The Wounds We Heal

Chapter thirty: Good Times

They kept running till finally the cable on her pup pack pulled tight.

"Perfect! This is the spot!" Everest declared. She peered around at all the trees among a snaking stream, which gurgled with the spatter of spring water that flowed within it.

"And a great one at that!" She added happily.

"Alright! Now back to the trail!" Snowflake said happily.

Everest looked down to her right and found a hole, bending down a couple sniffs told her all she needed to know.

"This den appears to be abandoned.." She said, straightening up to search out the skunk with her eyes. "You can make your new home here, little guy."

The skunk looked at her for a moment, then proceeded toward the abandoned den. He peered inside, then squeaked and dove right in, only poking his head out to chatter what sounded like a thank you.

"Aww, you're welcome!" Everest smiled. "Ok now we can return to the path."

"Yes, let's get back so we don't get lost," Snowflake agreed.

Then the two pups turned and ran to follow the retracting grappling line back to its source.

xxxx

Giggling and laughing, as they came from the woods they found themselves at the bottom of the slope right as some snowboarders came sliding down it.

"Sup, guys?" The two husky pups looked up when recognizing the voice, and found Chester and Rubble standing there with smiles upon their faces.

"Hi Rubble. Hi Chester. Everest and I just got back from checking out the trails. The paths are all clear," Snowflake announced happily.

"That's good." Chester agreed, nodding. "Wouldn't want some unsuspecting animal to wander into trouble out here.. can be a dangerous place for a little woodland creature."

"As long as it's ONLY the little woodland creatures." Rubble remarked nervously. "Once?.. a sleeping walking bear wandered through the slopes.. it rode on the chair lift?.. scared some skiers.. and even almost woke up because people almost woke it up!"

"That sounds dangerous! At least you guys were able to help it," Snowflake remarked.

"Bear-ly!" Rubble shuddered, but then burst out laughing moments later with the other three pups joining in; all in unison.

"So Everest, what else should we do?" Snowflake asked kindly.

"Hm.. not sure.. wanna hit the slopes a couple times?" Everest thought. "Er- maybe we better take a break.. since we've been hard at work with this tracking thing and all."

"That sounds good. Let's take a break, then we can snowboard for a while," Snowflake responded with a smile.

"Ok, a few more runs then?" Chester asked, turning to Rubble knowingly.

"Totally!" the bulldog barked then the two pups gilded away toward the chair lift.

And the two huskies headed back up the slope toward the cabin.

xxxx

"Whooph! That was some adventure!" Everest breathed, plopping down onto a pillow in the cabin's main living area.

"Yes, it was! At least we got to hang out and clear the trail. Want to hang out some more?" Snowflake asked curiously.

"Sure but.. What do we do now?" the mountain pup wondered. "While we rest I mean.."