mother’s howl as he lay in a deep slumber.

  “Kiddo, wake up, come on wake up.”

     Balto slowly opened his eyes, his vision swam as a Russian snow goose came into focus above him. Balto then became aware of the rest of his body and that he was lying down and a pain in his head. Looking around he realized that he was laid on his side and that the pain was coming from the back of his head. Slowly he struggled to his paw with the goose catching him as he fell into the snow.

 “Easy kiddo not so fast, you’ve a nasty bang on your head, might have concussion” the goose said helping Balto into sitting position.

 “Thank you, who are you?”

“Boris I come from Russia, you are?”

“Balto. Where am I?”

“At the bottom of a cliff, you were out cold when I got here, what are you doing down here alone?”

“I….there was a blizzard…I was with my mother…..I got snow in my eyes….I slipped.”

“I supposed as much” Boris replied looking at Balto’s face and seeing sadness. “Come on kiddo look up, it’s not the end of the vorld, I’ll help you find your family.”

“You will, really?” Balto replied as Boris put a wing around his shoulder.

“Course I vill, it vas a blizzard, it even blew me of course, not your fault you slipped” Boris replied pushing his own feelings aside.

“Thank you” Balto replied standing up.

“Happy to help, ve are going to make a strange pair, a goose and a volf.”

“Oh I’m not a full wolf, my mother is wolf but my father is a dog.”

“I knew there was something different about you” Boris replied as they walked away from the cliff.

      The blizzard had gone but it had left a fresh blanket of snow in its wake, a blanket which had obliterated any tracks which had been there before had.  For hours the pair searched for any trace of Aniou, Eagle, Suka or Arden, but Balto’s accident had taken him to an area he did not know. No matter how hard they tried or which animals they asked they were unable to find Aniou. The more time that passed the more fearful and upset Balto grew, his head hanging low as they walked. Balto felt ashamed that he was unable to use his wolf senses to find his family and he began to doubt his abilities. Watching Balto suffer Boris’s heart reached out to the young pup, his own loss helping him to understand what he was feeling.

 “We have to find shelter kiddo” Boris said as the sun set.

“No we have to keep searching mother might be looking for me” Balto replied shaking his head.

“Not in the night she won’t be. I know you want to find them but you need to rest, besides we could walk right past her and not realize” Boris replied.

“I guess that’s true” Balto replied as Boris led him into a small thicket.

      As Balto fell into an exhausted sleep Boris thought about the one who he had lost hours earlier in the blizzard after she had been fatally injured on hitting a jagged rock. His heart broke at the memory of her, his true love, tears falling from his eyes as his heart broke. All they had planned, having a family and settling down once they reached Nome, a place that was just a few short miles away. Then Boris’s eyes flickered to the sleeping pup, one wing stroking his fur.

        “Poor kid he did not deserve this, he’s not even a year old yet, far young to be out alone in the wild. Wolves don’t leave their pack till they are at least two if not older he’ll not survive long on his own. It is not going to be easy when he realizes his family is gone for good, not going to be a pleasant task. He will be alone in the world…..” Boris thought shaking his head sadly. “No…not unless allow him to be. Come on Boris what would she say to you? She would not allow him to be alone, it is not right to just leave him. Family is what you both planned…..chicks to care for…..What is Balto if not a chick? Sure he may be a wolf mixed with a dog but he’s still just a lost kid who’s scared. He needs someone to help him, a father type figure or a friend at the very least….A friend….you can do that Boris….you can take him in…Nome is not that far…he is half dog…you don’t really have much choice…kid’s too young to hunt…he’ll starve here. Not the best of things…but you always were talented at making the best of bad situation….things will work out somehow” Boris thought as he slowly fell to sleep.

       The following morning Balto and Boris awoke and once again began to search for Balto’s family but once again they had no luck. By the time midday arrived Balto’s spirits were on the floor as he finally accepted that he would never find his family again.

     “I’m a useless wolf, I’m not a wolf I cannot even find my family” Balto cried breaking down near a pool.

        Looking into the water Balto saw his reflection staring back at him, a young wolf, in his heart the conflict he had been feeling between wolf and dogs intensified. The pain of the last couple of days ripped through him. As Balto sat there he was aware of Boris telling him of the human town where they could live. A strange sensation washed over Balto and in a flash his mind cleared.

 “I AM NOT A WOLF!!!” Balto cried with pain, casting his wolf heritage into the wind and slashing his reflection with his paw. “I am a dog, a sled dog, a husky.”

   Watching Balto standing there Boris felt his heart break at the sight of the poor pup, aware that what had happened would have lasting consequences. Walking over to him Boris hugged Balto tightly.

“It’s alright kiddo, everyone will be alright” Boris whispered wiping away Balto’s tears.

“I’m a dog Boris, I’m a husky whose family was lost….”

“Alright kiddo, come on, we had best go now. Nome is still good walk away and we have to be there by nightfall” Boris replied as Balto stood up.

 “Alright Boris I am coming.”

“You can call me Uncle Boris if you like kiddo” Boris replied as they walked.

    At this Balto stopped in surprise then smiled his tail wagging ever so slightly. As they walked Balto’s thought’s drifted to his father’s tales from Fairbanks as the sled races.

“Maybe I will be able to pull a sled like Dad did, yes I can become a sled dog and then…..I could work hard and became a lead dog…and I could see Dad again at the races. Yes I can do that, I’ll became a sled dogs and find Dad….maybe we could even pull a sled together, or we could race each other. Nome is good sled place, I will be able to find him as a sled dog and we can be together again. Maybe humans will see him I me, we look alike….if I become a sled dog I could find a way to Fairbanks” Balto thought happily. 

“Uncle Boris do you think I tell you my father is one of the greatest sled dogs around?”

“No you did not” Boris replied, happy to hear the world uncle. “Tell me about him.”

“Well he is champion” Balto began as they passed through Eagle Pass.

       As the sunset the pair reached the hill overlooking Nome, down below them they could see a red and cream husky wearing an orange bandanna playing with a red haired human girl, the husky chasing a pink ball that the girl through for her. Balto watched the pair with fascination, amazed at the obvious bond between the pair, as the husky was treating the human as she would do another dog. Turning away from the pair Boris led Balto to the outskirts of Nome near the port, for Boris had been to Nome before and knew a safe place for them. Reaching on old abandoned fishing boat Boris walked up the gang blank, stopping when he realized Balto was not following him.

“Come in kiddo up you come.”

“What is this Uncle Boris?”

      Putting his wing on his head Boris realized his mistake, Balto had been raised a wolf and did not know what a boat was and was confused by it all.

“This is called a boat, humans travel on the sea in it, this one is no longer used by humans” Boris replied as Balto stepped onto the gang blank. “We can stay here it will keep the worst of the weather out.”

 “It is kind of like the cave we lived in” Balto replied looking around the cabin before jumping into a box and looking across to town. “That human we saw, was she a female?”

“Yes a little girl.”

“Oh I had never seen a female human before, I once met my father’s human, he was only a young boy.”

“Well humans age slower than we do, time you got some sleep kiddo.”

“I’m not tired Uncle Boris” Balto replied walking out of the cabin.

       Jumping onto a box Balto looked out across Nome his mind wondering about what the town would be like. Then in the distance he heard the sound of barking, turning to his left his eyes fell on a team of sled dogs running into Nome. Balto’s heart lifted as he saw them, his gaze fixing on the lead dog, this dog was Togo, a sledding legend. For