Shay and Cody were in hog heaven on Christmas morning. They were the only grandkids that Walt and Sarah had to spoil, since Mark and Jackie had never had any kids and Josh and Tiffany didn’t plan to have children any time soon. Of course, that meant that their aunts and uncles got to do some spoiling, too.

The boys were a little disappointed, for each of them had sort of hoped that Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Josh would come up with a puppy or two. Their disappointment was only slight, since Aunt Jackie and Uncle Mark gave them a computer with a hard drive full of games. They didn’t do badly by Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Josh, either, since each of the boys got a new mountain bike. Among other things, they got a train set from Grandma and Grandpa – and there was an extra little surprise there, since Walt had taken the engines from the train set and had Jackie repaint and re-letter them with the colors and logo of the Camden and Spearfish Lake. And, of course, they loaded up on a lot of other stuff, too. It was quite a haul, and John wasn’t real sure he was going to be able to find space for everything in the car on the way home.

Of course, there were a lot of presents among the adults, too. John had once grumped about always getting ties for Christmas, and ever since, everybody had felt honor bound to get him a tie, so his collection increased by several. But, ties weren’t all he got; a little prior coordination had resulted in his getting a new laser printer from his in-laws, Mark’s computer business having something to do with that. Candice wasn’t left out – she got a down parka with a fur-lined hood, with Josh and Tiffany’s outfitting store having something to do with that, as well. She doubted that she’d wear it much, but there would be some really cold days, even down in Decatur, when it would be welcome.

By the time everything was done, it all added up to quite a mess of boxes and piles of wadded up paper in Walt and Sarah’s living room. After they’d gotten done with the gift giving, Josh and Tiffany had to leave for a while to do the gift giving at her parents’ house. Getting an early start wasn’t quite as important there, since the youngest at her house was her sister, Susan, who was a little older than Shay and Cody, and was a late sleeper, like her brother Henry, who was home from his freshman year at college.

After they left, Mark showed John how to set up the computer and then showed the boys how to play some of the games. They were soon busy with Quake and Tomb Raider, while Sarah and Jackie and Candice put together a light breakfast that would have to serve as a lunch, as well. They all knew there was no point in stuffing themselves, since the real meal would be in the evening, after Josh and Tiffany returned. The boys had to be nearly dragged from the computer, and were back on it only minutes after eating, but the adults sat around the kitchen table for a couple hours, drinking coffee and talking about one thing and another. It didn’t amount to anything in particular, just good conversation and reminiscing and renewal of ties that were sometimes a little tattered by distance.

After a while, the talk among the men turned to hunting and football and railroading and dogs, and they gravitated to the living room, while the women set to work on the feast. While Sarah had borne the brunt of the cooking, with some help from Candice in the last day or two, both Tiffany and Jackie had made some contributions. Among other things, Tiffany had made up a moose and wild rice casserole, which she’d left with Sarah to bake. Jackie came up with a couple of southern dishes she’d learned how to make when she and Mark had been installing a phone system in rural Florida many years before. The smell and the bustle and the sharing in the kitchen, the discussion of recipes and little cooking hints and tricks were something that Candice had enjoyed, even as a little girl. Christmas at home, with just the three of them, just wasn’t the same, and the afternoon flew by quickly, and soon, Josh and Tiffany returned for what would be their second round of Christmas dinner.

If anyone went hungry in the Archer dining room that Christmas evening, it was their own fault. It was the biggest meal that had been set around the table in many years, an event to remember. Candice found herself almost wishing that John had given her a gym membership, since it was going to take some doing to work off the results of this incredible feast of food and love, that once again reminded her of the home of her youth, now gone forever.

There were three cakes, five kinds of pie, and several other desserts, some from Jackie and Tiffany, but most made by Sarah, and everyone was so full from the main course that no one wanted to eat them. By unspoken mutual consent, it was agreed to put off dessert for a while, to let the main course settle. Josh and Mark surprised the women by offering to do the dishes, or at least get started at them, and John joined in with the project, and Walt stood around the kitchen trying to help. Of course, it took the guys twice the work and twice the mess, but none of the women minded being sent to the living room where the boys were once again at the computer. The dishes did get pretty well done, and then the men served the desserts, and even though no one claimed to have any free space for it, there was a pretty good dent made in the selection.

