With October knocking on the doors of Alaska, the fall rains had increased quite significantly. While it could have been that this would disrupt Beringo and his friends from training, it did not. The rains weren't that common and they were going to be replaced by snow within a few weeks, which was something that they had been hoping for.
On this day, in the middle of October, this was it. Their final training session. It was going to determine how good they were going to be today and their records, that had been noted somewhere, were going to mark something important. Whatever it was, Beringo and friends were already running up the river, supervised by Nash himself.
Beringo, while running very fast today, noticed that Nash had put the stopwatch aside and pulled out the tiny blue book from his pocket and a pencil, scribbling something in it. Was it only him that all these months, he had never noticed Nash doing something like this before?! Maybe he was just too busy with the worries he'd been struggling lately.
"Come on! You can do this! This is the most important session, all of you!" Nash shouted from the distance just to encourage his dogs to run as fast as they could and all six of them sped up, albeit none of them were in the same place obviously. Then again, this was not a competition so it did not matter who'd come first and who'd come last.
"And… time!" Nash pressed the stopwatch just when the first dog, who was Indiana actually instead of Beringo, just by seven centimeters ahead, to cross the improvised line. It was quite easy to draw it due to a wet ground and recent rains. Soon all six dogs crossed the line, with Roger coming to the last place this time around. Justin and Hallie had fortune this time while Dakota did her regular "golden middle" run.
"Alright, you six! Let's get home! I have something to announce to all of you and let you know about your results." Nash gathered them all and led them home, much to the curiosity of them six. What was he talking about? Did these training sessions reveal something vital for them in their future careers? They had been building the basics of the career so this had to be something…
After making their way to their place, while coming across some Natives, resulting in some talk between Nash and them in Inupiaq, they entered the house, where Nash ordered them to sit now as he were saying: "I'll be back in a minute. There's something you should know when I get back, alright?" Whatever it was, they were going to wait for it.
"You know, it could be just me… or he's finally forming up our sled team!" Hallie thought that this was all about how they were going to be lined up. It couldn't be denied, though Dakota had to tell her: "Say, Hallie, maybe he's making some kind of chart to show which one of us have given the most effort and who gave the least?"
"So, I guess it'd be fun if you were to look from above on mine and hers, eh Dakota?" Justin scoffed on that comment, as if Dakota's statement was not boding that well to him. Even if Dakota would say something, Indiana was faster: "Come on, Justin, don't take it seriously immediately! Who knows what our master is up to!"
As much as Justin wanted to protest on this, Roger was faster than him: "Guys, guys. Please take it easy. Is it really worth to fight for the rags?" He made a point and arguing with one another was not helping i so Justin decided not to say anything. Then, Beringo heard: "Look, here he comes! What's that he's carrying?"
Indeed, Nash had returned with a small piece of chalk in his hand and a blackboard, forty centimeters long and thirty centimeters tall. He had it placed on a table, by the edge, low enough for dogs to notice and good enough for him to write on it. Here he revealed: "Alright, now I'll tell you all about your results and let you know that we're forming a team, based off on these results!"
So both females were technically right about Nash and they shared a smile to one another. Making a sketch on the board with a chalk, he made a simple line that stretched into six branches, three on each side, with the big rectangle on one side. He wrote the first one that was near the rectangle above the line: Justin.
"Justin, for your efforts, you've managed to score the most last places, but there have been the times you had us surprised with first places." Seeing that he was going to be far behind, he actually took it well and with the amusement, he let them know: "It ain't much but it's honest work." Followed by the laughs of his teammates, the another name was seen, below the line next to Justin's: Hallie.
"Hallie, while you didn't have that many last places, you scored the least first places, which could have been better." For all she'd given, she didn't mind it that much. In fact, she glanced at Justin, who did the same to her, as they had the pleasure to be next to one another in a team. Soon enough, in front of her was a new name written: Roger.
"Roger, you were that one who had the equal amount of last places and first places. I have made it clear you're a golden middle among them!" With that revelation, it was something Roger was fine with. He wasn't expecting anything at all so being in middle was pretty welcoming, especially how above the line and his name was written the next name: Dakota.
"Dakota, you had a fair share of both sides, but you also showed quite persistence, which is why you're in the middle." Dakota glanced at Indiana, hoping that it'd have been him she'd be next to, but Roger was good too. "And now, the one whose name I write the last is going to be a lead dog!" This led to Indiana and Beringo gaze at the board in anticipation.
