I have returned to the land of the living! Yes, I've finally decided to update. (Oh my God! It's a sign of the Apocalypse!)
Oh, and there's a bit of cursing in this chapter, but nothing too bad, I think only one or two.
This story may turn into a bit of a romance between Estelle and Jonas; it depends on your feedback.
Disclaimer: I own the plot and any material not related to Giver. For those that can't understand that: the Giver belongs to people who aren't me. No beta so all mistakes are mine
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Estelle usually awoke before the sunrise, partly so that she could get an early start on the day, and partly so that she could avoid the huge African man that would slam the door of her bunkhouse open and shout, "Get your sorry asses out of bed, you lazy people!"
Her first chore in the morning was to feed her dogs, which she always did in high spirits. After that, she proceeded to her classes, or whatever Boss told her to do.
She scanned the area, looking for Rosa, the old woman of Latin-American decent, who taught the youth of the camp. Not seeing her, she found Malandra and pulled her aside.
"Hey, have you seen Rosa?" Estelle asked.
"No, but Boss wants you for something, he says it's important." Malandra replied.
Estelle slowly turned around and took heavy steps towards Boss's quarters.
"Why does he want to see me?" Estelle muttered out loud.
She trudged through the wet snow that had fallen during the night, and stopped several feet before a small two-story cabin.
Estelle pulled the door open and cautiously entered the large living room.
"You want to see me?" She asked Boss.
"Yes, now, classes have been canceled for the day, because of certain religious beliefs. I want you to take the new boy out on the trail; you need to check the snares and the deadfalls Iñaki and his group set out yesterday. I feel that the boy needs to get out, he's strong enough and you're a capable driver. Can your dogs break out a new trail through all this wet slush?"
"Yes, they are strong qimmiqs and they are a good qimmich." Estelle replied.
"Good, I want you on the trail by ten, the stick shows that it's nine, I hope you can get you're dogs harnessed in an hour."
"I can!" Estelle yelled, already out the door.
Estelle ran to the large hall. Her eyes darted from one end to the other, searching for Jonas. She found him in the middle of the hall, staring at one of the large bonfires.
"Jonas! I need you!" Estelle yelled.
Jonas followed her as she left the hall. He ran to catch up with her as she went to a somewhat separate part of the camp.
Estelle kept going through the little settlement, past the municipal buildings, past other shelters, out past one of the fires that marked the perimeter of the camp. Estelle slowed to greet a small chestnut horse named Romeo.
"Hey, old fellow, sorry I have no treats for you today." Estelle said to Romeo.
"Horse" Commented Jonas.
"Was that a sentence or a question?" Estelle asked.
Jonas didn't respond.
They duo made their way past pens and pastures filled with cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, and a medley of other farm animals. Jonas paused by each different species to get a close look.
The last pen had several ramshackle kennels on the outer edges, and as Estelle approached, the occupants bounded forth to greet her.
"Okay, Jonas, this is my team of dogs." Estelle called the dogs out of the pen and sat them down in a row. "The first one on your left is Bridget; she's one of my lead dogs and is part golden retriever, part greyhound, and part Irish setter. The next one up is Chalk, my Chinook and other lead dog. Chinook is very old, she's pushing 16. Behind those two are Shadow, my half Eurohound-half wolf, and Rex, my Samoyed. He's fairly new to my team while Shadow is going to be retired in a few years. After them are Max, my qimmiq, you might know him as a Canadian Eskimo Dog. He's very new to my team, and still very rambunctious. Next to Max is Kodiak. She's an Alaskan husky. My wheel dogs are Vega, who is a Greenland dog, and last but not least, a Siberian husky, named Rusty. Can you remember it all?"
Jonas nodded his head yes.
"Good," Estelle replied in a no-nonsense voice "Now give me a hand harnessing them up."
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Wet snow is not good for breaking out trails, the extra friction on the runners slows you down considerably, making it impossible to get anywhere fast. It didn't take long for Jonas to figure out that they were behind schedule; Estelle was muttering unintelligible curses, punctuated by several English words, primarily "Boss."
"Whoa!" She shrieked at her team. The team quickly pulled up.
"Why did we stop?" Jonas asked.
"Well, I need to take off a few layers and get my knife out of its sheath."
Estelle quickly shrugged off her coat, sweater, and shirt, leaving just the long underwear top and a camisole underneath that. She felt eyes burning holes in her back and turned around, seeing Jonas with a very confused look on his face.
"Look, I have no idea what they taught you where you came from, but this is politically correct here." Estelle commented. She redressed and stepped back on the sled, muttering more in Inupiaq.
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"Well, that was a com-puh-letely useless trip!" Estelle raged. The whole time they were out they didn't see a single sprung trap. Estelle was raving, and most people were smart enough to get out of her way as she pulled the sled into camp.
She stormed off, wanting nothing more than to sit down and do nothing, but the sound of Malandra yelling for her turned her in the other direction.
"The Boss wants you." Malandra said.
"God, twice in one day, it must be a new record." Estelle retorted.
"I don't know what he wants, but he sounded mad when he told me to find you." Malandra replied.
"I doubt he's mad, he always sounds like that." Estelle commented.
Estelle walked for the second time that day to the cabin in the middle of the settlement. She anxiously opened the door and was instantly greeted by the old voice of the Boss.
"Estelle, I have a mission for you and the new boy."
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Qimmiq-Dog
Qimmiq-Team