They sat around talking long afterward. Walt fell asleep in his chair, and the kids soon faded, too. It was late when Mark and Jackie and Josh and Tiffany said their good-byes and headed out into the darkness, and John and Candice were soon headed upstairs to John’s lumpy old bed. All in all, she thought it was about as good a Christmas as she could remember in years, and easily the best they’d had with her in-laws, ever. Not that it was anything spectacular, just that it was about what she thought Christmas should be.

John and Candice had never been to Phil and Brandy’s house before, but it wasn’t any trouble to find; it was, as Josh had explained, "Barney Reynolds’ old place," and John knew where that was. It was just a small house, nothing particularly special, located a block or so back from Point Drive, over near the elementary school.

John only had a nodding acquaintance with Phil from the dogsled trip to get the Christmas tree, and Candice had never met Brandy, who had a solid build and a rugged if nondescript appearance, and short-cropped, mousy brown hair. "Glad you could come over," Brandy said once introductions were made. "We’re not much on entertaining, but it’s nice to have visitors once in a while. John, I’m afraid it’s going to just be us, though. I had Mom ask around. Anissa Petersen is doing the Disney World for Christmas thing, and won’t be back till next week. Terry Curtis still lives up here, but he’s at his wife’s folks, down in Camden. There’s a couple other people from our class who still live around town, but nobody we ran around with."

"That’s not surprising," John said. "After all, most of the old gang were kids who were going to go to college, and I guess most of us moved away. At least, you’re still around."

Brandy smiled. She had always been a rather intense person in school, but a good-natured one most of the time. "I think it’s neat that Phil and Candy are old school classmates. I mean, it’s not like it’s just you and me getting together."

"Yeah, that’s kind of weird," Candice agreed, ignoring the use of the nickname that Brandy had to have gotten from Phil. She’d tried to get away from it in college, but she’d been friends with Phil long before the change. "Phil is about the last person I expected to run into up here. I guess our class was even smaller than yours was."

"Well, come on in, have a seat," Brandy said. "It isn’t much, but it’s home."

Candice looked around. It was nice enough in the living room, which had a lived-in appearance. The furniture showed signs of use, but was comfortable. Through an open door, she could see an office that was cluttered with computers, technical books, notebooks and rolls of blueprints or plans or something – an obvious work space. Phil had admitted making good money on his job, and John had told her that Brandy made a lot too, but nothing in the house was evidence of it. The small house was clearly a place to live in and work out of, not to show off.

"I suppose Walt and Sarah have been feeding you pretty good?" Phil asked with a smile.

"I’ve eaten at least a month’s worth in the past four days," John admitted. "Everything’s great, but I know I’m going to have to pay for it."

"We’ll go easy on you," Phil replied. "Neither Brandy or I are much good as cooks. Well, since I quit Hadley-Monroe, I have managed to learn how to use a can opener and a microwave."

"I did cook for myself a little toward the end in college," Brandy added, "But I haven’t figured out the new can opener yet, so we decided we’d just order a pizza. Is that all right with you?"

"After the last few days, a little junk food would be something of a relief," Candice smiled. "A pizza is fine with me."

"I’ll get it ordered," Phil offered. "Anything you particularly like or dislike?"

"Put a hold on the anchovies," John replied. "Other than that, whatever."

"You might tell them to go easy on the peppers," Candice added. "Usually, I don’t mind, but as much as I’ve been eating, well . . . I’m still getting over Tiffany’s venison chili from when we were out there last night."

"That’s pretty good," Phil said. "It can be a little, well, intense."

"Of course, it’s intense," Brandy snorted. "She got the recipe from Hjalmer Lindahlsen. You remember that, John?"

"Of course, I remember that," he laughed. "How could I forget farting like that? I mean, I could have filled the Goodyear blimp."

"Me, too," Brandy laughed, and started the story for Phil and Candice’s benefit. "We were back in, it must have been eighth grade or so, and they had this chili cookoff contest. Jennifer was going to sing in a contest there, so a bunch of us were there, you and me and Anissa and Terry and Shelly and I don’t know who all. Most of the chili was so hot it could burn holes in cast aluminum, but Hjalmer had this pot of stuff that was pretty mild, so we ate quite a bit. Then, about six hours later, it was just gas city."

"I have no idea what he had in that chili," John laughed. "It sure wasn’t what the chili recipe in the paper said it was. The only consolation was that you knew you weren’t alone. I mean, all over town, you could tell who had eaten it."