After moving the hand out of their sight, the name in front of Roger's revealed who was second in command: Indiana. Truth to be said, Beringo was surprised by this, not really seeing this one coming. For Indiana, he was told: "Indiana, you've done a marvelous job during your trainings and if it hadn't been for that one last place… you'd earn the lead dog title!"
This revealed on the upper side Beringo's name, which was then followed with Nash: "Beringo, you're the lead dog of this team! Congratulations, my boy, your results are just outstanding for what you've given!" Being scratched behind the ear, Beringo could not say whether he was thrilled or confused by this… was he ready to be a lead dog?
"Beringo, congratulations!" Justin wished him first, followed by Dakota: "Well done, Beringo! You get to lead the team!" And of course, Hallie shared her enthusiasm: "You have no idea how lucky you are to be a team leader!" Eventually, Roger shared his: "Great work, my friend! The honor is yours now to lead the team!"
Indiana had to say something, but Beringo was faster: "Guys, guys! I really and dearly appreciate how you're glad that I've won the place as a team leader, but I ask myself… am I ready for this? I mean, Indiana seems like he's more fit than I am." The insecurity held him tightly in here, thinking that him being a team leader crushed Indiana's hopes and dreams.
"Don't say it, Beringo, my friend." Indiana told him confidently, as if him not getting the place as a lead dog wasn't a big deal, much to Beringo's surprise. "Well, I was hoping I'd be a team leader, but to be honest, seeing that your parents are both sled dogs as you told us and the fact that you're the only one with both parents as sled dogs, I do think that you deserve to be the leader!"
"Indiana, look…" Beringo started, thinking that there had to be an another way out of this, but Dakota told him: "No, Beringo, everything is fine! You've been chosen and we hope that you'll make an effective leader of our sled team!" Now he had nothing to say because if he had tried, it'd have been contradicted by others in the room.
Then he decided: "Well, if that's what all of you say then I'll say this: I'm going to make sure that I lead you effectively as a lead dog!" This determination sparkled a brighter hope for them all as they had howled in his honor and Nash, who'd watched them, amusingly asked: "They're congratulating you too, right, my boy?" He didn't have to ask for it again.
Not soon after the team was formed, it'd look like as if any day soon they were going to deliver mail soon! Though, the dogs noticed how Nash was not talking anything about delivering mail from Buckland to any other town that was nearby. If there was no mail to deliver anywhere nearby, then what was his plan?
One morning, while still in bed, Justin heard something moving. It was not just Nash walking around house, but he was collecting some things from the room, headed back to his bedroom and then returned to collect some more. This had Justin confused enough to ask his teammates: "Guys, guys! Look, master is doing something with the things around the house!"
"Where at?!" Indiana asked him, being half awake when Justin started talking about this. Of course, this just led to the other dogs to wake up already and Roger asked: "That's strange, I don't remember master doing this kind of stuff… do you think we should go take a look?" This was a reasonable idea, but it was only one volunteer to do so.
"Hang on, I'll do it." Hallie vouched to see what their master was doing, gracefully heading out of the bed and head to Nash's bedroom. She peeked her head through the doors and noticed Nash having at least two bags packed and one more left. The things on shelves and around were empty and this just led Hallie to return immediately to the others.
"Listen up, master has emptied the rooms! This has to be something!" Hallie informed them each, leaving them to glare at one another in confusion. Dakota asked her friend: "But what is master trying to do? Wouldn't he tell us beforepaw about any of this?!" It was curious how no one heard Nash talking about this. So far, Beringo had said nothing.
Then Nash returned to the living room, straight to his dogs. Squatting down, he looked at each one of them and then shared the news: "Listen up, I'll be giving you a breakfast soon, but in less than two hours we are moving out of Buckland. After striking a deal few weeks ago, I'm letting you know that we will be heading to Nome!"
"Nome? Did he say Nome?" This was the first thing Beringo had said in the morning, taking these news with astonishment. Nome, Alaska… his birthtown?! As if his homesickness had finally reached for destiny to have mercy on him for missing his family. It was Dakota who had figured out: "Beringo, you are from Nome! This is going to be a glorious home voyage for you!"
"And your family?! If they see you back in Nome, they'll be thrilled!" Hallie let him know about this, all while the astonishment had been present in his veins. He muttered slowly anyhow: "We… we're going… to live in… Nome?! And I'm… I'm going to see my… family?! This… this is amazing!" Beringo barked in joy as he had been longing at last!
