just couldn’t control. He was about to charge Steele when Kirby barrelled into Steele from the side, catching him off guard and sending him rolling across the ground. Balto smiled evilly.

“Good job, Kirby!” thought Balto. Although, admittedly, he would have liked to strike that blow himself and make Steele pay for head butting him away from the medicine he needed to save the children during the diphtheria outbreak.

“Can we get out of here now?” suggested Dusty. Just then, Balto growled and walked threateningly towards Steele.

“You will pay!” he growled.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” screamed Kodi before he could attack. Kodi’s yell snapped him back to reality and he shuffled away from Steele. Then he turned and ran back to the boiler room, climbing back up on the boxes and jumping through the window.

 

Balto lay under the stage. What was happening to him? He didn’t know. All he knew was that he had to find Jenna. And this was rapidly becoming the one task he couldn’t complete.

“I’m blinded by my pain…” Balto thought sadly. Maybe there were somethings even legends couldn’t do… a cold draft blew through one of the grates on the far side of the room, making Balto shiver. It was weird that they didn’t do something about that… I sudden idea came to him and he got up and walked over to the grate that had emitted the draft. It was really dark but as Balto peered through it, he could just about make out a hidden tunnel laid out next to one of the pipes. Balto unscrewed the four screws holding the grate in place and removed it from the wall. He squeezed into the tunnel and walked through. He rounded the first bend, but then he was scratched by someone. Balto turned to face his attacker, but just then another came down the tunnel the way he’d been heading and shoved him on the ground, pinning him.

“You said he’d try something like this.” Said the first attacker.

“Foolish wolfdog.” Said Steele, the second attacker. He lifted one paw and struck Balto, a ringing blow across the head and everything went dark.

“Balto?” Kodi called from the window. He looked around but couldn’t see him anywhere. Then he saw the grate lying on the floor. “Guys! I think he’s found something!” Kodi pulled himself through the window. Kirby and Dusty climbed up on the boxes and jumped through as well. Kodi squeezed into the tunnel and began to follow it. Soon enough he found himself underneath another building. There was a grate in the floor a little way ahead and walked over to it. He peered up into the room and was shocked to find it was the hospital. Suddenly there was a crash and Steele and another dog broke through the door, kicking it shut when they entered. There were a few people there, but not many because it was going on to be night time. Even so, Steele raised his head up proud and walked across to the centre of the room. He elected a person and walked across to them, putting his paw on their knee. The person shook it and Steele walked back to the centre of the room then leapt up on his hind legs and walked in a backwards circle. The people clapped him and, enjoying the attention, Steele leapt onto his front paws in a paw stand he held for several seconds. Then he turned and walked with the other dog through another door, the people whispering in awe of the champion lead dog.

“If only they knew who you really are.” Muttered Kodi, annoyed at how Steele had just put on a massive act for those people. He looked for another grate in the direction Steele was heading. He saw one and ran to scramble over the pipes in his way to get to it.

“Always make sure you’re standing out inconspicuously.” Steele said to the dog beside him. “That way, you should be able to go about your business undisturbed. Being the local champion lead dog around here, that’s easy for me. Well for the humans at least.” He added thinking about how all the animals hated him. Kodi made it to the grate and looked up at them. They didn’t seem to be doing anything of the utmost importance, and then Kodi heard footsteps. He gathered that the doctor must be coming to his office because Steele heard them too and urged the other dog to hide, before dashing under a table himself. The doctor walked in, grabbed some medicine and left again. Steele cautiously came out and so did the other dog. “We’ll have to leave soon.” He said. “But while I’m here, I better move the blueprints to another location.”

“Blueprints? What blueprints?” Kodi wondered. Steele retrieved a piece of paper from one of the doctor’s unused drawers and put it under the medicine cabinet. Kodi watched them leave through an open window.

“You guys heard that right?” Kodi asked Dusty and Kirby. They nodded gravely. “Come on! We’ve got to find Balto!” Kodi, not feeling like climbing over the pipes again, continued on until the path looped back to the tunnel. They were about to go back into the boiler room when Kodi heard someone having an argument.

