MUSH! - 6. Chapter 6

The sled ground on the ice and Socco stepped on the brake just hard enough to bring it to a full halt before the crest of the hill. The dogs didn’t drop in the traces, but every single one of them let the tugs go slack as their muscles relaxed. It had been what seemed like the longest climb in the world up the side of the Glen Alps, the steepest slope they had ever attempted with a fully laden sled, and on the fourth day of their trip each of them was tired.

“I swear I’m never gonna run again.” Anysie was panting hard. “This is a nightmare.”

“You’ve said that every day Cus.” Taba looked across at her friend. “But you’re still raring to go.”

“You ladies should try being us.” Suda was stamping his feet in the snow. “Sled is fucking heavy. You are too Soc.”

“Oh thanks!” Socco stepped from the runners. “You guys want a snack break before we head back down?”

“Sounds like a plan babe.” Natu’s jaw creaked as he yawned. “You need to check Kinai’s feet.”

All the members of the pack turned to look at the black and white swing dog, who hung his head.

“It’s nothing.”

“Bro?” Dinahei’s big blue eyes were questioning.

“Ok. Food and then I’ll take a look.” Socco set about grabbing the cooler out of the sled bag.

Natu flexed all his joints in turn and sat down in the snow. The team had gotten into the habit long before of not keeping the line strung out when they rested. On short stops it was no worry to stay in the harness and on the gang line, but they all sat a little bit closer together so talking was easier. Dinahei snuggled instantly against his side, cool nose pressed into his ruff.

“How’s life at the front babe?” Natu licked the top of his mate’s head. As one of the swing dogs, his view was great, but Dinahei had been running out front for the last four days straight, and it was clear to see he was a lot more tired than he’d been before. It was no wonder, because regardless how well they knew the territory, the route Socco had worked out with Natauq under an uneasy truce covered all of the hardest parts in their area.

“I’m good.” Dinahei’s tail wagged gently, flopping against the hard snow. “I thought we were gonna get stuck in that drift earlier though.”

“You found us a way up with good ground pup.” Natu rumbled. “And Suda an’ Mak pulled us out right enough.” He continued, loud enough to be heard. Mak was, at the moment, rubbing against Kipa, but he flicked an ear to show he’d heard the compliment. “You’re doing great.”

They both turned to watch Socco with the snack meat. A lot of discussion had gone into the decision of what they were going to eat on the trail, and a fair bit of arguing. Dinahei and Socco had asked the vet what he fed, and had sought out the opinions of everyone in the family and in town whose thoughts were worth listening to. Lena thought they should use commercial food, as did the vet, because it was lighter to carry and would contain all the essential nutrients they needed to run well; Ujarak had replied that he had always ate what he was fed, but moose meat and seal blubber had been his favourites; they often ran on fish, so Suda and Kipa plumped for it as food of choice; Ukiuk said the same thing, but he was pretty biased. Mak had admitted in a quiet voice to having done some research, and told them about stale meat patties and something one of the books had called ‘slumps’: ground up still born calves. Dinahei had put his tail between his legs and Natu had felt a bit sick at the idea of brains, eyeballs and bits of spine in his dinner. It wasn’t that they were fussy eaters, and offal was often served at home, the thick kidneys of seals and the wonderful soft and rich livers of moose and caribou, snowshoe hare hearts and innards becoming stuffing for a variety of other things.

Inspired by the questionnaire Socco had filled out for the Iditarod Trail Committee, Natu had put the word out around the local farms, horse yards and butchers about horses that needed putting down or had been, and Suda had gone out with Kal’s brother and a pair of rifle’s to shoot some moose. They’d gotten a pair of big bulls and Suda had butchered them along with his grandfather. The skins would be turned into clothing, but the antlers, much to Kinai’s regret, were going to be sold off to a dealer who paid good money for anything with more than five points. Someone else in town had been clearing out a freezer and had thirty pounds of game meat, all of which they took.

That morning, Socco had warmed up a bunch of the moose chunks in hot water until they defrosted, and had put them in the cooler on the sled. His spare clothes and the sleeping bag were packed around the cooler to provide extra insulation. Now Socco moved along the team, handing out meaty chunks. Unlike with any other musher, Socco didn’t need to check every toe on every foot of every dog, because they could tell him if something was wrong. Suda rolled onto his back to have his feet rubbed and worked his aching shoulders into the snow to provide relief. Natu nudged Kinai with his nose as the black and white dog ate.

“You can’t be shy about your foot. You cut it on a stone or something right?”

Kinai lowered his head down between his shoulders and huffed, but by that time, Socco had finished feeding Dinahei, nuzzling hard against his neck, and came around to his brother-in-law.

“Let’s see it.” He sat cross legged in the snow with a smile. “Come on Kinai.”