"Tiffany didn’t get that part of the recipe from Hjalmer," Phil protested. "Her chili is actually pretty good, if a little on the hot side, but that’s fine for out in the woods. You know, when I first met Tiffany, she even made me look good as a cook. I mean, literally, she could screw up packaged ramen noodles, and that takes talent. But, when they decided to get the tripping business going, she realized she was going to have to feed the customers and feed them pretty good, so now they have people coming back because they like the food. Of course, Tiffany does do better if she’s using an open fire, rather than a stove. I’m going to order the pizza. Anybody want a beer? You get a choice of Miller and Miller Lite."

"I could do a Lite," Candice replied.

"Can’t think of anything better than a beer with pizza," John agreed. "I’ll take a regular."

"Lite for me, Phil," Brandy said.

"Two real and two no-lead," Phil laughed. "I’ll go order the pizza." He headed for the kitchen.

"He hasn’t changed much," Candice commented. "He’s still pretty lighthearted."

"That sort of irritated me when I first met him," Brandy admitted. "In time, I realized that was what I liked best about him. I can get pretty intense about my work, maybe even obsessive, and that can wear you down after a while. He’s good at helping me get things back in perspective."

"What is it you do?" John asked. "Mom said she thought you were some kind of a mining engineer, and that you traveled a lot, but she wasn’t real clear on it."

"That’s fair, for a simple answer," Brandy said. "I don’t think Phil fully understands what I do, and sometimes I wonder if I even do. But, I’m a partner in a company that’s based in Denver, and what we do is use several technically sophisticated systems to search for mineral deposits. I invented the core of one of the systems when I was working on my doctorate. Phil wrote some of the software for it and built some of the hardware for the prototype. Typically, what we’re hired to do is to take a team to a mine that’s getting close to worked out, but has an intact infrastructure, and search for significant ore pockets that may have been missed in earlier operations. The systems aren’t simple, we have to build them ourselves, they’re very slow to do a detailed search, and they generate a relatively small amount of data that has to be separated from a lot of noise, so we’re typically at a single site for anywhere from two to six months. But, we’re successful enough at it that we can charge a lot and still have a waiting list that’s years long. As often as not, we have to tell a customer, ‘Sorry, you’re screwed,’ but at least they know not to waste any more money on the site. On the other hand, a few years ago our system picked up a billion-dollar vein less than thirty yards from an abandoned drift."

"It must be interesting, what with all the travel," Candice observed.

"The work is technically interesting and challenging, which is why I stay with it. Oh, the money helps, too," she smiled. "Most of the equipment can work 24/7, so usually when we’re on a site we work twelve-hour shifts, and sometimes more than that, just to get it over with. But, I don’t think I’ve ever been in a mining town where I wanted to spend a minute more than I had to. The mine sites themselves are usually ugly and dirty as hell, and you wouldn’t want to write home about most of the people you meet since you wouldn’t want to scare the folks at home that badly. It’s always good to get back home for a while and unwind before heading out again."

John shook his head. "How did a Spearfish Lake girl get involved in something like that?"

Brandy shrugged. "It’s a long story," she said. "I had the idea as an undergrad that I wanted to get involved in petroleum geology, but the classes at Michigan Tech are more oriented toward hard rock, so I actually got pretty good at that. Then, when I was at Colorado, I got this wild hair that I wanted to figure out a way to image the plumbing system of the geysers at Yellowstone. That proved to be a blind alley for a number of reasons, but a couple of the ideas that I had proved to be adaptable toward the system I dreamed up. The people I’m working with now heard about it, thought it had some potential, and came up with the money to develop it, and one thing led to another. I never did get around to finishing my doctorate, but maybe someday."

"It must have made it hard for you and Phil," Candice observed. "I mean, for the both of you to be traveling so much."

"It worked out," Phil said, returning from the kitchen and putting beers around before he took a seat. "There wasn’t anything much for me to do at the mine sites after we got the system working pretty good," Phil said. "And, she isn’t much fun to be around when she’s integrating data. So, I got this idea that I’d find something else to do, and we’d get together when Brandy was on hiatus. With the software and applications hardware background I’d picked up developing Brandy’s magres system, Hadley-Monroe snapped me up as soon as they got my resumé. The problem was that I wound up traveling more than I’d planned, to the point where I was several years’ worth of jet-lagged."

"We got this place, oh, ten years ago," Brandy continued the story. "We decided we needed a place we could call home, some place where we could leave our off-season clothes. Some place around Denver would have made a lot more sense, but we figured that if we were here, Dad could keep an eye on the place, keep the grass cut and like that, and Mom could deal with the routine bills. And, at least when I came home there’d be family and friends here, even if Phil was gone somewhere."

