in a place as cold and unforgiving as the Alaskan Frontier, what with her delicate ways and that she always needed to be clean.

There was a small scratch on the back door and Jenna pricked her ears in a small hope that her dear mate had come home early. Rosy moved over to the door and opened it with a smile. She stepped away from the opening, revealing a squat little female dog with a fur color of a luscious white icing. Jenna smiled brightly at the dog in the door.

“Well come on in Dixie and get out of that cold,” Jenna stated in a friendly greeting tone.

Dixie didn’t need to be told twice. She fluffed up her fur and all but strutted into the house like a runway model with her head thrown up in a self-given dignity and her shoulders back, showing her form as best she could. Jenna rolled her eyes and laughed to herself. She had always found the little show dog to be quite amusing to watch. Dixie kept her dignity until she reached Jenna’s feet.

“So how was your trip to White Mountain,” Jenna asked, catching up with the friend she hadn’t seen in over two months.

“Oh, you know how cousin Sooner is,” Dixie replied with a slight wink.

The two both rolled their eyes and laughed at the inside joke that had been around ever since they knew each other as pups. Dixie shifted uncomfortably. She had noticed Jenna had gotten quite a bit larger than she had been when they last spoke, but didn’t know exactly how to ask her about it. Dixie decided in her straight and to the point mind that it was best to just go out and say it.

“So Jenna, I see that you’ve changed a lot since we last saw each other. Has the stress of being the most beautiful girl in town gotten to you?”

Jenna was confused. What in the world was she talking about?

“What do you mean,” Jenna pressed.

“Well, it’s just… you’ve gotten well… bigger since last saw you. Oh, but don’t worry, we can get you fixed up really quick.”

“Dixie.”

“I know this one dog, and let me tell you, she was far beyond fat. She did something that released her stress and-“

“Dixie, I’m pregnant,” Jenna said cutting off her friend’s continuous rambling.

Dixie fell silent and her jaw dropped until it hung slack.

“What! Oh my gosh Jenna! When did it happen,” she exclaimed in a shrill voice.

“While you were gone,” Jenna replied with a smile, “Balto and I decided that we wanted to have pups, so we did.”

“Oh Jenna, I’m so happy for you two! Where is that little Casanova by the way; I would assume that he would be here with you taking care of you.”

“Oh, you know how Mr. Hilok is,” Jenna began, referring to Balto’s musher. “Poor Balto will sometime be gone for a whole week. If it isn’t a training exercise, it’s a mechanics run. That Mr. Hilok is so picky about that idea of an invention of his. He will go all the way to the capitol for his machinery.”

“Ya, but that’s the price you pay for loving the fastest dog in the Yukon,” Dixie said in a dreamy tone.

“I guess you’re right, but enough about me, tell me about your trip.”

“Well first of all we had to get…”

- Earlier that day somewhere between Juneau and Nome

The sun poked its rosy tipped fingers up over the horizon and its radiant light quickly chased away the shadows of the night.

The bare trees spread their branches in greeting to the coming day and the pesky widgets began to buzz together in their ornate little balls. Everywhere life began to stir from the now passing winter and get about its daily niche. That included the little camp that lay spread out in a patch of forest where the bitter wind that still held on from the recently passed winter wouldn’t cut into the skin of the man or the fur of his dogs.

The light hit Balto’s closed eyes and he blinked them open with a sleepy yawn. He stretched his tight joints and muscles and winced at the pain in his hip. He was by far the oldest dog on the team at the age of four and it was likely that this would be his last year on the team. He knew that as soon as an old dog started to falter, he would be replaced at the end of the season. Though disappointing as it was, he knew it was probably for the best. He was about to be a father and would have to put forth all of his efforts into making sure they knew right from wrong and grew into the fine men and women they were bound to be.

From his left, he heard the groans and pops that signified his team was stirring. The black and white malamute that lay beside him rolled over from his tight ball and stretched his back to full extension. The new day was young and the clear weather promised for easy travel which almost drowned the soreness out of the team.

