panting.

“Steele! You did it!” Star yelled.

 

“Where did yous learn to fight like dat?” Nikki asked.

 

“Balto gave me a few tips.” Steele replied.

 

“That was the most amazing, the most astonishing, the most brutal-!” Kaltag yelled, but what cut off by, not Star, but Nikki.

 

“No one ever gets out of a fight wit Hunter witout a bad injury!” Nikki said.

 

Kaltag cringed at Nikki for interrupting him.

 

“But I do, my shoulder.” Steele said.

 

“Yous a hero!” Nikki said excitedly.

 

The dogs walked over to Jenna, who was still laying on the ground.

 

Kaltag laid down next to her. Jenna leaned on him and rested her head over his arms, and Kaltag rested his neck over hers. “Are you alright?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Jenna said.

 

“C’mon, lets get you home.” Kaltag said as he stood up.

 

Just then, the doctor, and Rosie’s father came into the boiler room, and looked through the passage, they had heard the noise from the fight from the room they were in.

 

“Jenna?” What are you doing down here?” He asked as the dogs all walked out of the passage.

 

“C’mon, lets go.” Steele said.

 

They all headed outside and made their way home.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The next morning, Amber pounced into the alley and growled. Hunter hopped up from his sleep and looked at her. “What?” he yelled with an annoyed tone in his voice.

 

“You didn’t seduce her, your NOT doing your part of the plan!” she scolded.

 

Hunter walked up to her. “Hey I was about to, but then Steele and his trio showed up.” he explained. “But it’s not to late, no one anywhere has seen any sign of Balto. We have plenty of time.” he added.

 

“You better, we had a deal.” Amber snarled.

 

“Hey!” Hunter barked. “Your not the boss of me, no one bosses me around!” he growled. “But I know how we can get it done faster.” Hunter said with a smile.

 

“How?” Amber asked.

 

“Jenna seems to like you, since she doesn’t know you love Balto. Tell her that I’m right for her. I’ve known her for a long time. After you ask how long she’s known me, tell her that it’s perfect. She’ll come back for me.” Hunter explained.

 

“One problem.” Amber said nervously.

 

“What?” asked Hunter.

 

“Jenna saw me nuzzling Balto the other day, and he was enjoying it. She might be mad.” Amber said.

“Balto’s missing. Do you think she really care about that right now?” Hunter asked. “Now go!” he ordered.

 

Amber jumped and spun around, and trotted out of the alley and into the boiler room.

 

She stood in the doorway. “Jenna?” she said quietly.

 

Jenna looked at Amber.” Oh, Amber. Hi.” she whispered.

 

Amber lied down next to Jenna. “I heard what happened yesterday.”

 

“Is there anyone who hasn’t?” Jenna asked.

 

“Hey...how long have you known him?” Amber asked.

 

“Hunter? Quite a while. A few years.” Jenna answered.

 

“You two used to be really good friends. I think you’re right for each other.” said Amber.

 

“No. Me and Balto are right for each other.” Jenna said piercingly.

 

“But he’s gone. And you need someone in your life. You said you wanted a new litter of puppies.” Amber said.

 

“Why does everyone keep telling me this?” Jenna asked.

 

“Because it’s true.” replied Amber. “I don’t think Balto really loves you anymore.” she added.

 

“That’s not true!” Jenna yelled. She didn’t believe Amber for one second.

 

“After the race, he was nuzzling me. I knew it would be wrong. But he just kept coming onto me.” Amber lied.

 

“I saw you nuzzling him. He didn’t nuzzle you once.” Jenna said.

 

“Well you didn’t see all of it, because he definitely did.” said Amber.

 

“Oh stop it!” Jenna yelled.

 

“Ever notice how he hasn’t payed much attention to you anymore?” Amber asked.

“That’s because he’s been busy with taking care of the pups and racing.” Jenna said.

 

“No...it’s not.” Amber said as she stood up. “Just think about you and Hunter for a while.” Amber walked out and headed back to the alley. She saw Steele, Nikki, Kaltag, and Star walking past the alley.

 

Steele quickly ran to the doorway to the boiler room. Jenna, do you want to come with us to the team house?” he asked.