"It actually worked out pretty good," Phil added. "Outside of the fact that the place was never occupied more than about three months a year, until about a year ago, when I’d had enough of laser die cutters."

"It sounds like it must have been pretty wearing for you," Candice commented.

"I was really getting burned out at Hadley-Monroe toward the end." Phil nodded. "What took the fur-lined pee pot for me was when they sent me to Japan with this senior engineer to help define the specs for a custom system. The guy knew his stuff, but he was a cranky old fart at the best of times and hated to travel, so I had to listen to him bitch all the way to Japan. We hadn’t been there a day when he gets an e-mail from his wife that she was leaving him. I guess she’d waited for years for the chance to get him out of the house long enough to get her stuff out."

"I’ll bet that went over big with him," John smiled.

"It was really kind of interesting," Phil shook his head. "This guy was all business when dealing with the clients, but the minute we got out of the plant, every night, boy he was ready to kill, and I was the nearest available person. It was all I could do to keep from saying the hell with it myself. By the time we got back to Glen Ellyn, I could see why his wife wanted to leave him. I don’t blame her a bit. But along in there, I realized that Hadley-Monroe didn’t have enough money to pay me to keep putting up with that kind of shit, so I walked in the door and told them to bag it."

"Yeah," John smiled. "Sometimes you get to the point where enough is enough. So, what are you doing these days?" John asked.

"Just being a dog handler," Phil said. "Josh and Tiffany got me interested in dogsledding years ago, and for years I dreamed of doing the Iditarod. It was just something totally different, something to look forward to. By the time I got back here, it was too late to ask Josh and Tiffany to help me put together a team for a rookie run, but I’d offered to help them out. They had some gal who was going to manage the store for them when they were away, but she bombed out on them at the last minute, and Josh was just about ready to not run last year when I volunteered to help out. So, I ran the store through the race, and then pretty much did it through the summer rush too. Finally, I asked them about getting some dogs for this year, and Josh said, ‘We can if you want, but our B-team ought to be good enough for you to do a rookie run.’ So, I’m off to Alaska in about a month."

"How are they going to handle the store during the race?" Candice wondered.

"We’re going to double dip it," Phil replied. "The store is actually pretty slow by that time of year. The winter tours are pretty well done because people are sick of winter, the dogsledders have all the gear they need till fall, so the mail order is flat, and it’s too early for the summer stuff. Josh and Tiffany are going to leave for Alaska with all the dogs in about three weeks, so they’ll have some time to condition the Quest dogs. I’m going to fly up to Anchorage in time to help with the start of the Quest, and then work with the rest of the dogs while Tiffany goes to Dawson for the finish. Mark and Mike will take care of the dogs here while we’re gone, and Josh will fly home after the Iditarod starts to watch things here. Anyway, Josh and Tiffany are going to board the Quest dogs and the spares with some musher Josh knows up there until Tiffany and I bring them home after the race. This gal Josh knows is going to take care of what has to be done at the Anchorage end during the race."

"That’s Shelly Goodlock," Brandy said. "Remember her, John?"

"Shelly’s in this, too? I haven’t seen her in years. What’s she doing?"

" Teaches school outside of Anchorage," Brandy said. "She gets the Record-Herald, and heard about Josh and Tiffany the first year they ran the race, and offered to help out. She does it every year, now. She’s thrilled to do it. The Iditarod is a big deal up there."

"But what about the store?" Candice asked.

"Like I said, it’s a slow period," Phil replied. "There probably won’t be much that can’t keep for two or three weeks. Jackie is going to come over every day or two and deal with mail orders, and Joe McGuinness, the guy who runs the accounting business next to the store is going to answer the phone and deal with any customers."

"It’s nice of you to help them out," John said.

"Well, I’ve got a piece of the business, and helped them get financing," Phil shrugged. "I have to keep an eye on my investment. We can get away with it this year, but might not another year."

Candice shook her head. She knew that Josh and Tiffany had a lot of different things going, but they seemed to be spread pretty thin. "They seem to be pretty busy," she commented.

"They’re busier than I am when I’m on a site," Brandy admitted. "And, they don’t get to take off for two weeks or a month two or three times a year, like I do. It changes, but just never ends."

"Yeah," Phil agreed. "After Tiffany and I get back, most of the training will be over with, but dogs will still have to be fed and watered and petted over the summer. Josh will be out railroading, and that’s sometimes sixty hours a week. But she’ll be running the store, at least part of the time, dealing with the dogs, and they’ll both be doing kayak tours, too. They’ve got about forty different things going on, and they don’t know whether to shit or go blind."

