point, Roo. It just might get PETA off their backs too. You should pass that idea on to your mom."

Rudy smiled, "I'm super smart, huh."

"You definitely are, Roo."

Shannon could see the youngster sink deep into thought before she asked, "How long did it take for them to run to Nome then?"

"They did it in just 127 hours."

"Wow. That's… uh… 24 plus 24… 48… 72… 96… 120… um… how many 24's is that?"

Shannie smiled, "Six days and seven hours."

"Wow."

"And remember, Roo, they didn't have the training regimens, the food, the fast sleds and support workers along the trail like we have here. There were less towns, no headlamps and a lot of open tundra."

"It sounds like the Last Great Race was that one."

"I guess that's true, Squirt. You really are smart."

Rudy giggled, "I know. So, what happened then?"

"Well, they saved the city and were on the cover of every newspaper across the nation. Of course, the race now is a race that pits sled against sled. Bo said you can't help but remember why you're running at some point during the race."

"Do you think Sister is thinking about the sick people right now?"

"Well, Squirt, I don't know but it's a good question. The truth is, we won't know what Bo was thinking until she tells us."

"I can't wait to ask her."

Shannon sighed, "The thing about being here for Bo during this race is that it requires a lot of patience and trust on our part. We won't know much about the race until the end of the race. Even when Bo does stop, she'll be tired and won't really be in the mood to talk much. She'll want to eat, talk about the next race plans and sleep. That's about it. It's what she must do to keep going and – hopefully – win. So, we have to sort of give her space and let her do her thing. We can help her by taking good care of the dogs while she sleeps. Until we see her, we have to trust that she's okay and knows what she's doing."

"It's hard not to worry."

"I know, Squirt, but remember – out there, Bo's even more at home than she is in her house. She'll be okay."

"Do you think she'll come home lost?"

"Lost?"

"You know – all angry and stuff."

Shannie smiled, "I think it will take a lot longer than a week for us to lose Bo like we did before. Trust her, Roo… like she trusts you to be ready to help her with whatever she needs when she gets here."

Rudy nodded, "If she drops a dog, I help the dog. If she stops, I take care of the dogs. If she keeps going, I don't get upset. I just wave and cheer even if she doesn't look at me. She has to watch where she's going so she doesn't run over the checkpoint judge – they wouldn't be too happy with her if she did."

Shannon nodded, "That's for sure. Anything else you want to talk about?"

Rudy shook her head, "No. I think we can just be quiet now. But can you sit with me until Bo comes? I don't think I like sitting alone."

Shannie smiled, wrapping an arm over Rudy's shoulder, "Sure thing, Squirt. Nowhere I'd rather be than right here with my best kid friend."

"Thanks, Shannie."

"You're welcome, Squirt."

Rudy laid her head on Shannon's shoulder, "I love you, Shannie."

Eyes brimming with tears, the nurse replied, "I love you too, Squirt."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Trail to Skwentna

"Haw! Haw! Here we go, Ladies!" Bo said, hopping off the rails and peddling hard, surprised to see Harper pulling as hard as her lead partner. While it made her nervous, she shouted encouragement, "Good girls! Good girls!"

She could hear a distant voice, so knew she wasn't alone but felt comfortable with where they were. She had been letting Harper dictate the pace rather than pushing the team. They were slower than she'd like but she pushed her competitive side down despite knowing her ego would not enjoy second place or worse. This was for Harper, she reminded herself, so Harper would set the pace. She could only hope that Harper would also know when to admit she was done so that Bo knew when to drop her. The last thing she wanted was for a race official to see Harper growling at her if she tried to force her out of the race. That could force her team out of the race if they were concerned about a virus causing the behavior.

Of course, they had planned for Cassie to be at the first three checkpoints. When Bo blew through the first one with Harper at full stride, the Vet stood eyes wide and mouth agape as Bo shrugged and gave a wave intended for Rudy who she saw out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't sure her little sister knew it was for her since it was when she was already past where she stood but hopefully Roo would understand she was letting Harper set the pace.

They rounded a sharp downhill and the sled picked up speed. She tapped the brake, making sure the sled slowed to match Harpers' deceleration so that she could navigate the turn at the bottom. Once through the hazard, the team settled into a steady trot on the flat. Normally, this is where Bo would push the team to run, but restraint was key until Harper was safely on the sidelines.

She checked her GPS and saw that the checkpoint was just about a mile away. She hadn't used any supplies since her dogs were accustomed to an interval of this length. With another sled so close behind, she didn't want to stop unless she had to. The big question now was – could Harper handle another forty miles?

She had intervals of forty, thirty and thirty-five miles until she arrived in Rohn and then a long seventy-five mile stretch to reach Nikolai. It was the one-hundred and eighty mile stretch from Ophir North to Iditarod North, the turn at Flat and then the stretch back through Iditarod to Ophir South where others would rest, but Bo hoped to push through and camp in the wilderness. She had plenty of places around those parts to do so, but Harper was preventing her from making a decision at this point.

She'd never run a race without a clear plan, so it was another challenge for this year's run. Hopefully, she could make choices on the fly to match Harper's needs and be prepared to run all out at the end with the team conserving energy in the early stages of the race. The youngsters were gaining experience with every mile they ran, so hopefully Harper had a strategy that would pay off.

Bo sighed as she hopped off the rails and peddled up another hill that would lead to a sharp right turn descent into the checkpoint. She watched Harper carefully as they hit the flat, sensing an increase in her pace as they approached the sign. She could see Rudy and Shannie standing nearby, her Mom and Molly at the top of the hill above them. She then spotted Mark, LJ, Kyle with her clipboard, Carolyn on her phone, Patrick, Jake, Tosh, Anna and Kate all cheering and waving.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her race book and called to her leads,

"Whoa Harp! Whoa Aphrodite! Whoa team!" Bo said handing the form to the official and lifting her goggles. She turned to Rudy and gave her a wink, "She's running like a champ, eh?"

"Go Harper!" Rudy shouted, clapping her hands. She watched nervously as the Vet did a quick check of her sister's dogs, and whispered, "They're all fine. Let her go. They're fine."

Bo drew her attention from the Vet check, "Roo, tell Cassie I'll need her at the next checkpoint just in case."

Rudy nodded while Shannon responded verbally, "We'll get her there!"

"Later, Roo!" Bo accepted the book from the official and gave the Vet a nod while Rudy shouted out to her,

"Love you, Sister!"

Bo smiled, tucking the book into her jacket and pulling her goggles down, "Love you too, Roo!"

Rudy watched Bo drive away, then started to count, "One-one thousand, two-one-thousand…"

"Whatcha counting, Roo?"

"How much time until the next racer."

"Oh. Here!" Shannie said, pulling a lanyard over her head, "I forgot! Lynnie and I got this for you."

She used her thumb to push the button on top as Rudy asked,

"I can stop counting?"

Shannie smiled, watching for the next racer, "This is a stopwatch. We got you the mechanical kind since we weren't sure how the cold would treat an electronic one. Plus, it's dark out, so it would be tough to see."

"How does it work?"

"Well, I'll show you after we get these times," Shannie smiled, eyeing the trail.

"Wait – my clipboard!" Rudy turned and ran back to the log where they'd been sitting and picked up the clipboard and pulled out her pencil as she rushed back, "Okay… tell me the racer number and their time behind Bo."

"So we're taking splits?" Shannie asked.

Rudy scrunched up her nose, "Huh?"

"Do you want a lot of racers times?"

"Just the first ten," Rudy said.

"When do I stop the watch?"

Rudy pointed, "When they pull out of the checkpoint."

"Okay," Shannie said, watching for the next racer, "It's a pretty good gap, huh?"

"Looks like it."

"Not good enough," Kyle said as she approached, "Bo didn't drop Harper?"

Shannon shook her head, "She didn't look as fast as she did last year, but she was running full stride for sure. I couldn't believe it."

"Okay, well she's clearly slowing her down, so let's check times."

"Look! Shannie and Lynnie bought me a stopwatch! We're going to write them down here."

"Do you want me to do it, Squirt?" Kyle asked.

"You said I could do it!" Rudy protested.

Kyle smiled, "And you can. I'll hold the umbrella."

"Umbrella?"

Kyle nodded, "If that clipboard keeps getting wet, you won't be able to write on the paper."

"Oh," Rudy said, wiping at the clipboard.

Kyle looked up at Shannon, "How long since Bo left?"

Shannon looked down at the watch, "This is missing about thirty seconds, so almost four minutes now."

Kyle nodded, "Jimmy should be coming down the hill soon."

"is Jimmy good?"

Kyle shrugged, "He tends to go out fast and then fade away, but he sets a good pace for the stronger racers. They use him as the rabbit."

"Rabbit?" Rudy asked.

"Dogs love to chase rabbits, don't they?" Kyle asked.

Rudy laughed, "Oh. I get it. That's funny."

"What would be funnier is if we could actually get Jimmy to put on a pair of rabbit ears," Kyle laughed.

Rudy giggled and giggled before she looked up to see if the other musher was coming yet, "Still not here. I'm gonna do some math. Let me know if he starts coming."

Kyle and Shannon shared a glance before looking down at the clipboard to see what Rudy was doing. Neither of them could decide what she was trying to figure out and when Kyle started to speak, Shannon held up a hand and shook her head. She whispered to Kyle,

"Mary has been into full math tutoring mode with the Squirt lately and I'm pretty she would not want us to interfere with whatever it is she's trying to figure out."

"Right," Kyle said, "Boundaries."

Finally, the youngster spoke, "Okay, so if Bo gains four minutes on the second-place team at every checkpoint, that's four times seventeen so she'll win by sixty-eight minutes. But you said that she'll get better than the other mushers later in the race, so if we double that to eight minutes for the last ten checkpoints, that's four times seven to gain twenty-eight minutes and then eight times ten to gain another eighty minutes which means she would win by one hundred and eight minutes! Is that a lot?"

Kyle smiled, "It's a lot of eights, but compared to the finish line last year, yes that would be a very comfortable finish, Roo."

Shannie smiled, holding up her hand, "High five for the nice math, Squirt!"

Rudy giggled, jumping up and hitting the hand, "We learned about story problems and my Mom has been doing a bunch of them about the Iditarod. Did you know there are forty-seven mushers registered for the race this year and thirteen of them are women?"

Kyle shook her head, "I did not know that. Good for women!"

Rudy nodded, "Well, my Mom wants me to figure out what percentage of registered mushers are women and I don't remember how to do it."

Kyle looked at Shannon who looked at Rudy, "Well, you know we can't help you right?"

"But you love me! Don't you want to help me to be successful in my education?"

Kyle and Shannon both busted out laughing, Kyle rubbing Rudy's head, "Nice try, Squirt."

Shannon nodded, "If we helped you, your Mom would skin us alive."

"Awww, can't you just give me a hint?"

Kyle felt bad for the youngster since she'd struggled with math in school as well. She looked at Shannon and shrugged,

"I'll tell you that with the numbers you told us, you have everything you need to start solving the problem. You just need to do a little subtraction, then a little division, then a little subtraction again."

"Huh?" Rudy asked.

"Are you helping her with her math homework, Ms. Swift?"

Shannie looked at Kyle who looked at Mary, "Um… well… no, not really… just a little… I mean a really, really vague… hint?"

Mary smiled, "Well, feel free to lead her through the steps with that one if you wish. I didn't really expect her to be able to complete it."

Kyle breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank gawd. There was really no way to give her a hint and not make her more confused."

Rudy leaned out past her Mom, watching for the next racer, "Where are they? Sister has a big lead."

Shannie looked at Kyle, "I thought you said they weren't far behind."

"They weren't according to the lookout," she said, pointing up, "This is one of the few checkpoints with a tower where someone watches for runners. What's the time?"

"Going on twelve minutes and change since Bo left."

Kyle shook her head, "Something went wrong."

"You think the guy's hurt?"

Kyle shrugged, "No way for me to know until someone gets here and tells us."

Suddenly, Rudy pointed near the woods about fifty yards from where they were standing, "Look! A team!"

Kyle looked up and then quickly turned around to the checkpoint official,

"You've got a loose team!" She pointed towards the dogs, "No musher on board!"

The race official raised her arms, "We don't have support staff at this checkpoint."

"Permission to use our team?"

"Granted!" she replied.

"LJ, can you chase down that team?"

LJ looked up and eyed the runners, "Got 'em! Jake, need your help!"

The two ran along the top of the hill to LJ's snow machine and hopped on board before heading down the trail to cut off and intercept the team. They could see Jake hold onto LJ as he leaned down to grab the line of the lead dog, missing on his first try. Finally, they were able to bring the team to a halt. LJ hopped off and checked the sled before Jake hopped onto the rails and headed back to the checkpoint while LJ followed.

LJ headed back up the hill to park the tin dog while Jake pulled the sled in behind the checkpoint where Kyle was standing,

"Now what?"

Kyle shrugged, "We find his team so they can handle his dogs… or her dogs."

Jake shouted to the people on the hill, asking if anyone knew the dogs, but no one replied. He waited five minutes, wondering if the team was delayed and called out again, but still no one answered.

Finally, another racer came to the checkpoint. Kyle stood next to the race official and asked,

"Jimmy, right?"

"Yea. You're Kyle Swift, right? I called you about building me a sled but I just got a return call saying your appointments were all full."

"So sorry. We've been swamped and Bo was pretty sure you were going to want us to do a build by race time. Why did you call so late?"

He shrugged, "Broke both of my backups and didn't have the money to buy a new one until the day I called you."

"Dude, you know Bo takes care of her fellow mushers. Don't let money be the reason you wait to call. We would have set you up on a payment plan. Time is not something we can be flexible about though. Everything we build is custom so we need you with us before we start to build so we can account for your height, weight, load weight, dogs and torque, driving style and a bunch of other stuff. Bo's a particular kind of gal, you know."

He smiled, "I'll keep that in mind. I'll call for an appointment week after the race."

"Got it. Hey, listen – did you happen to see anyone down out there? We have a runaway sled, but no driver."

"That's not good."

"No, it's not."

"I didn't see anything. Sorry. Busted a runner about a mile back, so had to stop to fix it. Sucked that I was so close to Bo. Lost a lot of time I hafta make up, so I've gotta get going."

"Good luck," she replied with a smile and a nod.

"Thanks, Kyle."

She turned and walked down the path to where her team was gathered, "I don't know guys. Is this our problem? There's no support staff at this checkpoint – probably because it's so close to the start they can just fly someone here. Should we call Kurt to have a look?"

Molly nodded, "I think that would be the best course of action. Of course, we could also just call Lauren directly. We don't want to take advantage of Kurt because of our relationship with him. He could be on another call that race officials would deem more urgent."

Kyle nodded, pulling out her phone, "Hey Doc. We've got a situation. You busy?"

Everyone watched and listened as Kyle spoke with Lauren. They learned that the tent was still empty since it was early in the race. She'd treated one guy from the town who had hit his thumb with a hammer on a local job site. While he wasn't in the race, they all knew Lauren would never turn away a patient in need.

They also learned that Kurt was still on the ground at the start so he was going to head out and do a fly over to see if there were any signs of anyone in trouble on the trail. As a former Musher and Iditarod participant, Kurt knew to look off-trail as well since the dogs may have gone into the woods before dumping their musher and taking off on their own.

Lauren was also going to track down a vet to come to the checkpoint to look at the dogs, but she was troubled by the fact that there was no race team there for the musher. That was when Mary asked Kyle to put Lauren on speaker,

"Lauren, after the race meeting Bo was talking to those two women – the reporter Gwen and what was that other young woman's name?"

