Broken Trails

“It’s possible.” Scotch nursed her coffee. “How are the dogs?”

“Good.” Lainey was surprised to realize her bowl was empty. She had not expected to be that hungry. “I might leave Heldig here, though. She’s been tiptoeing through the snow too much and it’s messing with her paws.”

Scotch nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like Heldig. Has Bonaparte been giving you any trouble?”

“Nope. Not a lick.”

A slight grin crossed Scotch’s face. “Well, there’s still time.”

Lainey pursed her lips and raised her chin. “You know, just because he’s given you trouble on the trail doesn’t mean he’ll do the same for me.”

“Ah, yes. I remember how well he performed for you last month.”

She frowned at the reminder. Bonaparte had decided it was time for a snack break during a training run. At the time, he had simply sat down between one step and the next, allowing the team to drag him a few feet before Lainey could halt them. She had been horrified at the sight of his limp body plowing through the snow, positive he had been killed in some freak accident. Closer examination showed him to be hale, healthy and alive, but he refused to run another step. Nothing Lainey did could force him to budge and she finally resorted to loading him into the sled to be towed home. Only upon her arrival, fearfully handing him over to Helen for an exam, did she discover that it was a regular trick of his when His Majesty decided he had run enough for one day.

Scotch grinned at her and Lainey smacked her on the leg with a scowl. If anything, Scotch’s grin widened and she checked her watch. “It’s about time for me to get ready.”

As Scotch rose, Lainey did as well. “I’ll walk with you. It’s too warm in here.” She pulled her boots back on and donned her parka while Scotch did the same. Soon they were back outdoors, and she sighed in relief. Who would have imagined she would be more comfortable in five degrees than a warm community center?

“This’ll probably be the last time I see you before Nome,” Scotch said as they crunched over snow.

“I know. I guess I’ll just have to run a little faster to shorten the distance.”

Scotch chuckled. “Yeah. You do that.”

“There was something I wanted to ask you about the dogs.” At Scotch’s nod, Lainey said, “Roman said he was feeding his team three quarters of a pound of fat now and suggested I do the same. Is that something I should do?”

“Yeah, you can do that without harming them. As cold as it is this year, it might be beneficial over all. They’ll burn it off keeping warm.”

“Okay. I just wanted to double check before changing their diet.”

“You didn’t pack any extra in your food drops, did you?”

Lainey shook her head. “Nope. I hadn’t planned on it. I took your list and cut down the amount you take for yourself, so I don’t even have that.”

“Well, the next checkpoint is Galena. They have a cafe there. If it’s open when you arrive, you might be able to buy something from them. A few checkpoints after that is Unalakleet with a couple of stores.”

“Yeah, I’ll check into them when I get there.” Lainey looked over the parking area as they got to Scotch’s team. A few mushers were curled on their sleds or with their dogs. It looked like two more had arrived while she was inside, and they were in the final stages of settling their dogs. Neither of them were Roman. What had happened to him?

Scotch brought her back to the here and now by pulling her into an embrace. “Remember, it’ll be easy running for the next few legs until you reach the coast. After that, be careful.”

“Only if you’ll be careful, too,” Lainey said, snuggling close. “I have big plans for you in Nome.”

“And I have plans for you,” Scotch agreed. Her voice was rough from the weather, but the huskiness in her tone struck a chord in Lainey’s heart.

With reluctance, Lainey released Scotch and stepped back. “Happy trails.”

“Same to you.”

Lainey dawdled for a bit, watching Scotch wake her dogs and prepare them for the trail. A yawn big enough to drop the Grand Canyon into reminded her she needed to sleep, and she regretfully shuffled away to her team. On her way there, she saw that Roman had finally arrived. He looked none the worse for wear, but he had his sled on its side and closely examined the runners. It looked like the bare gravel had done quite a number on them.

She yawned again as she reached her team. The dogs were all nestled in straw, bright green and yellow blankets draped over their motionless forms. Lainey walked down the line to check them and returned to her sled, satisfied. As she pulled out her sleeping bag, she looked up to wave at Scotch leaving the parking area.

Lainey doubted she would see Scotch again until she arrived in Nome, and she sighed. Best to not think about it. With any luck, she could get a good five hours sleep this morning. She climbed into her sleeping bag and got comfortable. In no time, she was fast asleep.

Regardless of the extra hour of rest, Lainey’s eye still felt grainy when she left the checkpoint. Daylight was dawning but she kept her head lamp on for the time being. This was supposed to be another easy stretch. She regretted having to take it during the heat of the day, but it was either leave now or give Roman a chance to jump too far ahead. He was already getting his team ready to leave, only staying six hours despite the extra time he had taken to get here.

The trail followed the road out of town, but at the bottom of a hill took a right turn. From there, it dropped onto the Yukon river, a mile wide expanse of snow and ice. With all that room to maneuver, the trail breakers had made the way a straight shot as far as she could see.

She yawned. Her dogs trotted happily along, tails wagging. She was down to fourteen now, a decent showing for as many miles as they had traveled. Heldig remained at Ruby as a dropped dog, her paws too abraded to continue without causing further damage. She had barked and pulled on her chain as they left the checkpoint, wanting to stay with them. Because she had no other injuries, Lainey felt bad about leaving her.

Lainey drank a juice pack, her mood worsening in direct contrast to the rising sun.

She was tired, cranky, still stiff and sore from her tumble a couple of days earlier. Her rib ached from cold, exertion, and sleeping in contorted positions on her sled. She felt grimy and knew she stank something fierce, regardless of the shower she had been able to catch in McGrath. Ugh.

Who was she fooling, anyway? Sure, she was already past the halfway mark, but she still had over four hundred miles to go before reaching the finish line. What was the point? All this for a stupid magazine article? Strauss had not paid her nearly enough for this abuse.

Maybe she should scratch at Galena. Just pull in and end her race there. There had already been other mushers who had scratched; she would not be the one in the ignominious position of the first to bail out of the race. Lots of rookies never made it to the finish line. Hell, lots of mushers tried every year and never made it to Nome. What made her so special? She had plenty of material for her article, and hundreds of photographs. Would it really be so bad to pull the plug now?

The miles cranked slowly by, and Lainey removed her head lamp in favor of her sunglasses. Overhead cloud cover obscured the direct light of the sun, but it was still bright out. Her team trundled along with little direction, but she took care to keep an eye for trail markers. It was best not to get too complacent and end up in Fairbanks by mistake.

God, the trail just kept going and going. She still had a good four hundred miles of it, too. She imagined flying into Nome and being at the finish line to see Scotch’s arrival. Lainey smiled to herself, knowing that after a decent nap and shower, she would have Scotch all to herself. Finally! While the resulting lascivious daydreams were fun, her mind insisted on following its depressing line.