leaving his window open. He will not miss a string or two of sausages” Steel replied with a sly grin.

    Slipping into the butchers through the window Steel and Balto stole two strings of sausages which Balto wolfed down in the boiler house.

“Thanks that was the best meal ever” Balto said.

“No problem if the butcher is a fool to leave a window open he deserves to lose the odd string” Steel replied as they left the boiler house.

       Walking through the town the three passed the hospital, seeing a very long line in the waiting room. Out of the door limped a man on crutches followed by another with his arm in a sling. Passing a team of sled dogs harsh comments were thrown their way to which Steel and Jenna snarled and shouted comments back. Reaching the edge of Nome Jenna and Steel led Balto to the playground which was full with several children playing.

  “What is this place?” Balto asked looking around.

“A place where we can play” Jenna replied.

   With Jenna in the lead the three jumped onto the roundabout sitting next to the children who welcomed them without question. The three laughed as they were spun around, their voices mingling with those of the children. Jumping off the three raced up the jungle gym, their weight shaking the snow off the bridges their delighted barking echoing through the wood. Jumping down the slide the three landed in a heap at the bottom in the snow their paws at odd angles.

 “That was cool” Balto said getting up. “Let’s go again.”

             A few days later Balto, Jenna and Rosie stood at the sidelines of the racetrack, cheering as Togo and Fire’s teams round the bend. On the other side of the track Sylvia and Dixie stood watching, their eyes fixed on the action. The race was neck and neck the tension in the crowd was so high it could have been cut with a knife. Suddenly Togo’s team put on a last bust of speed crossing the finish line to delighted cheers.

  “Balto come on I want you to meet Togo” Jenna barked wagging her tail.

“Meet him, are you serious?”

“Yes all Nome dogs know Togo he is one of us.”

     Walking over to the team they were greeted by Steel who introduced Balto to Togo. To his great surprise Togo treated Balto like any other dog, happy to talk to him as an equal. Walking over to Jenna, Fire and Fiona stopped in their tracks when they laid eyes on Balto in amazement at once seeing his parents within him. Walking over Jenna introduced both of them to Balto while Rosie and Robin patted Togo. Seeing Togo’s acceptance of Balto the other sled dogs knew they had to watch their mouths. At Togo and Steels insistence both Balto and Jenna were invited to a party to celebrate the race. That night Balto’s spirits soared as for the first time he was treated well by all dogs.

        It was mid February 1923 in Nome Balto, Steel and Jenna were playing when a group of sled dogs appeared, immediately yelling abuse at Balto when they saw him.

 “We can play with whoever we want” Steel yelled back, glaring at the dogs.

“You had no right to call Balto those names” Jenna said snarling.

 “Steel you are one of us” one of the dogs replied. “Wolves are dangerous, dog blood or not he is still one of them and cannot be trusted.”

 “DON’T YOU DARE SAY THAT! Balto is OUR FRIEND” Steel snarled. “Besides what harm has he ever done to you?”

    At this the sled dogs took a step back in surprise and looked at one another as Steel’s question had caught them off guard. Glaring at the three the sled dogs walked off, angrily muttering about stupid pups.

“Thanks. You didn’t have to do that Steel they are your team mates” Balto replied breathing a sigh of relief.

“That still doesn’t give them the right to treat you like dirt Balto, you haven’t done anything to them” Steel replied.

 “Steel has a point you have as much right to live here as they do.”

“You guys are the best, I’ve an idea let’s get out of town and explore up the Snake River” Balto replied.

 “Wow neither of us have been out of Nome by ourselves, it could be dangerous” Jenna replied.

“Not with me. I am part wolf I know how to survive out there, trust me.”

“Well it would be an adventure” Steel said grinning.

“And who better to go with Balto?”

“So are we going?”

“Yes.”

     Setting off the trio passed the Inuit settlement of Sandbanks greeting humans and dogs alike. The Snake River was locked with thick ice that would not melt until the summer, making it perfect for children to play on it. Seeing the ice the trio ran up a small hill and slid down onto the ice. Landing on the ice Jenna laughed as Jenna and Steel landed next to her. Leaving the ice Balto led the pair up the river watching as a family of otters played on the ice. The sleek little creatures looked up at the three with curiosity letting out squeaks of joy before running up to them. One bold male darted up to Balto and tapped him on the nose before darting off. With a grin Balto set off after the otter, at the same other otters darted up to Jenna and Steel. Within seconds the group were engaged in a game of tag through the snow while the otter’s mother watched from the river. The otters proved slippery customers darting this way and that across the snow.

     As the otters dived into the freezing water the trio heard a cry, looking up they saw a snowy owl flying above them. The bird swooped low, pouncing into the snow, emerging with a lemming in her talons. Watching the bird the three admired the bird’s soft feathers as they passed by. Suddenly Balto stopped in his tracks as a scent drifted into his nose.

“Balto what’s wrong?” Steel asked.

“Look above us” Balto replied pointing to the hill on the left.

        There standing above and looking down on them was a magnificent grey and white she wolf with pale yellow eyes. Jenna and Steel stared at her in shock, their bodies routed to the spot unable to move. Next to them Balto’s mind raced back a day a few months previously when he was still living wild. There was no doubt that the wolf staring at him was his half sister Valeria. As the pups watched Valeria raised her head, letting out a howl at echoed throughout the forest. Ending her song Valeria looked directly at each member of the trio, her eyes boring into them. The spell ended as soon as it had begun, with one last look at the trio Valeria walked away into the forest. As she left Steel, Jenna and Balto found they could move, all running away from the spot, with Balto running fastest.  Catching up with him near on the slope leading up the hill, Jenna and Steel saw that Balto was staring at a set of wolf tracks. Turning towards them Steel and Jenna saw the raw pain in his eyes.

“I wonder what happened to Balto before he came to Nome” Jenna whispered to Steel as they walked on.

 “He must have been through something terrible, the way he looked when he saw those wolf tracks” Steel replied, looking at his friend. “Has he told you anything of his life before coming to Nome?”

“Not much. All I know is that his mother was a wolf” Jenna replied.

    Slowly the afternoon passed by with no more strange incidents allowing the friends to have fun in the forest. By the time evening arrived all three made their way home with happy hearts and stories to tell. Walking out of the forest onto a small hill the three stared at the full moon above them, suddenly, the Northern Lights appeared in the sky.

 “The Northern Lights!” Jenna whispered.

“Amazing” Steel whispered wagging his tail.

 “Utterly” Balto replied.

“Today has been fun Balto.” Steel said placing his paw on the ground. “Tonight we will make a promise, to always be friends for ever not matter what.”

“Friends no matter what friends forever” Jenna replied putting her paw over Steel’s.

“Friends forever not matter what” Balto grinned putting his paw over Jenna’s.

       A Golden Summer

    The season’s moved on winter turned to spring with summer arriving in Nome with a burst of warm weather and an influx of wildlife. Jenna, Steel and Balto celebrated their birthdays with their friendship growing day by day. Though Jenna and Steel had other groups of friends and Balto faced growing persecution, they still had lots of fun together.

     Jenna was hanging out with Sylvia and Dixie outside the hair salon owned by Sylvia’s owner Ruby. Together the three played with a shiny purple ball which was occasionally thrown by a passing patron.

  “Look Eleanor and Evelyn are here” Dixie said as Eleanor, the older sister of Dixie’s owner Evelyn, walked up with her bridesmaids.  

     Seeing the dogs the girls giggled with delight each one bending down to pet them, receiving wagging tails and friendly barks in return. With giggles the party walked into the salon while the dogs watched.

“Eleanor is certainly excited about her