Free Ice by Elissa Lewallen

you can start seeing them in September.”
    That was just a month away.
    “If I’m still alive, I’ll show you,” he grinned, despite the dark and rather depressing choice of words. “That is, if you want me to,” he added quickly, losing his grin.
    I didn’t know how to respond, and I never got to. It was then that Kavick suddenly stiffened, looking at the front door, the same time as Big John. Kavick’s eyes widened and I knew what it had to be: they could hear Uncle Justin. A second later, I could hear the gravel crunching under his Ford’s tires and the hum of its engine.
    Kavick suddenly jumped over the back of the couch. I darted up from it and walked around to him.
    “How are you going to leave without him seeing?” I panicked.
    He stood there for a second, staring at me with big eyes as he wondered the same thing. We heard the engine die and Justin’s car door creak open. His eyes darted to the door and then back to my face. “Your bedroom window!”
    I was about to wonder how he knew to think of that, and then I remembered how he had looked at me through it as a dog.
    He ran into my room and I followed. He quickly took off the jeans. I would have groaned in annoyance if it weren’t a dire situation. As soon the jeans were off, he transformed into the Husky. He had forgotten to remove Justin’s shirt in his haste, though, and somehow it had gotten hung up on his nose. He was pawing at it and whining loudly in a voice that was almost a howl, but it was short and broken up, like he was trying to talk to me.
    “Aroo-woo-woo-woo-woo!”
    “Move your paws away!” I hissed as I bent over to lift the shirt off of him. He did as I said and I was able to twist it around so I could pull it off. We then darted over to my window where I raised it for him. He jumped out effortlessly in an elegant way, leaving me in a daze. I then leaned out my window, watching him disappear into the trees.
    I was snapped out of my daze when I heard Uncle Justin unlocking the front door. I shut my window and tossed the shirt under the bed as I kicked his jeans out of sight. I trotted out of my room to greet him with Big John by my side.

Chapter Four:
Identity
     
     
    Justin walked through the front door and my eyes immediately went to his left arm he held across his chest. His entire hand was wrapped in white gauze.
    “What happened?!” The words flew out my mouth before I could think.
    The look on Justin’s face was a little grim as he locked the door with his other hand. He then looked up at me with a softer expression. I could see the familiar optimism returning. “I had a little brush with the fire. It’s nothing serious,” he said calmly as he tried to convince me there was nothing to worry about.
    “How bad is it?” I asked as I neared him, totally disregarding his “It’s nothing serious”.
    He moved his hand closer to himself like he could foresee me pulling up the sleeve of his jacket. “It’s just a little burn. The doc said I’d be right as rain in just a few weeks.”
    “A few weeks?!” I repeated exasperated. He just stared at me, not wanting to say anything else to make me worry, I’m sure, and he might have been surprised by how worked up I was over it. I could tell he knew I could see through his nonchalant attitude.
    I pushed up the sleeve of his jacket and saw more gauze. The white bandages went all the way up to his elbow. I stifled a gasp and tried not to panic.
    “What degree is it?” I questioned, regaining only some of my calm.
    He gently moved his arm out of my grip and pulled down on the bill of his blue baseball cap, like he did so often. “It doesn’t matter. It’s not that big a deal,” he said in that persuasive tone, like everything was fine.
    “If the doctor said a few weeks then it’s a third degree burn, right?”
    “Don’t worry. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
    “Am I right?”
    He sighed. “I’m goin’ back to work, so it can’t be that bad.”
    I shut my mouth