There was silence for a moment before Rudy held up her hand, "I remember! It was Julie Julie May!"

"Julie Julie?" Lauren asked.

Mary smiled, "That was Bo's attempt at a joke, The child's name was Julie May and she had no team. I believe her Mother has cancer so she was…"

"Running for the money," Lauren concluded, remembering her conversation with Bo about the young woman, "Bo told me. She tried to talk her out of running. Do we think it's her?"

Mary shrugged, looking at the group before she spoke into the phone again, "It's just a guess Lauren, but I believe it's a good one. I can't imagine a team not showing up at a checkpoint. There are groups everywhere – we've asked them if the dogs are theirs and no one has claimed them."

"Okay. Kurt is airborne. I'll call him on the satellite phone. If she's okay, I'll have him drop her off to you. If not, I'll need someone to look after her dogs."

Kyle nodded into the phone, "We'll take care of them. Just make sure you let us know what's up when Kurt finds her so we know what to do. We can't wait too long. Bo's already been through here."

"She didn't stop? What about Harper?"

"She's running full stride according to Shannie and Roo, so she's still out there."

"I guess that's good news then. I'll be in touch."

"Thanks, Lauren. We're out."

"Out," Lauren replied.

Kyle looked up, "Okay, who is staying behind with the stray team of dogs?"

LJ held up his hand, "I'll stay. If I have to take them back with ours, I'll want to take them to Cassie and have her check them out before we put them into our spare crates. I know Bo would want us to double check their vaccination status before putting them anywhere near her dogs."

Molly nodded, "Ask Elise if she'll give up some time with the Vets to help you get them settled. Any of them give you any trouble, stake them out on a bed of hay on their own where they won't bring harm to others."

LJ smiled, "Will do. I'm sure little sis would love to help out a team of strays."

Mary shook her head, "This young woman is going to have medical bills charged by the state race commission. They already have debt from her mother. I've heard of something on the internet where people donate money to charitable causes. Do you young people know about such a thing?"

Kate raised her hand, "Anna and I will set up a fundraising page for her," Kate said, writing down the name Julie May on her clipboard, "Hopefully, we can give the kid good news by the time she gets back home."

"Thank you, Kate. Thank you, Anna," Mary smiled, nodding her head to the two women, "I believe someone should head to the next checkpoint for Ysabeau. Tosh, can you handle that with Mark?"

"And me!" Rudy said, her hand shooting up over her head.

"And of course, your little sister, big brother?" Mary smiled as Tosh nodded and ruffled his young siblings hat before throwing a hand over her shoulder,

"It's you and me, Squirt!"

"Come on, Big Brother!" Rudy shouted, running towards the hill until Shannie called her back,

"Clipboard, Squirt!"

Shannie took the top page from Rudy, "I'll get the times for this checkpoint. You head to the next checkpoint. I'm sure your big brother can help you with the splits, right big brother?"

"Huh?"

Mark nudged his Dad, "They're tracking how far the other racers are behind Bo so she can decide on where she's doing her mandatory rests. The course is unfamiliar, so Bo's going old school to make decisions."

Tosh smiled, "Race splits! Totally in my wheelhouse!"

Rudy nodded, "We hafta make sure we get bib numbers too. Bo will want to know which racers are where."

"Already a column on the sheet that Bo had me create," Kyle said, pointing to the page on the clipboard, then handed it to LJ when he saw Tosh squinting to see the print, "Here – do you see?"

"Yup," he said, handing the clipboard to his Uncle Mark and pointing out the column for bib numbers before LJ looked up at his grandfather, shaking his head, "It's just like Tamsin said. You're old as dirt, Dude," LJ joked, "Uncle Mark will get you some reading glasses, Pops."

Tosh sighed, knowing his grandson and Tamsin were both right about his vision, but still… "You're totally going back to work at the General Store in Anchorage for being a disrespectful twerp."

LJ smiled, "You'll have to fight Bo and Rudy for me."

Rudy put up her fists and punched Tosh in the leg. He fell to the ground, pretending to be in agony,

"Medic! Medic!"

Rudy giggled, jumping on top of her big brother who rolled her over in the snow before lifting her up,

"Okay, Squirt! We've gotta go check on our sister. Come on!"

Mary smiled as Rudy set off with her older brother and his son, Mark. She was grateful her daughter had again found a group of kind, sensitive, caring men who would look out for her as those at the beach had in Hawaii. She'd had enough of the strong arrogant type in her life and never wanted Rudy to be exposed to that type of bravado. If she decided to marry a man one day, she wanted her to measure him against these men and those she was raised with.

"Mary?" Molly asked, tapping her friend on the shoulder, "Everything okay?"

Smiling, the older Dennis nodded, "They grow up quickly, don't they?"

Molly nodded, "That they do. I still can't believe my Michael is in college."

"And I can't believe that one day she may get married and have children of her own. Then again, I used to say that about my Ysabeau. Look at her now."

"Well, for now, what do you say we put the past in the past, the future in the future and just live for today."

Mary laughed, hooking her arm into Molly's, "Sounds perfect."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

TEN MILES FROM FINGER LAKE NORTH CHECKPOINT

Bo Dennis sat in front of her dogs, checking her compass, map and the sky as she spoke,

"You know, Ladies, the hard part about this year's race is figuring out when everyone else is going to take their rest stops. We know that a hundred miles a day is normal for us. If we go one hundred and eighteen a day, we'll finish in seven days and probably on top. The question is, what time of day on the seventh day will we finish and what time of day on the seventh day will the musher behind us finish. I'm not gonna lie – this is a tough decision. Any ideas?"

Bo listened for any sounds from her team, but heard only heaving breathing in reply. She listened closer, making sure that none of the breath sounds resembled wheezing or gurgling. Satisfied, she continued,

"So, let's say we rest for a few hours at Finger Lake. I know it's unlike me to rest at a checkpoint, but hear me out. We rest there, it gives me a chance to get the splits I asked Kyle to get. Having an idea of where everyone else is would really help. Of course, I can also just ask for the charts and take off so we can camp our way. I know you ladies love camping in that cove by the lake and with Kyle's new shelter, we should be super toasty."

She thought for a moment and decided, "Yea, I like that option. Roo won't be happy, but the adults will talk her through it. I'm thinking most people will take their eight-hour at Rohn right before the big seventy-five mile stretch, but more because it's right after Rainy Pass which we all know sucks. But Team Dennis, in a surprise move and because you'll still be on pretty fresh legs - even though we just did Rainy Pass - will blow through Rohn and take our eight-hour at McGrath. Of course, all of this depends on those splits."

She nodded, "Still, that sounds like a plan. Then we take the twenty-four-hour rest at Iditarod unless the stop before isn't crowded. Remember – we want to run like ghosts. If they can't see us, they're just as unsure of what to do. When they can't see us, they run harder thinking they can catch up. Burn them out and we win at the sprint if it comes to that."

She looked at Harper who was starting to show more signs of fatigue. She hadn't trained for this distance and these conditions so frankly, Bo was shocked that she was still running, but she knew the end was near and when she dropped Harper, she would be running one dog short. At that point, she would drop the supplies she wasn't required to carry and use the land to solve her problems.

"So, when we turn back, we'll hit the second eight-hour rest just after Rainy Pass since that stretch sucks so bad and then sprint for home with everything you've got left in the tank. That's when you young 'uns better come through since I'm betting on your youth and vitality."

She heard Muk groan, "What was that, Muk? You've got no vitality?"

Muk barked, his head turning slightly towards Bo who laughed, "I'm not insulting your manhood, Buddy. I know it's tough being the only man but we all love you despite your wang."

She laughed as Jenna placed a paw on his side in support, "Rudy was right about you two. You're completely in love and you've got personality and guts to boot! I like it. I like it a lot."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

FINGER LAKE CHECKPOINT

To Lauren's surprise, a man with an online movie channel had been filming the race from a drone to post for his one million followers. In doing so, he had captured the mushers accident on film. Rather than just post the footage, the man was kind and ethical enough to rush the footage to race officials, maintaining the mushers' privacy. They, in turn called Kurt who asked them to take the footage to Lauren since he had already found the musher and dropped her at the medical tent.

Now, as Lauren examined the footage, she spoke quickly to the colleague who was assisting her,

"We can conclude from this section of the footage that the team of dogs had taken off into the woods when the musher had tried to hold them to a right turn on the trail. When they lurched left, the musher fell, grabbing for the line of the… well, what appears to be a spear, maybe… onboard the sled. This left turn could have caused some whiplash, so we'll leave the collar in place for now."

"Next, the sled flips, but the line is still wrapped around the mushers forearm, dragging them from behind. I would assume the line tightened as the sled gained momentum so you can see in the video that they were trying in vain to free their arm. I would assume at this point, several spiral fractures, possibly compound, resulting in torn ligaments and tendons in addition to possible dislocations at the wrist, elbow and possibly shoulder as future footage may reveal."

"Now, as the musher is being dragged they are working to free themselves, but do not protect their head. So, when they hit this tree…" Lauren cringed as did the assisting physician, "… we've got head trauma."

"That's no minor concussion," the other doctor said.

Lauren nodded, "Agreed, Doctor Sommers. Unfortunately, our patient is still attached to the sled so as the dogs continue to gain momentum as our victim remains unconscious."

"Sweet Jesus, it looks like those dogs are dragging a rag doll."

Lauren nodded, her mind being tugged into the past when Mary was being dragged by her sled across the ice of the lake on the North Slope. She shook out the thoughts and turned back to Dr. Sommers,

"Yes, unfortunately, these dogs have one instinct and that is to run. Mushing 101," Lauren said, shaking her head, "Now, about thirty yards from the clearing, the spear comes free, leaving the musher in a heap on the forest floor."

"So how would you like to proceed?"

Lauren shook her head, "Triage protocols and transport. We've got tools to stabilize the victim and handle small surgical procedures, but that's about it. Stop severe bleeding, protect the head, neck and spine, splint the limbs from proximal to distal ends, maintain vitals check until transport."

They moved into the room where Kurt and Kelly raised the gurney and locked it in place. Kelly reported,

"The patient is one Julie May. Apparently, there is no team with her at the race. She's alone."

Kurt handed Lauren a folder, "Here are her race forms."

"How did you get these?"

"Our team ran down her sled, so they were able to pull them from her kit," Kurt said, "Would you like us to call next of kin?"

Lauren shook her head, "No. She's over eighteen. I also know a bit about her family from Bo so we won't want to call home until we know exactly what's wrong," she turned to Kelly, "When you get her to Anchorage, tell the E.R. doctor…"

"Excuse me, but Dr. Lewis, Talkeetna is closer than Anchorage from here," Kurt suggested.

Lauren nodded, "Even better. Kelly, tell Stephen not to call next of kin… better yet, when I call him, I'll tell him. You two can take a break. I'll need you in a few minutes, so don't go anywhere."

Kurt nodded, "Just going up the hill clear of the chopper. Winds are moving the blades, so don't go near it without us."

"Affirmative," Lauren replied, turning back to Dr. Sommers, "I'm going to call ahead. You okay?"

The doctor nodded as she worked, "I've got her."

Lauren picked up the phone and called Stephen directly,

"Lauren! How's the race?"

"I have no idea, Stephen. Listen, Kurt is bringing a trauma patient in. He'll leaving here in about fifteen minutes. Take some notes on the patient for me?"

She could hear rustling and Betsy's voice,

"Stephen?"

"Sorry, Lauren. We just got to the hotel for lunch. We're heading out the door right now."

"No, Stephen…"

"It's okay, Lauren. Betsy is waving her phone at Kenzi right now, so I guess they're doing that mind reading thing those two do."

Lauren waited until she heard the truck door slam,

"Okay, Lauren. We're in the truck. Betsy's digging out some paper while so she can take notes while I drive. I'm actually grateful we weren't parked long since we don't have to clean off the truck! Snow is really coming down here."

Lauren heard a bit of chatter between the two before Stephen spoke again,

"Okay, she's all set. What's going on?"

"Who's on in the E.R.?" Lauren asked.

"Who do you need?" Stephen asked, "I'm putting you on speaker so Betsy can take notes directly. Go ahead."

"I need just about everyone. We've got a critical patient here – a young musher named Julie May. The press may show up on this one, Stephen so we need this kept under wraps until we can notify her family."

She sighed, shaking her head "Confidentiality is crucial. Kate and Anna are working on this, so please let them handle insurance, family notification and the like. Do not let this get held up in billing. Kate and Anna are handling that as well. Make sure the nurses know not to talk to reporters or call next of kin. She has no friends here, so no one should come asking about her. Make sure our staff doesn't get tricked into disclosing information or letting someone into her room."

"What's going on, Lauren?"

"It's the Iditarod, Stephen. A chopper flying into the hospital when most people are at the race will draw attention. There's also a lot of reporters around as well as people from special interest groups."

"I think we get the idea," Stephen said, looking at Betsy who was shaking her head, "I'll give everyone their marching orders, Lauren. They talk, they're fired."

"Thank you," Lauren said, "And to be clear, should the worst happen, no emergency contacts. Anna and Kate will handle any and all notifications – in person, if necessary."

"Lauren, you know I have to ask - is there a Living Will?"

"The musher checked "none" on the form and there's no DNR or DNAR that I can see."

"Got it," Betsy said.

"Okay, what are we looking at?" Stephen asked.

"She was thrown from her sled and dragged through the woods by her team, her arm got entangled in – let's call it a tow line. She was knocked unconscious when she was pulled headfirst into a tree. From there, she was just a rag doll bouncing off whatever she hit."

"You saw it?" Stephen asked.

"I viewed it via drone footage Kurt was given by an online content creator. The woods weren't thick as they were just before a clearing so it's pretty clear what happened. Anyway, head trauma is definitive, so I'd like to have Dr. Jane look at her if she's in."

"She's in, as are most of your chiefs since we're short staffed due to the race."

"Great. Appreciate them all stepping up," Lauren said.

"Already told them."

"Thanks," Lauren said, a twinge of guilt hitting her that she wasn't at the hospital with the doctors she had convinced to come to Alaska. She pushed it aside and continued to report,

"The patient has yet to regain consciousness. One pupil is blown but no blood coming from the ears. Head, neck and spine are all immobilized, but we suspect injury to one if not all three. Not much I can do with what I have. She needs a head CT, X-rays and then you'll know more. No sense doing any of those on the mobile imaging devices since they won't have the detail Dr. Jane wants to see. In addition, the blood loss, obstructed blood flow in at least one limb… better to just transport."

"Got it," Betsy said again.

Lauren nodded, looking at the numbers the assisting physician was showing her, "Likely internal bleeding, so Dr. Piazzi from Internal Medicine should have a look, though patients' blood pressure is currently holding at 100 over 65. It's still low for what she's been through."

Continuing to look at the patient, she added, "There could be other broken bones – I'm concerned about her left rib cage and lung, but we are choosing not to cut away anymore clothing to prevent further hypothermia during transport. From the video, I've also got concerns about the right leg and/or knee."

"Got it," Betsy replied.

"Can you push fluids?" Stephen asked.

"Already pushing standard fluids, but I have no blood type, so cannot start her on transfusion."

"Got it. We'll type and cross when we get her," he said, asking Betsy to jot that down.

"Finally, the arm," Lauren said, "I have a Dr. Sommers assisting me who is currently cutting the clothing free around the arm, so give me a minute."

