Check point after check point, I finally made it to Ruby, the seventh stop. I had already stopped at Campbell Airstrip, Fairbanks, Nenana, Manley Hot Springs and Tanana. The dogs caught their breath before we started again.
The race continued after the sun had set. It was dark and bitterly cold. We kept going.
THUD.
"Honey?" I called through the dark. I stopped the sledge. I went to investigate. I found that Honey had slipped and fallen into a ditch. She had injured her paw and, while not serious, it would prevent her from running for a while. Pulling her into my arms, I placed her onto the sledge. I rapped her up in blankets and tied her harness to the sledge, to make sure she didn't fall off. At the next checkpoint, I'd check her paw properly. I stepped back on the sledge's skis.
"Mush! Mush!" I yelled and the dogs started running again. Who knows how many dogs had already overtaken us.