Kinai was not a large dog, and he let himself be pulled into Socco’s lap, turned over to raise his feet. Just as Natu had thought, he’d cut two toes on the front left as they’d been coming up the hard blown ice of the slope. It wasn’t bleeding much, because the cold made your blood freeze when it tried to get outside your body, but if left untreated, Kinai would’ve been limping in not too many hours.

“You have to tell me these things Cus. I need to be able to rely on you all.”

“Sorry Soc.”

“Ah hell don’t apologise to him.” Mak said gruffly. “He’s got the easy job.”

Natu saw the tension in his lover’s hands, but Socco took a deep breath, and Natu smiled as he let the comment slide.

“That goes for the rest of you too.” Their musher said loudly. “I wanna know about all and any injuries as soon as they happen.”

He took a tin of the foot ointment out from somewhere inside his clothing. Everything they needed to not freeze solid was in there somewhere, tucked against his skin or between layers of fine knitted wool, fur, leather and the odd man-made textiles. Socco had to return to the sled and get a bootie, strapping the fabric over Kinai’s paw and fastening the Velcro strap around the ankle tightly, but without cutting off blood supply.

Sivoy worked with Gunnar Philips’s father Bill, and his wife had sewn sixty booties on an ancient foot pedal Singer sewing machine for them. It wasn’t enough, because to run the Iditarod they had to carry two sets of booties per dog for a running total of eighty booties, plus all the hundreds they would use up in training and during the race. Cenai had received an email from a teacher at Clark Middle School whose students had seen the posters, and instead of fundraising had gathered fabric and the loan of four sewing machines to make booties. In return, Natu had told Dinahei they should run down to the school and give the kids a bit of ‘hands on dog time’.

“Aww Kinai, you look cute in booties.” Taba giggled. Her cousin snapped at her, just missing the fur of her ruff. Socco growled.

“No fighting guys. Use your words.” Socco pulled a strip of jerky from the inside of his jacket and began to chew at one end. Socco wasn’t eating real meals anymore, and he didn’t cook anything for himself. The advantage of using decent quality meat for the team and not some human engineered kibble was that Socco simply ate what they ate. Between cereal bars packed with molasses, honey, oats and the odd bit of fruit and the raw meat diet of the dogs, Socco did quite well, whenever he remembered to actually eat something.

Dinahei finished his food and went to nuzzle his brother.

“Does it feel OK?”

“Yeah. It’s fine. You boys worry too much.”

Socco ruffled the black tipped ears and smiled as he stood.

“Aye, you’d like that wouldn’t ya? Shall I put you in the sled bag and let the others carry you?” Kinai growled in response to this suggestion, and Socco grinned widely. “See, he’s feeling better already. Come on kids, let’s go.”

As they stood, Dinahei automatically strung out the gang line until the thin thread thrummed with tension. Kinai tested his weight on his injured foot and wagged his tail. Natu glanced over at his fellow swing dog and then looked back at the rest of the team. The sun shone overhead, the sky was a brilliant pale blue and the snow glittered. Down below them was the valley floor where they had run on Boxing Day, and the slope to get there was steeper than the one they had just scaled.

“It’s gonna be like training for Happy Valley.” Mak said from the back. “You’d better not run us over with the fucking sled Soc.”

“I’ll do my best.” Socco cracked the sled away from the ice and stood heavily on the brake. “You ready babe?”

Dinahei barked.

“Alright team. Hike! Mush!”

It was very much like going off the edge of the world. Dinahei lurched against his harness, walked forwards and vanished over the top of the ridge. For a second, Natu’s heart beat so hard he thought the organ might try and break out of his chest, and then he too was going over the top with Kinai and they were half running, half sliding down the slope. There was a shout of “Oh fuck!” as Mak scrambled on the loose snow and the tension went out of the tugs because the sled was chasing them down. The smooth birch runners had no grip on the dry powder, they were designed not too, and suddenly they were running all the harder as though free from the harness.

Socco was trying to keep the sled straight, to stop it from rolling over in the snow and flipping them all across the side of the mountain, but the little craft, full as it was, was picking up speed at an alarming rate. Socco stamped on the brake, and there was a short tug, but it wasn’t enough, not nearly enough, to slow the sled’s mad progress.

“Dinahei!” There was no instruction in Socco's voice, just sheer panic, and Natu wished now they’d had the time, the knowledge or the thought to wrap something around the runners or tie the sled off or something, anything which would have avoided what now seemed like certain injury and possible death. And then Dinahei jumped to the left and Natu felt the unspoken command from his lead dog.

Follow.

It was the job of the swing dogs to help make the turn, to ensure what the lead dog and musher decided actually happened for the dogs further down the line. Natu turned, pulling Kinai with him and they started pelting down the mountain side at a forty five degree angle.