"They need to figure out a way to take a breather." Brandy shook her head. "They’re going to burn themselves out in no time at the pace they keep. And, if the store and the touring business continue to grow, it’s just going to get worse."

Candice nodded. "You have to wonder why Josh doesn’t at least give up the railroading. That would help a lot."

"He doesn’t want to, for one thing," Phil shrugged. "The biggest thing is that all the other stuff they’re doing could go sour, and the railroading at least provides a steady income to fall back on. Their racing is dependent on their sponsorship, although less than it used to be. That’s pretty solid, and they’re not locked into just one sponsor, but you don’t know what’s going to happen down the road. The kennel business sort of depends on their reputation as racers. The touring, well, that involves a lot of personal contact, and to a degree it’s dependent on their racing. A lot of their customers are the sort of people who like to brag around the water cooler at work that they did a dogsled trip with this gal who runs the Iditarod. The store is doing all right, but it’s going to be a while before it’s a big enough profit center to live on. And, to top it off, Bud over at the railroad isn’t getting any younger. Josh has had to take over some of the operations management since Bud’s wife died, and he could be running the whole works in a few years. That is, if he doesn’t go nuts, first."

"That is an awful heavy load," John said. "I mean, I knew they were busy, and they’ve been busy since we’ve been up here, but I just figured that was run-up to the race."

"They’re going to have to get some help," Phil said. "I mean, I’ve helped carry them through this year, but I’m not doing it for the money. If I needed money, I could call up Hadley-Monroe and tell them I’m willing to work as a consultant for a couple months at only twice what they used to pay me. I’m doing it for therapy, I guess, and friendship, too. But, there are other things I want to do, too. They know that. Josh is going to nose around and see if he can find a dog handler. Just getting someone to feed the dogs is one thing, but the training is more important, and you’ve pretty well got to have someone who is really committed to dogsledding for that. They have to be a little crazy, but there are people who will do it, and some of them will be hanging around the Iditarod, maybe even running it. That’s why Josh is going to hang around for a while after the Quest – he could come home a week or two sooner, otherwise."

"They do stay busy," Brandy nodded. "Don’t get me wrong – I think Josh and Tiffany are some of the best people I know, but they can’t do everything themselves, and it’s going to bite them sooner or later."

"They do get some help," Phil said. "Like the trips. They do have people they can call on to help out. Candy, do you remember Norm Niven?"

"Judith’s dad? Worked at the farm center? Sure, I knew him. Not real well, but I knew who he was."

"You’re not going to believe this, but they have him leading some of the dogsledding tours."

"You’re kidding!"

"It was a surprise to me, too. He and his wife broke up a few years after Ken and Judy got married, and he moved up here. Not to town, to a little cabin way the hell and gone out in the woods, and Josh and Tiffany got him started in dogsledding. He was a real hermit there for a while. One thing led to another, and he got to leading winter trips for them. He’s got a great big beard, comes across like a real grizzled old sourdough, and it goes over real good with the customers. That’s why I see Ken and Judy once in a while, when they come up to visit him."

"I’ll be darned," Candice replied, a little amazed. She didn’t remember Norm Niven very well, but Phil’s description didn’t match her memory of him, not by a long shot. "I haven’t seen him since we were in school."

"He’s changed a lot, but in a lot of ways he hasn’t really changed that much," Phil explained. "I worked for him one summer at the farm center, so I knew him pretty well."

"I’ve really lost track," Candice said. "You move away, and you miss a lot. Now that my folks have moved away from Arvada Center, there just isn’t much reason to go down there anymore."

"Yeah, me too," Phil agreed. "I’ll bet it’s been ten years since I’ve been there. Not much reason to go. Our twentieth will be coming up in a few years. I want to try to make that, just to catch up. I’d lost all track of you, for example. What have you been doing with yourself?"

"Oh, not a lot," Candice said. "Nothing as interesting as you’ve done. I wanted to be a vet tech, but there are a lot of people studying that in college and I got the impression that the field was a little tight. After I got to going with John, I decided to change my major to business administration. I figured that would be a good general degree that I could take anywhere and do a lot of things with. We got married right after we graduated, and I got pregnant with Shay not long after that, then Cody a couple years later, so I really didn’t get to working much till about five years ago, when they were both in school. We’d moved down to Decatur by then, and I wound up working for First of Decatur. It’s a good job, nothing special, but it pretty much keeps me a suburban mom with a job, like most of the people I know."

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