‘After a day of sledding and setting up camp I think we’ll all be heading for our sleeping bags.’
‘Good point.’ Erica pulled a face. ‘I didn’t realize we’d be so involved with looking after the huskies.’
‘Is it a problem?’
‘No, it’s just … I don’t really like dogs,’ Erica said, pulling a face.
A shocked laugh escaped his throat. The alien noise carried in the wind. Ten metres ahead of them Rachel jerked her head back to stare. She was clearly as surprised as he was to hear him laugh. ‘You’re kidding? This is a husky trek,’ he said, stuffing his gloved hands into the deep pockets of his jacket.
Erica shook her head. ‘I thought it would be like cars. We drive them, but someone else does all the maintenance.’
‘Not quite.’ Noah looked ahead to the row of eleven sleds sat in front of the kennels. Attached to each sled were two long rope lines, stretched out in the snow like insect antennae. Greg, the dad of the two boys, was already walking a smoky-grey dog towards a waiting sled. Both of Greg’s gloved hands were wrapped around the top of the dog’s collar, holding the dog upright, its hind legs bunny hopping over the snow.
The husky looked like a smaller version of a wolf, with a long nose and triangular ears, pointed and alert. Then again, with its bushy grey tail swishing from side to side, a pink tongue flopping to one side of its mouth, the husky didn’t look remotely scary.
With each jump, Greg’s arms jerked forward and the man slipped and stumbled to keep himself and the dog upright.
‘Great job, Greg,’ Valek shouted over a sudden burst of dog barks. ‘That’s how you do it. It’s much easier for the dogs to walk in the snow like that.’
‘Oh God,’ Erica said. ‘Do you think it’s going to be as easy as Greg is making it look?’
‘Absolutely.’ Noah smiled, glancing at Erica. What type of person signs up for a husky sled challenge and doesn’t like dogs?
Erica turned and glanced at Molly. ‘What do you think, Mol?’ she called out. ‘Is it going to be as easy as they said?’
Noah glanced behind him, his breath catching for a moment as his eyes found Molly’s. A smile twitched across his lips. A switch flicked inside him. The calm he’d felt at the airport when he’d stared into her eyes returned.
‘Dunno,’ she replied, taking two long-legged strides and catching up with them. Molly narrowed her eyes at Noah for a second before returning the smile. A brief movement of the lips before her face set in the same ‘I hate the world’ stare he’d seen last night in their cabin.
What was it about this girl? Noah wondered. How could someone he’d only shared a few words with make him feel so … so normal?
‘Noah,’ Rachel called out to him. ‘Come meet the puppies.’
Molly’s face hardened. She raised her eyebrows. It was a look to say: what are you waiting for? Your girlfriend’s calling you.
Noah forced his gaze away from Molly. ‘Coming to see the pups?’ he asked Erica.
‘I’ll give it a miss,’ she said, pulling another face.
Erica
A startled scream left Erica’s mouth. It was her last sound before the fear gripped her body and stole her voice. Not that it would have mattered if she could’ve shouted for help. No one would’ve heard her, not even Molly standing two metres away, already on her sled and ready to go.
The huskies, with the exception of the one eyeballing Erica with an I’m-going-to-rip-out-your-throat glare, were all attached to the sled lines, their heads pointed to the sky and a stream of incessant barking filled the air. Every few seconds one of the pack would break from the barking to add a screeching yelp to the noise.
It reminded Erica of Isla’s nursery on the occasions Erica collected her. Shouting, talking, crying, followed by more shouting. Sixty seconds in that place gave Erica a headache that would last for an hour. Erica was quite sure if it wasn’t for the adrenaline and fear throbbing through her body, she’d have a headache now too.
So much for having nothing to do with dogs. So much for ‘they’ll do their thing and I’ll do mine.’ Erica almost laughed at her own naivety. Stupidity more like. But laughing required movement and she was currently frozen to the spot about to be mauled by the biggest dog Erica had ever seen.
The creature was head to toe black and shiny, like the monitors at the studio right before being switched on in the morning. Its dark eyes fixed on Erica’s face as it crouched down, losing its front paws in the snow before barking at Erica. It wasn’t the excited chattering type of barks of the rest of the huskies, but something ferocious – a vicious warning.
A second later the dog launched into the air and flew at Erica. The force of his weight – a furry bus – slammed into her body sending her falling to the ground with the dog on top of her. Erica scrunched her eyes shut as the putrid stench of the dog’s breath hit her senses. Her body tensed as she waited for the pain of its teeth to sink into her skin.
‘Wow, Erica,’ Lee said from somewhere above her. ‘Looks like you’ve made a friend.’
A moment later, Erica felt the weight of the dog lift from her body and she scrambled to her feet. She scooped her hat from the ground and pulled it over her head, only realizing after the hat had covered her ears that she’d collected a scoop of snow. It slipped down the collar of her jacket, sending a shiver racing down her back, or maybe that was the lingering fear from the dog attack.
‘He … he just turned on me,’ she said with a sudden urge to burst into tears, from the fall, or the fear, or the frustration that she was the only one incapable of handling the dogs. A mix of them all, she guessed.
‘This is Kriger,’ Lee said, holding the dog by the back of his collar with one hand, and stroking its back with his other. ‘Kriger is the Norwegian word for warrior.’
‘He was going to bite me.’ Her voice was high and as screechy as the yelps from the rest of the huskies.
Lee laughed, a bellowing chuckle-like noise. ‘He gives the other dogs the odd nip now and again when they misbehave but he’s never bitten a human yet.’
Yet? Gee, how reassuring.
‘Why did he bark at me like that then? It’s like he’s telling me off.’
‘Well, first of all he’s excited. All the dogs are. Pulling sleds is what they live for. They know they’re going on the week-long trek and they can’t wait. But Kriger here is also trying to tell you that he likes to be at the front. Kriger comes from a long line of alpha leaders, and he’ll keep all of your pack in line if you pop him at the front next to Jagerfly.’
Lee crouched to the snow and grinned at Kriger. The dog barked and slathered a floppy pink tongue across Lee’s face. Lee scratched the pointed black ears and whispered something in the dog’s ear. The dog barked as if replying and looked up at Erica before reeling off a torrent of barks that rang in her ears.
‘Maybe he’d be better with one of the others? Someone who has more experience handling dogs.’ Erica’s gaze travelled across the group. Everyone was on their sleds, waiting for her. The frustration fizzed under her skin again.
‘You’ll be fine. Here –’ Lee motioned for her to take Kriger’s collar. ‘If he starts playing up, hold him between your legs and give him a quick squeeze. It lets the dogs know you’re the boss.’
Erica’s hands shook as she took Kriger’s collar from Lee. The dog jerked and twisted against