In the town on the coast of Norton Sound, Nome was its name, seemed like an ordinary day for the people living in a such place with dominant harsh conditions. It was October 1920, the beginning of the fall, and humans who could afford it, were making sure they had plenty of resources for the upcoming winter, be it harsh or not this year.
The first snow was already in here and it did not present any troubles at the moment, just as if it were letting them all know: "What follows after me will be way worse.". For so, humans were wasting no time in settling down for the winter. It would have been like as if the town was going to stay lifeless for the months to come.
Only that it wasn't. The winter was the reason why the dogs had been awaiting it eagerly. For them, delivering the mail as a part of sled service was giving them not only the entertainment, but staying fit in a cold place like Alaska was. It was essential to stay fit in case someone was buried under avalanche and using all the wits possible to break free could save anyone's life easily.
Speaking of fit dogs, it was a morning for three dogs that were taking a stroll across the town, just near where the old boats were placed for cleaning and maintaining. One of them was a male gray husky, second one was a female black husky with black eye patches and a third one was a male tan husky, a bit bulkier than the other two.
"Hey, boys! Now it is going to be our chance to shine once again for the upcoming annual race!" The black female joyfully spoke to her friends, teammates to be precise. As much as the others shared that joy, no one else shared it as her and that was why the bulkier male told her: "We know, Dakota! Jeez, don't get all excited at once or else you'll be out for shape!"
Dakota halted a bit, only for her to roll with eyes and give the remark to a male: "Oh, ha ha ha, Roger! Maybe you could have been fit yourself if you weren't such an eater." Roger wasn't offended by that, showing what he loved to do, but he was annoyed how others didn't seen to respect him for so, replying: "Big deal, as if I'm going to slow you all down."
"Dakota, Roger, please stop, okay?" The gray husky looked at them as he was not willing to listen their bickering just because the seemed to be polar opposites in certain things. Dakota looked at him and spoke: "Beringo, it's alright. Roger and I may get sometimes itsy-bitsy around, but you know there's no hard feelings between us, right?"
All that he wanted was for them to quit it and they were intending to do so anyhow, only for Roger to turn the tables on him: "Now, Beringo, you have nothing to worry about. You're not the fit freak like Dakota is or food lover like I am… as long as you're the ideal lead dog in our team, we're also counting on you as the heart of the team!"
Even if Beringo accepted himself as a lead dog, he didn't like to feel like as if him taking that duty would make him look like as if the others were no good. That made him reply: "Nice try, Roger. I mean, yeah, I am the only one in sled team whose both parents were sled dogs, but that does not mean that you're any lesser of you six in terms of that!"
Dakota puffed and chuckled as she could have seen this reply coming and so she smugly looked at him and answered: "Beringo, Beringo… we're just messing with you! Of course that as a team we can achieve a lot, not as individuals. Besides, we worked ou quite well this summer so we'll be definitely in the final race of the year."
While nodding to that, always gladly accepting the fact that keeping up with the dreams and ambitions worked, Beringo briefly remembered his biological family, parents to be exact, how they had a mutual respect not only for their teammates, but also for the rivals who as long as they were not playing dirty. Even to this day he was hoping to see them once more.
"Besides, who is our most likely opponent this year? Or is it obvious?" Dakota asked boys if they had any information about the possible competition of the race in two months. Roger, while a food lover, also happened to share some knowledge about it: "Maybe it is obvious when you asked, but I have a feeling that Fritz's team is our competition."
"I might have guessed too. His team really stands out when it comes to breeds, all of them capable to deal with winter. Now that's something!" Beringo went through this and indeed, Fritz, the golden eyed black malamute and the ace of 1919, had a team of various long haired dog breeds and each of them had a mutual respect for one another, thus making them a formidable team to race against in the future.
"I don't know if the others are aware about it, but let's get home and let them know anyhow!" Dakota beckoned with her head eastwards where their home was at and her friends followed. While they were a team like any other, Beringo noticed something happening lately between some of his teammates, something that made him sigh for himself… as if he was still unsuccessful.
