Diamond bounded down the hill, stopping at the bank. She padded towards the edge of the ice.
"Di...Diamond!" I splashed about, waving. She looked across at me, before putting her front paws onto the ice. She started to shuffle across the ice, slowly, on her stomach. She stopped, her paws hanging off the edge of the ice into the cold water.
"Good g-g-girl..." I reached forward and grabbed the rope which was tied to her harness.
"Come on, Diamond!" Roxy called from on top of the hill. Diamond looked up and crawled back from the ice. I felt the rope tense as she got further away.
"Hike hike!" Roxy yelled. Diamond began to climb the steep hill. She reached the top, her paws scrambling. Roxy grabbed her harness and helped to pull her up.
"Good girl," She breathed as she gripped a hold of the rope and helped the dog to pull me out. I was dragged out of the water and along the ice and bank. I helped to kick up myself up the hill as Diamond and Roxy pulled me up. I fell to my hand and knees, breathing heavily.
"D-Damn, that's c-cold..." I sat up. Roxy kneeled down beside me, holding the rope attached to Diamond's harness. I looked up.
"God, it's dark..." I looked about.
"You're right," Roxy gave me the rope. I petted Diamond on the head. "Which way is back home?" She asked, pushing the sled the right way up.
"Not sure..." I shivered. I was really cold. "I think I know which way to go to my Dad's old home, though..."
"His old home?" Roxy asked.
"Yeah, where he lived before him and my mum moved in together," I looked at Diamond. "It's about five minutes that way," I pointed through the forest. "I remember because it's opposite the lake...that I just fell in,"
"Oh, right." Roxy pulled the sled around so that it faced the right way. "Diamond!" She called and untied the piece of rope before clipping her harness back onto the tug-lines.
"You can lie in the sled. I'll push it back if you tell me where to go," Roxy smiled.
"T-thanks..." I shivered as I stood up and lay in the basket of the sled, where the cargo would go.
"Okay, Diamond, hike hike!" Roxy called to the front of the sledge. Diamond started to pull. "Now, I'm not gonna get her to start speeding like we're in a dog race!"
I smiled and hide a laugh under a deep sigh. Mum had told me when I was young that even the best of dog sledder had falls. She said that you aren't a real racer until you're failed a couple of times.
I'd heard Mum and Lily talk about the time that the ice had broken beneath her sled during her first race. She hadn't really told me about it but it was a pretty infamous incident, especially here in Grayling. I was probably so well-known because of what happened to my Grandad. He did died due to dog racing accident involving ice, after all. The more I thought about it, the more I thought about how Diamond had helped pull me out like how Ace had saved my Mum. I smiled.
"Is this the place?" Roxy asked. I looked up.
"Yeah, that's the place," I stood up in front of the old abandoned-looking cabin. "I'll help you push the sled under the shelter,"
YOU ARE READING
Hearts and Diamonds
Teen Fiction{The third and final book in the Ace of Hearts series}~ Set nearly fifteen years from Two Hearts, Lani and Ryder are married and now have a son of their own. His name is Adam Eldon, and just like his mother he has a love of all things wolf and dog...