"Did you just get her?"

Lauren nodded, "Chopper landed about ten minutes ago. We checked vitals, did head to toe check and checked her medical history form, then I watched the drone footage."

"Which is when you decided to call me."

"Actually, I was calling Anchorage until Kurt said we were closer to you."

"Got it," Stephen said.

"I'll send the footage with her, but ortho is going to have their work cut out for them on this one. She's clearly dislocated at the wrist and elbow with a possible separation at the shoulder. I don't want to try to reduce the shoulder since I would have to handle the forearm which is open."

"Excuse me? Did you say open?"

Lauren nodded, as she probed the arm, "I'm seeing multiple open spiral fractures of the radius and ulna, blood vessels appear to be intact by some strange miracle. Dislocations at the wrist and elbow which will need to be surgically reduced. She'll need both tendon and ligament repair…"

Lauren lowered her eyes, examining the arm, "Hell, Stephen I can't tell… I'm concerned about the brachial nerve and it appears the brachial artery may be compressed. We'll work on that before we transport. I think I may be able to improve circulation before we put her in an air cast, but I don't know if I can see what I need to see without making a distal to proximal incision on the medial side... Geezus this arm is a mess."

She looked up at Dr. Sommers, "Thoughts?"

"I agree there is compression, but I cannot tell… maybe that proximal ulnar-radial joint?"

Lauren nodded, "Yes, I see it. Stephen?"

"I'm here, Lauren."

"I'm going to release the artery and see what happens with her BP, but I'll have to cut two ligaments to relieve the pressure."

"It's the only way to save the arm, Lauren. That blood flow is the priority."

Lauren nodded, "Agreed. Is Dr. McFarland still there? He mentioned coming here for some shifts this week."

Stephen cleared his throat, "He was draining a knee when we left, but I'll get him on this."

"Are you sick?" Lauren asked.

"Nope. Just choking on my coffee."

"You've been up all night," Lauren sighed, remembering he was on shift all week since she was at the race.

Stephen looked at Betsy who shrugged, "I'm good, Lauren – I just came off a solid seven hours of sleep before rounds this morning. From there it was just observing resident surgeries. I'm pretty fresh. Betsy texted Kenzi when I turned us around. She's going to send meals down to us."

Lauren sighed, "I'm sorry…"

"Don't you dare. Now, back to our critical patient…"

Lauren heard the familiar tone and knew that this was her mentor talking, "Is Omar Robinson in the E.R. today?" Lauren asked, "He would be a great help assisting any of the surgeons you'll need."

Stephen nodded, "I'll help out with the vascularization procedure, and he can help out Piazzi."

"Is Hartman in for anesthesiology?"

"He is. Anyone else we'll need?"

Lauren heard a ruckus behind her and turned to see a woman being wheeled into the room. The volunteer spoke only three words before Lauren turned back to the call,

"Have Callie Frye on standby, please?"

"Callie Frye? Our obstetrics and gynecology Chief? For this?"

Lauren shook her head, "No, for the race official they just brought in who went into early labor. I'm putting her on the chopper with our musher. Contractions are still about seven minutes apart according to the note I'm being shown right now."

"Got it. We're at the hospital."

"Great. She'll be on her way in five or ten minutes. Lewis out."

Lauren turned to the doctor who had come over to take care of the race official, "Put her on the chopper. We'll send her to Talkeetna with this patient."

The race official's face showed pure panic, as her words spilled out so fast that Lauren could barely understand her,

"But there's no hospital in Talkeetna and my doctor back home is on vacation in the Swiss Alps. I mean, who leaves Alaska to go on vacation in more snow? I'm not due for another three weeks! This can't be happening now!"

Lauren smiled, dropping her magnifying glasses down to her chest and turning to the woman, "I promise you. Everything is going to be fine. You know your breathing, right?"

The woman smiled, "My husband and I have been going to birthing classes every week."

"Good," Lauren smiled, her voice low and calm, "Now, while I handle this, our volunteer Nurse is going to help you with that breathing. I promise you we will get you to the best place to deliver," Lauren nodded to the nurse before getting to work maneuvering the bones and wound site to free and suture the blood vessel of concern,

"But not in Talkeetna, right? Because there's no hospital there?" The woman asked as the Nurse began to signal to her to take a deep breath as she listened to Lauren,

"Actually, a brand-new hospital with some of the best doctors from all over the country was just built there. It's fully operating – it just hasn't had it's public grand opening event due to weather. We also have a clinic with surgical suites and full-time staff if you prefer a smaller environment. We take all patient insurance plans in either place and if you don't have insurance, we can set you up on a payment plan. A new trauma center will open in eight to twelve months adjoining the clinic."

The woman looked shocked, "I had no idea. I live just north of there. Well, more than an hour north by sled, I suppose. We actually had to have some fancy doctor flown in to treat that horrible plague that hit last year."

"Well, let me introduce you to the fancy doctor who flew to your village," Kelly said as she walked into the tent, "You called, Doctor Lewis?"

Lauren tightened her lips, leaning into Kelly, "You know how I hate being propped up, Nurse."

Kelly whispered back, "She didn't know the hospital existed, Dr. Lewis. That's bad business. You have salaries to pay and like it or not, your name will bring in the patients we need to pay those salaries – not to mention the disposable equipment and the chopper this patient is about to be flown in."

Lauren sighed, turning back to the woman, "Nice to meet you."

"You're the kind doctor who took in the Valaria's young daughter!"

Lauren's hands froze for a moment, panic hitting her as she double checked to be sure she hadn't nicked the artery. Satisfied, she continued, calming herself as she replied,

"Yes, she has been adopted by family of mine. She now has two older brothers, a cousin her age who is more like a sister and… well, as you can imagine… a lot of canine friends. She's actually here working in the Veterinarian's tent when she's not working for Team Dennis."

"Bo Dennis? The Champion?"

Lauren smiled, "The one and only. Now, if you'll excuse me, we must get you and this young lady off to the hospital. It's been many, many years since I delivered a baby, so you'll want to see the wonderful Dr. Callie Frye in Talkeetna. She'll take very good care of you and will be ready to receive you when you arrive."

"Thank you so much and please tell Elise that Mrs. Watson from the town bank says hello - the teller who only had cherry lollipops. She loved those so much."

"She does love cherry and strawberry everything," Lauren smiled, "You take care now."

"Thank you, Doctor Lewis and bless you for taking care of that precious child."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Watson," Lauren said, turning to Kelly, "Take her first while we get this arm into an air splint, then you can take this one. I take it you've reviewed your emergency delivery procedures?"

Kelly grinned, "If the baby comes, it will be my third since boarding the air squad."

"Air squad?" Lauren asked as she pulled up a chair and began the difficult job of removing debris as Dr. Sommers irrigated the area in and around the wound as she worked.

Kelly leaned in, "It's a much easier, cooler name for us, don't you think? Can you save that arm, Lauren?"

"Tell Dr. Mujambi that I've preserved the brachial artery as best I could under these conditions, but she should double check my work first thing. Ask her to be sure Dr. Jane checks the nerve function in that arm before she works on it – the brachial nerve especially. I already told Stephen to have Dr. McFarland there, so he'll work with Dr. Mujambi on the arm with you and then help Dr. Jane with the neck and spine if there's any issues there."

Lauren paused, "Oh course, Dr. Jane may choose to prioritize her head injury since she's obviously still unconscious and then Dr. Piazzi needs to do an internal exam since she sustained multiple blows to the torso and lower body as well. I gave a full report to Dr. Archer, so he should have briefed them all by the time you get there. Don't leave until there's another cardio nurse in the bay with the docs, okay?"

Kelly nodded as she finished jotting down her notes. She turned to Lauren who handed her a clipboard with a stack of papers beneath the clip,

"What's all of this?"

"Her medical consent forms. I've already reviewed all of that with Stephen, so be sure he is involved with her check-in."

"Got it."

"Kelly, if she wakes up, please assure her not to worry about medical bills and that we'll have her home to her Mom soon."

Kelly's eyes widened, "This is the girl that Bo tried to have booted from the race this morning?"

Lauren nodded, as she carefully lifted the arm so that Dr. Sommers could slide the air splint beneath,

"When she wouldn't voluntarily drop out, it was Bo's last ditch effort to prevent exactly this from happening. That reporter is going to have a field day when she catches wind of what's happened. I told Stephen to keep the press away, though I don't know how much he'll be able to do."

Kelly scowled, "I'll call Dyson on the way and get hospital security to help him out when I land. Why would the reporter go after her? Did she do something wrong?"

"No. She just didn't think Bo did enough to keep her from running the race."

"That's not Bo's call."

Lauren removed her gloves, tossing them into the trash before stepping away so that the volunteer nurse could clean up the surgical tools and trash.

She turned to Kelly, removing her surgical drape and mask before moving to the sink to wash her hands,

"We all know that, but this reporter… well, it's a long story. We'll chat later, Kelly. For now, just be sure that no one gets her name or any information about her condition. Anna and Kate will be handling the emergency contacts once they get solid information on her diagnosis and prognosis." Lauren said, shaking out her hands before drying them off.

She pulled on Iditarod Medic jacket and gloves before moving back to the monitors to be sure Julia's vitals were still stable.

"Okay. Is there anything else I can do to help, Lauren?"

"Just be my well-trained, super smart nurse and get them there safely, Kelly."

She smiled, placing a hand on Kelly's shoulder who turned and helped Kurt prep the patient for transport.

Lauren watched as the couple worked quickly and safely, securing the neck and spine of the patient before lifting the backboard onto the helicopter gurney where she was strapped in and immobilized.

"Good to go?" Kelly asked, with her thumbs up.

Lauren smiled and nodded, "Just take care of her, Kelly… and our mom-to-be. Arrive alive, right?"

Kelly nodded and smiled as she gathered the bags of fluid and laid them over her shoulder, "Every "i" dotted, every "t" crossed – just like you taught us, Lauren."

"Later, Lauren," Kurt said.

"Thanks, Kurt. Safe trip."

"Thanks."

Lauren and Kelly exchanged a nod before they gave the final push to the gurney and the tent fell silent. She turned to the Dr. Sommers,

"Well, I guess we'd better get the bed and carts prepped again."

"Hopefully that's the worst we see today," Lauren nodded as she whispered through the gap in the tent exit, "Your lips to the ears of Bo's Great Spirits."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finger Lake Lodge

Mary shook her head, "Rudy, put the story magazine aside and finish your lunch, Child. Elise, you too. Both of you will have work to do when our Ysabeau comes into the checkpoint."

Rudy and Elise shared a glance before they closed the magazine between them and picked up their forks.

"Are we going to camp on Winter Lake like the mushers?" Elise asked, "I've never camped on a lake before."

Mary smiled, "We want to save the hay for Bo's dogs. We have a room in the lodge with three bunkbeds. We'll take turns sleeping. You and Rudy can share a bunk."

Rudy smiled, "We want a top bunk. Tosh said he would lift Snow onto it."

Elise nodded, "Then Snow is going back to the Vet tent with me. Cassie said she'll be good… what was that word?"

"Therapy," Rudy said with confidence,

"…for the dogs that get dropped," Elise paused before looking up at Molly, "Why will she be good for the sick dogs?"

Molly smiled, "Because Snow is a kind soul and you saw how she cuddled up with Harper when she was sick."

"Oh. She really is good with cuddling. Rudy taught her," Elise smiled.

Rudy giggled, "And my mom taught me."

Elise nodded, her eyes on her food, "My mom taught me too."

Rudy placed a hand on Elise's back and rubbed, suddenly concerned,

"Did I make you sad?"

Elise shook her head, "Nah. It's good to think of her. She taught me a lot and… well, we had fun together. She always wanted me to come to this race. It was my dream and now look – I'm here," she said, turning her palms up, "Maybe she's with Bo's Great Spirits and she's watching us. I'll bet she didn't expect me to be working as a…"

She looked up at Molly, "What am I?"

Molly smiled, holding back tears, "You're a Junior Veterinarian Technician."

Elise looked at Rudy and laughed, "I'm what she said."

Rudy smiled, "I bet your Momma's smiling."

Elise nodded, "My Daddy too."

Rudy nodded as she spoke in almost a whisper, "I wonder if my Daddy would be proud of me."

Mary sighed, knowing Rudy's father wouldn't give his precious child a second thought but she would never tell her daughter that. She could feel her daughter's eyes on her but decided she would say nothing unless pressed on the topic in this public setting. Thankfully, Rudy let it go, instead choosing a new topic,

"Did you know that only thirteen of the forty-seven racers this year are girls?"

Shannon and Carolyn smiled at each other before Shannon asked,

"Really? That sounds pretty good, right?"

Rudy frowned, "That's only twenty-eight percent of all the racers! If I got a twenty-eight percent on a test, my mom wouldn't let me out of the house for the rest of my life!"

The entire table laughed, Mary turning to Rudy, "You're probably right, Child."

The youngster looked at her mom, hopeful, "Is that percentage right?"

Mary shrugged, "It could be left."

Rudy rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean, Momma. Was my math right?"

Grinning, Mary replied, "It was, indeed, Child," she placed her spoon in her bowl, "What else did you read about the race?"

"Can I tell them?" Elise asked her friend, receiving an excited nod.

Elise turned to the group, "Did you know that the first women to actually finish an Iditarod were Mary Shield and Lolly Medley? They won in 1974 which was only a year after the first race. They came in 23rd and 24th place which I think is… what was that word, Roo?"

"Respectable."

"Right. Respectable, but people didn't think women could win back then and some didn't even think they should be running because of how dangerous it was, but the rules didn't say they couldn't run it so they did. It probably took so long for a woman to win because nobody believed in them. Lots of people believe in Bo and that's why she wins."

"Yea. It's a lot easier to believe in yourself when lots of other people believe in you first. Lauren taught us that," Rudy smiled.

Elise nodded, "Yea and a lot of sports in the rest of the country are still stuff girls don't get to do because of dis-in-ti-gration?"

Shannon chuckled, "You mean discrimination."

"Yea, that. Anyway, Rudy and I are gonna do all of it just to prove that girls can do anything boys can."

Rudy nodded, "Yea and besides, it was only ten years after Mary and Lolly finished when Libby Riddles won without all the sponsors the men have."

Elise looked at Rudy, "Right and back then she didn't even care that she was making history about being the first girl musher to win. She just cared that she kicked all their butts!"

Both girls fist pumped the air, "Girl power!"

LJ laughed, "Wow. We've got some serious feminists here."

Shannie popped his arm with her fist, "Hey! Sticking up for girls and women doesn't make you a feminist! It makes you a girl or woman who is sick and tired of being second guessed and doubted by boys and men. If you could walk one day in our shoes, you'd understand."

Rubbing his arm, LJ nodded, "Okay, okay. Truce!"

Shannon shook her head, "Truce, right. I can't believe that came out of your mouth considering you are here on a female mushers' team who is about to tie the all-time record for consecutive Iditarod wins by a female despite a town full of male haters who did everything in their power to prevent her from running for years. You've known her longer than I have so you do realize this win would be huge, right?"

Rudy nodded, "Especially because Susan Butcher set that record way back in 1990."

"Wait – we have that story too. She's amazeballs!"

"Elise!" Molly scolded.

"What? Kenzi says it all the time. It's not a bad word... is it?"

Molly noted the slight shake of the head by Shannon and sighed, "No. I suppose not."

Elise frowned, then turned back to the group, "Did you guys hear about her?" Elise asked as she and Rudy dug out another old magazine, "You read it Rudy."

