through, hoping against hope that she would be on the other side again, but she wasn't. He sighed and sat down, not in the mood to do anything else.

He sat dejected for a few minutes, but he couldn't resist the urge to look again. He got up and peered through the fence and looked all the way up and down the street, but he still couldn't see her anywhere. He was about to leave when he heard voices from the street behind him, getting closer. He jumped behind a pile of trash and watched the entryway to the alley, listening to the conversation.

"...and then Steele looked at me and I almost fainted! Ooh, just saying his name gives me the chills. He's so handsome, and brave, and strong, and–"

"All right Dixie, we get it," said another voice, this one was sort of a nasally-sounding slower speaking voice. "You like Steele, every girl in this town likes Steele."

"He's not really my type," said a third voice. Balto's eyes widened as he saw who was speaking as they crossed in front of the alley. It was the red husky and her two friends. He sat transfixed as he watched her every move and listened to her every sound.

"How can Steele not be your type, Jenna?" Dixie asked. "He's positively magnetic! Tell her, Sylvie."

Balto sat stunned. "Jenna... her name is Jenna," he thought as he watched her walk past.

Sylvie rolled her eyes at Dixie as the three of them continued past the alley and out of Balto's line of sight.

Balto got up from behind the trash pile and walked carefully to the entrance to the alleyway. He looked around the corner and saw the three dogs walking down the street. He sighed as he stared longingly at Jenna as she walked away. He didn't dare follow her, he knew how the dogs in that town saw him. To them, he was just a homeless beggar, a half breed waste of space. He turned and walked the opposite direction, then left town and headed back to his boat.

"Ah good, you're back," Boris said with a wave of his wing. "You found something to eat, I hope?"

"Uh... yeah, the butcher gave me some meat," he lied. He still wasn't hungry for anything but Jenna.

Boris eyed him carefully. "I see," he said. "And did you find your red husky?"

Balto smiled sheepishly. "Her name is Jenna," he said, looking down at the deck of the boat.

"So you talked to her then? Good boy!"

Balto looked up at Boris. "No! I mean... no. She was with two of her friends, and I overheard one of them say her name. I can't just go and talk to her, especially with her two friends around."

"And why not? You are as good a dog as any in that town."

"They don't like me, Boris. They never have."

Boris put a wing around Balto's shoulder. "They don't know you, boychik! Give them chance to know you like I know you, and they will all love you."

"Boris, I told you. They don't like me, they don't want to talk to me. I can't do anything to change that."

"Balto, you have to–"

"What? I have to what, Boris?" Balto said, exasperated. "You know as well as I do that she'll never talk to me. None of them will! I'm a half breed, I'm lower than dirt in their eyes. I'll just get laughed out of town if I try to talk to her."

The lack of food and sleep was beginning to affect Balto. He was emotionally worn out and on the verge of tears. "That's why... that's why I can only look at her from a distance. I can't talk to her and ruin any chance I might have. I have to just... look at her and imagine what it might be like to be with her. That's all I can do."

He sniffed and a tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm... tired," he said quietly. He slunk under his blanket and lay his head down between his paws.

"Poor little pup," Boris thought as he watched Balto curl up into a ball under his blanket. "I did not know it was so bad. I wish there was something I could do for him."

In the days that followed, Balto remained in his waking dream, unable to tear his mind nor his heart from the beautiful red husky. The days turned into weeks, and Balto still hadn't gotten the courage to talk to her. He stayed at a distance, silently cursing his half breed heritage every time he saw her. He was becoming even thinner than he was before, and Boris worried about his health.

"He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep, he is becoming skin and bones," Boris thought to himself. "But what can I do? He is as stubborn as I am!" He watched Balto sleeping fitfully under his blanket and shook his head.

The next day, Balto was back in town looking for Jenna once again. He couldn't stay away, he was driven to find her just so he could drink in the sight of her. He was hungry, but looking for food was secondary to finding Jenna. He went to all the places he usually went in search of her, and he found her on the other side of the broken down fence in the alley near the butcher shop.