“Why not keep her here?” asked a voice.

“Because Balto’s gotten himself involved in more of our business than he should have. If he escapes, he could find her, and if that happens we’ll have lost the battle.” Said a second voice. Kodi knew they were talking about Jenna, but he didn’t want to know what he meant by ‘if he escapes’.

“I feel sick.” He confessed to Dusty when they’d gone.

“I think we best follow them.” Dusty said.

“Please no.” begged Kodi.

“It’s the only lead we have.” Said Dusty. They followed the two dogs as they made their way over to the telegraph operator’s office and barged in through the dog flap. Neither the telegraph operator nor his dog seemed to be home. Kodi, Dusty and Kirby watched from the window as one of the climbed up onto his chair and the other barked at him as he translated the barking into telegraph signals. Kodi had no idea what they were saying. He also had no idea that they had been spotted. Out of nowhere, he was flung aside. He got up unhurt and saw that they had been attacked by Steele and two other dogs. Kirby had quickly run off. Dusty wasn’t so lucky. Kodi jumped on her assailant’s back, grabbing his neck. The dog turned away from Dusty and tried to throw him off.

“Dusty, run!” he yelled. The dog threw him off and leapt at him.

“Kodi!” yelled Dusty. Kodi kicked the dog off of him.

“Run!” he repeated. “Run!!” Dusty took off. Kodi scratched the dog away from his and ran after her. All of a sudden something crashed into him.

“Hello Kodi.” Said Steele. In blind panic, Kodi leapt at him, but Steele shoved him hard to the ground, he lay there unmoving.

Eventually Kirby stopped running. He looked back to see Dusty right behind him.

“Where’s Kodi?” he asked.

“…I…I don’t know…” Dusty stammered. “I… I lost him…”

“Well we better find him!” Kirby started to run back the way they’d come. Dusty followed closely behind. But by the time they returned to the telegraph operator’s house, Steele and the others were nowhere to be found. But just then, Kirby spotted their paw prints. They lead them to the boiler room, no longer guarded.

“Something’s not right Kirby…” Dusty tried to warn him, but it was too late. Kirby barged through the door and saw Steele and a bunch of dogs as well as Jenna, Balto and Kirby in cages. Steele gave an evil laugh.

“Get them.” He said his voice low and dangerous.

“RUN!!!” screamed Kirby, turning tail and running full pelt, Dusty not far behind.

It was after dark when the two of them dared come out of where they had hidden in Balto’s boat. They crept through the town to the boiler room and around the back, they saw an unexpected sight. Steele was pushing three sleds into a line. What on earth he would need them for was beyond Dusty and Kirby, but they watched from around the corner anyway. He then got three mailbags and put them on the sleds, then got a few harnesses and strung them all together, before putting a long one directly down the middle.

“What’s he doing?” whispered Dusty.

“Uh… I think he’s trying to use one dog team to pull three sleds?” whispered Kirby, equally confused. Just then, Steele turned to face them.

“I knew you’d come back.” He said smiling evilly. The two ran off, but Dusty was too slow and Steele pinned her.

“Dusty!” yelled Kirby. He ran at Steele head on slamming into him. They wrestled around before slipping down the hill onto a frozen lake. The two dogs thundered towards each other and fought some more, but then as they disengaged the ice cracked. Both dogs looked down horrified. Steele turned and ran for the lake’s edge, Kirby behind him. Steele leapt over a crack in the ice but as Kirby ran towards it, it tipped downwards and the cracked section of ice lifted up. Kirby leapt for the edge that was lifting up and grabbed it, but this only served to flip the entire piece of ice over, trapping Kirby under the surface. Steele smiled and walked towards Dusty.

“One… remains.” He said. Suddenly there was a crash. Steele looked back at the ice lake alarmed. A hole had appeared at the far end of the lake. Nothing happened for a long while, but then Kirby appeared, being dragged by something onto shore. Steele stared at the scene as it unfolded he

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