Truth to be said, he was still single. He wasn't two years old yet, but seeing how some others were already stepping in the relationships at this age, it made him feel quite gloomy about it. Then again, one other who was also single was Roger, but unlike Beringo, he had no concerns about being single as if that was the life he was pleased with to live. As for the rest of the team…
They had found them in front of the house, resting at the porch. The rest of the team were one dark brown male, pacing below the window and there was another male, gray one, who was just relaxing as if he had no worries in world and next to him was laying a gray female, who was laughing at something that either of these males said it.
"Hey, hey, hey! Taking a rest, aren't we?" Beringo smugly asked his teammates on the porch and they either chuckled at his statement or lazily rolled with their eyes. Dakota easily spotted the latter as she glanced at her gray male teammate, asking him: "What's the matter, Justin? Are you getting the rest from resting? Because you're getting good at it!"
"Nah, easy with your energetic words, Dakota!" Justin brushed off the comeuppance to Dakota just so he didn't have to listen her bossing around even if she weren't the leader of the team. A female next to Justin giggled around, which caught his attention: "What's so funny, Hallie? Was it the way I said it or…?"
"Actually, I found it pretty funny when she told you about the rest from resting… you should be an ace in that!" Hallie laughed at what her friend had said as this was a somewhat good comeuppance to him for being the most carefree teammate in the team. He was so carefree that he didn't do anything else but roll his eyes.
"How was your walk? Did you have a good stretch today?" The dark brown male who was pacing front and behind on the porch asked Dakota and before she could answer, she noticed that mischievous wink he'd given to her, to which she giggled. Others noticed what he did over here, but kept it down, allowing her to say: "A pretty good one if you ask me, Indiana. Too bad you didn't want to come."
"Well, maybe I will tomorrow. Who knows?" Indiana mischievously answered her and his demeanor made Dakota giggle. This was clear to Beringo - he had noticed over the past few weeks how the sparkles were igniting between Dakota and Indiana… and that was why Beringo could not have her, but he was fine with it, they were his closest friends.
Glancing slightly in the background, Beringo was also aware how there were sparkles between Hallie and Justin. Sure, they might not have been the fastest in the team, but the way how they treated each other, as seen in her backing off Dakota's comeuppances from Justin for the last few weeks was saying it all…
Then, he realized he had to announce them: "Guys, girls! Listen up! Dakota, Roger and I have been talking about how we are likely to be the second team in the last annual race, which is scheduled to be in two months! Can I count on you all that you'll be in shape for that race when it takes place?"
While he sometimes couldn't take himself seriously as the team leader, he was gaining the respect from his teammates even in this case as their responses variated: "If you could count on us before, then you can now.", "You don't seriously think we'll let each other down?" or "Absolutely!" At least he was happy to know that there was some cooperation between them all, even if it was vitriolic sometimes.
"Great! Alright then, I think we are going to get some practice training, who is with me?" Beringo hoped that Indiana, Justin and Hallie were going to knock it off with their resting and pacing, but instead, Justin's lazy response was: "What's the rush, my friend? We've got all day ahead of us anyhow!"
"I hate to break it for you, chief, but don't take this preparations too seriously. We're already in a good shape when it comes to delivering mail." Hallie firmly informed him and while she was right about all that, Beringo hoped that at least someone would side with him, prompting him to ask: "What about you, Indiana?"
"Eh, I'll pass. Just had my breakfast… and it smelled on salmon again." The way Indiana rejected the offer and him finishing his sentence seemed like as if he was not amused at all by that. He looked at Dakota and Roger, who knew that they'd not go on a practice run unless all of them were together, prompting Dakota to say: "I'm sorry, Beringo. I guess we'll do it in the afternoon."
Of course, he was expecting from Roger… "No hard feelings, my friend. I honestly don't feel like I want to do this by myself or if the team is not altogether, know what I mean?" He got the point and since the race was just two months ahead and judging by Hallie's statements, Beringo faced it all, to which he responded: "Alright, if you all say so. I'll take a stroll around the town by myself and see who I can find?"