"Ho boy! This is an another adventure for us, after being adopted from far places!" Roger had said this, eagerly awaiting for another adventure in Nome. Justin looked at his friend from Nome to say: "Beringo, it is going to take us a while to get used around Nome, so you be a good chief and let us know what we can see in Nome!"
"As such, to prove how much you've all trained, I've decided that we could have this journey much faster by you pulling a sled!" Nash announced his last news before packing the last of the stuff in his third bag. Having a "zeroth" sled delivery? Why not, this was going to be a fun start for each one of them. Indiana glanced at his leader: "Ready to return to Nome, chief?"
"Yes!… and don't call me chief, Indiana! I am not a top dog to you or others!" Beringo started excitedly, but ended with a slightly annoyed tone when Indiana chuckled after he'd called him "chief". Dakota added up to this, in Indiana's favor: "Better get used to being called "chief" one day, Beringo… you are the lead dog of the team, remember… chief?"
Beringo scoffed this off while his teammates shared some good laughs with one another. If she were right, it was going to take time for him to get used on being called "chief". Then, Nash had returned with the old plates of meal for them before setting off on a journey, announcing: "Breakfast!"
Now each of them had their own plate as they had been old enough not to share their meal anymore. Then, it was Indiana who had been a laughingstock when he complained: "Really?! Salmon again?!" His teammates had some good laugh on his account for having a distaste for fish in general.
And as Nash had said, in less than two hours they had locked their house and Nash gave the keys to the old Native lady to maintain it in case he were to return here. Bags were packed and placed in the old sled, with the leather harnesses, six of them, being placed in front. Like how Nash had planned, all six of them had been placed in exact order.
Beringo glanced at Justin and Hallie far behind, Roger and Dakota in the middle and Indiana next to him. He had asked in the name of all: "Are you ready?!" To which each one of them had barked: "READY!" It was on Nash to give the signal, when he got the hold of the sled and yelled: "MUSH!"
The journey to Nome was going to last for almost two days, twice shorter than Beringo had been having when he was moving to Buckland. This was indeed a great start for each one of them, even if it weren't perfect, such as adjusting to this activity. Having breaks here and there was welcome for them as none of them could make this run in just one shot!
At the afternoon, two days they had set off to Nome, there it was… laying down on the coast of Norton Sound, shimmering at the sunshine on the sea. Beringo's birthplace was just in front of his eyes and it was a home for his teammates and likely his master Nash, There was nothing more exciting than seeing his family after months of being separated from them.
"Can you believe it that we have made it to Nome?!" Beringo excitedly asked his teammates as he wanted to give them a good impression on his birthplace and a warm welcome. Hallie from behind laughed at how he was overly excited, telling him: "Beringo, take it easy! You may get overly excited that you'll faint right at the entrance of the town!"
The others shared laughs with her and even Beringo was slightly amused by what she said. As such, they had progressed towards Nome and entered without any troubles. With Nash guiding them to their new home, which was located not far from the church, they were finally released from their harnesses and in front of their new home.
"This is it! This is where we'll be living! You may now see how your home is like and get adapted to it." Nash opened the doors of the medium sized house with the porch at the entrance and the small shed just next to it, where he'd put the sled. The dogs had entered their new home and it was vastly different from their home in Buckland.
The living room had less space, but with the decorations and materials constructing the room, it was making it more lively. The stairs were leading to the bedroom on upper floor, along with the bathroom and attic. As for the ground floor, a small kitchen with a table in it, for two people only, was consisting this house.
"Guys, guys." Beringo caught their attention as they had seen quite a lot of their new house. "You just wait here and meet your new home… while I'll just need to slip out and head to see my family if they're still here!" He didn't hide his intentions and they had found it reasonable. Roger even encouraged him: "Then go see them! We'll cover you and your absence when master shows up!"
Smiling that this was all going fairly well, he'd nodded to them each before he had headed off to the house he'd been born on Christmas Eve night last year. Running as fast as he could, he had recalled the old paths that had successfully led him to find out where Gundarsson's family lived or more specifically to him - his parents.
There he'd stopped as soon as he saw in the distance… her. A tan female on the porch of the two floored house, resting on her stomach with the black sled collar around her neck and her eyes closed… noticing that she was sleeping by the movement of her chest. Beringo had that joy filling him in as he saw his mother Marion over there.
Rushing to his dear mother, he'd made it to the porch, where he'd silently, but gracefully trotted to his sleeping mother, while she was resting on the old gray rug. Pressing his muzzle against her neck, he'd started whispering to her: "Mom! Mom! Wake up! Wake up, it's me, Beringo!" He'd managed to wake her up, albeit with different response.