“Whoa!” Socco was still pressing on the brake, and Suda growled as his little brother tried to twist the sled around. “Gee! Gee over!”

“Keep the sled flat!” Dinahei barked as he ran. The valley floor was coming up on them at an incredible speed. If they didn’t change course the best thing that was going to happen is they would all end up impaled on the trees on the other side of the trail. “Ready Natu?”

“Huh?”

“Gee! Hike!” Dinahei twisted, went right, and there was a moment of blurriness and the whiteness of snow all around them, and suddenly they were clipping along the trail path, heading north towards the distant Ranger’s station. Dinahei slowed, stopped and Socco trod roughly on the brake and jumped off.

“Fucking hell Dinahei!” Taba snapped, her white fur bristling. “You nearly killed us!”

“Go Dinahei!” Suda shouted at pretty much the same time, his voice full of joy. “That was some wicked running kid.”

“Jesus…” Socco slipped in the snow, hauled himself up and then he collapsed at the head of the team. Dinahei instantly put his head against the man’s chest, and Natu could feel Socco’s racing heartbeat from where he stood in the traces. “Oh my best boys, my best boys…” Natu jerked forwards as Socco reached for him, gloved fingers in the thick fur of his neck.

“That was fun.” Kipa yipped. “We should do it again sometime.”

“Please no.” Anysie begged quietly.

“Good team.” Socco called over their heads. “Good team.”

There was a moment of the not silence between them, coloured with heavy breathing, the thudding of hearts and the shaking of fur and traces. Dinahei pricked up an ear and they all turned in time to hear the voice call to them.

“Bloody hell! That was completely mad.”

There was a musher, obviously out only on a day trip because his clothes were fairly light and his sled bag did not bulge, walking towards them. He had tied off his team some twenty feet away and the dogs were standing fairly calmly in their traces, with only a hint of potential for running and fighting. He was looking up at the trail they had left in the snow of the mountain side as he walked in thick soled bunny boots.

“Did you plan to come down like a ton of bricks or what?”

“There’s another way to do it?” Socco asked softly, still kneeling in the snow.

“You got a hell of a lead dog there son, he’ll do you proud. I can see that.”

Socco stood to offer the man his hand, rubbing his glove over his short dark grey hair.

“Well now, I know you.” Natu turned to look at the speaker more carefully. It was hard to see past the layers of heavy clothing, mask and ski goggles to an actual personality. “You’re one of Natauq’s kids right? A Sabaakax.”

“Actually, he’s my uncle, but yeah, I’m Socco Sabaakax.”

“Well, well, I was just seeing some of your posters over in town, wondering why I never had that idea.” When Socco looked at him blankly, the other man seemed to remember he was fully kitted up against the wind. “Sorry. Halleron Scot.” The mask was removed to reveal a lined and smiling face of a man in his early forties and most of the team barked to recognise him.

Halleron lived outside of the city on the North side of the Knik River and while he didn’t run dog teams for mail and transport, he did make a good living as a trainer and breeder of fine Siberian huskies, and some of the newer, lighter mixes that were truly built for speed over short distances. All of them knew him in some capacity, because he raced, and ran the Iditarod, and knew many of them from shifts as teenagers spent behind the till of Sabaakax Sleds.

“You must be Sighai’s boy, now that I look at you properly. So you’re running in the race this year eh?”

“That’s the plan. We haven’t qualified yet.” Socco stroked Natu’s head as he spoke.

“You’ll be heading over to Dawson city next month? You know you’ll need to trim your team to nine for the race?”

“Yeah. Not that I know who to leave out.” Socco muttered. “Are you running this year?”

“Oh yes. So who’s your ambassador?” Halleron smiled his grin big and warm. “Don’t tell me you haven’t got one yet?”

Natu sighed. When they’d asked Sivoy, the old man had refused point blank to put them in touch with anyone who could sign for them as a reference.

“No. Sorry.”

“Well hell boy, after the way you just came down that slope, I’ll sign for you. You ever run with another team?”

“Not really.”

“Tell you what,” Halleron clapped their musher on the shoulder, “day after tomorrow we’ll meet out on Eagle River Road and go for a two day run in the mountains out by Eklutna Lake and see how you handle yourself. And then I’ll sign for you.”

“Wow. Thanks.” Socco grinned and shook the proffered hand.

“My team are a bit eager for the off. You wanna go first? I think you’ve got yourself a firecracker of a lead dog there.”

“Yeah, sure.” Socco looked a bit dazed as he passed them, and Natu nipped at his thigh to bring him back into focus. “Yes, alright.” Socco nipped up on the back of the sled and made sure the brake was up. “Let’s go team!”

“Hike!” Dinahei shouted. “Let’s run home!”