"Okay," Rudy said, taking her last spoonful of stew, "All done, Momma. Can I read?"

Mary nodded, "Is everyone up for a story from Rudy?"

Everyone smiled and nodded before Rudy began,

"Well, I'm not gonna read it. We highlighted the good parts with Mrs. Cooper's highlighter. She said we can keep the magazine."

"She's super nice," Elise added.

Rudy began, "So, Susan Butcher wasn't from Alaska. She was from Boston, Masschusus like Lauren, Shannie, Lynnie and Kelly… and I think maybe… Kate and Anna, did you live there?"

Kate smiled, "We lived in Massachusetts…"

"Mass-a-choo…"

"Sets."

"Mass-a-choo-sets."

Kate smiled, "You've got it, kiddo. Anyway, we lived there for a very short time for my Residency. Most of our life as a couple has been in Delaware."

Anna clarified, "That is, we had a house we rented there. We just didn't spend much time in the house because we liked to travel a lot."

Elise smiled, "We know. We've only seen two of your photo albums, but you said you would invite us over to see the rest, right?"

Anna smiled and nodded, "Any time your parents say yes and we're home."

"Cool," The two girls said in unison.

Rudy continued, "Anyway, Susan started training dogs when she was sixteen. That's pretty old compared to us. Then she went to college in Colorado and she raced fifty Alaskan huskies for some other guy. I mean, they were his dogs, not hers."

Elise pointed, "So the guy actually got the trophy, not her! See what we mean about how unfair it is for girls?"

She eyed LJ who nodded, putting up both hands, "I see. Really! I see!"

The women laughed as Rudy continued, "She moved here to our state in 1975 and started her own kennel."

Elise nodded, "Uh-huh and did you know she didn't get her start in the Iditarod first?"

Rudy smiled, "That's right. It says that in 1979, she actually drove a team of huskies to the top of Denali! Can you believe it? I mean, that's incredible!"

Elise nodded, "I mean, she did race in the Iditarod in 1978, but back then, she wasn't famous for that. The race was 1,100 miles and it was the longest and hardest trail ever. But then she got second for a second time in 1984!"

Rudy held up a finger, "But think about it. It only took her four years to place second in the Iditarod! Nobody talked about her back then but she beat all those people in the same time it took LJ to finish High School!"

Elise nodded, "But there was some really sad stuff about her too. She was winning in 1985 and she had a really big lead."

"That was the year that Libby won," Rudy added, "Susan was beating her and Libby would have been second. That means two girls would have crossed before any of the men, LJ!"

LJ's shoulders rose, his head sinking as Elise continued,

"But a big moose charged across her path and it killed two of her dogs and hurt thirteen. Cassie said it's why we have all the dog staff we have today."

"And like Sister says, when you have a bad day on a sled, it's just one bad day. You have to get back up on the rails and keep training," Rudy said.

Elise nodded, "And that's just what Susan did. The next year she smashed the record and came in first."

"She won again in 1987 and 1988 which made her the first and only musher to win the race three times in a row back then. She didn't win in 1989, but she won again in 1990 and that's how she holds the record for the most wins by a woman. She's also the only one to win four races in five years. Sister would be the first woman to win four races in four years. A few guys have done that too, but if she won this year and next year, she would be the first person ever to win five races and the first person to win five in a row. Pretty cool, huh?"

"If she does it, it would be, yea," Tosh replied.

"You gotta have faith in her, Big Brother," Rudy said, her fist over her heart.

Tosh sighed with a smile, "As usual, you're right little sister. I have to stop being so sinical."

"Sister says you all have to shed your negative energy from the bad man."

Tosh cocked his head in surprise but then nodded, "You know what, Roo? You're right again. It took a lot of years for the bad man to put the negative energy in. Hopefully it doesn't take as long to let it out."

Elise smiled, "I can show you Bo's mediation prayer. It's all about putting positive energy into yourself and out into the world. It's cool."

Tosh nodded his approval, "Is that the same prayer you were doing this morning?"

Rudy shrugged, "Yup. And it makes you feel like you can do anything!"

Tosh smiled at his little sister, "Well, don't tell people our sisters' secret! You want her to keep her edge in the Iditarod!"

Rudy and Elise pulled their invisible zippers over their lips, gave a twist of their wrists and tossed the invisible keys over their shoulders as the adults all smiled.

"Is there anything else you guys want to know about Susan?" Rudy asked.

Lynnie nodded, "Does she still race or live around here? Can we go see her kennels?"

Rudy and Elise shared a glance before Rudy explained, "She retired from racing in 1994 and opened a kennel in Eureka. She had over 150 huskies and she trained dogs year-round. Sister will have that many in a few years too. Their new cabin has a huge backyard so they'll have plenty of room to run."

Rudy looked around the table until Elise tugged on her arm and said, "Tell them the rest."

"Oh, right. Well, it's sad. I mean, really sad. Is that okay?" Rudy asked, looking up at Mary.

"Sadness if part of life, Child. We must face the good and the bad, yes?"

Rudy and Elise shared a glance before Elise nodded, "Yes. Susan died like my mom and dad, just back in 2006 instead of 2020. She had a type of cancer that's spelled l-e-u-k-e-m-i-a. What is that, Shannie?"

"It's called leukemia and it's a cancer of parts of the body that make our blood. It gets into the blood vessels, the bones and the lymphatic… um… the immune system that fights colds and stuff."

"Wow. We have blood everywhere. That's sad that she got loo-kee-ma."

The two nurses nodded as Shannie replied, "It is, but at least she got to do great things in her life, right?"

Rudy and Elise smiled, "She's one of the greatest ever."

"Yes, she is," Shannie smiled.

"They named a day after her, so that's cool. It's always the first Saturday in March. We should have a party for her!"

Molly nodded, "You will have one, Rudy. Your school always celebrates the day. You'll be invited to bring one dog and any family you choose. It's a big outdoor celebration for the whole community that's a lot of fun."

"Cool! That sounds awesome!" she turned to Mary, "Momma! Did you hear?"

Mary grinned, "I heard, Child. It's very exciting."

"Will you come?"

"Of course, Child."

Rudy smiled, "Thanks, Momma."

Elise nodded her agreement, "Molly, you'll come too, right? And you, LJ? And can we take Snow?"

Molly shook her head, "Snow is too little for a crowd that size. Don't you want to take Jenna or Mutt?"

"Right! We can each take one of them. That way, neither of them will be left behind!"

"Perfect!" Elise said, the two girls slapping a resounding high five.

Rudy's eyes went wide for a moment as she quickly paged through the magazine, then turned to the group,

"We forgot DeeDee Jonrowe! She wore all pink when she ran the race and has the fastest time for a female since 1998… until Sister. She had cancer too, but she lived!"

"And she ran the race only three weeks after her cancer…"

Rudy giggled, "It was in her boobies. We didn't know that could happen."

Shannie nodded, "It's one of the most common cancers in women. Men can get it too."

"But men don't have boobies," Elise said, the two girls looking quite confused.

"They're just not as… big… as ours get to be, but they still have them," Shannon explained.

"Well, DeeDee ran the race after she had…" Rudy looked at Elise, "…chemical therapy?"

Elise shrugged and looked to Shannie who smiled, "Chemotherapy, so chemical isn't too far off and you're right – it's amazing that she was running this race after having that treatment."

Rudy nodded, "She finished too. That was back in 2003."

"Oh! And she's a three-time runner up!" Elise added, "That's second place."

Rudy nodded, "There's a lot of stuff women have done in sledding, so don't count us out!"

"Well, if we don't get down to Bo's camp, she may count us out. We don't want her to think we deserted her."

"Never!" Rudy shouted, "I can't wait for her to park her sled and tell me all about the race!"

Mary stopped her daughter, "Remember what we told you, Child. Your Sister may keep going. Kyle told you that she doesn't like to sleep in the crowds. She and her dogs like their space so if a lot of mushers do their 8 or 24 hour stop this early in the race, she will keep going. Even if many do not stay, she may still have her reasons for continuing on."

"Then why did we set up her camp?"

"Just in case she does, Squirt," Tosh said, placing a hand on Rudy's shoulder, "That's our job. We get everything ready knowing we may just have to take it all down and move it. She may drop a hint about her plan if she's blowing through, so pay attention to her when she comes in."

Rudy hung her head as she headed towards the checkpoint with Shannie, "Okay, but I still hope she stops."

Mary sighed, "If she does, she'll need sleep, Child. Let her speak as she chooses and make sure you help her take care of the dogs. Rubs, food, water, hay and sleep. That's the most important thing."

"Yes, Momma."

START OF CHAP41 IDITAROD PART2 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finger Lake Checkpoint

"There! Here she comes! Shannie, do you have the stopwatch ready?"

Shannon hurried down the trail, pulling out her stopwatch and readying her clipboard,

"Ready to go, Squirt."

"Please stay, please stay, please stay…" Rudy repeated over and over again, Elise joining in when she ran to her side,

"Do you think she'll stop, Rudy?"

"I hope so… at least to get the times from the last two checkpoints."

"She's coming! She's coming!" Elise shouted, jumping up and down.

Bo couldn't help but smile when she saw the two youngsters jumping up and down. She smiled bigger when she noticed her entire family was standing there as well, but she didn't see Lauren.

"Sister! Sister!" Rudy shouted.

The musher pulled in, giving Rudy a smile before she handed her checkpoint record to the official. She pulled her goggles up over her head as the veterinarian came down to check on her dogs. She set the hand brake and then dropped the anchor, stomping it into the snow before moving to Harper with the Veterinarian,

"Hey Cheryl. How are you?"

"I'm good Bo. Cassie told all of us about Harper. Do you want me to check her first?"

Bo sighed, "I'm going to try to drop her if she lets me. So far, she hasn't. Can you start with the wheels?"

"Sure thing," the vet said as Bo moved to the front of the sled. She looked up to see Molly in the group behind the kids, "Four buckets of food?"

Molly nodded to Kate and Anna who each lifted two buckets and carried them down to Bo with Molly. The older woman lifted the empties out of their tightly packed spots and allowed the younger women to drop the new buckets in before she secured them and double-checked their stability. She zipped up the cover and walked back up the hill with the two doctors. They turned back and watched as Bo and the Vet checked on the dogs.

LJ and Tosh stood by, leads in hand in case any dogs did not pass their Vet check.

"Hey girls," Bo said, checking on Aphrodite first then turning to Harper, "What do you think, my friend? Had enough? You're running well, but I don't know that you have the lungs for another stretch. It's not that long, but you really haven't been training for this race."

Bo reached for Harper's head to give her a rub, but she growled, "Hey! That's not going to happen."

She gripped the center line and pulled her head up, rubbing Harper's back and then her neck until she was at her head. She turned around and knelt in front of her, grabbing both sides of her face,

"If you're going to be in a bad mood, maybe you should stop."

Harper barked twice, ending with a small growl, "Harp, I won't leave you behind, but you could get in the basket."

Harper growled again. Bo sighed, standing up, "We've got a race to win my friend. I'm not so sure you're going to make another section of the course. If I keep you hitched to the team and you get hurt, I'll have to stop to treat your injury and then put you in the basket. If you get in the basket while we have to stop to be checked, I won't have to stop until the eight hour mandatory. If you get in the basket and rest, maybe you can run again on another leg?"

Bo went to grab the lead attached to the center line and Harper snapped at her hand, "Hey! That's not okay!"

She gripped Harper by the scruff of the neck and scolded her, "That's not going to happen again!"

Harper lowered her head, releasing a long whimper as she laid down in the snow. Bo sighed, "Okay. But you do not snap at me. I'm going to make the call as I see fit, Harper. You've already run much, much further than I intended."

The Vet came to stand beside Bo, "Not letting you release her, huh?"

Bo shook her head, planting her hands on her hips, "You'd better let me hold her head while you check her."

Cheryl smiled, "In all the years I've watched your Champion run, I've never seen her snap at you. You know the rules, so I have to ask. Should I be worried?"

Bo shrugged, "It's not the first time since we got here. She's been through hell and she wants to do what she wants to do. We all know she's healthy physically – all things considered. Mentally, she wants to run and that seems to be all she cares about. Out on the course, she hasn't given me any trouble."

"Can you blame her? She's been taking orders from you and saving your ass her entire life," Cheryl chuckled.

Bo laughed, "True."

Cheryl checked Harper while Bo held her head, speaking calmly to her.

"Bo, I have criteria I have to follow…"

"I don't want to get you in trouble and I'm not asking for any special treatment here…"

Cheryl nodded, "I know, but I am telling you honestly that I can see no reason that Harper can't keep running. You've done a great job providing protection for that leg of hers, all of her privates are fine and her heart and lung sounds are perfect – like she was a two-year-old. It's your call."

Bo sighed, "No, it's her call and she wants to run, so she stays."

Cheryl nodded, "Well, I'll let Cassie know. She wants us to keep her in the loop."

"If there's any way Cass can get to the next checkpoint, I'd love for her to check Harper out. The two of them developed a very special relationship after spending all of those weeks alone together in the hospital. Then I was gone and she was caring for her with my little sister and her cousin, so…"

Cheryl nodded, "I get it, Bo. Aphrodite looks good as does the rest of your team. They look like they're in the best shape of their lives. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. I'll see what we can do to get Cassie to the next checkpoint."

"Thank you. Again – no special privileges if you can't pull it off."

"Thanks for your understanding, Bo. You always support our team no matter what and that's a big deal to us. You never argue if we drop one of your dogs – although that's not something we've had to do in quite some time."

Bo smiled, "I do my best with them. Thank you, Cheryl."

"Okay, let's get you moving. I'll get your paperwork signed and you'll be good to go."

Bo gave a nod and looked up at the two youngsters standing not far from the official,

"Hey, Roo! Hey Elise! You two having fun?"

"The best! Are you spending the night?" Rudy asked.

Bo shook her head, "Sorry kiddo. I'm just stopping for the officials and vet checks right now. I'd like to get a picture of those times I asked Kyle to get."

"Awe…" Rudy started, her lips forming a frown until Elise elbowed her and whispered,

"She's got a race to win! We have to support her, remember? What Sister needs comes first."

Rudy took a deep breath, plastered a smile on her face and looked up at Bo, "Shannie has the times. Kyle gave them to us to do. We've been real careful."

Bo was surprised as her eyes moved to Shannon who was focused on watching for the next sled,

"Shannon?"

The nurse turned to Bo, completely absorbed by her task.

Bo nodded, "The sled split times?"

She took a look back before dropping the stopwatch to her chest, putting her pencil in her mouth and taking quick snapshots of the pages. She handed Elise the clipboard and then walked to Bo,

"Hold out your phone."

"What?"

"I set up Airdrop on your phone before you left. Hold up your phone to mine and accept the message that pops up on your screen."

Bo did as she was told and quickly received a notification to accept the pictures, "Whoa. That's cool."

Shannon nodded, "Trying to keep you going. If our phones are within about thirty feet of each other, I can drop any documents or pictures to you. No need to stop – just slow down."

"Great! Thanks! I'll have a look when I set up camp."

"We have camp set up here if you wanted to stop now and save the time," Rudy suggested, hopeful.

Bo smiled, "Thanks for the effort, Roo, but check the weather forecast and you'll understand why I've decided to keep moving. Text me when you think you have it figured out. No cheating reading that weather forecasters report. Use the barometer, altitude and humidity readings to decide."

The Vet turned to Bo, "You're good to go."

"Thanks, Cheryl."

