grinned. “That girl likes you, Dingo,” he said. “Can’t you tell?”

Dingo rolled his eyes. “Come on, Matt,” he said. “The only girls that are ever going to be part of my life are my mom and Saba.”

Matteo raised an eyebrow. “What about Liko?”

Dingo smiled. “I think you’re a little confused,” he said. “You’re the one that likes her, not me. Remember?”

“Yeah,” Matteo said. “But I think that I’m not the only one that likes her…”

Dingo rolled his eyes and jabbed his friend in the side. Matteo instantly broke into a coughing fit. “Hey!” he said. “I’m in pain, remember?”

“Oops, I’m sorry,” Dingo said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you or anything…” Suddenly he kept staring at some spot in the distance, as if he was in a trance.

Matteo waved a paw in front of Dingo’s face. After he realized his friend wasn’t going to respond, he squinted and tried to see what Dingo was looking at. “What are you looking at, eagle-eyes?” he asked his friend. But Dingo kept staring into the distance.

Suddenly Dingo began howling and running as fast as he could toward whatever he had seen in the distance. Matteo dug his claws into the dog’s back, trying his best to hang on. “What are you doing?” he screamed.

“I saw a building,” Dingo shouted, still running at full speed.

“What’s so great about that?” Matteo yelled back.

“I’d know that building anywhere,” Dingo shouted. “The boiler room is in there! We’re only a few miles away from Nome!”

Chapter 16

“I thought you said we weren’t going to make it to Nome for another day or two,” Matteo shouted to Dingo. He was still trying his hardest not to fall off his friend’s back.

“I guess I was wrong,” Dingo shouted back. “Hold on tight…we have a vet to see!”

“Wait for me, Dingo!” a voice shouted behind him. Dingo stopped, turned around, and saw Sandy trying to catch up to him. Apparently she had made a miraculous recovery. ‘She’s probably so excited about seeing Jason again that she doesn’t care about her sickness,’ Dingo thought.

Sandy caught up in a few seconds, and Dingo was off again. He wasn’t as fast this time, because Sandy had to keep up with him, but she was a pretty fast runner, so he still made fast progress.

Finally the three arrived in the town of Nome. Dingo walked into the veterinarian’s office, with Matteo on his back and Sandy right beside him. Sandy explained what was wrong with Matteo to the vet, and the animal doctor picked up the dog off Dingo’s back and took him to a different room. Sandy sat down on the ground next to Dingo.

“I bet you can’t wait to see Saba again,” Sandy said. Then she started coughing violently.

Dingo hesitated. “Maybe I should bring you to the doctor, too…” he said.

Sandy shook her head as she continued to cough. “No, I’m fine,” she said after she had finished. “Besides, my mom can bring me to the hospital later. I want to find out if Matteo is going to be okay first.”

A few minutes later the vet came back. “The dog is fine,” he said. “It’s a good thing you got him here in time, though. He would be dead in a few more days if you hadn’t brought him here.”

Sandy led Dingo to the room where the vet had examined Matteo. The dog was huddled up in a basket in the corner. Dingo approached, and Matteo smiled. “The doctor said that I’m going to be fine,” he said. “I just have to stay here for a while.”

Dingo sat down next to his friend. “That’s great,” he said. “I can’t wait until you’re back on your feet. I can show you everything and everyone here in Nome. It’s going to be great!”

Matteo smiled and motioned toward a window. “I don’t think you’re going to have any trouble finding everyone in Nome,” he said. “It looks like they just came to you.”

Dingo was puzzled for a moment. Then he started to hear some noise coming from outside. It was some word, being chanted over and over. Suddenly he smiled as he realized what they were saying. He turned around and looked out the window. Almost every dog in Nome was standing right outside, saying his name over and over.

-----

Meanwhile, Sandy’s mother took her to the hospital. Sandy lay in one of the beds, waiting for news. The doctor had just examined her, and she felt extremely tired. She couldn’t help it…after all, the bed seemed like the most comfortable thing in the world after sleeping outside every night for weeks. Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Sandy woke up a few minutes later. A pain shot down her left arm, and she saw a bandage on it. The doctor must have given her a shot while she was sleeping.

Then the doctor walked into the room and sat down on a chair next to the bed. “Well, we almost lost you and your mother, Sandy,” he said. “Luckily you got here in the nick of time. You’ve got a pretty severe case of diphtheria.” He held up an orange bottle. “You should consider yourself lucky,” he said. “This is the last bottle of toxin from the serum run three years ago. I remember that like it was yesterday…I remember Balto and his team finally running up to the hospital with the toxin, after we had given up all hope. And I remember all of the happy parents whose children’s lives he saved that day.”

“Balto?” Sandy asked groggily. “Dingo mentioned someone named Balto…I think it’s his dad…”

The doctor raised an eyebrow. “Uh…sure,” he said. “Oh, and before I forget, I have a surprise for you.” He walked to the other side of the hospital and opened the door leading outside. Suddenly Jason and his parents walked into the room. Sandy was thrilled at the sight of her long lost brother.

Jason walked up to Sandy and hugged her. “I missed you, Sis,” he said.

“I missed you, too,” Sandy said. “But now we’re going to be together, just like it used to be.”

Jason nodded. “You’re going to live with us, Sandy,” he said. “We’re going to be brother and sister again, like we used to be.”

Sandy smiled. ‘Thanks for bringing me back to my brother, Dingo,’ she thought.

-----

Dingo ran outside and was greeted by dozens of familiar faces. His heart raced as he neared his family.

As soon as he saw his brother, Kodi grinned and put a paw and Dingo’s back. “Welcome back, bro,” he said. “I was worried about not even being able to say goodbye before you left, but that doesn’t matter now, I guess.”

“Thanks, Kodi,” Dingo said, grinning. Then his smile widened as he walked up to his parents. Balto put a foreleg around Dingo’s shoulders, and Jenna embraced him.

“It’s good to see you again, Dad,” Dingo said. “You too, Mom.”

Then Dingo looked up and saw a sight that he had waited for weeks to see. At the edge of the crowd was Saba, crying tears of joy. Dingo ran up to her, also starting to cry.

“I can’t believe it!” Saba said. “You’re actually back!” She hugged her brother tightly.

Dingo couldn’t help but smile. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment,” he said through his tears. “I never want to leave you again, Saba.”

“And you never will,” Saba replied. “We’re never going to be separated again. We’re going to be together until the end.” Suddenly a dog came up to them from behind. Dingo recognized him as the dog had stood up to Tair in the boiler room that fateful day a few weeks ago.

“Dingo, I want to introduce you to my boyfriend, Josh,” Saba said.

Josh put a foreleg around Dingo’s back. “Do you mind if I call you brother-in-law?” he asked, grinning.

“Hey, Dingo, I want to show you something,” Saba said. She caught sight of a bird flying around. As fast as lightning, she caught the bird in her teeth.

Dingo laughed. “When did you learn how to do that?”

Saba smirked, the dead bird hanging from her teeth. “I had some practice,” she said.

Dingo found it hard to take in all of the changes that had happened while he was gone. Saba had a boyfriend and knew how to hunt. Sandy had been reunited with Jason, who had turned out to be her brother. And, best of all, he had become a hero in Nome. He had saved Matteo’s life, and had led all of the dogs from Anchorage hundreds of miles to Nome. How could he not be a hero?

-----

It was a few hours later, and the excitement had died down. Now Dingo was left alone in the hospital with his father and Sandy. The two dogs approached the girls’ bed, where she was fast asleep.