The run back up the valley floor was easy enough. They’d done it before, and none of them felt much like slowing down to stop at the Trailhead. Dinahei ran them around the headland and they ran into the yard of the big Sabaakax family home at near enough full tilt, skidding against the short snow which had been cleared before they’d left.

Four days was not a long time for them to be away from home, but as they came into the yard and Socco slowed the sled, Natu could tell the team was tired. They had run hard every day, run the sorts of times if not miles they would need in order to complete the Iditarod in placing time. The ITC paid thirty places down, and Natu knew they were all trying to be in that grouping. They had run eighteen hours a day for all four days, and they were knackered.

Socco unclipped the gang line and pushed the sled into the shed by main force while the dogs began to back out of their traces and change shape. The bins of their gear were just as they’d left them, and Natu shifted into his skin and started to pull on a pair of old jeans while pushing his feet into rabbit fur lined boots before handing out parkas and trousers, thick hoodies and thick socks as the team got changed.

“Please tell me we get the day off tomorrow?” Seeba asked with a soft sigh, sagging against Anysie in a knitted afghan. “This is mad.”

“Tomorrow is car day.” Natu said with yawn. “You get the morning free to do as you please.”

“Car day?” Kipa asked with one eyebrow raised. She was trying to comb her hair out with her fingers. “What the hell is car day?”

*

Natu stood in his room and stared at the calendar on his wall. He’d printed off the pages and used them as wallpaper, and now he had sheets for each week until the start of the race decorating his room along with maps of the Iditarod, The Percy, and the trails surrounding Anchorage. Mushers had started coming in from Down Below while they had been away running mail over the Interior and now the area between them, Mount Gannett and the Knik River was littered with other teams. Teams from out of state, mushers like the one who had doubted their skills, others who would be kinder. The teams from Alaska had also come into the area, mushers from Fairbanks and teams from up the High North started to flow down to Anchorage for the start of the race. It wasn’t for nearly three months, but that didn’t matter. People wanted to get acclimatised and ready, fully trained and well rested. Rest wasn’t something which was going to factor much into the rest of the deep winter for the team.

Every day on Natu’s calendar had something written on it, big red marks for training runs spread from one day to the next, pencil scratches for lists of things that still needed to be done. They were going to need a new sled at some point, they were all going to need racing harnesses, and they didn’t all have them. They would need to go hunting, to source and prepare more meat. At some point they would need to find the time to do actual fundraising and they still had to build up their stamina with some really heavy-haul runs. Pakak had asked that they bring in the next few lots of wood, and a quarter of a cord was a haul of well over a thousand pounds in weight.

And yet he couldn’t be sad about the busy mess his life was turning into, because for every night they were away, every trip and every errand ‘the team’ had to run, it meant he and Socco and Dinahei could be together without the ever watchful eyes of their family. After they’d been to the vets, the three of them had intended to spend some time together at Dinahei’s house. Ujarak supported them, but Natauq and Oki had been home, and the plan had been quickly scuppered. Socco had hugged them both hard in the truck and he’d had to let them go. Natu focused on the red X’s which marked the two days they were about to spend in the company of normal dogs and the experienced musher Halleron Scot. Bizarrely he was looking forwards to it. He and Dinahei could be as doting and loving as they liked, sit with their man by the stove and be stroked and ruffled by him to their hearts delight. In Natu’s head at least, it was going to be wonderful.

“Come on Nat!” His brother was shouting at him from downstairs, and Natu grabbed his red plaid and lamb’s wool padded jacket from the back of his door. “Car shopping time.”

Socco had managed to pull Dinahei away from whatever it was his parents thought he was doing to go with them, and Suda and Natu piled into the back of the crew cab. They were headed to the far west side of town, well away from the centre of the city, near the industrial shipping docks, to go and deal with the only person on the planet Socco hated more than Mak.

Which was why Suda was coming, the big brown brindled husky had nearly thrown a fit when he had found out what Socco had been planning to do.

“You wanna waltz in there smelling of sex and hormones and demand he gives you a car?” Suda had blinked hard at them. “Soc, mate, no offense but have you completely lost your mind?”

“It’s not like he could sell a dead car to anyone, except as scrap. Everyone in town is supporting us-”

“Give or take the odd person we beat…” Natu had muttered.

“-it wouldn’t be a loss to him or anything.”

“And you forget, dearest cousin…” Suda had shaken his head with a sigh. “Boris is a territorial fuckwit who hates dogs, hates us and hates you especially.”

“Why does he hate us?” Dinahei had asked, all sweet and innocent.

“Because the three of you are obviously hot for each other, it makes him mad. Boris is a homophobic Russian jerk, but we need him not to hate us. It’s not like there’s another scrap dealer we can go to around the corner.”

