fun,” Mr. Greenfield said with his hand outstretched. John took back his money and placed it into his left hand. He quickly reached out with his right shook Mr. Greenfield’s hand.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem at all,” Mr. Greenfield replied with a wave of his hand. Mr. Greenfield turned back to his plane and climbed up into the cockpit. Soon after, the machine roared to life, giving off a concussive growl. John and his family waved to Mr. Greenfield and received a thumbs up in response. He checked the rudder and wing flaps, then coaxed off down the way and lifted up off the snow, slowly climbing higher into the sky, the roar of the engine fading as the plane grew smaller and smaller against the horizon.

“Well, Lucile, you sure did choose a fine young man,” John said to his wife.

Lucile leaned her shoulder into his and John wrapped his arm around her back, gripping her far shoulder and gently pressing her in closer. Lucile leaned her head against the side of John’s face and whispered soft words of love into his ear.

 The team had only fifteen miles left to go until they would see the hazy outline of Nome rise up out of the landscape. The dogs all barked their exuberance to the skies above and to all the land around them. Cleft picked up his pace in this moment of excitement, rocketing the sled ever faster toward home. About a mile further down the trail came the scent of freshly killed meat and half a mile later, they found a moose in the middle of the trail to fit in with the stench. Cleft slowed his pace becoming ever aware that whatever had killed this animal might still be around to finish it later. The barks behind him sent a shiver down his spine and he quickly turned around and shushed them. The team fell silent and tension filled the still air.

Balto could feel it in his stomach, making it twist and ball up into tight knots. Something didn’t sit right with him. Maybe it was just the paranoia of the rotten luck they experienced throughout this journey home, or perhaps it was just his mind playing games with him. His question was answered only seconds after his mid asked it. There was a crack of a twig and a snarl so terrible it could have curdled blood. The dogs all froze with fear, their manes bristling involuntarily to this sound. There were enraged puffs and the heavy impact of footfalls from somewhere in the maze of trees, further building the suspense on this imminent attack. Mr. Hilok slid his rifle from its sleeve on the side of the sled and held it firmly in his hands.

Balto tried to stand but was driven down by his hip. The puffs and footfalls grew louder and louder. This animal was circling them from the sanctuary of the trees. Man and dogs shot their eyes rapidly in every direction trying to locate this illusive danger. There was a large brown mass that moved between a gap in the trees. The dogs spotted this and growled, more out of a driving fear than bravery. This enraged the animal further and it answered back with a chilling roar. Every dog, including the timid Harv answered back with barks. Mr. Hilok used his dogs to spot the threat and his heart jumped up into his throat. There standing a mere twenty yards away, was a ten foot grizzly bear, mouth agape showing its menacing set of teeth to all that could see. Mr. Hilok used his trembling arms to raise his rifle and fired a shot in the bear’s general direction in hopes to scare it away.

The bear wasn’t phased in the least. With a final roar, it got down on all fours and charged toward them, snorting its malice intent as it drew ever closer. Balto again tried to rise, but found himself falling back to the sled in pain. Mr. Hilok quickly reloaded his weapon and fired, this time aiming to hit the bear. The bullet slammed into a tree only half a foot from the still charging bear’s head. Closer and closer ran the bear. It disappeared behind the last line of trees between it and the team. Silence, eerie and total filled the atmosphere. The dogs all huddled close together and Mr. Hilok made sure to reload his weapon. Balto summed up all of his strength and again tried to push himself up, failing to rise and falling, this time rolling off of the sled and onto the snow. He cried out with the impact and that’s when all hell broke loose.

The bear exploded out of the trees with a heart stopping roar, sending Mr. Hilok and his team back a few steps. Mr. Hilok raised his weapon and the bear stopped, pushing itself up onto its hind legs. Mr. Hilok fired and the bullet tore a chunk of fur out of the bear’s shoulder. The bear cried out and lashed at Mr. Hilok with its paw, sending the gun hurling to the ground a score of feet away. The dogs came to life, barking and snarling as ferociously as they could. The bear took a step toward them and Kay’yak darted in, sinking his teeth into the bear’s large foot. The bear kicked and sent Kay’yak to the snow. Schio moved in with a snarl and the bear got down on all fours to greet her. She jumped in mid charge aiming to sink her fangs into the bear’s muzzle, but was batted away like a fly. Mr. Hilok used this time to scramble for his gun. He picked it up and fired a shot that aimed too high. The bear took its attention from the dogs and back to Mr. Hilok. It rumbled toward him and he frantically fumbled for the lever. The bear was on him so fast he didn’t even have time to rack it forward. The bear slapped him on the side with its paw, sending Mr. Hilok careening across the snow.

