morose, and so weak.

"...We had slid down an icy embankment, one which we didn't see until too late.  The team struggled to keep its footing, and to protect the sled.  But it started to slide sideways, and its weight set us off-balance.  Soon we were sliding sideways down the embankment as it narrowed...hard, icy shelves, trees and snow-covered boulders on either side.  The sled struck several of them on the way down and then, as we hit the bottom, the sled was violently overturned, and the master was thrown out into the snow.  Each of us, of course, were tangled in the gang line and the harnesses, and half-buried in that same snow, some on top of others."

Tommy's face showed great concern, and he gently laid his paw on Star's back, shaking his head.  "I didn't know.  I...I never heard any of this before."

Star looked up at him sadly, "I've never told this story to anyone before.  Not even to Jenna."

Steele gasped at this.  He was starting to realize that this may very well have to do with him.  But he kept silent and continued listening to the conversation.

"We didn't know it at that moment", Star continued, "but the master had hit his head on one of the boulders, or perhaps a tree, on the way down the embankment.  As we each shook off the snow and got to our feet, Lenny walked over with me to check on the master.  But he was not moving.  He told Steele that it looked as though the master was hurt bad, and I asked Steele what we were going to do.  But he said nothing...only sat there looking like he was in shock."

Steele couldn't believe what he was hearing.  He was never at a loss for knowing what to do.  He turned back towards the spirit momentarily.  "What is all this?  I don't remember any of it!"  But the spirit merely bared his teeth and stared back at Steele.  Realizing he wasn't going to get an answer, Steele turned back again to listen.

"Just then, we saw Balto come sliding down the embankment.  It was totally unexpected.  He managed to slide safely to the bottom, and immediately asked if anyone was hurt.  Steele, who never liked him very much, really wasn't very happy to see him.  He told Balto that everyone was fine.  But that wasn't right at all.  I told Balto that the master had hit his head, and that he hadn't gotten back up.  I nudged the master's arm, and it fell back into the snow.  Balto offered to lead us back, but Steele angrily told him that we didn't need his help."

Tommy shook his head again.  "My uncle really hated Balto", he said bitterly.  "I never understood why.  Balto was always a very nice guy.  And pretty smart too."  Steele raised an eyebrow at this, but again said nothing.

"We certainly saw plenty of that back then", Star noted ruefully.  "Well anyway, Nikki asked Balto how he would lead us home, and Balto showed us how he had marked out a trail by scratching a little bark off of certain trees along the way.  We thought that was pretty creative, and that it might be the answer.  But again, Steele wouldn't accept Balto's help.  He tried to force Balto to leave.  But when Balto offered to at least take the medicine back, Steele attacked him.  Balto didn't want to fight, but Steele kept at it.  When he finally reached up to pull the medicine from the sled, Steele grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and threw him hard, tossing him against a large boulder near the edge of a steep drop, which we had somehow avoided sliding off of earlier."

Steele hung his head, now worried about where this was going.

"Balto was unconscious for a minute, but we were all shocked to see him come to and slowly rise to his feet.  Steele, on the other hand, became livid.  He lunged again at Balto, who quickly stepped aside.  Steele had managed to grab hold of an orange scarf around Balto's neck.  It looked as if it were Jenna's.  While we watched helplessly, the two of them tussled at the precipice.  Steele was trying to pull him to the edge and throw him off.  But as he tugged, the knot in the scarf became untied, and loosed from Balto's neck.  Steele started to fall backwards and, loosing his footing, fell into the crevice below with a sharp scream."

Steele gasped again, and started to back away.  "I can't listen to anymore of this!"  He started to step away and, as he turned, he found the spirit standing right behind him, teeth again bared, and staring him down.  Terrified and shaking, Steele turned back around and was compelled to hear the rest of it.

Tommy took a couple of steps away, and stared out into the night.  Quietly, he asked "What did you all decide to do then?"

"Well, we each presumed there was simply no way Steele could have survived that fall, so we each gently lifted the master back onto the sled.  After that we each returned to our harnesses.  Balto came walking up, and I proudly offered the lead harness to him.  He hesitated for a moment, but meekly accepted it.  And with that, we were off."

Star rose slowly, with some effort, to his feet, and walked over to join Tommy by his side.  "We went for some hours, following Balto's trail markers, but after a short time, he started to hesitate, stopping occasionally and looking confused.  We finally saw that there were additional marks on the trees all around us.  And it now became apparent that Balto didn't know which ones to follow.  Nobody could figure out what had happened, but we urged him on.  At this point, only he could guide us back to Nome.  This continued, frustratingly, for hours, just as the storm started to pick up.  We had some close calls along the way.  In time, however, we ended up in a deep and narrow ravine, with a large mountain behind us.  This was slow going.  At one point I accidentally sneezed, and it set off an avalanche on the mountain behind us.  Naturally we all panicked, and Balto called on the team to move as fast as we could."

Tommy glanced over at Star.  "Was that what did it?"  Steele, listening reluctantly, was now wondering if this was perhaps why Star was the only one of his team members he saw in this vision.  He didn't have to wait long for an answer.

"Not directly, no", Star lamented.  "Balto spotted the entrance to a cave on the wall of the ravine, and made a beeline for it.  We hit the cave just as the wall of snow rolled past the cave entrance, covering it completely.  We had no choice, at that point, but to go on through the cave and seek out another exit.  We went on for quite some time.  Finally we spotted an exit hole, and started to work our way towards it.  It was at the far end of a large cavern, with several icy stalagmites and stalactites.  As we entered the cavern, cautiously at first, everything seemed fine.  We had to step down a bit onto the floor of the cavern.  But when the sled crossed that little ledge, the runners hit the ice with a loud woody thud.  Then we heard a loud crack above us, and the tinkling of ice.  Balto urged us to make for the cavern mouth right away, just as the stalactites began to come loose from the roof of the cavern.  They began falling all around us, each smashing on the icy floor with a deafening crash.  Again the sled began to turn and slide away from us, and we were at risk of losing the medicine.  When the box started to crack open, and one bottle fell out, smashing on the cavern floor, Balto rebounded off of a stalagmite and jumped against the box, securing it and sending the sled back in the other direction.  But now we were racing to reach the cavern mouth, and daylight, as a sudden rain of huge stalactites fell above us, along with chucks of ice and rock..."  Star's voice trailed off, and he stopped, bowing his head.

Tommy turned again to him.  "And?"

Star looked up at him sadly.  "We didn't make it.  The mouth of the cave was covered by the ice and rock, and so was the team.  I must have been out for hours.  But when I came to, I couldn't see or hear anyone.  I scrambled weakly out of the rubble, battered and sore.  I tried digging around me, for as long as I could, but my legs were just too weakened and sore.  I called out to Balto...to Nikki.  Even to Kaltag.  But I got no response.  Just the echo of my own voice in the cavern, and the ominous tinkle and crack of more ice.  I decided that it'd be best not to try that again.  So I sat there, desperately afraid, and wondering what I should do next.  It was then that I noticed a small shaft of light coming through a small hole high up on the mound of rock and ice blocking the cave mouth.  I climbed, with some effort, ignoring the pain, and managed to push enough of the rubble aside to pull myself out.  When I was outside, after my eyes adjusted to the daylight, I headed off, hoping to get back to town and find help.  The sun was getting low on the horizon, so I had to get back as fast as I could."

Tommy turned and walked back to the grave they had been so close to when the scene first appeared to Steele.  He looked down at it, and then shook his head.  "Were you able to get help?"

Star shook his head slowly.  "I wandered for some time out there.  It may have been a week, perhaps a little more.  I