"Like those two of your friends who had moved not long ago?" Indiana was curious about what his friends' intentions were, even if he were polite enough not to damage his private time. "Or maybe he'll be visiting that loudmouth shepherd he's been seeing for a while!" Hallie joked on this, much to the amusement of them all but Beringo, who didn't like what they were saying.
"Fine, make fun all you want, but at least I want to bond with others! I'll come back later and hope you'll be ready to have this practice run, okay?" As he walked towards the Main Street, he heard them responding positively to his demand, albeit their responses were more likely passive rather than genuine. Letting that go, he headed straight into the town again.
While it was a pretty quiet day, save for some children laughing and playing in front of their homes, Beringo liked it this way anyhow. He was used to live in places that didn't have too many folks at once and he liked it whenever there was someone on the streets at least to fill in the silence in this small town that seemed like it was at the edge of the world.
He glanced in front of himself, right at the house that was being maintained pretty well and if not, possibly better than any other houses nearby. It looked quite classy in his eyes and it'd not be a place he'd be interested in had not it been for two dogs who inhabited the house, one of which was resting on the carpet at the entrance of the house on the porch.
The dog in front of Beringo's eyes was a scarlet red husky female, resting on the dark yellow small carpet underneath her. She was a rather fresh dog in this town and to Beringo she could have been anyone else hadn't she been amiciable towards him when he met her. That was when Beringo was polite to wake her up: "Scottia! Hey, Scottia!"
The red husky named Scottia was awaken, lazily opening her red eye-patched green eyes, that made a fine contrast against her red fur. Yawning in process, she got a clearer image of a gray husky standing on the street. She had known him for a few weeks and she greeted him: "Morning, Beringo! What winds bring you to this part of the town?"
It was either a joke or a metaphor so Beringo laughed at what she said and she didn't mind it. He answered: "Ahhh, nothing much. Don't mind me, just taking my casual town stroll whenever my teammates are busy picking on each other, you know?" While she did not know each one of her teammates very well, she understood how he was feeling at least.
"By coming to our place and wake me up whenever they're busy? Well, if you ask me… you're welcome to seek the peace with us!" Scottia joked on that one as she was stretching her front legs and her neck after having a good rest. She looked at him with a warm smile on her face and told him: "I don't know what your teammates think of us, but I'd be fond to get to know them one day."
"I'll make sure that both of you get that pleasure, Scottia." Beringo assured her that there was no rush whatsoever in making her wish come true. More precisely, her and the other husky she lived with. The dog doors opened and there it revealed an another husky. This one was red, a bit darker red than Scottia's and was brown eyed, hazel brown eyed to precise. This one was male.
"Good morning, Scottia! How did you sleep? Beringo, good to see you!" The male red husky greeted Scottia with a nuzzle he had returned back to him while rubbing her head against his neck. Beringo got to see another red husky in front of him, greeting back: "Hey, Koyuk. I see that you had a pretty cozy dream last night, am I right?"
"Right you are on that!" Koyuk cheerfully agreed with his question, as if he sounded like he finally got a good night of sleep in a long while. Beringo vividly remembered how they had moved to Nome over a month ago, with their owners being quite classy and wealthy to come and live here. He was amazed how he got to meet them first and was their first friend in here.
Moreover, Beringo was hoping that when he'd gazed his eyes on Scottia, she could have been that one female in his life. Only that she was not. He mistook Koyuk at first to be her brother, but in their first talk they had revealed that others were sometimes mistaking them to be siblings, as they were not brother and sister or any relatives to one other at all!
"Beringo, may I ask you few things? I know that neither of us two are sled dogs, but I'm still curious about something." Koyuk asked his friend this, being well aware of what his friend was professional at and had seen him deliver mail few times. Beringo replied: "You can go ask me one dozen if you have to, I'm willing to help up! So what's that you want to ask?"
