Читать книгу Sojo - Pam Flowers - Страница 12

Chapter Five

By November we dogs were becoming a real team and, much to my surprise, it felt good to be a part of it. In fact, I had actually come to enjoy our daily training runs. Even Pam seemed happy and I assumed she had forgotten all about her starry-eyed plan to dogsled across the Arctic.

As I look back on those days, I realize all the signs were there but somehow I missed them. Pam hooked us up in bigger and bigger teams until all eight of us were working together in one team. We trained longer, traveled more miles, and hauled more weight on the sled each day. Pam bought bags and bags of dog food and, in her meticulous way, put each one in a heavy plastic bag, then into a burlap bag, and then tied and taped the burlap bag shut. For reasons I didn’t understand at the time, she loaded them into her truck and hauled them away. Even when Pam quit her job I just figured she wanted to spend more time with us.

Then, on December 2, everything changed. Pam rented a huge truck, put each of us in an airline kennel inside the back of the truck, stuffed the sleds and a bunch of gear in, and drove off down the highway. Three hours later we arrived at a place that was very noisy and confusing. It would have been so much nicer if Pam had told us what was happening, but I could see she was very nervous and when she gets nervous she doesn’t say much to anyone.

Where are we, Mom? What are those big trucks with wings? I asked.

We are at the airport, dear, and the big trucks with wings are called airplanes, answered Mom.

Why do they need wings? I asked.

So they can take off and fly, said Mom.

Fly??? Up in the air like the birds? I asked.

The big dogs and I have all been in them and it’s quite safe, said Mom.