Becky hands the collar over to the musher with a smile. “Here you are” She says and seems to wait for his reaction. Her eyes flicker down occasionally on the hand holding the treats. The musher sees this and holds up on of the treats over his head and Becky’s eyes follow it. “You want this huh?” He asks and smiles. Becky nods with her mouth slightly open. “Ok, you can have it. I think you’ve earned it as you’ve been such a good girl” He stretches out his hand and two seconds later the treat is gone. Becky licks herself on her lips when she’s done eating it. “Stay still” The musher commands Bryan and starts putting on his new collar. “Now, Becky. I’ve got another task for you. Prepare the sled and bring out a cage for Bryan here. You know how to prepare the sled?” Becky thinks for a moment and then she nods her head. “I think so, I’ve been watching you when you strapped me and the others to the sled. But I don’t know where the cage is”
“It’s in the closet in the kitchen” The musher answers and points towards the house Becky just came out from. As she walks away and starts preparing the sled, the musher smiles and looks down at Bryan. He runs his fingers through the fur on Bryan’s head which makes Bryan start panting. “Yeah she is nice looking. But you would like her more if she became a husky again huh?” The musher chuckles and pats Bryan’s head. “But I can bet that you would rather be with Amber. The two of you actually looked really nice together as a breeding pair but I couldn’t let you have her. Keula is the alpha and it’s he’s job to bring new puppies to the pack. Besides, I promised the shaman that he should be the breeding dog in exchange of these nice harnesses he gives me. Without them I can’t welcome people like you Bryan and Amber into the pack and make them proper members” Bryan licks the musher’s gloved hand to lick up the last crumbs of the treats on the musher’s gloves, he doesn’t care what his master is trying to say with his human gibberish. He knows that, if his master isn’t trying to give him anything or give him any orders, it’s completely useless to listen to him.
An hour later, the dogsled has been parked outside of the shaman’s big Indian tent. It has started snowing and all the dogs except Amber stands in front of the sled. Most of them have lied down but some still stand hoping that they will soon start running again. The musher opens Bryan’s cage which stands on the sled. Bryan jumps out of the cage and almost knocks the musher down. “Bryan!” The musher growls. “CALM down!” Bryan whines and tries to run towards the other dogs in front of the sled but is stopped as the musher grabs his collar. “SIT” He commands. Bryan looks up at the musher and let’s out another whine and he starts wagging his tail as he seats himself in the snow. “Why didn’t I get to pull the sled like the other dogs?” Whines Bryan. “Good, calm down” The musher pats his head and gives him another treat.
“He just answered your question without you knowing it, he said that I doesn’t want you in the pack any longer. You’re simply not good enough” Keula barks tauntingly. Bryan pulls up his upper lip and growls quietly. “You’re lying. Be quiet! He’s been giving me treats and he does it because I’ve done well” The musher lifts up Bryan up a few inches from the ground with the help of the collar and holds up a finger in front of his mouth. “Shush Bryan!” Bryan pulls his ears back and stops growling. Keula grins, pleased with how he has been able to push Bryan’s buttons. The musher turns his head towards Becky who have been watching the whole event with interest. “Do you understand what they’re saying to each other?” He asks Becky. She answers by shaking her head. “No I don’t understand them. I just know some body language but the rest of the knowledge is gone, as I’m no longer a dog”
The musher nods. “Ok, it’s not that important anyway. But now we should hurry and get into the shaman’s tent before the storm gets any worse. Come here Bryan” He starts leading the dog towards the large tent. “Should I stay here and watch the dogs?” Becky asks as the musher stands in the tent opening. “No, I think the shaman wants to see you too” This surprises Becky. Why does he want to see me for? She thinks to herself.
She runs towards the tent opening to catch up with the musher. As she enters the tent she’s hit by a wave of warm air. It’s quite dark in here, the only light source is a fire in the middle of the circular tent. The air is filled by the smell of dog, burned wood and of grilled meat. Bryan the musher already sits in front of the fire, but besides them there’s no one in the tent. Becky starts to sweep the tent with her eyes, trying to get a good view of what it looks like in the tent. The floor is covered by pelts of different types and there’s a few pots hanging in the ceiling and standing on the other side of the fire. A small circular object which consist of a ring with the hole covered by several strings that has been woven over the hole into a beautiful pattern. She recognises the item as a dream catcher, an item Native Americans use to protect themselves from bad dreams. She lets out a shriek of surprise and fright as she looks down next to her and finds herself very surprised to find a very wolf-like canine sitting next to her, looking at her. The musher looks back and looks surprised. But then he smiles. “Ah, I see that the great shaman has arrived”