The first question was the same one that had Scottia asked while she whispered to his ear about it, only slightly changed: "I don't want to sound intrusive, but Scottia and I have been wondering if we'll get to make friends with your teammates? They seem like a group of fun and nice dogs if you ask me."
While "fun" was correct, "nice" was not always the case, but that could be overlooked for now for which Beringo answered him: "Well, later today I'll be leading my team for a practice run in the outskirts so we may all be in a shape for the last annual race of 1920. There you two can come and wait to meet them outside, how's that?"
Koyuk and Scottia gazed at one another and seemed like there was nothing wrong in this plan and Scottia nodded, speaking: "That sounds pretty reasonable to us. I'm curious… I know that none of you have the same fur color and such, but maybe it'd be a nice idea if we were to know what they like and don't like so you know… we bond closer to them?"
This was sounding pretty reasonable to Beringo, who after gazing up in the sky gave it a thought before revealing: "If you have to know… Indiana is the dark brown one - he would be in charge if I'm not available and just to be clear, don't mention fish to him. He hates that. Then the black one is Dakota. She's there for me if things go south and by the way, she can be pretty fierce when it comes to being fit."
Koyuk and Scottia were taking those hints as Beringo carried on: "Roger, the tan one, is that one who can eat as much as he wants to, but will never get fat, don't ask me how. Justin is the carefree guy among us, but he can be pretty flexible when it comes to delivery. Like me, he is gray, just like the other female among us, Hallie. She's born for humor!"
Now that they had brief descriptions of each, Koyuk spoke: "To be honest, now I'm glad that my owner decided not to put me in a sled team. Dakota girl would be someone I'd not be in a same place when it comes to training. No offense to her, you know?" Beringo knew that Koyuk wasn't going to openly pick on her, but supposed what could have it been.
As for Scottia, she seemed to be quite fine with them all and moreso, she revealed: "Beringo, I don't know why, but I'm glad that we've got to meet you over that other dog. The black malamute, what was his name?" Beringo swiftly responded: "Fritz. Don't mind him, he's a nice guy and such, but to be honest, he's kinda closed dog when it comes to friends."
"I might have guessed. I tried to talk to him so you know, we could be friends. He did not seem to be interested in being friends other than his teammates." Koyuk revealed what he'd done when he met the ace of Nome. This clearly showed that there were some dogs who prefered to have someone he'd been knowing for a while as friends rather than some newcomers like Koyuk and Scottia.
"Oh well, if he was not interested in you two before, then I don't think he'll ever be, maybe over his will, you know?" Beringo concluded their troubles with the hopes that Fritz was not going to be that closed because neither of these two were from Nome. He then looked around himself and told them: "Well, if you two don't mind me, I'll carry on taking a walk across the town. We will be at three in the outskirts of town for practice run, okay?"
"Got it, we'll be there! See you later, my friend!" Koyuk greeted the friend who unlike the ace, was warm and open to greet them in their new town. "Bye, you two!" Beringo greeted them back as Koyuk and Scottia were going to have some time for one another. The smiles on their faces and all those giggles showed that they didn't need anyone else in their lives.
Hoping that he was not going to turn mad or jealous for seeing these two being in some kind of relationship, Beringo decided to carry on his way. He wasn't really proud of hiding his plans and ambitions, but sometimes it was a better choice to keep the jaw shut than blabble in front of them the things he'd never done before in his life.
It was still too early for lunch and for the practice run in the outskirts and Beringo knew that. There were some days when he prefered being by himself and simply said, he had to find any means necessary to compensate his boredom. Surprisingly, he was capable of finding that ways and today was just one in the line of these days.
Walking near the docks, where the great ship would sail once in a month from a greater town on the east, Anchorage, this was also a somewhat ideal place to go fishing as the shallow waters were full of these fish that would feed a street of Nome if it ever came to food shortage. It was not the fish that Beringo was seeking over here.
Instead, he noticed a familiar figure in front of him. Not the human that was waving with nets in the sea to catch the fish, but the dog that was resting near the human. That was a male Scottish Shepherd, with hazel brown fur, white underbelly, coal black ears and paws and from this angle, one could see he had hazel brown eyes. Beringo knew who that shepherd was as he was walking towards him.