There they were, four men who were huskies, freshly showered and pulling into the clear space of frozen earth that made up the ‘customer parking’ area of Boris the Russian’s Used Car and Scrap Merchant’s. Natu held his breath as they got out of the truck, because the whole place, to his nose, stank of oil, grease and chemicals, all overlaid with the acrid rank of piss. Boris was territorial all right, and he marked his property whenever he could. They never came near the place if they could avoid it, not after the last time Boris had near enough tried to tear Mak into bloody fluffy pieces for urinating on his fence.

Boris, covered in oil and grease and stinking of a man who was allergic to bathing, came around the corner of a heaped mountain of old tyres and stood, arms crossed over his chest, glaring at them.

“And what do you want Sabaakax?” He had never really bothered to tell them all apart or learn any names, except he liked Socco and Mak less than anyone else and he thought Natu and Dinahei were just kids. The wolf sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. “They brought the gay ones.”

“Hi Boris,” Suda smiled in a friendly manner. “We came to do a little business.”

Natu blinked at his brother. Suda had never been one for power games, but now he stood, hands in his front pockets, shoulders slouched, looking every inch a young man with time to kill. He looked about as non-threatening as any well-built man over six feet could. Socco on the other hand was already annoyed, the scent rolled off him in waves, and he set his shoulders firm and glowered at the Russian wolf with something very nearly a snarl. Dinahei, in his own sweet and wonderful way, went to calm and placate his mate by putting an arm around his waist, and the tension in the little group merely jumped up a few notches.

“Business? You mean you people actually have some money on hand?” Boris wiped his dirty hands on an equally filthy rag tucked into his belt loop and scuffed his boot on the frozen ground. “I see you didn’t bring that rabid brother of yours. Good choice.”

“Indeed.” Suda bypassed his brother and laid a hand on Dinahei’s shoulder, pulling him very softly away from his mate. “On that note, our boy Soc here is running the Iditarod. We came for a car.”

“I was brought to understand you were supposed to actually run the race, not drive it.”

“Why you-!” Natu grabbed for Socco’s bicep as his mate lurched forwards.

“Babe, calm down.” Natu was tall enough to whisper in his lover’s ear. “It’s ten minutes where you need to be polite. Deal.”

“It’s for training.” Dinahei chirruped. “We need something heavy.”

“And scrap to fill it with. Old engine blocks maybe?” Suda continued to talk as though his cousin wasn’t being all fiery behind him. “We don’t need anything that runs. It just needs wheels and good axles. You got anything Boris?”

“You’d better get a leash for your mad musher Sabaakax.” Boris half turned away, his posture dismissive, and waved at the mess of the scrap yard. “Go fish boys.”

Suda, Natu, Socco and Dinahei turned to look in the direction Boris had pointed as he wandered away. Natu gaped.

“If you had lunch plans, cancel them.”

The scrap yard was a teenage petrol heads paradise. The kind of guys who loved to build shit from broken bits of other stuff would have loved it, but Natu looked across at an acre of burnt out cars and bits of dead industrial equipment and felt dread flood through him like lake water in winter. They were going to be in there forever.

The boys all stayed well clear of the crusher and the big magnets suspended from cranes and began to hunt without using their noses. Natu had gone over what they were going to need in the truck on the way there. Something heavy, preferably quite low slung, with a tow bar attached to the front and sturdy axles. Things like doors didn’t matter, but something with the engine block in place was preferable, because the team could already pull well over a ton on rubber wheels and they needed to push themselves with more weight. But the yard was mad, disorganised, and there was only the vaguest clue about what cars were what. Socco very quickly found the front end of an old Carrera, but discovered it was only the front end. Suda went hunting with a view, and climbed up a scrap heap only to find a car that would have been perfect, wedged between bunches of other crap, its nose facing the ground some ten feet in the air. There were cars with no wheels, cars with no roofs, and cars with no front end. There was a brilliant Dodge Ram, which when Dinahei wriggled underneath turned out to have no floor and no axles, and was in fact sitting propped on the tyres off an old tractor.

“This is hopeless!” Socco snapped and aimed a round kick at a spare tyre. It rolled away with a wobble. “We’re never gonna find anything in this fucking useless dump!”

“Shut up Soc.” Suda jumped down from where he had been inspecting the bonnet of a knackered old ford. “Boris hears you talking like that he’ll throw us out. And I ain’t towing some wreck back from fucking Fairbanks either.”

“Fine.” Socco stuffed his hands in his pockets. “But we’re not going to get something in here that’s not totally useless.”

“Babe?” Natu was standing half turned away from the argument. “How do you feel about muscle cars?”

“Is that a Buick?” Suda had turned to stare at the car Natu was jogging towards. “Fucking hell, it’s got tail fins and everything.”

“I think it’s from the fifties.” Natu didn’t waste a lot of time looking at the front, but nipped straight underneath the chassis. “Boys!” He shouted in delight. “We got ourselves axles an’ four wheels!”