"You're welcome. Be safe, Bo."

Bo gave a nod, picking up the brake on her sled and mounting the rails. She turned to Rudy and Elise, "You two are doing great work! Tell Lauren I'm sorry I missed her."

Shannon held her breath, hoping the girls wouldn't mention the emergency Lauren was dealing with. She exhaled a sigh of relief when Rudy responded,

"We'll tell her and we're learning a bunch of stuff! Elise got to put two stitches in a dog who got their butt cut in a fall!"

"Wow! That's awesome, Elise!" Bo smiled, pulling on her gloves.

Rudy smiled, "And I have a full report on the mushers when you stop for a break. It's one of those…" she looked up at Shannon who smiled and said,

"We made you a scouting report. It lets you know what your little Sis thinks about the competition and who could give you a challenge if they catch up near the end."

Bo smiled and nodded, "Thanks for looking out for me, Roo. Well, if I don't want them to catch up, I'd better get a move on. See you at the next one."

"Are you stopping?"

"It's always a maybe, Roo. We'll see," Bo said, feeling good about not making a promise she wasn't sure she could keep. She pulled up the anchor, gripped her handle and called out to Harper and Aphrodite,

"Line out, Ladies!" she waited for her team to stand, gave her family and friends on the hill a wave before heading out again,

"Hike! Hike!" Bo called back to Rudy, "Roo! Don't forget to smell the air and be ready to receive Harper at the next stop just in case!"

Rudy's smile was wide as she jumped up and down and yelled, "I'll smell the air and I'll be ready!"

They all watched Bo disappear down the hill before Rudy turned to Elise, "I'm sad that she had to go."

Elise nodded, "Me too."

"Do you have to go work in the tent again?"

Elise nodded, "It's my job, Roo. Sorry. I wish I could be with you all night."

Rudy shrugged, "it's okay. I have to go feed and water the backup dogs anyway. That takes an hour. Then I have to get in the truck to go to the next checkpoint before Sister gets there."

Elise smiled, "Well, at least we get to take a nap together before I have to go…" she hesitated looking at Shannon, "… I mean, if you'll do the splits for Rudy?"

Shannon grinned, "How can I say no to those adorable faces?"

Elise laughed, "You can't! Thank you!"

"Thank you!" Rudy added as the girls joined hands, "Let's go have hot chocolate."

"With five marshmallows each!" Elise smiled.

"Six," Rudy suggested.

"Yea, six!" Elise smiled, as they ran towards the lodge, the family following the pair.

Molly took Mary's arm in her elbow and began walking with her up the hill, "I'm glad they handled her departure so well."

Mary nodded, "I have a feeling they're going to struggle more being separated from each other throughout the week than being separated from Bo."

"Do we have a plan when they no longer want to be apart?" Molly asked.

Mary smiled, "We take the path of least resistance. We have too many days left to worry about Ysabeau to deal with these two being separated against their wishes."

Molly nodded, "I'm sure Cassie is expecting Elise to tire of the tents eventually."

"I think we leave it up to Shannon and Carolyn, their mentors," Mary said, loud enough for the nurses to hear while winking at Molly.

"Leave what to us?" Carolyn asked.

Molly smiled, "The girls - when they no longer want to be in separate jobs at this race."

Mary nodded, "You know how they love being together."

Carolyn sighed, "And hate being apart even more."

Shannon shook her head, "Oh boy. Do you want us to take the 'good soldier' approach or the 'soft sister' approach?"

"Go soft," Mary smiled, "We're all too tired to fight them and it's going to be a very long week with very little sleep for youngsters their age. You know how they are when they team up."

Carolyn nodded, "Especially with those big sad eyes."

Kyle emerged from the lodge, heading down the hill.

Shannon shook her head and laughed, "You just missed her!"

"Oh, crap! I overslept!"

The entire group laughed as Tosh called out, "That gives all of us permission to oversleep! You're on duty, Ms. Swift!"

Tamsin smiled, holding out her arms as Kyle walked into her embrace and mumbled, "I'm so tired, T."

"It's okay, Sleepy. We understand. Bo's fine, we're all fine, everything is fine."

"Do you have to go back to work?" Kyle asked.

Tamsin nodded, "I didn't want to wake you up when I got up. I figured you had set an alarm."

"I did, but I slept through it – or maybe I hit the snooze and slept through that. Of course, I may have put my phone on silent too. No idea!"

"Very unlike you, my dear."

"Yes, it is. Did Bo need anything?"

"Nope. Harper almost took a chunk out of her hand when she tried to unhitch her from the team."

"Really?" Kyle asked.

"Yup. We were all shocked to see her behave that way."

"Maybe Harp's in pain?"

Tamsin shrugged, "Well, since she can't talk, we don't really know but she clearly wasn't going anywhere near the basket. She snapped when Bo reached to unhook her. The vet cleared her to run. It was hard to hear from where we were standing, but I think she said they were all fit to run."

"Well, that's good news, I guess, but if Bo wanted to drop her, Harper must be slowing them down. If she was injured the vet would have forced her out."

Tamsin nodded towards a sled on the trail, "Well, that's the first sled to get here since Bo was here. They must be twenty minutes behind her."

Kyle smiled, "Our sled is much better suited to this heavy, deep snow. Wood wins every time."

"I can think of at least one place where I do not prefer wood."

Kyle shook her head, slapping Tamsin, "You're bad."

"You like me when I'm bad."

"Hey! That's enough. You're leaving for your shift so don't go getting me riled up."

Tamsin smiled, applying a little pressure to Kyle's pelvis with her thigh, "Wouldn't think of it. Gotta run. See you tomorrow."

She leaned in and gave Kyle a tight hug before releasing her to lift her goggles and give her a wink. She turned and walked away – a little extra sway in her hips. Kyle watched, laughing at her partner as she headed up the trail. She loved that woman and hoped that she would eventually be ready to take the next step… whatever that was.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several Hours Later, on the Course…

When Bo had arrived at Rainy Pass, her family and friends were nowhere to be found. She had wanted Cassie to have a look at Harper and if she hadn't made it, any Vet would do. The most difficult section of the course was coming up and she was concerned about Harper running what was known to be the most difficult stage.

When she entered the checkpoint to get stamped, she pulled over to put Harper in the basket. As expected, the champion canine growled and snapped, but when her teeth pierced Bo's skin, the musher lost all patience. Harper had cowered under the sound of her voice,

"Now that's enough!" she had shouted, holding her wrist, "If you've got a death wish, die on your own time, Harper!" the dog cowered, crawling to Bo's feet, "I am not going to deal with your sisters and daughters having to mourn you for the rest of this race because you wouldn't sit in the basket for two lousy hours! Get off your high horse, Harper or I swear I'll leave you here with the race official!"

Bo had then unceremoniously unhitched her from the team, picked her up and carried her into the basket where Harper barked and whimpered as Bo moved Aphrodite into the lone lead position. When Bo returned to the rails, she heard a familiar laugh. She turned back to see Dusty Masters standing there next to the checkpoint official holding his rounded gut,

"Did I think I would ever see the day when Bo Dennis picked up her Champion to put her in the basket against her will? Ha ha! I can finally tell everyone that Bo really is in charge of her sled! All these years we thought it was Harper!"

Bo shook her head, "She always was in charge! That's the problem – I spoiled her by letting her make all of the decisions! Actually, I spoiled her stupid to the point where she doesn't know what's best for her!"

"Awww… let her run if she wants to run."

"Can't do that, Dusty. No matter what the outcome of the race, I won't lose her because I made bad decisions for her."

"Yea, we heard about her injuries. I was surprised to see her hitched up. The way some people talked, she was on death's door."

Bo nodded, "She was – believe me, I'm more surprised than anyone. I was going to run her for a mile. I have no idea what's keeping her going."

"Well, she's not happy with you right now," he said, nodding towards Harper's head hanging low out of the basket, "She looks so sad."

Bo sighed, "I'll give her another chance once we get through the pass if she wants to run."

"You're taking the pass at night, Bo?"

Bo shrugged, "Wouldn't be the first time. Remember, I lived on this course for a big chunk of my life. The Alaska Range was my home. They're used to being out here, but in the end – it's always up to them. If they're tired, we'll camp. Otherwise, we'll keep going," Bo said, pointing towards the sky, "At least we have the gift of the moon and the glare off a fresh blanket of snow this year."

Dusty nodded, "Just keep in mind they had the warmest January on record in these parts."

Bo nodded, "Watch the ice bridges and the lake. Got it."

"Good luck, Bo."

"Thanks, Dusty. Take care. If you see my human team, let them know I'm carrying Harper."

"I'll look for Molly. I wanted to talk to her anyway about cooking up some stew for my mom next week while I'm away. I was surprised to see that they're not here."

Bo shrugged, "Something held them up – not sure what. Can't wait around while the clock is ticking."

"I hear ya. Travel well."

Bo just nodded and called out to Aphrodite, "Line out! Line out, Ladies! Here we go, Aphrodite! Hike!"

Now, Bo had set her focus on the trail ahead. Rainy Pass was a very common place for Mushers to stop, but it wasn't a place for her team. Bo's dogs were conditioned for stop and go travel just like their master. Since they had never had a home until last year, they had always kept moving, sleeping only for a few hours at a time other than every other week when they were in town for a few days to trade, do construction jobs and gather supplies.

They weren't a common team. They didn't just travel a few months before the race and train the rest of the year on dirt trails pulling wheeled carts through the mountains. They traveled for the challenge of the trail… the snow-covered trail. When there was no snow, they traveled to the higher altitudes where there was snow.

They traveled to be together as a family, each of them having done time in Bo's basket from the time they were puppies. Those who grew to become sled dogs traveled with Bo full time. They traveled for the cool, open air and scenery. They traveled for food, water and work.

Recently though, she'd thought a lot about how this lifestyle change of living in a house would change both her and her dogs ability to perform. She was doubtful the young pups of Rudy's generation would be able to run without long sleeps if she stuck to the modern human world's way of life.

"Sleep..." Bo whispered to herself.

She wasn't physically tired – it was more the mental and emotional fatigue. Some mushers felt it on day one right after the start when they settled into a pace and the adrenaline rush began to wear off. Sleep deprivation from all the prep, travel and nerves caught up with them and suddenly, they were yawning from the drivers' seat. Bo usually felt it the most on day three when she was through Rohn and into the long arduous white out portion of the trail over the Alaska Range, but in recent years, she was much calmer out of the start.

Most mushers feared that part of the course, but for Bo, it was home. She'd done that section of trail so many times that falling asleep was her norm. So, whenever she felt herself struggling to keep her eyes open, she would hop off the rails and pedal, treating it just like the daily runs she would do in the morning and evening during the off-season when they had plenty of sun day and night.

When she was younger, Bo used to laugh at people in town who complained about an eight-hour workday behind a desk and how tired it made them. What was so hard about sitting in a chair? Then she realized that stillness had a tendency to shut down the mind and make it yearn for sleep whether you sat in a chair or stood skids behind the steady hum of rails against the snow.

Still, it annoyed Bo that race rules required her and her team to take the long rest periods that their lifestyle conditioned them not to need. In her early race years, while the other teams would sleep for those long stretches, Bo's dogs would play. Unfortunately, it often led to teams being disturbed, so arguments with other Mushers ensued. Lesson learned. She now kept her dogs well away from any other teams even when staying overnight at a checkpoint.

Bo loved that her dogs got along so well and had play time together during the race week. She felt it was good for team building and nice for them to have some unstructured activity that wasn't about pulling a sled.

While they frolicked, she would make a fire, build their hay beds, heat up their soupy high-protein food and then sit back to watch their antics. Sometimes they included her in their games, sometimes they didn't. She really didn't care as long as they were full, hydrated, warm and happy.

Now, she was focused on the famed Happy River Steps just ahead. The series of very steep, short, sharp drops would find her face down in the snow without a sled if she didn't stay awake and focused,

"Here we go, Harper. You know the drill. Help me talk to them."

Harper sat up straight, ears upright before letting out several loud barks. Bo could see the heads turn slightly towards the back of the sled, a quick tug forcing her to hold on as the team picked up speed.

She hoped that after they got through the gorge, she could hook Harper back up for the long flat stretches so that Aphrodite could get a bit of a break. Still, with Nike and Diana right behind her, she was sure her new single lead wouldn't feel any more stress than she had pulling the sled from the Wheel position all of those years.

"Here we go, Ladies! Look sharp!" Bo said as they entered the first turn, "Gee! Gee!"

They took the turns like the pros they had become over the years. Even the rookies were in the groove as the sled nose dipped down and banked around a sharp turn. Bo felt the sled lean too hard, so put out her right leg, preventing the sled from tipping,

"Haw! Haw!" she shouted as the sled shifted. She hung off the right, counterbalancing the weight until the sled straightened out and took another sharp step down,

"Hike! Hike" she said, wanting to keep up the speed of the sled so they didn't have to worry about pulling up the next steep in addition to steering. Momentum helped here, so it was important to keep them moving.

"Gee! Gee!" Bo called out, ducking a section of low-hanging trees, heavy with snow. Again, she stuck out her leg, but it was a bit too late as she felt the sled and then her knee glance off what felt like a tree branch and the rock face. She wasn't sure which did the damage, but she could immediately feel the warmth of blood mixed with a rush of cold air against her flesh. She knew she had torn through her gear and was bleeding, but that would have to wait as the next step came into view,

"Hike! Hike!" She called out, the sled airborne as the dogs hauled her over the step… the very, very short step. Bo landed hard, immediately needing to shift her weight right. The stress on her quad reminded her of the injury she'd just sustained to her right leg. Something was wrong,

"Shit. Just make it to the top of the gorge, Bo. Then you can deal with the wound."

Up, down and around the team traveled, deeper and deeper into the territory that was the Alaska Range. She could feel the winds pick up, the cold growing more bitter as snow began to swirl in the air around her.

She pushed from her mind all of the things that could go wrong – a worse injury than the one she had now, a fallen dog, a busted sled rail, a broken handle, a fall from her sled or the batteries on her headlamp running out were all things she couldn't focus on… but they were always in the back of her mind.

She continued down the steps that nature had built on this path - working the trail and pushing everything else from her mind. When they finally reached the bottom, she pulled the sled to a stop and looked down at her leg,

"Double shit," she said, setting the pull break and anchor. She dropped hay around the dogs so that they could lay down and rest or nap while she pulled out her first aid kit and sat on the edge of the sled. Harper leaned out, looking down over her shoulder to supervise,

"Looks like I caught a rough edge, Harp. Stupid. So stupid. I got careless and now I'm going to pay the price," she sighed, examining the wound more closely, "Maybe twenty stitches. It's gonna be a bitch using this quad, huh? Sucks that we have to go back up the steps on the way to the finish. Still not sure what the hell they were thinking. People are going to have to peddle and practically carry their sleds. I'm game for finding a longer route around that section on the way back, whaddya think, Harp? The snow will be deeper, but at least it will be powder if the weather holds."

Bo shook her head, "Damn decision makers don't know anything about mushing. Glad the race committee is changing."

She opened the new suture kit, "Now, Lauren says with deep wounds I use this new kit. Here's the needle holder, the toothed forceps with the hook for tissue, fine suturing scissors and… which suturing material do I use?"

Bo stared at the two packs, trying to remember everything Lauren had reviewed with her several times before they practiced on an orange… well, several oranges.

"Remember that the tensile and knot strength are equally important as the way you handle the wound and the tissue reactivity… whatever that means."

