Mike Dillingham: Alaska Dogs and Iditarod Mushers: The Adventures of Balto, Back of the Pack, Honor Bound, Rivers

I felt Mike’s hand on the wound, pressing a cloth over it. I did not think it was too bad. I did not feel any pain. “Randy, please bring me the first aid kit,” Mike said.

“I already have it, Mister Mike,” Randy answered

I heard Randy kneel down beside me and start to help Mike.

“What happened here, Mike? It was Musher GB. Mister Crawford started to talk and said that the dogs attacked him and he only used the knife to protect himself.

“Not so.” It was Musher Stan. “I saw the entire thing. Mister Crawford pushed Mike down and slashed Rivers. The other dogs acted to protect Mike and Rivers. Look, neither dog has bit Mister Crawford. If they had attacked him, would they be acting the way they are acting now? One has the knife hand and the other is sitting on his chest. Sure don’t look like a dog attack to me.”

I heard two more sets of footsteps approach and a familiar voice. “Mike, you need help?” It was Doctor Jim.

“Yes, Rivers was slashed by Mister Crawford. I do not think it is bad, but Rivers is bleeding a lot,” Mike said.

“Here,” Doctor Jim said. “Let me look at him. Nope, it is not too bad, but it needs a couple of stitches. It looks like it was a glancing blow. Bet this is one time Rivers was lucky to be blind. Since Rivers could not see the knife, he probably misjudged his jump. I can fix him up right here.” I felt Doctor Jim start to work on my wound.

Another voice spoke up. “I am Trooper Dan Martin. Looks like you had some excitement here. Who wants to start telling me what is going on?”

“I will,” said Mister Crawford, “just get these attack dogs off me.”

Trooper Martin said. “I think I want you to stay right where you are, sir. You have a knife in your hand and until I am ready to take it from you, that dog is doing a great job. My suggestion to you, sir, is to keep still.”

“Son,” Trooper Martin said to Randy, “can you tell me what happened?”

Randy told his side of the story, starting with the encounter he had with Mister Crawford’s son Dylan out on the trail.

Musher Stan started to talk after Randy finished. “I saw it all, Trooper Martin, both on the trail, where Dylan started to hit Randy with a jiggle stick and then here, when Mister Crawford pushed Mike down and slashed at Rivers. Rivers was protecting Mike, who has a broken arm, and the two dogs on Mister Crawford were protecting Randy. I heard Mister Crawford yell at Mike that he wanted to teach Randy a lesson.”

“Mike,” Trooper Martin asked, “What do you have to say about this?”

“Nothing much that I could add, Trooper Martin. Stan and Randy pretty much summed it up. Mister Crawford threatened to harm Randy and I was not going to allow that to happen. Mister Crawford pushed me down as I blocked him from getting to Randy. That is when Rivers, who is blind, jumped up to protect me. Mister Crawford slashed at him and Rivers went down. The other two dogs were protecting Randy. I can assure you that if those two dogs were vicious or not under my control, Mister Crawford would be in very bad shape at this time. As you can see, Mister Crawford’s hand still holds the knife, yet there is no blood where my dog has grabbed him.”

Trooper Martin asked. “Will your dogs hurt me if I take that knife from Mister Crawford?”

“No,” Mike replied.

“Mister Crawford,” Trooper Martin said, “I want you to let go of that knife. After I have the knife, the dogs will back off and you will get up. I strongly suggest that you do not make any rash moves. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Mister Crawford snarled. “Get these attack dogs off me.”

Christmas told me that Trooper Martin picked the knife up, and Mike told Nitro and Lakota to go back to the team and sit. They did that.

When Mister Crawford got to his feet, Trooper Martin told him that he was under arrest, and asked him to put his hands behind his back.

“When do I get to tell my side of the story?” Mister Crawford demanded.

“You can tell it to the judge. I am arresting you for assault with a deadly weapon, threatening a minor and attacking the dog that you slashed.” Trooper Martin replied

“Wait a minute, I was defending my kid, because that Randy kid attacked him on the trail,” Mister Crawford yelled.

“Mister Crawford, I have your son Dylan under arrest for assault, dog theft and larceny, plus dog brutality. He confessed to all of the charges. By the way, when I ran his name against our computer, I noticed several outstanding warrants for his arrest for theft and truancy. Mister Crawford, there are several outstanding warrants for you also. With those warrants, plus what you have done here today, and with the testimony of these witnesses, you and your son may be going to jail for a long time. Let’s go.”

What an adventure this was for Christmas and her pups in their first race! When we got home, and settled, Mary had a big pot of great chow ready for us. She was concerned that I was hurt, but soon realized that I would be okay.

The pups made a big fuss over my stitches, and called me a hero. No, I told them, I only did what I was born to do, take care of my musher, and protect my human buddy. The real heroes were Nitro and Lakota. They risked their lives to protect Randy. Once Mister Crawford knocked Mike down, they were all that stood between Mister Crawford and Randy. Nitro and Lakota surprised me. They could have seriously hurt Mister Crawford, but only used enough force to stop him from harming Randy, or the rest of the team. Who would have thought that those two dogs would do such a brave thing? I know that Sandy, our Guardian Angel Dog, was helping us and guiding us to do the right things, the smart things. Maybe our team believes after all.

Mike and Randy came out of the big house. They were in the kennel and Randy was saying goodbye to us. He told us that it was time for him to get back to his foster home. We were all sad that he had to leave. Yes, we knew he would be back, but….

“What is your rush, Randy”? Mike asked.

“Well, Mister Mike, I have some chores to do and I have to get ready for school. Besides, I want to start writing a story about my first race with the team,” Randy said.

Mike replied, “I guess in all the excitement, you forgot that there is no school tomorrow. It is a holiday.”

“You are right, Mister Mike, I forgot all about that. However, I still have chores to do,” Randy said.

“I am sure you do.” Mike said, “But why don’t you sit with me and the dogs for a spell? I am sure they would love to heap some TLC on you. Besides I have something I want you to read.”

Now this was getting interesting. We all gathered around Randy and Mike. Stormy told me that Mike pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and gave it to Randy. Randy unfolded the paper and started to read it.

“Would you please read it out loud, Randy? We know you read to the pups when they could not go on the trail. That was very smart of you, because practicing makes you better at something.”

“Uh, okay, Mister Mike,” Randy said, but I noticed the hesitation in his voice. Stormy told me that Sky went over to where Randy was sitting, sat next to him and gently howled two times. I knew Randy could not understand Sky, but Sky was howling encouragement to Randy. “You can do this, Randy, just read to Mike as you read to Stormy, Tundra and me.”

“And Randy,” Mike added, “Mike or Mary works. You can drop the Mister or Ms. We are your friends and hope you are ours.”

I bet that caught Randy off guard. He started to read in a clear voice. He read all of the words and did not stumble over any of them.

When Randy finished reading the paper, Stormy told me that Mike put his arm around Randy’s shoulders and asked him if he understood what the paper meant.