"Lewis! How's the fishing going?" Beringo greeted the shepherd- A thick coated shepherd looked at the younger dog and with that grumpy look, he called the young husky: "Beringo, ye lad! Whit brings ye here early?" That Scottish accent was standing out in his talk as Beringo sat near him. He became popular because of his different accent and manners.
"Nothing much, to be honest. Just waiting for the afternoon so I take my team for the practice run like every few days." It was a simple explanation that Lewis needed. One would wonder about Lewis' Scottish accent and if there was someone who'd understand what he was saying. Whether Beringo was capable of that or not, it didn't matter to him actually.
"Getting yerself and yer friends ready fur races, aye? At is pure dead brilliant fur a leader like ye!" Lewis appreciated how Beringo embraced his role in a team, even if this was something that Lewis was rather alien to. To which Beringo firmly answered: "Just like my mom and dad were until they'd retired last year."
And speaking of his parents, Clark and Marion, Beringo vividly remembered how after months of them moving away, Beringo still sought someone who'd be like a parent to him just so there was no void in his life he felt around him after their departure. To him, Lewis was avuncular to be described best. Amidst all the fur and grump this middle aged shepherd had, he had a heart of gold deep underneath all that.
"Ah dinnae yer parents as ah live here fur like three months, yet I'm sure they're proud at ye." Lewis showed that kindness to him as to others he was known for being a grump and a loudmouth, even to Beringo, but with limits. Even so, he told him: "Listen, lad… I ken how at is like. Ah, auld Lewis, have a family down on the south and ah do surely miss them!"
Beringo was clearly not hoping for this outcome, but asked anyhow: "Really, I don't remember you telling me that before?" Whether Lewis was expecting this from him, he replied: "Ah didnae? Well, ah used to live in some country named Nebraska or somethin' and there I hae a bonnie lassie and wee ones I hae with 'er."
"You have a mate and pups?" Beringo could only guess this as there were some words Beringo found alien and of course, Lewis laughed at this guess, saying: "At was a canny guess, well done! Aye, they live there and guard sheep like ah used to. Now I'm here, a fisher shepherd instead of sheep shepherd. This is nae my life."
"Well, at least I can relate to the fact that I'm not the only one who is missing someone, Lewis." Beringo said this, knowing that he had nothing to complain about anymore. Looking at him with the smug look, Lewis asked him: "Beringo, do say, hae ye met a bonnie lassie for yerself?" This was something that Beringo shook his head at.
"Nae? Well, I'm telling ye the quote from auld country: Failing means yer playin!" Lewis encouraged him with these words that took Beringo a while to figure out that they were saying something like: "If you don't succeed at first, then you try again…. is that right?" To which Lewis responded: "Aye, that is."
Just then, the human next to Lewis pulled the fish net out of the water and managed to catch half a dozen of fish, eventually putting that in the basket where at least one dozen of these were wiggling or motionless. The man, who was clearly Lewis' owner, said: "This is good enough for the morning. Alright, let's get going, Lewis!"
Now Lewis got on all his fours and was ready to go, just telling the young husky: "Ye see how ah like guarding sheep better? My master Higgins has nae seen it! Beringo, my lad, haste ye back!" This was clearly a "goodbye" he was telling him as the shepherd was following his master, with Beringo replying: "Alright, Lewis, see you some other time!"
Standing at the docks as he was looking at his avuncular figure moving to the heart of the town, Beringo gazed at the crystal clear seawater under the old planks he was laying his paws on. He felt like the seawater was reflecting his last one year he'd been over here ever since he's returned from Buckland. To Buckland he went as an adopted puppy, from Buckland he returned as a fresh dog!
"Well, as long as the other dogs don't ridicule me for being single, I'll live with that, for now." Beringo thought this to himself as he could lay in the docks for the entire morning and gaze at the seawater. Only that he did not, as he was going to move on and make something productive, intending to return to his teammates right now.