Across A Thousand Miles. Nadia Nichols

      

      Rebecca was in trouble

      Mac was as sure of this as he’d ever been sure of anything. She was in terrible trouble somewhere up ahead.

      Sled dog racing! he fumed. Whoever thought up such a ridiculous sport? “All right,” he bellowed to his team. “Get up.” His voice had an edge to it that he’d never used with his dogs before. They struggled valiantly against the ferocious wind and swirling snow.

      Where the hell was the summit? They must be getting close. Mac looked ahead into the stormy darkness. Was that a sled in front of him? He reached out, and his hand connected with the solid wood of the driving bow. “Hey,” he shouted. “Rebecca?”

      The top line of the sled bag ripped open in the fierce wind, and a man sat up. “Rebecca’s somewhere down below. She and her whole team got blown over. I don’t know how far they fell.”

      Mac stared at the bottomless void. She could be anywhere along this slope or she could have tumbled clear to the bottom. How in God’s name would he ever find her in this whiteout?

      He turned and plunged through the snow to the front of his team. He unhooked his lead dog from the gang line.

      “Merlin, come!” he shouted over the howl of the wind. Then he turned his back on the dog and began a careful, step-by-step descent of the slope, panning his headlamp back and forth as he went.

      He had to find Rebecca!

      Dear Reader,

      The Yukon Quest Sled Dog Race is without a doubt one of the toughest in the world—an epic journey covering one thousand miles of rugged wilderness terrain in temperatures that often reach minus sixty degrees Fahrenheit. It is the ultimate proving ground for mushers and their teams, and the cumulative effort of race volunteers, veterinarians, sponsors, handlers, families and friends. All of the characters in this story are fictional. I have taken a few liberties with both the race route and the rules, but have tried for the most part to give you, the reader, a sense of what it’s like to travel down a long trail behind a team of incredible canine athletes. And a hint of the camaraderie that can develop between the mushers themselves.

      The history of the north country is written in the paw prints of the intrepid sled dogs who hauled freight, food, medicine and mail over thousands of miles of winter trails in some of the worst conditions imaginable, for the benefit of mankind. We owe them our esteem.

      Nadia Nichols

      Across a Thousand Miles

      Nadia Nichols

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      GLOSSARY OF MUSHING TERMINOLOGY

ALL RIGHT!	Command for dogs to get up and go. HIKE! may also be used.
BASKET	The main part of the sled that sits over the runners. Used to carry gear, injured dogs, etc. Also called the BED.
BOOTIES	Socks worn by dogs to protect paws against ice. Made from polar fleece and other high-tech material. Secured with Belcor strips.
BRAKE	Pivoting metal bar with two prongs that is attached between the stanchions at the rear of the BED. Musher stands on bar, which drives points into the snow and stops the sled.
BRUSHBOW	Acts like a bumper or deflector. Curved piece protrudes from front of sled and prevents damage to sled.
BUNNY BOOTS	The military version of PACK BOOTS. White rubber tops and bottoms.
DOG TRUCK	Used to transport dogs. Most common is a wooden structure built onto the bed of the truck with individual sections for each dog or pair of dogs.
DRIVING BOW	Sled handle with which the MUSHER steers the sled. Also called the HANDLE BOW or DRIVER’S BOW.
DROPPED DOGS	Any dog that cannot continue may be dropped at an official checkpoint or at an assigned dog-drop location.
FOOD DROPS	Food and equipment, bagged in burlap or poly bags and shipped ahead to checkpoints. Bags cannot exceed sixty pounds. Straw (for dog bedding) must also be shipped ahead.
GANGLINE	The main line. Dogs and sled are attached to this. May also be referred to as TOWLINE.
GEE!	Command for leaders to turn right.
HARNESS	Webbed material, fits dogs snugly. TUGLINE and NECKLINE are attached to this.
HAW!	Command for leaders to turn left.
LEAD DOG	Leader of the team. Intelligence and drive are important qualities. Teams can have one or two LEAD DOGS.
MUSHER	A person who drives a sled dog team.
NECKLINE	Short line—no more than twelve inches— attached to HARNESS and GANGLINE. Keeps dogs in place.
ON BY!	Command to go by a potential distraction such as another team.
PACK BOOTS	Felt-lined insulated boots. Usually rubber soled with leather or Cordura uppers.
PEDALING	Standing with one foot on the sled runner while pushing against the snow with the other.
POINT DOGS	These dogs run behind the LEAD DOGS. Sometimes called SWING DOGS.
RUNNERS	The two skilike “feet” that slide along the snow. Usually made of wood and covered in plastic.
SAFETY LINE	Extra line from sled to GANGLINE
SNOW HOOK	Double-pronged metal hook. Can be pushed into the snow and used as an anchor to halt the dogs for short periods of time without tethering them.
SNUB LINE	Attached to the end of the GANGLINE. Can be tied to an object (tree) to hold the dogs when the snow is too soft to use SNOW HOOK.
STANCHIONS	The upright pieces that form the framework of the sled. They hold the runners to the rest of the sled.
SWING DOGS	Either the same as POINT DOGS or may refer to the two dogs running between the POINT DOGS and the WHEEL DOGS.
TEAM DOGS	Refers to all dogs other than LEAD DOGS, POINT DOGS, SWING DOGS and WHEEL DOGS.
TUGLINE	Connects the dog’s harness to GANGLINE. WHEEL DOGS The two dogs running directly in front of the sled.
WHOA!	Command to stop the team.

      To my beloved sled dogs, past and present, my heroes and my best friends, who have taken me on some of the greatest adventures of my