"Amak?... No, wait… Ridge? What's the matter, son? Is there something… B… Beringo?!" Marion was coming to her senses when she had a clear sight upon noticing her eldest son in front of her, smiling joyfully. He just warmly answered to her: "Yes, mom. It's me! I have returned home from Buckland!"
Now the joy was filling in Marion and she pressed her head against his throat with the joyful laugh coming out of her. After months and months being apart from one another, now could Marion see who was in front of her, all while she was saying: "Beringo, my darling son! I have always hoped to see you and there you are! Oh my, you have grown a lot!"
"I know! And you have no idea how much I've waited to see you!" Beringo shared his joy while he and his mother were nuzzling one another. Then, the familiar voice, coming from inside, belonging to Clark, had been heard: "Marion?! What's going on? Is there someone else with you?" She had answered him: "Clark, come here! You won't believe who'd just returned!"
Marion and Beringo had waited for Clark to show up, who'd pushed the doors with his muzzle and once the doors were widely open, there he'd seen the young teenage husky that was a spit image of himself, with the words forming: "Beringo… my son?! Is that really you, my boy?!" Beringo's nodding gave him the answer he'd been looking for.
Just like Marion, he rushed to nuzzle his son, feeling the joy no one could describe after seeing an offspring after many months, with the words: "My son! I waited for this day to come, do you know that?! Oh, you've changed a lot ever since I've seen you!" Beringo knew what this meant to him, responding to his father: "Dad, I longed to see you for a long time! Now I can say that my wishes had come true!"
All three of them shared some laughs and joys when it was evident how much they missed their son. Clark stepped aside because this couldn't be left out anyhow without… "Beringo, you stay with your mother! I will find out where your siblings are and tell them you've returned!" Marion and Beringo nodded to their mate and father respectively as he was seen heading to find his brothers and sister out there.
"Mom, tell me… what's been happening in here ever since I'd left? Have I missed something?" Beringo was willing to know what had happened ever since he had been adopted as a two month old puppy. Marion brightly explained to him: "Oh, your siblings had been adopted in Nome and little Viktor had a birthday in July and other than that, you'd not missed anything special."
"Oh really? I'm glad he is doing quite well." Beringo expressed his support for his first master's son. Even so, he had to share it away and it was further encouraged with Marion's: "Beringo, do tell me, how was your life like during these months?! How was the life treating you over there?" And just as Beringo was going to tell her…
"No way! You were right, it is him, dad!" The voice, belonging to Ridge, was heard, as he, Amak and Bethel, led by Clark, had returned to their place and Ridge got to see his older brother over there, talking to their mother. Amak was faster though, being the first one to nuzzle his brother joyfully and say: "Beringo, my big brother, you're back!"
"Amak, hey! It's great to see you after a long while! You too, Ridge! And I won't forget you either, Bethel!" Beringo greeted his brothers first, while Ridge was nuzzling him, but not as deep as Bethel was, who had told him: "Beringo, welcome home! Oh, you have no idea how much I wanted to see you again! And look at you, you're becoming a lot like dad with each day passing!"
"Well, someone's gotta take the looks after dad, Bethel." Beringo amusingly stated this, with Clark winking at him for making this well constructed punchline. Ridge, who'd been always curious and excited around, asked him: "Beringo, brother, you got to tell us what has been happening to you ever since you've been adopted! You surely have surprises for us!"
Beringo wanted to fulfill the requests and questions from his family, who looked at him with joy each one of them, just for him to answer: "Ridge, relax! You were always the curious one, remember? You'll get your answers, but first, I'd like you to come with me, okay?" This was a first surprise for them and Amak told him: "You have brought something for us from Buckland, haven't you?"
"Something? Well, more like someone." Beringo told him wisely, knowing that referring his teammates as objects made him feel awkward. Still, no one minded about it and Bethel further brought more joy: "Would you like to show us that someone then?" Seeing that all five of them had been gathered around and it was good enough for him to say: "Alright, mom, dad, Amak, Ridge, Bethel, come with me! I would like you to meet my new family!"
So they had followed him and while Beringo led the way, Clark whispered to Marion: "That new family of his, do you think they're some sort of foster parents?" She had no clue, but an another possible option: "I have a feeling his other family are his peers and friends, we'll have to see about it first, Clark!"
