Dangerous Hilarity

by Sioux Dallas

  “Don’t even think of putting on those clothes,” Irene ordered as the twins ran to their outdoor wear. “You absolutely will not go out again.”

  They were all feeling miserable and wondering what could be done when Herb stumbled in frozen and hungry. He had to lean firmly against the door to get it shut.

  “Dad,” Anna ran to him sobbing. “Galena is out there and we don’t know where she is. She’s been gone all afternoon. Dad! Do something.”

  “Mom won’t let us go out and look for her,” Tom wailed. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

  Irene put her arm around Anna. “Honey, dad has to get some hot food in him and warm up. We can’t risk a human life out there even for Galena.”

  “Mom!” all three children shrieked.

  “Galena is one of the family. We brought her all these thousands of miles away from the comfort and security of the only home she’s ever known and now something horrible has happened to her. Don’t you care?” Tom cried.

  “Would you be this calm and say all that stuff if Tom or Anna, or me, were lost out there?” Tim choked.

  “Children, don’t you dare talk to your mother like that. Of course she’s as worried as you are.” Herb stood up and hugged his wife. “Sweetheart. They’re upset. Let me finish eating and warm up a little and I’ll see what can be done.”

  Herb called other families in his work crew. “Galena is missing. Please watch for her and pass the word along so others will be on the alert, also. She’ll need shelter for sure. Let me know as soon as you see her or even if someone thinks they’ve seen her. Thanks a lot. I’m going out to look as much as I can.”

  Eleven men braved the storm to help in the search, but it was too cold and dangerous to be out long. Each called for Galena, but the cold wind swallowed their voices. Word quickly spread through the entire town.

  Two miserable days passed slowly. The third morning Anna opened her eyes to darkness. She knew the sun would not peep through until nearly noon. Thankfully it had stopped snowing, but was still bitter cold. There was an eerie stillness in the air. The twins bounded out of bed eager to search for their dog. Several days turned into weeks while friends and classmates helped search. A couple of bush planes went over the area as much as they could safely fly.

  Chief Houmay growled. “It’s stupid to go to all this trouble for a no account dog. She’s probably been killed and eaten by now by a wolf pack or a polar bear.” All of the children thought he was cruel and insensitive.

  “Stupid jerk,” Tom snarled.

  “Ignorant heathen,” Tim followed Tom to go to the Chief. Herb saw them and immediately ordered them to come to him.

  “Come here this instant. You’re not going to help the situation by being rude to the Chief. No one agrees with him, so just ignore it and go home.”

  The twins reluctantly struggled home, weary, heart-broken and unable to eat or sleep. Listlessly they showered, brushed their teeth and prayed.

  “Dear Lord, protect Galena. Keep her safe and help her find a warm place to go and something to eat. Bring her back home to us soon.”

  So many weeks went by, the Jacksons almost lost hope. Anna, Tom and Tim went to school with heavy hearts and didn’t feel like doing the excellent work they usually did.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Hey, Herb,” Ben Gregory called to him at a work site. “I could have sworn I saw Galena with three wolves last night. I called her name and she stopped to look at me. One of the wolves circled back and pushed her on. She trotted off after them but she did look back once and hesitated.”

  “I was afraid of that. Even though she was raised from a weanling by us, her ancestors were wolves. It’s only natural that they might be drawn together. I hope, for the children’s sake, that she’ll not forget us and will make her way back home. Thanks for letting me know. Do me a favor. Don’t mention this to anyone else. I don’t want my family to raise false hope. You know how upset they are.”

  “Sure. I understand.”

  Although school was out for the holidays, the Jackson children were too sad to think about tomorrow being Thanksgiving. During the night Tom awakened thinking he heard a baby crying. He frowned and snuggled deeper under the warm covers. Suddenly he shouted as he jumped out of bed and went flying to the front door. He could hear now that the scratching and whining could mean only one thing.