Bo squeezed the wound together, checking to see how the tissue responded, "Okay. That's reactivity. It's all solid, no mangled fleshy stuff hanging off... not really. A little rough at the edges, but otherwise deep and straight down below. That's pretty damn deep, huh?"

She looked at the absorbable material, "This is for buried sutures that stay in. They'll lose their tensile strength and be gone in about two months. Amazing, huh? The body just absorbs them. You had a bunch of these, Harp. Remember?"

She smiled, ruffling the fur between Harper's ears, "Now this is my usual stuff. Stays tough, doesn't absorb fluids, so they're good for closing wounds at the surface. However, if my quad flexes, these pups can tear right through the skin since they have such strong tensile strength."

Looking through the first aid kit, she paused, deep in thought, "If I put in the deep sutures, then use steri-strips to close up the surface of the wound, I can then wrap my quad with this stretchy sticky stuff she put in here and then wrap an ace-bandage over it to hold it all together. That should last until I can get to a medical tent later in the week. It will also prevent me from having to use that curved needle. I hate that thing."

She thought about what she was about to do, "Then again, I'd better not put this sticky stuff right against the room. Those non-adherent pads should go over the steri-strips, then the sticky stuff, then the bandage."

Bo cut open her pants, to stitch the wound. While she worked, she decided she would just wrap the bandages around the wound from the outside of her gear. It would close the gap in the torn clothing and keep the wound compressed, but not too tight. She didn't need a numb leg.

She sighed, second guessing her decision to push on without seeing her team first back at Rainy Pass Lodge. If she'd stopped for a few hours, she and her dogs would be safe and sleeping on Puntilla Lake right now, snuggled up cozy on a bed of hay while her team slept in one of the lodge cabins.

She smiled thinking of Rudy and Elise viewing all of the pictures that lined the main cabin walls. It was an amazing place filled with pictures of past Iditarod and Iditarod Trail bike races, summer fishing, spring blooms and much more. Antiques also lined the walls, telling the tales of the land and those who came before. There was something intriguing about walking into that space.

Maybe she would take Lauren there for their annual wine tasting one year. She'd never been, but she thought it was something the doctor would like. As much as the thought of socializing with strangers pained her to think about, she wanted to do something nice for her partner.

Rudy and Elise would love the Alaskan music of Hobo Jim and taking rides in the 1924 Model-T Snow Mobile. Of course, there was also a lot of history about the Iditarod and they always had presentations about the race. When there wasn't a Northern Lights viewing, you could catch fireworks on Sundays.

She paused, taking a break from the sting of the seven sutures she'd done so far, "Okay, so maybe a few more than I thought, Harp. Damn I wish Lauren was here. She's be almost done by now. Of course, she'd also be lecturing me about my carelessness as she worked. Maybe it's better she doesn't see this right now."

She took a deep breath and continued, suddenly remembering that she could rent a snow machine and take Rudy for a ride along the Iditarod Trail so she could see what her future would bring. Of course, it also allowed them to do their part in picking up lost dog booties along the trail. It was something everyone did after the race each year. Keeping Alaska pristine was everyone's job.

She smiled thinking of the hundreds of pictures Rudy and Elise would take around Rainy Pass. The scenery really was amazing. They could cross country ski, ice fish, go snow shoeing and sled to a remote cabin and spend the night. When they woke up the next morning, they could search for moose or caribou antlers that had been shed during the season.

"Yea, Harper, it's a great place to be in the winter. We have to bring Rudy here for sure. She'll love it. I'm sure Lauren will too. Maybe Molly will let Elise come."

She finished up with the wound and then packed all of the trash in the plastic ziplock Lauren had added to the kit. She checked on her dogs, replacing booties where necessary and sat on her sled bench, waiting to see what they wanted to do. Seeing that some were sleeping, but all were laying down, she gave a shout,

"Aphrodite!"

Her lead lifted her head, then put it back down. Nike and Diana never moved. It was time for a nap. She lifted the sled and made sure it was between a cluster of trees, then set to work moving the dogs into the gap with the sled where they would all be warm without a fire. Next, she set her phone alarm for two hours and plugged in the solar charger from the sled, lucky to have had enough sunlight over two days to keep it charged despite the cold. She then double checked both brakes before snuggling into the basket next to Harper.

She suddenly realized she hadn't lit the lamp at her feet which would mean cold food and water when they woke up. That was no good. She hopped out of the sled and grabbed her butane stick, then settled in again, lighting the flame of the lamp. The buckets were cramping her legs, but she wiggled them into a corner and was soon able to stretch out. Using Harper as a pillow, she quickly fell off to sleep hoping her family and friends were all safe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rainy Pass Lodge

"Why isn't sister here?" Rudy asked Kyle who was shuffling through papers.

"Because we were late – something that can't happen again," she said, eyeing her brother.

"I told you, I cannot drop everything with emergency services to fix the trucks! People's lives have to come first – especially the life of…" he saw Molly give a quick shake of the head before looking at Rudy and Elise. He caught on quick and adjusted his words and volume, "…people who I am responsible for!"

"We missed Bo at a checkpoint where she specifically asked us to be so she could drop Harper."

Kurt shook his head, "She can carry Harper in the basket. Kelly doesn't know how to fly a helicopter and you know damn well I had a critical patient."

Kyle sighed, "Okay, well we can't go without a mechanic the rest of the race. Have any ideas?"

Kurt shrugged, "Adam."

"Who?" Kyle asked.

"Adam, the Fed," Kurt repeated.

Rudy smiled, "Before he got accepted to his FBI school, he was a mechanic his whole entire life! He fixed mom's car whenever it was broken because it was a piece of shit."

"Rudy!" Mary scolded.

"What? That's what you said and Johnny, Camie and Sanjo said the same thing the day they had to push your car to the garage from my school!"

Mary blushed, but shook her head, "You don't repeat bad words."

Rudy crossed her arms over her chest, "Fine, but I want five dollars for the swear jar… with interest!"

Tamsin laughed, "How do you know about interest?"

"We learned about it in my gifted math class, and did you know that Acacia donated one thousand dollars to our school for us to play with in the stock game?"

"Excuse me?" Tamsin said, her eyes wide, "Acacia donated money?"

"Uh-huh," Elise chimed in, "She said it was no big deal, but teacher said it's a lot of money for kids our age."

Rudy nodded, "And now it's five thousand dollars so teacher said we are going to put Acacia's money in…" she and Elise looked at each other, neither quite sure of what it was called, so Rudy continued, "… a grocery market or something where we would try to give her back her money with more money."

Elise nodded, "Yea – the more money is interest."

Tamsin shook her head, whispering to Kyle, "I can't believe she's making money off of little kids."

"Tamsin, that was not her intention," Kyle whispered back, "And we don't have time for this."

Kyle turned to the group, "Okay then. Kurt, you call Adam and see if he can come."

"Uh, that's not necessary. Acacia and Adam are coming for security shifts starting tomorrow, so you just have to make it through the rest of the night," Tamsin said, "I'll see if I can get Dyson to send one of his people here to cover Adam's shifts."

"Thank you," Kyle said, "Does anyone know when Kenzi's coming back?"

Kurt nodded, "She's back. She's sleeping in the lodge right now."

"How did she get here?" Kyle asked.

"On the chopper after I dropped off the patient. She was short-handed last night, so hasn't slept more than a few hours over the last few days. She was asleep in the chopper as soon as she sat down, so we moved her into a bed by sled. She never moved."

"Okay, so who is going to stay here and wait for Kenzi?"

LJ raised his arm, "I'll wait with the backup dog truck. That way I'll have Adam with me if the truck doesn't start or the heaters break down again."

Kyle nodded, "Perfect. Okay, double check to be sure we have every last piece of hay and let's head to Rohn."

Just as they were all about to head off to their jobs, Lauren came running over to the group,

"You missed her?!"

"Lauren, we had…"

"I don't care what you had! You've got a truckload of dogs and sleds! If the trucks don't run, at least send someone ahead with food, water and hay! Geezus, Kyle! What if she had to drop Harper?"

"She clearly didn't!" Kyle shouted back.

"She didn't because there was no one here to leave her with!"

"If she really needed to drop her, she would have left her with someone here, Lauren."

"She would never leave Harper with people she didn't know!"

Kyle moved to speak, but stopped herself. Lauren was right. She had just been yelling at her crew for the same reason. Not her crew… Bo's crew,

"You're right. If I hadn't been so caught up in directing everyone, everyone would have done their respective jobs and someone would have made sure they got here before Bo. There's no excuse when we have a direct route to the next stop and she has to take the long way around."

Lauren sighed, "I'm due at Nikolai, so please be sure someone is there for her in Rohn?"

"I promise, Lauren."

"How's the kid?"

Lauren shook her head, "I haven't heard anything since Betsy texted me that she went into surgery for a laceration to her spleen."

"Is that bad?"

"Very," Lauren replied, "I've got to go."

"Okay," Kyle said, "Lauren? Is there anything you need?"

Lauren sighed, "Please take care of my fiancé."

Kyle nodded, "We all will. Every person doing what they know needs to be done. I'll have another team meeting before we leave and have them tell me to shut up if I'm keeping them from something they know needs to be done."

Lauren looked down the trail, knowing that Bo was probably near, on or just beyond the Happy River Steps,

"Whatever it takes."

With one last glance at the trail and a whisper of a prayer, Lauren headed back up hill to the truck that was waiting to take her down to Nikolai. Hopefully she would get a chance to see Bo, though she was fairly certain she wouldn't do her required eight-hour stay there. She was fairly certain she would save the twenty-four for McGrath. It was just a hunch, so she would try to get just a few minutes with her wherever that was.

She headed up the hill to the red pickup truck that held the other medical staff on her team, hoping Bo's team would get their collective acts together and not miss another checkpoint.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

ALASKA RANGE AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE DALZELL GORGE

Bo awoke to Harper licking her face. She popped her head up, unsure of where she was in the darkness. She flipped on her headlamp and looked around before standing to look up the hill.

She jumped out of the sled, pulling the first bucket with her and then – with some effort - pulled the dog bowls from the frozen bucket in her trail sled. She set a bowl down for each dog, then opened the soupy food and ladled three scoops into each bowl. She went back to Harper and unzipped the basket, dropping a bowl of food onto the sled base for her.

She walked the lines, checking to be sure that no one had frozen private parts, then popped open a can of sterno and started heating up snow for water in the empty food bucket,

"I've got one food bucket left, so our team better show up at the next checkpoint, kids. Otherwise, I'll have to stop to hunt or fish."

She opened her food box – and smiled at the memory of Lauren teaching her something new,

FLASHBACK

"Why not pack your food in a box and keep it in the bottom of the trail sled basket?"

"It will get wet?"

Lauren shook her head, "Not if it's in the basket."

"Moisture," Bo said, taking a bite of her dinner.

Again, Lauren shook her head, "Moisture can't harm your food over a few days and the wetter it is, the better. It's clean hydration. Even better, once the box is empty, you can use it to start a fire or use it to line the basket for Harper. Cardboard is paper and paper is a great way to insulate warm-blooded mammals like us and your dogs from the cold. Why do you think homeless people sleep in cardboard boxes and collect newspapers?"

"Really?" Bo asked.

Lauren nodded, "You won't have the weight or bulk of a bucket after you're finished eating your food and we can simply load another full box onto your sled. The dogs' food is more soup than solids, so they still need buckets, but your meals can be wrapped in foil packs so you can throw them on a flame while you feed the dogs. Your meal will be ready by the time you're finished if you toss in a few cans of sterno and a portable stove."

Bo shrugged, "I've heard of other mushers who carry those. I always started a fire to avoid the extra weight."

Lauren nodded, "I can understand what you mean, but the dogs don't need a fire to eat and really, neither do you if you eat in the basket with the heat lamp you have rigged in there now. While it will take away the ambiance you love so much, it will save you precious time during the race. You have all winter to make fires."

"And some chilly nights the rest of the year when you want a little romance," Bo said, winking at Lauren.

"You're still horny?"

"Darling, I'm always horny for you. Haven't you caught on by now?"

Lauren chuckled, "Well, if you're good and we finish this packing list, you may get lucky again before we go to bed."

Bo sat up straight, "Okay, so boxes and individual meals wrapped in foil for Bo, check."

End Flashback

Bo smiled, pulling her meal from the fire and carefully replacing the lid on the Sterno. She didn't want to waste it since she hoped to heat the rest of the meals in the box with just the one can.

She climbed into the basket where Harper was holding her empty bowl in her teeth. Bo smiled, shaking her head. She dropped the foil package of food into the basket near the lamp and went to the front of the sled, opening up another bucket and lifting it from its resting place,

"Three pieces of salmon jerky and three pieces of venison jerky each. Here's your share," she said to Harper, dropping the extra calories into Harper's bowl before doing the same for the rest of the dogs.

She returned to the basket and opened up her meal, happy to see a piece of bread, a piece of caribou jerky, a large salmon filet, a cup of frozen berries and two pieces of potato,

"Yummy. A+ for Kenzi," Bo smiled, popping the berries into her mouth, "Mmmm… gotta love the berries. Too bad there's no whipped cream, huh?"

She laughed at Harper, "You're going to be chewing on those for a half hour."

She looked between the trees and saw that the snow was undisturbed on the trail, then checker her watch. It had only been one hour. She guessed hunger had made her team wake up early. Still, the fresh, undisturbed powder on the trail meant that either someone had close to an hour on her or everyone was at least an hour behind her. She would be surprised if the leads had dropped that far back, so as soon as the food was eaten, they needed to get on their way.

If anyone was ahead of her or coming in the next thirty minutes, they would all need to stop for both the eight and twenty-four-hour mandatory rests, so she also needed to start thinking about where she would take those rests. She needed to be well away from the rest of the pack. Having less checkpoints meant having less places to stop where there wouldn't be a crowd. Why in the world were they packing all of these people into such small spaces?

She sighed, knowing it was – again – about people making decisions who didn't understand the race. Dogs barking would keep other dogs and their mushers awake. What was the sense in mandatory rests if you couldn't get any actual rest?

Taking the last bite of her food, she opened her map and pulled her GPS from her pocket,

"Okay, Harper. We've got about three hours left on this leg, but the roughest spot is coming up," she lowered her voice and scowled, "The notorious, dreaded Dalzell Gorge is ahead."

She smiled, "The upside is that most of the mushers won't take a chance on doing this at night, but the best mushers know we have a bright moon so it's passable. For us, we'll enjoy the scenery. There's nothing like the moonlight bouncing off the white peaks overhead. I wasn't sure we'd time this right, but we made the summit of Rainy Pass at just the right time to get this done."

Bo stood and turned to the team, "Everyone finished?"

Tails wagged and her little Sister's dogs barked. Bo chuckled,

"Naturally, you two crazy dogs are wide awake and ready to go. Rudy would be proud."

She gave Muk and Jenna each a rub on the head, "You're doing great, kids."

She went down the line and gave some love to each of her dogs, taking their bowls and then bringing them back over, filled with melted warm water. The dogs drank their fill while Bo reviewed the course,

"Okay, so the race map has the mileage wrong for sure. This leg is only about thirty miles if you drive the right line on the course. So, I'm pretty sure I'm estimating my time correctly. I hate to say it, but we ran a much faster pace without you, Harp. Your daughter was able to set her own pace as the sole lead, but they may need the help in the haul up the gorge and back up the steps on the south run."

Bo sighed, "Then again, I'm not sure you have the strength to help that much… but on the other hand, in the basket, you're extra weight."