It was, on closer inspection, an ancient Buick LeSabre, and it would have been a classic except the once possibly cream paintwork was now mostly missing and replaced with raw metal and rust patches where the intense cold had made the paint peel away. It also had only one remaining seat inside, which was luckily the driver’s seat, and everything from the front had been removed, except the engine block, though all the pistons were gone. They dug it out from the bits of scrap around the rear passenger side, discovered those two doors were missing, as well as the boot lid. It had been left, mercifully, with the brakes not on. Cold and time had locked the axle up, but after a few proper kicks and a bit of pushing, they broke it out, and Dinahei sat in the front and steered as the other three began to push it back to near where they’d left their truck.

“You actually found something?” Boris sounded surprised, and possibly even a bit pleased. “Alright. I dug you out a couple of dead safes with no keys. They’re empty, but I figure they’ll weigh you down some.” The wolf tapped a big metal cube with the side of his boot. “And you managed not to piss on anything.”

“Yup.” Dinahei beamed.

“How much do you want?” Socco managed not to sound like a completely ungrateful dick when he spoke, and Natu wondered if they might all get away with their reputation, such as it was, intact.

“For a half a dead Buick and two boxes no one can use?” Boris seemed to consider this. “I’m not in the habit of giving gifts boys.” There was a pause so long Natu began to doubt if they had the wolf’s attention at all. “Gimmie a hundred and fifty and we’ll call the rest a donation shall we?”

“Really?” Natu was shocked to find he had in fact spoken. “Wow, thanks Boris.”

“Awesome!” Dinahei jumped up and down on the balls of his feet, before leaning across to kiss Natu smack on the lips. “Great find babe.”

“Do that again, and I’ll make it two hundred.” Boris wrinkled his nose. “Now get outta here before I change my mind.”

Suda had to stamp on Socco’s foot to stop him from saying anything, but Boris was going. It took all four of them to get the safes into what had been the back seat of the Buick and Dinahei ended up wrapping the tow chain around the underside of the front chassis before they all climbed back into the truck.

“Are you sure about this Socco?” Suda asked, putting the big truck into gear. “Maybe we shoulda brought the team to haul it out.”

“Is everyone gonna meet us back at the shed? We need to take this thing out soon as possible.”

“We need proper racing harnesses too babe.” Natu chipped in. “Half the team are pulling in bad gear.”

“How much money have we got left Suda?”

The eldest of them handed the roll of green over to Socco, who instantly passed it to Dinahei. He flicked through the paper with a freshly licked thumb.

“Three hundred. You think we should buy everyone presents?”

“Tomorrow we go out with Halleron. I think new harnesses are a must don’t you?”

“Only uncle Sighai will be at the shop.” Dinahei answered. “You know he’s not keen on us racing.”

“Or being together.” Natu muttered.

“Stuff him. We need harnesses for the team, and dad needs to get it into his head this is happening.” Socco cross his arms in the front seat and huffed. “Let’s go.”

Natu sat with his arms around Dinahei, the gorgeous boy snuggled up against his side in the truck where everyone smelt slightly like oil and dead metal, as they headed into town towing the broken Buick. Socco had been snappy all day, which was annoying, but Natu could see through the false bravado his mate presented to everyone else in the world, and knew underneath it all, Socco was starting to get scared. The enormity of what they were doing was starting to dawn on him, and with every new musher they met, friendly or doubtful or otherwise, the whole thing was starting to get more and more real. And Natu knew the thing that really worried his lover. More than the fact they hadn’t met any other rookies yet or they seemed to be the last kids in the race yet to qualify, was the fact that he wouldn’t be able to run with them. The idea Dinahei and Natu were going to spend lots of time together in their fur, and Socco would be prohibited from joining them.

Suda managed to park their bizarre long load in the deliveries car park around the back of the block, and Natu reached out a hand to his mate to stop him getting out of the car.

“You go on ahead Bro. We’ll join you in a bit.”

“Err…” Suda paused with his hand on the door. “O-K…”

“Just get out.” Natu pushed his big brother. “We won’t be long.”

“Sure…” Suda still looked a bit suspicious. “I won’t buy anything without you, ‘kay?”

Once Suda had gone out of sight, Socco looked around the deserted car park.

“Babe?” He asked, one eyebrow raised.

“Get back here Soc.” Natu grinned. The back of the crew cab had tinted windows. Alone or not, none of them needed to get arrested. “You’re all tense babe.”

“I can fix that.” Dinahei grinned, already kneeling up on his seat as Natu sank into the foot well.

“Oh yeah.” Natu’s agile fingers opened the front of Socco’s jeans before he’d fully finished sitting down. “We can totally fix it.”

“I love you guys.” Socco sighed. “Sooooo much….” And after that, he wasn’t much capable of forming any words at all for a bit.

