Balto. "I'm going to your owner's house to deliver the telegram, do you want to come?"

"Come on Jenna, we need to see what Rosy's father is going to do," Balto said as he got up and walked to the door.

"O-okay, I'm coming," she sniffed. "We'll be back soon Kodi, we love you," she said sadly as she kissed Kodi and nuzzled him before getting up to leave.

They left the office and followed the doctor to Rosy's house, where he gave the telegram to Rosy's father. He read it with a frown on his face. "But if they can't send the antibiotics until the storm blows over, that could be days!" he said.

"I know," the doctor said somewhat dejectedly. "I'm sorry. I'll do everything I can to keep little Kodi alive, but his chances are not good without those antibiotics to fight the virus."

Jenna tried to fight back tears, and she looked at Balto with desperation in her eyes.

"Balto..."

Balto closed his eyes. "I know, Jenna. I know what I have to do."

He stood up and barked at Rosy's father. "I know boy, I know," he said. "We just have to hope Kodi pulls though, the doctor here will do his best."

Balto barked louder this time, and pulled the telegram out of the doctor's hand. He dropped it on the porch and stepped on it, and barked again.

"What the..." the doctor said in surprise. "What's he doing?"

Rosy's father looked carefully at Balto. "This may sound crazy doc, but I've suspected for a while that Balto can actually understand us. I know, I know. That's ridiculous, right? But this has happened before. I mean think about it, how do you explain how he ran off on his own to find Steele's team and bring back the anti-toxin? Anyway, watch this."

He turned and crouched down to address Balto. "Balto, are you saying you want to go to White Mountain to get the antibiotics?" Balto barked excitedly and nuzzled his hand, tail wagging frantically.

"Well I'll be..." said the doctor, astonished.

"I think we have our answer, doc," Rosy's father said with a smile. "Wouldn't you want to do anything to save your son if it was you? And Balto is the most capable dog in Nome, there's no doubt about that. If anybody can do it, Balto can. Isn't that right boy?"

Balto yipped and nuzzled him. "And he has far more reason to save his own pup than he did to save the children of Nome."

"This... this is amazing," said the doctor. "You really want to do this, Balto? You understand what you need to do and where to go?" Balto barked at the doctor in reply and wagged his tail. "Okay, well in that case I need to write a prescription for what Kodiak needs so you can deliver it to the vet in White Mountain. I need to go back to my office to do that, and I'll be right back," he said, and started walking back to his office.

"In the meantime, I think I know just what you'll need, boy," Rosy's father said. "We gave Rosy a small leather satchel to carry her schoolwork, but I think it might be just your size. That is, if Rosy doesn't mind."

"Of course not, dad," she said happily. "I'll go get it right now." Rosy went inside and emerged a minute later with a leather bag with a flap that fastened at the bottom, and a thick leather strap. She placed the strap over Balto's head and under his left front leg, and swung the bag so it sat on Balto's side. "How's that, boy? Can you run like that?"

Balto barked and licked Rosy's face. Rosy hugged Balto and whispered in his ear. "You be safe, boy. Get that medicine for Kodi and come back safe. You saved my life, I know you can save his. I love you," she said, and squeezed him.

Balto nuzzled Rosy and licked her cheek gently. Just then, the vet walked back up to the house with a piece of white paper in his hand.

"This should do it boy," he said to Balto. "It's a prescription for Kodi, and instructions for my colleague in White Mountain to give the antibiotics to you to bring back to Nome. As soon as you leave I'm going to telegraph them to let them know you're coming, so they should have it for you as soon as you get there." He put the piece of paper in the leather bag and fastened the flap.

"You know time is of the essence, right boy? Kodiak needs that medicine as fast as you can get it." Balto barked at him. "All right. White Mountain is ninety miles away, and if a storm's coming... that could be a real problem. You'd better be on your way."

The humans watched as Balto turned to nuzzle Jenna lovingly, and she nuzzled him back.

