His Fathers Son

  Rumors of Retirement  

     It was a freezing morning in Nome, as the town awoke for another busy day, Balto made his way through the streets. A gentle breeze tugged at his fur as he walked, his paws leaving tracks in the deep snow. As he walked he looked at the Christmas decorations; the large decorated tree that stood outside the town hall, the lights strung between shops with tinsel and hanging ornaments hanging inside shops and houses. With only two weeks to go until Christmas 1924 the town was incredibly busy. Passing the Post Office, Balto watched as the mail arrived, the dogs panting and barking as the bags were unloaded.

 “Oh these feel heavy, what have they got in them, bricks?” asked Mr. Connors picking up the bags.

 “Full of presents I think” replied the musher Mr. Simpson lifting off another bag.

“Well regardless the postman will some trouble delivering them, well we had better get this lot inside” replied Mr. Connors pushing open the door of the Post Office.

“I had better go home myself, my wife wants to put the tree up today. Good work guys, you did well pulling the sled” Mr. Simpson said as he unclipped the dogs.

     Lowering his head Balto crossed to the other side of the street, keen to avoid the notice of the mail dogs and their cruel comments, especially those of Steel. As he crossed his nose was filled with the smell of freshly baked bread, caribou, sugar and minced meat. Balto’s face lit up as his eyes fell on the Cinnamon Whirl Bakery run by Mr. And Mrs. Norfolk. Reaching the bakery Balto saw a brown cat with four white feet sitting on the outside window ledge.

“Good morning Balto” said the cat pleasantly swishing her tail.

 “Good morning Cinnamon” Balto replied smiling at his friend.

“If you are looking for breakfast then slipped around the back, my owners have saved some of the unsold goods from yesterday for you.”

 “Great news, I’d better go eat now before you open up.”

“Relax Balto you have time its only ten to nine,” the cat replied as Balto slipped down a side ally.

    Arriving at the back of the bakery Balto slipped through a hole in the fence and into the bakery yard. After barking a couple of times the door opened and a rotund man with an apron over his clothes walk out.

  “Good morning Balto I thought it was your barking I heard. You are in look today, there are a couple of beef pasties and a couple of apple turnovers left from yesterday” Mr. Norfolk patting Balto before walking back inside.

   A few moments later Mr. Norfolk reappeared with the food in a metal dish, placing it down before walking back inside. As soon as the door shut Balto dived into the food, wolfing it down in his hunger. Starting on the turnovers Balto ate slowly, keen to savor the taste and pleasure of such sweet things. Just as he finished the last turnover Balto’s ears pricked up as he heard the sound of dogs talking. Walking over to the fence he crouched down so that he was invisible to them and did not incur their taunts.

 “Listen Kaltag you cannot be serious.”

“I am Roger, was in this morning’s paper.”

“Papers don’t always tell the truth” replied the husky called Roger.

“I saw that article was well Rog, it was front page stuff” said another dog.

“Kurt’s right it was front page Rog, I think it is true” Kaltag replied.

“Ok say he is retiring, he’s world famous, why would he want to retire to here?” Roger asked as the three passed by Balto.

   Listening to their conversation Balto’s curiosity was triggered, for despite his outcast status he did know sled racing well. Unknown to humans Balto was one of many towns dog who could read, a fact that was virtually universal among dogs that lived in towns.

  “I wonder which dog is retiring? Whoever it is must be old and top level, there are not many of them, several retired at the end of last season.” Balto thought stepping out of the yard.

    Walking back onto main street Balto saw many dogs sitting in groups talking about the morning’s news. As he walked he noticed dogs turned towards him before whispering to each other. To his surprise no one shouted out their usual comments or taunts, even Steel seemed intent on his conversation. Reaching a group sat outside the local bookshop called Shakespeare’s Sonnet, Balto watched as their voices lowered the minuet he approached. Looking around the group he noticed that Jenna was sat amongst, her eyes full of uncertainty.

 “So would anyone like to tell me what is going on?” Balto asked looking around the group.

 “Take a look at today’s paper wolf dog” said Spinone Italiano called Celino, pushing the paper towards him.

      Looking at the paper Balto gazed down at the front page of the Nome Daily. Racing Legend Retires to Nome. The article underneath explain that the dogsled racing legend Cathán was planning to retire and that he would be coming to live in Nome. Cathán was a famous and successful lead dog who was into his seventh year, a dog everyone knew about and who young pups worshipped. He had one every title there was to win, wining some year in year out, he the best sled dog in Alaska. Next to the article was a picture of him, a classic looking Siberian husky with markings similar to Steel, but where Steel had black fur Cathán had grey and where Steel had white fur Cathán had light brown, a light brown which was an identical color to the Balto’s light brown fur. An interesting quirk was that he had dark brown on his front right leg which extent from his paw to half way up his leg. This dark brown fur was identical to Balto’s dark brown fur and had earned Cathán the nickname Cathán ChocolatePaw.

    Seeing the article Balto gazed at it in utter shock, his eyes wide as he looked at the picture. Looking up at the other dogs Balto saw the curiosity in their eyes, all itching to ask him that one question. Stuck up though they may seem none of them were blind and they had all noticed the similarities between Balto and Cathán.

 “So wolf dog, you look like him, we can all see that” said Celino.

“What he means is why? Are you any relation to him?” Dixie asked.

     Looking at them Balto stepped back, his heart pounding inside, his head spinning with what he had read. With a look at Jenna, Balto sprang away, running out of town, the newspaper clutched between his teeth. As he ran he knocked over several people, each one crying out as they hit the snow.

 “Stupid mutt!”

“Damned half breed!”

   Reaching his boat Balto threw himself down onto his bed of blankets, his mind spinning as he reread the newspaper article.

“He’s coming to live here! After all this time we will meet. What will he think once he sees me? I’m not the pup he remembers, I live in a town, I’m an outcast here, he’s a famous sled dog. If I could see him just once, to thank him for what he did to protect us all. We were so happy when I was a pup, me, Mother, my brothers and sister and Father, living out in the wild. Before everything changed, before his humans….before he left” Balto though bitterly.

        As Balto lay there Boris looked in on his young friend, his eyes drifting to the newspaper and then to Balto. Seeing the paper to goose instantly understood what was going on. Shaking his head Boris walked away, aware that Balto need his privacy and time to think.

      Balto’s Past  

        For the next three days Balto stayed away from the centre of town, constantly wrapped in haze of confusion. He barely ate and Boris soon began to worry about him, as Balto had taken to sitting alone on the hill. Boris wasn’t the only one who was worried; Jenna was also concerned about her friend, having not seen him since that morning the article appeared in the paper.

       Walking up to Balto’s boat on the morning of the fourth day, Jenna carried with her a small bag containing the day’s newspaper and some stolen bread. Though she and Rosie cared about Balto, Jenna had never once been to his home.

 “Relax this is no big deal, Balto is your friend, all you want to do is to make sure he is alright” Jenna thought walking up the gangplank. “So this is where Balto lives, it’s a nice place, at least it keeps to cold out.”

     Looking around Jenna dropped the bag as Boris walked towards her, his eyes flicking between her and the bag.

 “I presume you would be Jenna” Boris said.

“I am, and you must be Boris, is Balto here…..?” Jenna asked shyly.

“He is, has been for the past three days, ever since that newspaper article came out.”

“Is he alright? When he left, everyone saw the rebalance…..I’m not here to pry, he’s my friend… I was worried about him.”

“He’s in the cabin, you might be able to help him” Boris replied.

 “Thank you, Balto is lucky to have you” Jenna replied, picking up her bag and walking into the cabin.

   “Balto” Jenna said