*

“Please tell me you did not actually pay money for that?” Mak said as they lowered the front wheels of the dead Buick onto the thin snow. “It’ll break apart the moment we get it hitched up.”

“Nah.” Taba was already checking the car over. “These things were built like oxen. I doubt you could even take it apart with tools.” Their cousin put her head inside the cab. “Shame really, one of these in good nick would be worth a pretty penny, and what a sight to see. Look at those tail fins.”

“If it was in good condition, we wouldn’t have bought it.” Natu shook his head. “Also, we got y’all presents.” From out of a large blue sack he began to pull the six new racing harnesses. “And now we’ve got one for everyone.”

“You do realise they’re all different colours?” Kipa put her head on one side. “Other teams are gonna think we’re a mess.”

“Hun, compared to other teams we’re saints.” Cenai replied. “Everyone already thinks we’re the nicest dogs in the state.”

“And the slowest too.” Mak growled. He grabbed his harness from Natu, it was black, and like Suda’s had slightly thicker padding around the shoulders. “We gotta see about that.”

“Which is why we bought the car.” Socco said. “Let’s tack up guys!”

“You know, I doubt this can be fair.” Anysie mused as she stepped into the bright purple webbing of her new harness. Natu held the collar for her in his front teeth and she nuzzled against his throat as she pushed her way in. Taba gave the straps a tug from the back to settle them in place.

“What isn’t fair?” Natu asked.

“Well usually, we run and Socco… mfft…” Her voice was muffled as she picked up Natu’s harness for him, “…has to run and stand in the cold and wind. So it’s fair.”

“OK…” Natu didn’t quite get what she was on about.

“But now we have to run and he gets to sit all nice and warm in a car!”

Natu shook his head and sighed, and focused on helping his team mates into their new gear. Socco was attaching the gang line to the front of the car and as they were ready, he called the dogs into place, attaching the clips from their harnesses to the narrow ropes which made up the core of the sled dog world. Out in the Interior, they all lived for the smooth power arch of a tight tug. Natu watched Mak saunter over, tail high in the air, and the big dog rubbed against Socco’s hand briefly before he was clipped into the wheel dog space.

“You think we should get Socco chipped too?” Kipa asked, her head on one side, hind paw scratching at the site where the needle had sliced into the back of her neck. “You know, just in case?”

“I can hear you sis.” Socco waved her over to the spot in the front of Mak. “Come on.”

“I think it would show solidarity. To the team.” Suda nodded.

“You are kidding? Babes, Help me out here!”

Natu barked in laughter and Dinahei, standing proud and happy at the front of the line, turned around with a cheeky grin.

“You made us all do it Soc… I’ll make it up to you. Won’t we Natu?”

“Sure.” Natu knew he looked smug, even in fur. “We’ll make it up to you for sure.”

“Oh hell.” Socco checked the last set of clips and made for the car. “This is gonna hurt like hell.” He sat in the car and Natu felt the moment he took the handbrake off, because the tension in the rope eased ever so slightly. Before the stored power could completely vanish, Dinahei leapt into his collar and they ran for it.

Once it got going, towing the car was easy. It didn’t bog down, and the wheels hummed in the most wonderful way against the frozen tarmac. They had all donned booties for the run, because the hard packed scraped ice on the road was not kind to anyone’s feet. Natu knew they were pulling the car for endurance training and building muscle, but because the wheels turned smoothly with the application of a handful of grease, they could run so fast. Dinahei loved it, anyone could tell, but his flying feet and dancing tail made Natu’s view enticing as hell and he tried to keep his vision clear of what they had done in the back seat of the truck. Natu hadn’t found full release, and now with Dinahei’s rear in front of him, he could think of little else at all.

In the car, Socco sat with one hand on the wheel. They had taken the driver’s side door off too, and there wasn’t enough noise for him not to be able to call to the team. As they ran away from the house up De Armoun Road, Socco called for the team to slow around the big left hand turn, and then they were approaching the slip road onto the new Seward highway.

“Is this a smart idea bro?” Kinai was running hard, and spoke in between pants, his tongue lolling. “Should we not go the other way?”

“I don’t know.” Dinahei slowed. It was almost imperceptible, but it was enough for Natu to nip at his heel.

“Car’s a-running pup, we gotta move.”

“I swear if Socco flattens us I’m gonna come back as a dog-zombie and end him.” Mak panted. “Fucking hell Dinahei, just go!”

“I don’t know what to do! Socco!”