Balto was becoming desperate. He had to help them. Again he tried to rise and again he failed. He cursed himself and yelled words of encouragement in his mind.

“Come on now you wuss get up! Don’t quit! Ignore the pain, Balto, stand up damn it!”

This self-punishment seemed to help, as he suddenly felt new strength flow into his body. He placed his paws under him and slowly began pushing his body off the ground.

The bear took lumbering steps toward the motionless Mr. Hilok. Cleft jumped in between the bear and his master, mane bristling, lip raised, and teeth clipping together like a raging demon. The bear was getting rather sick of these pesky dogs. With one movement, he brought his paw heavily down on Cleft’s back, sending a sickening snap into the air. Cleft didn’t even cry out; he was dead before he hit the snow. The other dogs gasped in shock. One of the twins felt a flush of anger take over his mind. Letting himself be controlled by this, he made a mad dash for the bear with his mouth wide open. Big mistake. He made a lunge and the bear simply shoved his claws into the back of the twin’s throat. There was a cough, a dribble of blood out of the corners of his mouth, and that was it. The bear disposed of the dead dog and turned back to the rest. He took several steps toward them and a long hard object contacted its head. The bear jerked with the blow and turned to see Mr. Hilok half sitting up in the snow with another object in his hand waiting to be flung. The object flew from the hand and slammed into its face. The bear was completely consumed with rage. He lumbered over toward Mr. Hilok.

“That’s right you bastard! Come on and get me!”

Mr. Hilok reached behind him and grabbed the handle of his hatchet. The dogs jumped in front of the bear but it simply blew through them and ran toward Mr. Hilok. The bear stopped dead over Mr. Hilok and roared full into his face. Mr. Hilok smiled smugly and brought the hatchet swinging around, burying it deep into the bear’s shoulder. The bear cried out and lashed his paw sideways across Mr. Hilok’s face at the same time snapping the handle of the hatchet, but leaving the actual ax head lodged deep into its shoulder. There was the distinct crack of a broken neck and Mr. Hilok lay still.

Schio jumped up onto the bear’s shoulders and sunk her teeth into the thick fur. The bear stood up on its hind legs trying to buck her off, but she held fast. The bear spun and yet still she remained.

Balto stood weakly on his feet, wincing from the pain from the spasms that ran up and down his entire back. He took a step and his back leg locked making him have to stop until it calmed. He moved his teary eyes to the battle and saw the bear struggling to break Schio’s hold. The bear was beyond rage. If it couldn’t break this dog’s hold, it would just break the dog. The bear stopped and planted its hind feet into the ground. Schio dangled from the fur on the bear’s back with no idea on what was about to happen. The bear threw itself backward. Schio released her grip and hit the snow back down, the bear coming down only a second later, completely burying her. There was a cry, multiple crunches of bones being broken, and then silence. The remaining dogs used this to their advantage and all three of them flew in at once, landing all across the bear’s front. The bear swiped his paw and knocked Harv away then the other twin. Kay’yak ducked under the paw swing and drove for the bear’s throat.

Dodging one final swing, he latched onto the jugular and bit down with all he had. The thick fur on the bear’s neck protected it from being ripped open by Kay’yak’s teeth, but it still choked under the immense bite pressure. The others took advantage of this and rushed in, landing a couple of good slashes on the bear’s face. Gasping and growling, the bear brought his paw around and finally landed a good hit, tearing Kay’yak and the others off. Kay’yak’s bottom jaw was broken and dislocated from the hit; he hit the snow and stood up with it hanging limp and useless. Harv and the other twin hit and slid to a stop each receiving long claw gashes on their faces and sides.

Balto