  “Galena!” He shouted so loudly that the entire family came running. Tom opened the door to be knocked down by a wet bundle of cold fur licking his face and wriggling all over. They all kissed and hugged her not minding that they were getting damp and cold. She was so happy giving doggy kisses on each face. Herb had to stop the twins from calling friends with the good news at three in the morning.

  What a wonderful, marvelous, scrumdunktious Thanksgiving. When the blessing was asked at the dinner table, each one had things for which they were thankful, the main one being that Galena was home.

  Two weeks passed. One day after school the twins rushed home to show that each had made an A on both Geometry and Science tests.

  “Mom! Come see what we have. Where’s Galena?” Funny, but Tom could never seem to use an indoor voice when he was excited. “I sure am glad she stayed in where it’s warm and she’s safe. I’d have a heart attack if she got lost again,” Tom spoke through chattering teeth.

  Irene smiled and motioned for them to follow her quietly. They went into the kitchen where she pointed to a pile of old towels and a small rug in the corner. Galena lay there, grinning at them, while her tail drummed a happy tune. By her stomach were two little balls of silver and grey. One was a fat little character trying to root around to nurse. Their eyes were not open. With trembling knees, the three walked closer and almost reverently knelt to gaze in wonder.

  “Galena must have mated with a wolf during the time she was lost. I’m surprised she even tried. She’s too old to have little ones, so we must be extra careful with her.” Irena looked lovingly at the dogs.

  “Two of them,” Tim whispered with tears in his eyes.

  “There were more, but only two survived. I’m not sure one of these will make it. Don’t expect Galena to romp as she has in the past. I want a veterinarian to look at her as soon as possible. Dad will know how to contact a doctor.”

  No dog was ever cared for with more tenderness and love. During the night the little weak one died. Galena cried as if she were human.

  “Oh, Mom. I hope Galena will be okay. Do you think she really is aware that her baby has died?” Anna petted Galena and hugged the tiny remaining baby.

  The next morning the twins came rushing into the kitchen then skidded to a stop. “We’ve been discussing names for the puppies,” Tom stated. “Super brain here thought we should name them by the alphabet; like Abaigail, Bianco, Caleb, and so forth. Isn’t that a riot?” He finished dropping to a chair slapping his thigh and laughing loudly at Tim.

  “Attention,” Anna said firmly. “Have you noticed that there is only one baby now? The weaker one died during the night.”

  “Oh, no,” the twins chorused. “Mom, is this one going to die? Will Galena live?” Tom was almost crying.

  “I don’t know. Galena is old and was out in the blizzard a long time. We don’t know if she got enough to eat or whether she picked up bacteria of some kind from the wild animals. This is the wrong time of year for her to have babies and ----” Irene sighed, “the baby looks strong enough to survive, but we’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t handle the baby until she’s bigger and her eyes are open,” Tim reasoned.

  “That an excellent idea,” Irene agreed with him. “In the meantime, give Galena your usual love and attention. We need to see what a veterinarian has to say.”

  Tom jumped up and ran to the phone. “Dad! Only one of the babies has lived and Galena needs a veterinarian as soon as possible. Do you know where we can get one? Right now!” He said all this on one breath.

  Irene took the phone. “
Herb, I’m sorry we’re bothering you at work. We’ll talk about this when you get home tonight. Take care. Get home safely.”

  “Mom! Why did you hang up? We need to get Galena and the baby checked before it’s too late,” Tom almost cried.

  “Tom, I’m not sure there’s a veterinarian in Nome. We may have to wait until one can fly in. We’ll get something done when dad gets home.”

  “We’re in luck,” Herb called as he walked in the door. “Mr. Durango has his veterinarian on call and the doctor flew in yesterday to check the sled dogs. He said he would come by tonight and give Galena a check-up. Yes, I know, in Virginia we would have had her in an animal hospital long before this, but we’re doing the best we can.”

  Tim sat on the floor and encouraged Galena to lay her head in his lap. “Galena’s going to be fine. We love her so much that nothing can happen to her.”

  After supper there was a knock at the door. Herb answered the door and came back with a tall, good-looking Indian. “This is Doctor Condova. He’s going to check the dogs. We can’t thank him enough.”