Natu felt the tug, and it was an echo of what Dinahei must have felt, because when Socco shouted ‘Mush!’ Natu felt it in his bones, a thud like his heartbeat and the all-encompassing desire to run forever. Dinahei twisted, brought the swing dogs around and they ran up and onto the highway. They were all hot and panting, but the desire to run was too great, and full of the adoration of movement. As they went, Natu forgot to worry about getting laid, forgot to worry about what the next few days out with Halleron Scot might hold and simply put all his weight into the harness to run. They covered the six miles at an open canter and Dinahei didn’t hesitate as he took the trail up onto the interstate.

“Is this wise?” Seeba called.

“Hell I don’t know. But it’s fun!” Cenai replied with a loud bark. “Keep running.”

They were running wide open in the outside lane, cars and trucks passing them every now and again, giving the team a wide berth, when a car drew level with the shell of the Buick. The driver rolled down his window.

“Hey there boy!”

“Hi!” Socco grinned at the stranger.

“That’s some fine team you got there. You’re booking near enough twenty miles an hour!”

“We’re training for the Iditarod!”

“Are you heading up to Eagle River? I’ll leave some money for you at post office.”

“Wow.” Socco’s delight was palpable to the team. “Thank you!”

“What’s your name kid?”

There was a shortest pause, but Socco and every one of the team shouted and barked all at once.

“SABAAKAX!”

Seventeen miles they ran on the interstate, and by the time they pulled off onto the Eagle river loop road, Natu was wondering if they really had to go back home today. His was exhausted, but his body pumped with adrenaline and the desire to get back on the road and keep going until there was no more road left to run on.

“Fuck we’re gonna be sore tomorrow. Was this a good idea?” Suda stood four square in front of the car, muzzle practically touching the ground, panting hard. “And we didn’t even bring the cooker, or snacks, or water. This was a fuckin’ stupid plan.”

“Don’t be harsh Suda.” To Natu’s and everyone else’s surprise, the speaker was Mak, panting and sitting on his haunches. “Not one of us actually thought this through exactly did we?”

“Sorry guys.”

“Snow. Or water.” Natu barked at his mate. “One or the other, preferably both, my paws are burning.”

It didn’t take Socco long to get them unhitched, and while the dogs could get out of their harnesses, they were not adept at removing their own booties. Socco knelt in the thick drift at the side of the road and pulled off the worn down fabric gloves. As soon as they were removed, each dog went to pile into the big snow drift, their paw prints steaming ever so gently in the freezing cold whiteness. They were not far from the Post Office and the centre of the little town, and people going to and fro stopped to stare at them, open mouthed and fascinated. After Socco had sorted out all the dogs and fallen back into the snow himself, a man in an argyle tank top and a long sleeve shirt came out of the Post Office.

“Are you…” He checked a piece of paper in his hand. “Sab-kak?”

“Sabaakax.” Socco clarified. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“A guy came in and said to look for a dead Buick and a mad-ass crazy musher with ten dogs. I guess it must be you. He left this.” The young man trotted along the road and handed Socco a thick envelope. It was full of five dollar notes. “Do you guys need anything? The dogs must be thirsty.”

The yapping that greeted this statement was almost loud enough to drown out Socco’s shout and attempt at polite request for water, and not too long later, the young man came out of the café from across the road with a waitress in a cotton waist apron and some other bloke who looked like he might’ve previously been enjoying an afternoon snack and a muffin, with six plastic boxes of water. Set on the side of the road, the dogs instantly started to drink, their muzzles full, and their tongues busy. Natu decided he had never needed to have a drink this much in his entire life; not even after they had been discovered, sweaty, naked and in the middle of stealing Dinahei’s virginity from him by their immediate family. And he had definitely needed a drink after that.

Socco found a baggy of jerky stored away in one of the pockets of his jacket, and to their delight, the human visitors were permitted to help snack the dogs.

“They won’t bite you. They’re a great team.” Socco sat crossed legged in the snow with Dinahei now upside down in his lap, paws in the air. The young man grabbed Natu around the scruff and wrestled with him for ten seconds. “These here are my two best boys.”

“You bet.” Natu huffed against his lover’s neck. “We still have to drag your ass home.”

“I’ll make it up to you.” Socco muttered while the humans were busy. You guys are the best.”

“We know.” Dinahei yipped happily. “We know.”

They spent two hours in Eagle River, and the lady who owned the café gave Socco day old pastries and coffee for nothing. The team ate all of the jerky and drank another three boxes full of water before settling down for a nap. Socco had a kip in the car for twenty minutes with Natu practically asleep on his chest and shoulders, Dinahei snuggled into the foot well of the Buick. Only the foot break remained, the once forth pedal, and the gear box was gone. There was nothing like a few hours kip to bring everyone’s moral up, and soon, the team was back in the harness, raring to go.

“You be careful now Sabaakax.”

They had gathered quite a crowd to see the team off. Dinahei wagged his tail.

“Thanks guys!” Socco waved, hanging out of the front seat. “Good team, let’s go home! MUSH!”