"Balto, my love... please be careful. I can't lose you too," she said and began to sniffle.

"I'll be fine, Jenna. I'll get that medicine and Kodi will be fine, you'll see." he nuzzled her chin so he could look into her eyes. "I promise, Jenna."

She kissed him, and it was a long, passionate kiss. "I'm going to hold you to that, my love," she said with a smile as a tear rolled down her face. "I love you. Remember what I told you about our family."

Balto nodded at her. "I won't ever forget." He stood up and looked back at the humans, and Rosy waved at him. "Good luck boy, we know you can do it," she said.

Balto barked and turned to leave. With one last look at Jenna, he walked off the porch, then began to run. Jenna and the humans watched as he started picking up speed running down the road and out of town. They watched until they couldn't see him any more, then Jenna lay down and put her head between her paws.

"It'll be okay girl," Rosy said as she sat down and hugged her. "Balto is amazing. He can do it."

The doctor shook his head. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes..." Rosy's father chuckled. "I know what you mean."

Jenna looked off into the direction Balto had gone. "Come back safe, my love..."

###

Kantu stood at the entrance to the alpha's den, taking in the scents of a new day. He liked to watch the sun rise more often now that he was a full member of the pack. It gave him a sense of hope and fulfillment, and today was a special day for him. Today was the day he was going to hunt with the pack for the first time since he had completed the rite of adulthood a few days before, and he was excited.

"You're up early again, son," came the pack alpha's voice from behind him.

"Sorry papa. I couldn't sleep any more, I'm too excited."

Dakarai chuckled. "Look, Nightfall. Our son is ready to take on the world."

Nightfall yawned and looked out at Kantu, her piercing blue eyes shining out from the darkness of the cave. "Be nice, my alpha," she said with a smile. "You remember your first day hunting with the pack, don't you?"

Dakarai laughed. "Okay, you got me there. Son, I was just as excited as you are on my first day hunting with the pack. I even got up with the dawn and watched the sun rise like you did."

Kantu grinned. "I can't help it, papa. I know I can hunt and help the pack to find food. I just can't wait to be a part of it."

"You will do fine, my son," said Nightfall reassuringly. "Your father has trained you well, and you have proven yourself already. Now go and prepare to join the hunting party, you will be leaving soon."

"Thank you mother, thank you papa," Kantu said as he got up to leave, his reddish-brown coat glowing in the new sun. "I won't let you down."

"We know you won't, my son," Dakarai said. "We're proud of you and we love you. Now go and give your mother and I some time alone," he said with a grin, as Nightfall kissed him.

Kantu chuckled to himself as he leapt down from the alpha's den, ready to start the hunt as an equal member of the pack. He had been waiting for this day for months, ever since his father had begun to train him in the ways of the hunt. He idolized his father, and wanted to be as important to the pack as he was.

"Ready to go, Kantu?" asked the leader of the hunt. "Yep!" Kantu answered, trying to contain his enthusiasm.

"All right, let's go. We'll be hunting on the northeast side today, one of our scouts spotted some caribou in that direction last night."

A few hours later, the hunting party still hadn't found any caribou. They continued to search through the northeast, but they didn't find so much as a scent. Kantu began to doubt whether they would find anything to bring home tonight, but he dutifully followed the hunt's leader, determined to do his part for the pack.

The hunting party entered a small clearing in the woods and stopped to rest for a few minutes. Kantu sniffed the air and didn't smell any game, but he could smell a storm coming. "Do you guys smell that?" he asked. "It smells like a storm... a big one."

"He's right," said the leader. "We need to find a kill and get home as soon as we can. It's time to split up so we can cover more ground. I'm putting you in groups of three, and if you don't get a kill before night falls, you're ordered to return home. Hopefully one group will find something to bring back to the pack."

They split into groups of three, and each group left in a separate direction. To make up for his inexperience, Kantu was grouped with two of the more