Aunt Santa

Chapter 18

Sara was met with her second shock of the day as soon as she stepped outside. She stared at the sight that greeted her and turned to Henrik. "I thought you were coming back with another snowmobile."

"This seemed like a better idea." He gave her a wink.

"Puppies!" BB exclaimed. She tugged on her aunt's sleeve and pulled her toward the dog sled and the team of Siberian Huskies that had been patiently waiting for them. Some of the dogs howled and barked, panting and pawing the snow as they approached. "Hello, doggo, hello."

"Hold on, Beebs. I don't know if these doggos want to be pet."

"It's okay. They love a pet." Jakob took BB's hand and guided her to the front. "Here, say hello to this one. Hello, Saga."

Saga was so excited to be greeted that he jumped up and licked BB's face. When she squealed, the rest of the dogs took the sound as their cue to join her in a howling song. Sara had never seen her niece so delighted.

"Samuel, you will ride with Jakob on the snowmobile. I will take Sara and BB on the sled." Henrik spoke to Jakob in Norwegian, who nodded and directed Sam to their ride. "Okay. Are we ready? Let's discuss some safety rules."

Sara and BB listened, or really Sara listened and BB stroked Saga's head and chin, as Henrik explained the mechanics of the sled. He showed them the brakes, where he would stand, and where they would sit in front of him.

There was a pile of soft blankets in the sled. Sara and BB climbed inside, and they piled the blankets over their laps. "This is so fun!" BB squealed for a second time, laughing in delight when the dogs howled in response.

"This is fun," Sara murmured. She was about to ask Henrik when they would start when the sled suddenly lurched forward, the dogs taking off at a run. "Oh, boy, we're going. Here we go."

The snowmobile was already on its way and surged ahead of them. Henrik explained that the boys would reach Honningsvåg first as the snowmobile was faster. "How far can the dogs go without stopping?" Sara called behind her.

He yelled back the distance in kilometers. She made a note to do the conversion later, trusting that it was plenty of miles to get them back to town.

The snowmobile quickly disappeared in the distance as the sled carried them through the dark. It was a different ride than the snowmobile, she noted, and much more comfortable. The narrow walls of the sled cut the wind and, with the blankets covering them, they were almost warm inside.

"Go, doggies, go!" BB shouted. She raised her hands as they deepened their run and as they turned a corner, a red light suddenly cut through the trees, casting its glow over them. Sara saw it blinking in the distance.

It must be a radar beacon. She stared at it, aware of the unsettling feeling that had washed over her. This was exactly what she'd dreamed.

Sara looked around them at the trees, trying to take it in, make sense of it. It was as if she'd been pulled up out of her life and dropped back into that dream, time folding in on itself, the meaning of it just out of her grasp.

Maybe I'm just going crazy, she thought. Maybe this had just been one strange, long dream all along.

It was hard to say how long they were out there, racing over the snow. At some point, Sara looked ahead and caught a glimpse of the lights from the approaching town yet the sled kept up its breakneck pace.

They were nearing the spot where the snowmobiles had cut from the road and up a narrow hill. Now, the dogs slowed to run down that same hill.

Sara tightened her grip on BB, feeling the sled start to pick up speed as it turned onto the more slick surface of the paved road, though it was covered by a thin layer of snow. It hadn't occurred to her that the sled would be on the road.