She looked up at her lifelong companion and sighed, "You're not gonna be happy with me when I drop you at or before the turn around. It will all be up to our human team actually showing up. What do you think that was that all about, huh? Not one of them was there."

She shook her head, "Unreal."

Heaving a sigh, she shook off the emotions she was feeling about being left high and dry by Kyle and the crew,

Okay, so we're past Pass Creek, finished the summit of Rainy Pass, now we're gonna make like a bobsled for the next few miles along the tight, twisty trail through Scrub Willow southwest along Pass Fork to the Dalzell Creek."

She looked down at her leg and sighed, "Once we hit the creek, we pump the breaks all the way down through the Dalzell Gorge for a few… somewhat scary miles… until we hit the last five miles along the Tatina River."

Bo ignored her leg and turned back to the map, double checking the route and resetting her GPS, "Now, once we finish the switchbacks, icy river crossing, rickety ice bridge crossings, glaciated traverses and open water crossings, we'll hit dirt and rock as we finish up the run to get to Rohn."

Bo scratched her head, "We know a ton of people will stop in Rohn but they usually time it so they're on their way to Nikolai by midnight. If we get to Rohn and take the eight-hour sleep, they may get a bit of a jump on us when they leave for Nikolai, but they'll still have to do the eight-hour rest and none of them are going to go the full seventy-two mile stretch to Nikolai without a break. If we play this right, we'll be ahead and then we can cram in that twenty-four-hour rest while they're sleeping the eight and still have to take a twenty-four. Make sense?"

She asked Harper who cocked her head and perked up her ears, "See? I knew you'd understand."

Bo gave Harper a head rub as she stared down at the map, "I still can't believe how many uphill's we have to do on the way back. Seriously. We're just lucky we brought the big dogs, huh Harp?"

She looked up at Gaea and Demeter who she had almost left behind because they were slower than the rookies. As much as she loved involving her little sister and respected her team's knowledge, she needed to follow her own instincts in the end. She was grateful Lauren and her mom had reminded her of that point.

Everyone had thought she was nuts for having Harper and Aphrodite at the front, but both had proven their worth, Harp being the biggest surprise. Nike and Diana had always been Bo's favorites for lead not just because of their smarts and their speed, but because they were strong, tough dogs. They were doing really well as the Swing dogs and Bo couldn't be happier about it.

Sadie, Keegan, Jenna, Muk, Rosie, Reese, Kikkan and Scotty were the young speedster Team dogs, but the terrain and sled weight hadn't slowed their pace at all. In fact, Rudy had been right about Sadie and Keegan wanting to be close to Nike and Diana. They were right on their proverbial tails the entire time.

Nemesis and Artemis were big and strong, built similarly to Gaea and Demeter – just faster, so they were definitely doing a great job keeping the youngsters in front of them going.

All in all, she was pleased with their performance so far, but was cautious and watchful over their conditioning. It was cold and she always worried about their privates and their lungs – two things known to take the lives of dogs of any age or ability.

With one more check of each dog, she packed up the sled, offering Harper a chance to run. It was both sad and a source of comfort when she refused, so she tucked her into the basket and told her to keep cheering on the team. They would make the trek with Harper in the basket.

To shed some weight, Bo decided to leave the hay behind in the cluster of trees. She would pick it up in the spring when she brought Rudy out here. She shifted her remaining food supply into the empty dog food bucket so that she could use the cardboard on the bottom of the basket to help Harper stay warm. Hopefully all of those adjustments would take about fifty pounds off of the sled weight for the dogs.

At some point, Bo knew she may have to put Harper in the trail sled so that she was pushing that weight instead of the team, but she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

Finally, Bo stretched out her legs, wanting to be sure she was ready to sprint. The next few hours would require a lot of effort on her part. After that, she would decide on whether she would take the twenty-four or eight-hour rest next. Right now, she was leaning towards the eight.

"Line out, Ladies!" Bo said, releasing her brakes and stepping onto the rails, "Hike! Hike!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

ROHN CHECKPOINT

Bo pulled into the checkpoint and saw Rudy, Shannon and Carolyn standing just behind the officlal and vet. As before, Rudy was waving wildly which made Bo smile. She handed her papers to the checkpoint judge and lifted her goggles,

"How are you, Roo?"

"Sorry!"

"Sorry?" Bo asked.

"That we weren't there for you."

Bo nodded, "Thanks, Kiddo. We'll talk about it later. Right now, I need to know how far behind I am."

"Behind who?" Rudy asked.

Bo looked at Shannon who looked confused, "Shannie?"

"No one is ahead of you, Bo."

"How is that possible?"

Shannon shrugged, "This is our first race, so I don't know but the next team is at least an hour behind you."

"Really?"

Shannon nodded, "I'm working with best guess from the Rainy Pass checkpoint since we weren't there, but…"

"Send me those times," Bo said, holding up her phone.

Bo opened the snapshot and looked at the times, then at her checkpoint papers. Sure enough, the second-place sled had come across an hour and seven minutes behind her. She recognized the bib number as Merv's, which was a nice surprise. She had always hoped he would have a good race year and after all he'd been through with his wife this year, he was probably determined to at least beat the bastard his wife had cheated with.

She searched for Dan's bib number and found him to be two hours back. She wondered what had happened. Had there been a crash on the trail that blocked people from getting through? Had they all dropped dogs? She looked up at her sister,

"Was there an accident or something?"

Rudy shrugged, "I'm just the kid who's not allowed to know anything. They told me there was just a runaway sled that our team caught, but since they needed Lauren, I'm pretty sure it's probably the 'or something'. Anyway, we're supposed to tell you that Lauren will see you at Nikolai if you stop."

Bo nodded to Rudy before catching a glimpse of Shannie and Lynnie who were whispering to each other. She folded her arms over her chest and asked,

"What do you two know?"

Lynnie cleared her throat, "Like we said, it's all new to us, so we're just sort of trying to keep up. Sorry, Bo… I guess we dropped the ball. We'll try to have more information for you at the next stop."

"You're doing fine," Bo said, knowing they were rookies who were only doing what Kyle and the other veteran team members told them to do. None of the things that had gone wrong so far could be their fault and she wanted to be sure that they knew she knew that.

"Hey – have fun, okay? Your first Iditarod can't be all work and no play. Be sure to see the sights at the checkpoints. There's always something fun to do or see."

"Like all the pictures on the walls at the Rainy Pass Lodge! It was so cool!" Rudy grinned.

"I thought you'd like that, Squirt!" Bo smiled, "Where's Elise?"

"Vet tent helping with smelly dog feet," Rudy said pursing her lips and pinching her nose.

"Oh, yummy," Bo laughed, "Make sure your friend has fun too."

"Oh, she is! She's taking a ton of pictures. She's got like a thousand of all of the different dogs."

"I think we all knew that was going to happen," Bo said, readying her gear, "Well, I'll see you all in Nikolai!"

"You're not stopping? But we have the hay beds ready!" Rudy shouted as a snow machine whizzed past.

Bo sighed, "I promise – Nikolai. Get it all set up for at least an eight-hour stop. I'm planning for Iditarod to be the long one if the dogs look okay."

Rudy frowned, "Fine."

Bo knew what that meant, so she quickly set the brakes on her sled and rushed over to her little sister. She picked her up and gave her a big hug before putting her down, kneeling in front of her and hugging her again,

"Yup. Now I'm ready."

"But I didn't do anything for you. Are you hungry or thirsty?"

Bo smiled, "We ate two and a half hours ago, so we're good for another two hours. What I did need was Rudy hugs. They're the best thing to keep a musher warm on a cold trail."

Rudy smiled, "Really?"

Bo nodded, "Really. I just think of the hug you just gave me and I'm instantly warm even on the coldest, snowiest night. Of course, they don't last forever, so you'd better be ready with hugs when I get to Nikolai, okay?"

"Okay!" Rudy said, smiling despite the two tears that slipped down her red cheeks. She instantly wiped them away with her sleeves, "I'm okay."

Bo nodded, "I know you are, Roo. Chin up. I'll see you soon."

"Okay. Be careful, Sister. Don't… don't get lost… I mean… like you did…"

Bo smiled, cupping her sister's chin, "Never again, kiddo. Believe in me, okay?"

Rudy nodded, "I do."

"Good, cause I believe in you too."

Rudy smiled, "You do?"

"Absolutely," Bo smiled, "Do you really have to ask?"

Giggling, Rudy replied, "Nah."

"Well, okay then. I'll be on my way," Bo moved to stand, but cringed when she felt her thigh cramp. Unfortunately, the nurses caught it immediately,

"Bo! You're bleeding!"

"Oh? I hadn't noticed. I think I clipped a branch on a section of trail."

Shannon was already on the ground, pulling off her gloves, "What do you mean you hadn't noticed? You have a bandage wrapped around your leg!"

"I have a hole in my pants from the branch and it's keeping the cold from blowing into my pants," she turned to Rudy, "By the way, I need new pants at the next stop too."

"Just the outside ones?"

She looked at the two women, then back at Rudy, "They're all getting pretty nasty from sweat so let's replace all four layers."

"Cool!" Rudy said, turning to Shannon, "Can you write that down for me?"

Shannon scowled pulling her gloves back on since Bo was obviously not going to allow her to check it, "Yes, in addition to having Lauren there to clean and stitch what is obviously a wound?"

Bo hopped back onto the sled and took her papers from the checkpoint official, "Already did it myself!"

"Bo!" Lynnie shouted.

"Hike! Hike!"

"Bo Dennis! You get back here!" Lynnie called to her friend, "I'm so telling Lauren."

"Me too," Shannie said, "Will we tell her before or after she kicks our ass for not making Bo strip down and let us check it?"

Lynnie shook her head, "She's so going to kick our asses."

Rudy stood, waving her sister off before turning towards her two friends, "What are you telling Lauren?"

The couple stood looking at each other before turning back to Rudy, "We'd better get going so we're not late to Nikolai!"

"But what do you have to tell Lauren?" Rudy asked.

Shannon handed the clipboard to her young friend, "Um… that Bo wants to meet her at Nikolai."

"Duh. She's already there." Rudy said, "You guys are so weird."

They watched as Rudy raced off to the lodge and, when she was out of earshot, Lynnie turned to her partner,

"That was a lot of blood."

Shannon nodded, "She said she already cleaned and stitched it. Hopefully the blood was from before that was done."

Lynnie shook her head, "Lauren is not going to be happy with her."

"Or us," Shannon sighed.

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THE TRAIL TO THE NIKOLAI CHECKPOINT

Bo and the team had just come off another three-hour sleep and were moving along well. She had budgeted about twelve to fourteen hours for this leg of the course going north, but they were well ahead of that mark even with the extra sleep stops she had been forced to take.

The trail from Rohn to Nikolai was a long haul of about eighty miles and since Bo usually ran her team in stretches of fifty to one hundred miles, it was just another training run to them.

Still, if it were just another day, she would have taken a two-to-three-hour break before and after each difficult section. However, she had felt it necessary to pedal much of the time to make up for the extra weight of Harper in the sled and one less dog pulling the extra weight.

She was tired and while the dogs had seemed ready to roll after the first leg of the eighty-mile stretch, she was struggling to stay awake and that was bad on this section at night. So, she decided she would take short breaks at key points along the way for her own benefit regardless of the dogs' readiness to run… at least until Harper was willing to drop.

The trail to Nikolai had three natural sections which made breaking up the rest intervals convenient. The first twenty miles of this leg were infamously treacherous. Most ran it during daylight hours so you could see the trouble you were getting into. Some ran in tandem with another sled, so someone was there to help out when things went sideways. Bo never worried through these sections because she knew the reason people struggled in this area was because they worried about the clock rather than slowing their dogs to a trot and pedaling through the most difficult parts as she did.

So, keeping her team at a safe pace during the first twenty miles, the team had easily run along the south side of the South Fork of the Kuskokwim to Farewell Lake and up to Farewell Burn. She wanted to do all of her journal entries during her meals on this leg so that when she got to Nikolai, she'd have time with Lauren and the family. She pulled out her journal and began…

Rohn to Nikolai, 2021 Iditarod

Something is different this year… well, actually a lot is different. I have a new family, I have a new baby sister and her adopted sister, I have friends who I actually talk to – within reason and the most unexpected wonder – I'm engaged to a woman who actually loves me and wants to marry me.

I suppose all of that change would change anyone, but I feel like… I've lost my edge or my will. No, that's not it. I've lost that… cockiness that I used to have out here. I don't know if that means I've lost confidence or that I've just got more to lose. It's a lot to unpack while in the cold and snow, so we'll just leave it at – it's worth exploring. Regardless, we're making good time so whatever might be going on in my head does not seem to be impacting me physically.

As for the race, as always, I peeked at previous journal entries during the month before the race. I wasn't sure how this lighter, faster team would hold up and even more unsure after seeing the weather and course changes, but it seems we have found the perfect balance between speed and strength for this section of the race course. Kudos to little sis for her input.

I again found myself solo and running at night on this section. Nothing new for us. We took it slow and I pedaled a whole lot to make up for the extra weight of Harper in the basket with the team down a dog. I hate to say it, but I'll need to drop her in Nikolai.

One thing is for sure, she should feel no shame in sitting out the rest of the race. Not only has she won the Golden Harness Award three times, but she was also able to cover the first three legs of the race after little training and half the muscle mass of her teammates. I couldn't be prouder of my best canine friend.

Anyway, the trail from Rohn started with the usual windblown gravel and sandbars along the South Fork of the Kuskokwim River. For a mile, it just sucked to pedal over the bare spots. There was more driftwood tangles this year and there was a good bit of ice overflow – even in the shallows of the open water.

The famed wind tunnel of the area seemed to be blowing at over forty miles per hour this year and it made me think of Kurt. I hope he doesn't have to fly into this section to rescue a team. No Iditarod Air Force pilot should come here. Medics should be dropped in up stream and hike in with a bed on a sled. Tell Lauren.

So, the ice was a bit tricky. I had no choice but to let the dogs run there since I couldn't get a grip to pedal on the ice. I used my spear when the sled started to fishtail. There was just no way to keep it straight in the high winds. Eventually, I jumped off the sled and hitched a lead around my waist and back to Aphrodite to help guide her. Long story short – it sucked. Worse yet – we have to do it again on the way back. I'll be strapping on my krampons. Idiot race officials.

The markings across the river in the next section – as usual – weren't very good but I'm used to that so was able to pick up the diagonal to the southwest and hit the trail on the far side without a hitch. It was nice to be back under the cover of trees and my headlamp nicely reflected the many, many trail markers the groomers had put down.

Gotta hand it to those state guys that prep this trail every year – nice work all of you. Another note to self – remember to thank those people at the state land management agency for their work.

Anyway, the trail was smooth for the next twelve miles, and I pedaled the climb out of River Bottoms. We took a quick fifteen-minute break so I could catch my breath and then pedaled up the ravine and onto the low plateau long the south side of the river. The plateau is still well-wooded despite the heavy ice in the region – something that surprised me since these trees are super old.

The frequent sudden drops were expected, though two caught me by surprise and one found me hanging onto the sled until Aphrodite finally heeded my freakin' command to 'whoa'.

We had a little heart to heart after that and I think she understands now that 'whoa' does not mean the same thing as 'go' – a word we never use to tell a sled team to move since it sounds so much like 'whoa', but apparently my new lead forgot the 'go' word is 'hike'. Still – she really is doing a great job. It was my own damn fault for falling off the sled. Real rookie move, Bo.

