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would feed the dogs with the aid of the lights in the dog lot and a powerful flashlight. Half the year at least she did her chores after dark or before the sun rose. She’d never lived anywhere else, so she expected it. But Aven had told her he’d had trouble sleeping when he went for his Coast Guard training in New Jersey. The sun never seemed to rise or set at the right time. After that, he’d served for a while in the Gulf of Mexico, and between the lack of snow and the comparatively long daylight hours in winter, he’d felt displaced at first.
    “I kind of liked it after a while,” he’d confessed to her. “It was too hot in summer, but the rest of the year was nice. I don’t think people got as depressed as they do up here in the winter.”
    She puttered about the kitchen, thinking over what her mother had told her at noon. Grandpa’s medical care could place a financial burden on them. He didn’t have a large amount of savings. Most of what they all earned went for family expenses and maintaining the dogs and equipment. They’d each received a payment in the fall from Alaska’s Permanent Fund, and right now they were solvent. But that would only go so far.
    Robyn’s biggest income came from selling puppies and older dogs she and Grandpa had trained. Sometimes she trained dogs for other people, but most serious mushers trained their own dogs. Right now she had a team of eight belonging to a sledder who had suffered appendicitis and undergone surgery. He’d asked her to take some of his dogs for six weeks and keep them in shape, so he wouldn’t lose ground on training for the upcoming races. The other forty dogs out back were Holland dogs. Their upkeep was a spendy enterprise.
    Mom came home about six o’clock with the trunk of her car full of groceries.
    Robyn couldn’t help noticing the fatigue lines at the corners of her eyes as she helped unload. “Are you going to the hospital tonight?” she asked.
    “No, I don’t think so. I called the nurses’ station before I left work. Grandpa’s doing all right and resting. I told her we’d come in the morning. I don’t have to work tomorrow, and I thought you’d like to see him.”
    “Yes, I would.”
    Her mother nodded. “The doctor might know for sure by then what they plan to do to continue treatment.”
    “If they move him to a nursing home, will it be in Anchorage?” Robyn asked.
    “I’m not sure yet. Guess we’ll have to do some research.”
    “Maybe I can get online later.”
    Her mother smiled wearily. “That would be good. Would you like help feeding tonight?”
    “I can do it,” Robyn said, though she’d have been glad for an extra pair of hands. Her mother looked wrung out.
    “Okay, then I’m going to pack a few things to take to Dad tomorrow. He wants his razor and his Bible. I’ll take some clean clothes, too, in case they release him.”
    Robyn took out her cell phone and checked it before she went out to feed the dogs. They’d given up the land line to save money the year before and relied on their cells now. She hoped Rick would remember his promise to call her.

    “Hey, Rick, any chance you can cover for me next Monday?” Bob Major, the principal partner of the Far North Veterinary Hospital in Anchorage, stopped him in the lobby before Rick could get out the door.
    “Uh …” Rick quickly tabulated all the things on his agenda for Monday. “I don’t think so, Bob. I’ve got a lot of patient visits lined up in the Palmer area and office hours in Wasilla. Besides, you already said you need me next Thursday.”
    Major shrugged. “It was worth a try. I’ll have to rearrange my schedule is all. Or have Lucy rearrange it.” He looked toward the receptionist’s desk and winked at her.
    Lucy, who had worked for Bob and his partner, Hap Shelley, for several years, rolled her eyes. “What else is new?”
    Bob laughed. “I’ll see you Friday.”
    “On call only, right? We’re officially closed for New Year’s, Hap