  “Hi, folks. I sure am glad to meet you and I’m real glad to meet this nice girl.” He squatted down to talk to Galena. “I’ve heard a lot about you ole girl. You have a huge fan club in town. Let’s see what’s going on. By the way,” he said to the family, “my name is Matthew. Most folks call me Matt.”

  He reached toward the baby and Galena immediately growled and hunched over her baby.

  “Calm down, little lady,” Matt said soothingly. “I won’t hurt your baby. What a pretty baby. Let’s forget the little one for a while and check you out. Maybe then you’ll let me see your baby.” He calmly touched Galena and moved slowly so she wouldn’t feel threatened.

  “Other than her age, she seems to be doing fine. You’ve taken excellent care of her. Of course you understand she’s been through unusual events.” He looked up at Anna. “Maybe if you picked up the baby and handed her to me the mother would be more accepting.”

  Anna picked up the baby and handed her to Matt. Galena watched carefully and even stood up to look closely. “This is a healthy little girl. I think she and her mother will both be fine.”

  “Galena is all right, isn’t she,” Tom was worried.

  “Galena’s fine. She won’t have more babies though. I’m shocked she had this litter. I don’t want to worry you needlessly, but you need to hear the truth. Even though she’s fine now, she’s too old and this may cause her life span to be shorter.”

  “We love her so much she’ll be strong,” Tim assured him.

  “Strong, sincere love has been known to work miracles for both people and animals. I’m sure you’ll take good care of her.” He stood up.

  Herb shook hands with the doctor. “How much do I owe you, Matt? We can never pay you enough. I wasn’t sure how to get in touch with a veterinarian. You’ve given us hope and we appreciate you coming out in this weather and this late at night.”

  “When you’ve lived her for a while, you’ll find it easier to travel in bad weather and at night. You don’t owe me anything. I was in town anyway. It’s my pleasure to meet all of you.”

  Irene offered him a hot drink and even food, but he declined. They each thanked him and told him he would be welcome in their home whenever he was in town.

  Christmas is going to be the best ever,” Tim sang out. “Something special has happened at all the holidays since we came to Alaska. I’m glad I’ve been keeping a journal. What great memories we’ll have to share with everyone back home.”

  All thirty-seven of the children in town helped to decorate the ten feet tall tree in the Community Center. Several juicy, plump turkeys were furnished by the government to their workers. Each family brought a covered dish, a dessert or bread and they all shared. Herb, Ben Gregory, Dan Eskise and Juan Berrea worked in the kitchen doing most of the cooking that was necessary. They had cleaned, stuffed and baked the turkeys. Irene and some of the women prepared coffee, hot spice tea and hot chocolate.

  The elementary school children had made the decorations for the windows, doors and walls. Even the ceiling had long ribbons hanging with dangling decorations. Three long tables were set up in front of the kitchen window to hold the dishes of food that everyone had prepared. The twins helped when other long tables were set up with white paper covering and folding chairs placed for people to sit while they were eating.

  “I don’t know when we’ve had such a great Christmas. We miss relatives and friends in Virginia, but you folks have become so dear to us that we are like one big happy family,” Herb spoke. “Thank you for making us feel so welcome and taking us to your hearts. Regardless of how long we’ll live here, or where we’ll go after we leave, all of you will be in our hearts.”

  “It was a blessing to us when your family came here,” Jed McKinley stood to be heard. “You have made us feel important to you and we’re all working together better than we ever have.”

  “Yes! Yes!” the crowd roared and cheered.

  “I see Santa has left some early presents under the tree. My goodness. Look at this. It says this is a present for Seneca Brownley,” Mr. Eskise said.

  The children were jubilant as gifts were given to every child ten and under.

  The high school glee club entertained with song and skits. The evening ended with everyone singing carols. Pastor Orus Jabeway read the Christmas story from the Bible and prayed a dismissal. Everyone was reluctant to leave, but it was getting late.