Next, I hit the icy, frozen marshy areas of the trail and I was grateful it was night so I didn't have as much glare off the surface. It was like a frozen wonderland around there and I took a few pictures with my phone. I doubt they will come out because I don't think my headlamp can do the scenery justice, but I tried.

When we came around the right side of the mountain, I wasn't surprised to see the south side of the valley was still buried under the thirty to fifty feet of mud, rocks and uprooted trees from the winter of 1997-98. While I thought I saw a way through on that trail this year, I stuck with the bypass trail, careful around the area where the actual landslide took place more than a decade ago.

Ten miles in, we hit Post River or what I like to call Slippery Post since it's another trail spot where my sled seems to sprout a mind of its own. As we literally slid off the ice, Aphrodite looked like she was on roller skates when she tried to catch the sharp turn up the steep bank. The sled kept going, sliding all the way over and pulling the dogs down with it.

Thankfully, they slid safely to a stop, albeit on their sides. Aphrodite ended up on her belly, her legs splayed out in four different directions and I found myself laying half on the bank and half on the sled. Harper barked at me twice from the basket just to let me know how goofy we all looked. Nice move, Bo. Next time, slow them down to a walk as you leave the ice of Slippery Post.

A half mile later, we hit Post River Glacier – the quarter mile stretch of nightmare trail followed by more terrible trail for another quarter mile. Again, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that we have to do all of these shit trail parts again on the way back. I never thought I would miss the idea of flying back from Nome after this race. Note to self – never complain about that flight again. Note to race officials – you suck so bad.

Anyway, next we hit the crest of the hill where I could see what I like to refer to as the Land of Ice. There's a hundred-yard stretch of ice in the lower canyon and an adjoining ravine on the other side that looks like a giant waterfall of ice. It's surrounded by rocks on both sides and the trail above is short but steep. When I got to the bottom, it was time to make a sharp right turn, but we ended up going straight across because Aphrodite was slipping.

It's one of those – it's passable, but not advisable – moves, so rather than try to turn fifteen dogs, a sled and trail sled around while carrying almost two hundred pounds of gear, Harper and me, I took the chance and picked up the trail on the other side. It cut off some of the nearly fifty-food vertical climb, but having to pedal and push… well, I was in bad shape after this section.

Still, we were surrounded by ice and if we napped while daylight was coming and ice started to melt, we could have found our rails melted to the ice, unable to move. So, I knew we needed to keep going.

It took everything I had left in my body and mind because I had to pedal uphill on ice for another fifty yards, bend around a sharp rock outcrop that I knew we needed to steer clear of despite steering being an issue in that moment, and then go over a what I knew would be a bare trail with a field of rocks about the size of grapefruits. By the way – note to self – using grapefruits as an analogy makes me crave them.

I decided that the triangle approach to ice wasn't working. Aphrodite didn't have enough lateral control on her own, so I took a moment and switched her with Nike and Diana. Then I went back into my gear bag and pulled out my crampons to get a better lock on the ice myself. The move paid off and we were up the fifty-yard stretch of ice in no time. When we came around the bend, Nike and Diana steered us perfectly along the ravine to the field of rocks. From there, I left the dogs in the same formation, but stopped to take my crampons off before heading across the rocky trail.

When we finally leveled back out into the open tundra, I think we all breathed a sigh of relief. The dogs sped up, running faster than they had the entire race. I think they were sick and tired of the technical parts of the course and just wanted to run off their frustration and pent-up anger.

Honestly, I might have felt the same way, but the truth was, I was making mistakes. I should have adjusted the dogs after the first time my sled got away from me. Rookie move. I should have put on my crampons as soon as I saw ice. Rookie move number two. It was then that I realized that I wasn't just making mistakes – I was making mistakes because I was tired even though the dogs were not.

So, I started looking for a place to rest but knew there was still a section of trail we had to cross before we would find appropriate shelter to sleep. I also knew more ice lay ahead. It was a place where I needed to be sure my dogs didn't turn left or downhill. How do I know, you might ask?

Well, rookie-me had done both of those once before and all I could do was pump my brake, hold on for dear life and scream what I thought were my last screams as I plummeted to my death.

Obviously, I survived all those years ago. When I got to the bottom, one of my sled runners was busted, my handrail was cracked and one of my old dogs had bloodied feet. I had to drop out of the race that year and limp to the next checkpoint over fifty miles away. I learned a lot that night – mostly to slow the team and make the dogs walk to the entrance of that section.

I learned that caution doesn't mean you're a chicken shit. It means you have a better chance of winning because you're smart and it also means you'll have healthy, happy dogs with long careers because you are the right kind of dog owner.

I also knew at that point, that if my team did take that trac right now, I would have a repeat of the events from the year I dropped from the race. I wasn't strong mentally or physically at that point. I needed rest, so I needed to take my time and keep moving with purpose and intention.

Once over the ice and into the trees again, we headed up to the saddle on the south side of Egypt Mountain and Harper's favorite section – the Buffalo Chutes. It's been years since we've actually seen any of the hundreds of wild bison that wander through there, but Harper's head was poking out of the basket, her ears at attention as she continually scanned the area for her old friends. It made my heart ache and at the same time, I was glad I hadn't dropped her so that she could be here again.

We were traveling through the woods loaded with pothole marshes and lakes when I spotted movement in the trees ahead. I dropped my drag brake and gripped the hand brake, readying myself for my team to react when they saw the herd of wild bison ahead,

"Gee! Gee!" I called to Nike and Diana, turning them away from the herd so they didn't cause a stampede. I watched as Harper finally caught sight of them, barking once… then again. I saw the heads of my team turn and called again,

"Gee! Gee!"

I was lucky they obeyed. Other than sporadic barks, they calmly continued past the herd, eyes set on the large beasts until they were behind them. From that point on, I couldn't keep the damn smile off my face as Harper watched behind us, whimpering because I didn't let her go play with her 'friends'.

The ten miles through the chutes were mostly bare dirt, rock and of course, more ice. The trail varied in width as usual, and several areas had frozen overflow – a few trail markers knocked down by the current.

I couldn't stop thinking about those two young mushers I'd met – stubborn-as-hell Julie or Julia and the grandson whose name I can't think of right now. I didn't see him at the start, so I'm hoping he dropped out, but I definitely saw the girl. There's no way she's traveled a trail like this before. She's got no place in this race and that's another thing I intend to bring up to the new committee... aka, my mom.

Of course… the other thing that has been on my mind – particularly at this section of the course – is last year's race. The section I just cleared was… well, let's just say that if it weren't for Tamsin and Dyson, I wouldn't be writing in my journal or even running this race right now.

The other thing Cassie is telling me I really have to do is tell Rudy the real reason I didn't want to use Jenna and Muk this year. Of course, that would mean admitting what happened last year. But she loves those dogs so much and I'm afraid of what she'll think of me when she finds out that I almost got them killed last year.

She always massages the scars they both have… one from the tumor caused by my father's asbestos dog houses and the other caused by a bullet from the gun of one of my father's men while on the trail. She's asked Cassie how they got the scars, but so far, she has successfully dodged the answer by changing the subject.

It's wrong to put Cassie in that position with the girls, but I just can't find the words. How do I tell her that after losing a bunch of my dogs to tumors and a fire – that I had no choice but to put two very young dogs on my team? How do I tell her that I intentionally put Jenna and Muk in harm's way to catch a madman and his goons… and to run a stupid race?

The truth is, I could have run with a smaller team and sacrificed the win. But I let my ego get in the way. The guilt of what happened to them is killing me because I'm the one that put them up as bait in the manhunt.

My only saving grace is that as I look at the pair right now, they seem so happy to be out here again… as if last year never happened. They're playing with the other dogs and they're keeping up – as strong as ever. I just... why do I have to tell Rudy about their history now? Because it's the right thing to do, Bo!

I really do have to tell her the truth… undo another lie. I wonder how long she'll be mad at me this time when she finds out that I lied about their talent being the reason I wanted to hold them out of the race?

Well, back to our race progress…

We survived the ice flows and it was nice that no one was there shooting at us this year. Of course, once we were through all of that muck and mess, I watched as Egypt Mountain disappeared into the horizon on my right and the approach to Farewell Lakes Lodge began. Trail wise, it meant more… the worst… ice overflows were up ahead. I'm sure that stretch will be forever famous – or infamous – for the 1997 six-team-tangle.

The groups got stuck in the swampy, thick forest when it flooded with ice for over an hour. Another musher got lost and took almost another two days to get to Nikolai.

I was lucky. A member of the race-founding Reddington family had seen young, rookie me sitting alone with my dogs. She had come over to check on me and we ended up talking by the fire for over an hour. She warned me about that section of the course - that the entire area had been flooded and that it was probably ice. I still think that woman saved my life with that warning – especially since I actually listened to her.

Anyway, the trail through that area wasn't as hard as keeping the memories of last year at bay. The entire area just seemed darker than usual – and not because it wasn't daylight yet.

When I spotted the FAA radio beacon tower light at the east end of the lake, I knew I was at Farewell Lake Lodge. It's always closed for the winter, but the bush cabin where the caretaker lives is always an option if he's not on site. When I approached the cabin and saw a new caretaker, I couldn't help but think back to old Mr. Bash who my father had needlessly shot and killed last year so that he could take over the small bush home to wait for me.

It took Harper barking incessantly for me to realize I'd just been standing on the rails of my sled, staring at the place as memories of what happened here last year ran through my mind like images from an old slide show projector.

That smirk on my father's face when I walked in to find him – quite unexpectedly – sitting on Mr. Bash's old worn-out sofa telling me he didn't want to be predictable. I had to give him points there – I certainly never expected him to be sitting in a cabin in plain sight.

I don't think I'll ever forget what he said to me during our "conversation". I'll also never understand why I still feel hurt by his words. My father was a monster. I know that. How can I possibly be upset by what he said?

Regardless, his words are carved into my mind…

Bo stood, dropping her pen and stretching her back. She picked up her journal, deciding her thoughts were not going to put her in a good place, but she stopped winding the leather tie around the cover when she saw the etching of her mom's family crest on the front.

She opened the page and picked up her pen before sitting down, hoping that if she left her thoughts on the page and then closed the book on the ink, it would be the last time she would hear the words echo in her mind. With a deep sigh, she began…

He called me his biggest mistake while his gun rested in his hand on the side arm of the chair next to the sofa. He had his feet up while he stuffed bread into his mouth. I remember noticing that the tread on his boots were not worn. He'd worn new footwear out here, telling her he had no intention of doing any of the dirty work himself unless it was from this cabin.

He was old, he sat at that table in his son's store all day and he had everything given to him. His ancestors would no doubt be embarrassed by him. The life he lived was not their way.

Bo paused and smiled, the realization hitting her that she couldn't be prouder to have followed in her mom's Athabascan cultural roots. If her father had stayed, she might have become every bit the monster the townsfolk believed her to be. She continued to write…

As we sat there, he reminded me of the burden I'd been… of the disappointment I was… of how embarrassed he was that my blood ran through the veins of a half breed… of me.

We had this strange banter about age. He told me he had failed to put down one problem with my dogs and that problem was me. Then, he started running down the names of my dogs from the race program and threatening each of them. I also remembered him telling me that LJ's dogs, Elektra and Shadow, had no spunk, strength, speed or courage. Of course, we both knew that Elektra had kicked the ass of one of his men earlier.

Then he started playing some strange version of the board game Clue. It was my mom in the living room with the cookies that made me soft. It was the elders in the classroom and the Athabascan prayer rituals that made me weak.

Somewhere during his babbling, I threw my knife into his chest… burying it up to the hilt. Of course, it wasn't without reason. I threw just before he extended his gun arm to shoot me. I also missed his heart because I lost my nerve. He was slow to aim, but I was slower to dive away from him.

It should never have been that close. He had lolled me into my own head with his father-daughter heart to heart chat. I barely made it through the door and… hell, I don't even know what was happening at that point. I was face down in the snow and trying to get my bearings while shaking off all the things he said… or shaking off the realization that this man was my father… did I realize it then?

I scrambled around trying to find a weapon or two or five and then I heard a shot at the front of the cabin and thought he'd shot one of my dogs even before he announced that he had. I almost gave up right then and there - almost walked out and let him put a bullet in me rather than watch my dogs die again, but then I remembered that two of those dogs were LJ's and I had to try to save them. I was also reluctantly trusting the Feds to be there even though they weren't there around Egypt Mountain like they were supposed to be.

Of course, I knew he would delay shooting them while he contemplated how much money he could make off of selling my champions. That would buy me a second or two to hatch my plan. Blow up the cabin as a distraction, rush around the side, hop on the sled and mush the team into the woods. I knew I'd never outrun them with a gunshot to my leg but on a sled, they'd never catch me.

In the end, my plan worked, the cavalry arrived, and the rest is history.

Bo sighed, dropping her pen and wiping her eyes – only now realizing there was moisture on her cheeks. She cursed the tears as a betrayal of her anger at the bastard that had never been a father to her.

"Forget him, Bo. You have a great life. A full life. You've found your family and the damage that asshole did is slowly unraveling. Focus on your race."

She picked up her pen and continued,

Enough about last year. Let's get back to the present. We hit a rough section of trail, but went up to the caretaker's cabin, asked him if I could sleep there for a few hours and he gave me the okay. The dogs had shelter and I had a warm fire. It was a nice, restful three hours and the caretaker was the perfect host.

When I got up to leave Farewell Lake, the dogs were excited to get going, but the "dangerous trail conditions" sign just before the short, steep downhill onto another lake reminded me that I still had a lot of ice to cross.

Still, we ran that section of the course like the champions we are, heading down into the tree line past the old Pioneer Roadhouse. It would be nice if that place was still a stop on the trail. There's still some rickety old cabins there – not that I'd trust any to sleep under the roof – but it's a cool place to explore and think of the history of the race.

We took a rest and as much as my body craved more sleep, we pushed on to the Farewell Burn and a forty mile stretch of trail. Thinking back on that stretch of trail, it's still amazing to see that there are still signs of the largest forest fire in our state's history. Every time I run through this area, I can't help but imagine being surrounded by a million and a half acres of fire. I mean, it's unimaginable, right?

I often think about how many species of wildlife must have been involved and I wonder how many humans might have been trapped in there at the time considering there were cabins around there back in 1978. Crazy stuff.

We ventured down the trail and I was hoping to finish the forty miles before taking another break, but after peddling for another five to seven miles through thick forest brush and icy trails to keep the pull weight down, I was just spent.

I will have to talk to Lauren when I get to Nikolai. Something isn't right. I'm in the best shape of my life. I shouldn't be this tired. Maybe I need more carbs? I just don't know. Maybe she can talk to Kenzi's chef and find out exactly what the nutrient make up is of these meals and figure out a way to give me more energy for the rest of the race.

Then again, maybe I'm pushing too hard on the pace? That might explain why I've been ahead at each checkpoint but I can't imagine everyone else is running that much slower. I do have a faster team this year but other than that, only the nutrition has changed with this chef making my meals.

So, here we are now – stopped for another short one-hour break. I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I've pulled out my journal to write and help me to stay awake but it's hard not to fall asleep. My thigh is throbbing and so I'd better check the wound and do what I can before Nikolai. Lauren's going to kill me if this thing's getting infected or if I popped stitches and didn't repair them.

Wait… popped stitches would mean blood loss which would cause fatigue… shit…

End Journal Entry

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