The flap on the little orange tent unzipped and Mr. Hilok stepped out into the open day fully dressed to go. He moved over to the sled and produced a bucket that contained the dogs’ breakfast. Balto and the six others stretched their chains to their limits and wagged their tails in approval. Balto winced and caught the attention of the black and white that stood next to him.

“That hip again,” he asked with a sympathetic understanding.

“Ya,” Balto replied grudgingly, “Just a bit stiff this morning is all.”

“You need to let it rest,” a grey husky called from further down the line, “Those bone spurs are no joke. If you keep pushing it like that it could do some serious damage to the muscle, and the only way to fix that is with a nice trip into the operation room.”

Mr. Hilok started at the far end of the line and pitched the dogs a softball sized ball of mixed scraps from the butcher’s shop and the dogs immediately went to gulping it down. When it was Balto’s turn to receive his meal he dipped his hand into his pocket and produced a large white pill. He positioned it so the thinner round end was facing the meat and jammed it inside with his thumb. Once he was sure it was in enough to where he was sure it would go undetected he pitched it to Balto’s feet. Balto took his share and ate it down quickly. Mr. Hilok kneeled at Balto’s side.

“How you feeling this morning, Balto,” he asked sympathetically.

Balto lolled his tongue and wagged his tail. Mr. Hilok then placed his hand on Balto’s back left hip and applied a small amount of pressure. Balto winced and resisted the urge to cry out for he knew that if he did he would be taken off and would have to ride the sled with the cold heap of metal that lay covered up with a tarp. Mr. Hilok smiled and moved down the line checking his remaining dogs for injuries. Finding none, he went over to his fire that was now nothing but a pile of hot coals. He dug into his pocket and produced a clump of kindling and threw it onto the coals. After a quick mix with a stick and a few blows onto the coals, the fire came back to life. Mr. Hilok smiled and placed three cut pieces of wood onto the new flame, filled his paint tin with snow and waited.

 Breakfast eaten and camp organized in a fashion that fit onto the sled in a balanced manner, Mr. Hilok seized his dogs one by one and clipped them into place. This accomplished, he placed his feet onto the back runners of the sled and gripped the handle.

“Gee!” he called.

The dogs wrenched right.

“Haw!”

The dogs wrenched left.

“HIKE!”

The dogs took up the slack in their traces and began to gain forward momentum. The sled jerked and refused to go another inch. The dogs cried out simultaneously as the traces pinched their skin and cut into their fur.

“God damn it,” Mr. Hilok mumbled loudly and jumped off of the sled.

He kicked the snow hook and the talons released their grip on the snow. Mr. Hilok bent down and picked it up and cursed it aloud as he carried it back to the sled. He pitched it onto the sled in any place it would fit and re gripped the hand rail.

“HIKE!”

The sled took off in a spray of snow and a torrent of barks from the dogs, each of them willing and happy to pull their master home.

- The town of Nenena bustled with its new life, reborn by the coming spring. Families walked together down the street in their Sunday cloths on their way home from church or to a picnic somewhere outside of town. Amongst those families were Rosy and her mother Lucile; but unlike everyone else, they were dressed casually and seemed to be going the direct opposite direction of flow, and in quite a hurry. They were flustered for they knew that they were running late. The train came in at 10:50 and it was now !!:05. The two hand in hand pushed through the crowd and would occasionally bump into others, thus receiving unpleased curses, but these were ignored. They didn’t even know where they were going they just hoped this was the right way. On a street corner near the town’s only butcher shop, stood a woman and her children in wait to cross the street. Lucile sped up to catch her, nearly dragging Rosy long.

“Excuse me ma’am,” Lucile called.

The lady and her children turned to see Lucile running steadily toward them. The lady smiled for she had seen this before. Many a time she had helped out on the rare occasion that there was a newcomer.

“Sorry to bother you on a Sunday,” Lucile began with heavy heaves.

“Oh it’s no trouble at all,” the lady said with a smile.

“Can you direct me to the train station,” Lucile asked in a tired tone.

The lady nodded.

“If you go down to the end of