  Outside, even though it hurt the lungs to draw a deep breath in the cold air, most of the people paused to look at the sky with bright stars and snow glistening like jewels in the moonlight.

  “I feel as if I’m inside a beautiful Thomas Kinkade painting,” Tim said softly with awe.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Everyone referred to Galena’s pup as ‘the baby’. One day, late in February, Anna cuddled the three and a half month old chubby puppy who was busy giving her puppy kisses. In the kitchen, after breakfast, Irene was wiping the table while the twins sat on chairs stretched out as if they were lounge chairs. The backs of their necks were on the back of the chairs.

  Stepping over Tom’s long legs, Irene chuckled. ‘Good grief. I do believe you boys have grown a foot since we moved here. You’re already much taller than I am.” The twins laughed delightedly.

  “It’s past time we gave this little scamp a name,” Anna spoke. “We shouldn’t keep on calling her Baby. She deserves a name of her own. Maybe we could call her Stormy because she was born during a blizzard.”

  “No,” Tom laughed, “Butterball would be a better name for the tubby tummy.”

  “A name is important and should mean something,” Irene remarked. “Think about it and we’ll have a family council to discuss a name.”

  The twins grabbed down-filled coats and fur lined boots and ran out the back door calling that hey were going ice fishing. They had been warned by their parents, and by neighbors, about thin ice. Everyone cautioned that they should have an experienced adult with them. Polar bears had been sighted nearby. These animals could run fast it would not be easy to get away if the boys wandered into an area where the bears were searching for food.

  “I sure enjoyed the package we got from Mrs. Berry and our friends in Fairfax. She sure has been nice to include notes from our friends in her letters to us.” Tim talked as he struggled to walk upright on the slick path.

  “Yeah. Jimmy Dodd is staying on the top honor roll and Mark’s grandfather from Scotland is visiting. That’s super. The Sloans have a new baby girl. Have you ever thought how it would be to not be the youngest? I wonder if our parents will ever have another baby?” Tom mulled quietly.

  “I guess we’ll stay the youngest. Mom and dad are probably afraid they’d get another one like us,” Tim laughed.

  They wandered down to the edge of the ice-covered water behind the grocery store and looked over to an ice island. They couldn’t see Mr. Merkle who owned the store, therefore, he couldn’t see
them.

  “Hey, there’s a canoe. The ice is thin here beside the shore. We can break through it. Let’s paddle over to that ice float,” Tom was enthused

  “Oh, no. We’re not supposed to do that. You know better,” Tim answered with a stern look. “Further more, it’s not our canoe.”

  “We’re in sight of the store and any adult could see us,” Tom spoke indignantly. “Come on. Don’t be a chicken. I’m going even if you won’t.”

  Tim hesitated. “Well --- maybe. I can’t let you go alone. Promise you’ll just go out and then straight back. Okay?”

  “Sure. Sure.” tom gleefully stepped in the canoe.

  As they paddled through the icy water and around small ice floats, they pretended to be Arctic explorers. Tim continued to feel badly about disobeying and truly wasn’t enjoying the adventure. They left the canoe tied to a big ice ball and Tom persuaded Tim to walk on the ice with him.

  In the distance they could hear walrus bellows. Creeping closer they pecked around a mound of ice and came face to face with a big, angry bull walrus. He charged at them so fiercely they tripped over their own feet running away.

  Intending to jump into the canoe, Tom gave a mighty leap and landed in the icy water. Tim got in the canoe and leaned over to pull Tom out. Frightened, Tom grabbed Tim and, in the blink of an eye, both boys were in the water. They knew they would die quickly from hypothermia if they didn’t get help immediately. They each had enough breath for one big scream.

  Irene opened the backdoor to set out a garbage pail. Galena’s head jerked up and she lunged at the kitchen door just as Irene shut it. Galena clawed frantically at the door and howled as if her heart would break. The puppy attempted to hide in fright because he’d never heard her mother like this. Galena kept throwing herself against the door and screaming.

  Hurrying to let Galena out Irene scolded, “All right already. Sheesh. If you have to go that badly, let me open the door before you break it down.”