 

“Yeah.” Jenna said as she stood up.

 

Steele, Nikki, Kaltag, Star, and Jenna walked into Steele’s team house and lied down in front of the fire. 

“Oh, Steele, I wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday. That was really brave.” Jenna said sweetly.

 

“You’re welcome Jenna.” Steele replied.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Rick had brought Balto to another town to be his sled dog. Balto was put in a cage that had 3 other cages on one side of him, and 3 cages on the other side of him. The dogs in them were a mess. There fur was dirty and ungroomed, they had injuries on them that looked like they had been whipped, and they were somewhat skinny. All their tails were straight instead of curled. All they had in their cage was a blanket, and a bowl of food and water.

 

The dog to his left was a 6 year-old light tan Husky with a tan nose named Banshee, next to him was a 4 year-old tan and white Husky named Buller, and next to Buller was a 1 year-old naturally slender white Malamute/Husky named Decoy. On the other side of Balto, was a 6 year-old dark brown dog that looked somewhat like a golden retriever, and a gold face with a brown muzzle named Rylie, and next to Rylie was a 5 year-old female black and brown Husky/Collie named Scout with somewhat long fur and big triangle ears that stood up, but flopped over to the front a little at the tip, and next to her, was a 6 year-old black and white husky mix, with long fur, named Trigger.

 

Balto was very scared, and it was obvious too. Hero or not, he was never ashamed to show his fear.

 

Rylie, the leader of the group, looked at Balto and spoke. “So, your Balto huh?” he said.

Balto was hesitant to speak. “Yeah.” he answered.

 

“It’s sad that a dog like you would have to live in a place like this for the rest of your life.” Rylie said as he looked around the small, cold, dilapidated shed they were in.

 

“Rylie, don’t go telling him that he’s gonna be here his whole life!” Scout said bitterly.

 

Rylie rolled his eyes at Scout, then turned to Balto. “Oh by the way, My name’s Rylie, and this is Buller, Decoy, Banshee, Scout, and Trigger. We’re on Rick’s sled team.” he explained.

 

“It’s not an official sled team though, he keeps us secret, in this old run-down shed” said Buller.

 

“But why?” asked Balto.

 

“Rick travels to Nome every once in a while looking for dogs to steal and put on his private team.” said Banshee.

 

“We gotta get out of here!” Decoy yelled as he clawed at the lock on his cage. He barked his high pitched bark. Decoy was young, and very spirited, yet somewhat immature, lots of times the other dogs just called him simply “Pup”.

 

“Quit it Pup! Your never gonna get out of your cage by barking at it!” Banshee scolded.

 

“Banshee, leave Decoy alone for once.” Rylie said calmly. Rylie looked at Balto and spoke. “Be careful of Banshee, he’s more on the vicious side.” Rylie explained to Balto. “No one knows why.” he added as he sneered at Banshee.

 

Banshee groaned as he licked his lips, and then laid down and rested his head on his paws.

 

Decoy barked twice and whined as he walked in a small circle. “I hate this place.” he complained. He laid down, rested his head on his paws, and licked his lips.

 

“Will you QUIT IT?!” Banshee scolded.

 

“ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!” Decoy yelled. “Sheesh, he’s worse than a bear with rabies.” he said quietly.

 

Banshee lunged at the side of his cage, towards Decoy as he barked. Banshee paused and growled, bearing his fangs.

 

Decoy flinched the other end of his cage and whined.

 

“BANSHEE!” Rylie scolded as he growled.

 

Banshee licked his lips and laid down. “I’m keeping my eye on you, pup.” he said bitterly to Decoy.

 

Scout shook her head, then spoke. “Anyway, Rick treats us terrible, we never get baths, he only lets us out to go to the bathroom once a day, and he only feeds us every 3 days.” Scout said.

 

“But he does treat us for ticks, and we get water every day.” said Trigger.

 

“Wait a minute, you’re all the stolen dogs from Nome!” Balto yelled.

 

“Yup, that’s us.” Buller said.

 

“How long have you guys been here? I forgot.” Balto said.

 

“All different times.” said Rylie. “I’ve been here the longest,

Previous Page

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Next page