Thus had Beringo led his family to his "second family" and from the distance he could spot his team being in the front of their new home, as if they wanted to see how the environment was like over here. Beringo had barked from the distance: "Hey! Hey! I'm back, over here!" He called them to gain their attention successfully, thus leading to Beringo's family to meet his team.
"Beringo, hey! Is that… your family?" Dakota replied to him first, noticing five other dogs coming from behind. She and the rest of the team spotted the dogs unknown to them and Beringo stood in the middle and sat down, revealing: "Everyone, gather up! To my family, meet my sled team! To my sled team, this is my family!"
The faces, alien to one another, with Beringo being the only link of familiarity, got to see one another and thus get to know each one. Marion did not hide how proud she was, even if she were saying: "Our son has a sled team? It is a pleasure to meet you, how are you doing?" She was being like any other mother while meeting her child's family.
"We're doing good! It is our pleasure that we get to meet chief's family!" Indiana taunted Beringo here, clearly not letting go off "chief" in here, much to Beringo's dismay. Clark, however, was surprised to hear: "Did you say "chief", young one? Beringo, is your friend telling us that you're a lead dog?!" Beringo, still being not amused by how he was being called, let him know: "Yes, dad. You heard Indiana right, I am the lead dog!"
"Congratulations, brother!" Amak didn't hide his excitement, hearing how far had his brother pushed to achieve something no one would expect at this age. Ridge didn't hide his excitement either, saying: "Just like how mom and dad are lead dogs, Beringo. I'm telling you, you've become the luckiest of all four of us in the litter."
Even so, he could hear from Justin saying: "You know, now we can all see where Beringo, I mean, chief, has earned his looks, right, you guys?" He said "chief" on purpose, as Beringo were giving him that "Are you serious?" look right now, much to the fun of others. Bethel finally said: "He may take after dad with looks, but deep inside he's taking after mom."
This had been good enough so far and of course, Beringo stepped behind and allowed each of them to get one another's names. So far so good it looked like. During the meeting, Beringo glanced at Roger and as if he were looking at Bethel with an interest? If he was, then he had no fortune because Bethel was not returning him any. But what if she had?
"Beringo, how long are you going to be home?" Ridge asked his eldest brother, wondering whether this was just a plain normal visit or he was moving in here for real? To the delight and joy for the rest of his family, he'd answered: "Ridge, I'm not here on some break! I'm going to live here, back with you, my family!" This just formed smiles from his parents and siblings.
"Well then, welcome back for real!" Ridge answered to him, knowing that he'd get to be with his brother not just for a few days, but longer! Amak had told him: "One day we'll take you to see where we live, brother. We have been adopted by the families from Nome and so… yeah, we grew up here." He chuckled for no reason, as if he was trying to leave a good impression, but failed.
"With all due pleasure." Beringo expressed his interest in that, wondering how the life was for his siblings after they had been adopted. Marion then told the young ones: "You are all wonderful young dogs in my sight! Was Beringo a good dog while you lived there?" This struck Beringo as if he were going to hear an embarrassing moment from his past.
"Mom!" Beringo told her not to ask something like that, but Hallie started: "Well, he was the golden one among…" only for Marion to say: "Naaaaah, I'm just kidding! I know that he'd do nothing bad of course!" As for Clark, who also shared his delight to meet Beringo's friend, said: "Son, we've decided to head back to our homes and if you want to, you can hang around with us or be with friends and show them around the town!"
He gazed at his friends, who'd lots of time to meet the town, but not today as the sun had already set and the stars were starting to paint the dark sky with white spots. He let them know: "I'll hang around with them tonight and show them around Nome in morning, then I'll catch up with you!" This seemed like a fair deal to them all.
"Alright, let's get going, kids!" Clark had nodded to them to get going and leave Beringo with his friends, but not before Bethel said: "Beringo, we outta hang out with one another and friends, what do you think?" Not saying "no" to her offer, Beringo simply answered: "It is a deal, Bethel! You just come see me and we'll get that done! And Amak and Ridge too!"
His siblings nodded in the distance and finally got out of their sights. He had glanced at his friends and asked them: "What do you think?" And as he'd expected, the reactions were: "You've got a nice family!", "Now we know after whom you are with looks." and "No wonder you're the chief, your parents physique says it all." (Beringo frowned when Hallie called him "chief").
Thus Beringo had a reason to be happy to be home. With all the time he had, he'd retrieve all of it he'd not spend with his family while growing up. Those were going to be the precious weeks to come, even if he had to focus on his upcoming career at around the same time.