He sat down and watched her like he did every other day he found her. He watched her smile and walk down the street and his hunger was forgotten. He was so enthralled with Jenna that he didn't even hear the human walking up behind him.

"She's pretty, isn't she boy?" Rosy giggled and patted Balto on the head.

Balto yelped and shrank away from Rosy, looking for a way out of the alley. The humans in this town didn't like him, and sometimes they threw things at him just to get him to go away. He had never hurt any of the humans but he didn't trust any of them. He had never seen this girl before and he was frightened that she was going to call one of the bigger humans over to chase him out of town, or worse.

"It's okay boy, I'm not going to hurt you," she said, moving slowly closer to Balto who was now crouched in the corner of the alley, ears flat against his head. She looked at him and noticed how thin he was. "Oh you poor thing, you must be hungry. Look how skinny you are."

Rosy dug into her jacket pocket and produced some beef jerky. "Here, eat this. I promise it's good, and I'll stay right here where you can see me." She tossed the jerky to Balto, who backed away from it before smelling it. It smelled good though, and Balto couldn't help himself. He devoured the strips of meat, then sat back down in the corner with his ears still flat against his head.

Rosy slowly moved forward with more jerky in her outstretched palm. "I'm not going to hurt you," she repeated. "Here, take these." She gradually moved close enough for Balto to eat the meat right out of her hand, and he did so very carefully, not taking his eyes off her.

"Good boy," she said warmly. She brought her other hand around to rub Balto's head, and he allowed her to do it. The attention felt good, and Balto began to relax. Rosy sat down next to him and began to pet him.

"Your name is Balto, isn't it?" she asked. "That's what I heard them call you. I wonder why they don't like you? You seem nice to me," she said and leaned up against him. She gave him the rest of the jerky she had in her pocket and scritched his ears. "My name's Rosy."

Balto ate the remaining strips of meat and began to enjoy the feel of being petted and held by a human. No human had ever been kind to him like this before, and he didn't know it could feel so good. For the first time in weeks, he felt relaxed enough to sleep, and Rosy's hands felt so good on his rough coat. He lay down and placed his head in Rosy's lap and closed his eyes.

"Awww..." Rosy said, and continued to pet Balto affectionately. "I knew you were friendly, I could tell. I'm sorry for how the grownups treat you, Balto. They don't know how nice you are." Balto leaned up to lick Rosy's face, and she giggled.

"Rosy! Let's go!" A man's voice rang out from the street.

"Oh, that's my dad, Balto. I have to go." She squeezed him and got up to leave. She turned and rubbed his head one last time. "If you're here tomorrow I'll try to bring you some more food. Bye!"

Balto watched her leave, suddenly lonely again. "Jenna! Come on girl!" she yelled, and Balto's ears snapped forward as he watched Jenna come running to Rosy. He looked on in shock as he realized that Rosy was Jenna's owner. They danced around for a few seconds, then Rosy looked back down the alley and waved to Balto.

He froze as he saw Jenna turn to see what Rosy was waving at, and she looked right at him. Time seemed to slow down and he could hear his heartbeat thundering in his ears as he looked into Jenna's eyes. She looked at him inquisitively for a moment, but then turned back to Rosy. Rosy whispered something in her ear and giggled, and Jenna stopped and turned back to look at Balto, a small smile appearing on her face.

Balto saw her smiling at him and he lowered his head and forced a smile onto his muzzle, looking up at her submissively. Her smile grew a bit wider, then she turned to follow Rosy down the street.

Balto's heart was pounding, and he watched Jenna walk away with Rosy. He felt lighter than air, and all his worries were forgotten. He watched them until they disappeared out of sight, then he ran out of town and back to his boat. He scrambled onto the deck and found Boris taking a nap in the wheel house.

"Boris! Boris!"

Boris woke suddenly and honked in surprise. "Balto, are you trying to scare me to death? What is wrong, are you on