said sadly.

 

“We all feel the same way, Decoy.” said Rylie.

 

“We all feel bad.” said Jenna.

 

Balto looked into the sunset and orange sky. “We have to go now if we’re gonna make it back soon.” he said.

 

The dogs took on last look at Banshee and started walking.

 

“We’ll miss you Banshee.” Sage said as she hung her head.

 

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

 

That night, the dogs were resting on a path down the mountains.

 

“I can’t believe this happened.” Balto said as he was sitting, facing towards the top of the mountain, away from the rest of the pack.

 

“It’s not you’re fault.” Decoy said as he lifted his head.

 

“It is, I pulled him down with me. He was my responsibility, and I killed him.” Balto said sadly.

 

“Balto, it was an accident. You didn’t mean to. And you can bet that Banshee knew that.” said Sage.

 

“But I was supposed to protect him. Because it was my idea to come out here, I’m the one who put you all in danger.” said Balto.

 

“Balto, nobody blames you.” said Ashlie.

 

“I do. I blame myself.” Balto replied as he laid down. “He had just saved Decoy’s life, and I killed him.” he added.

 

“Balto, we knew that we were all taking a risk of dying when we came out here.” said Scout.

 

“Yeah, we knew what we were getting ourselves into.” Brendon said.

 

“But I didn’t think it would really happen. And I didn’t think that I would be the one to blame.” Balto said.

 

“Balto, don’t beat yourself up...it’s ok.” said Jenna.

 

“No. It’s not. If it wasn’t for me, Banshee would still be alive.” said Balto.

 

The other dogs were speechless. It was becoming quite clear that they weren’t going to be able to cheer Balto up.

They all laid their heads down and drifted off to sleep.

 

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

Day 7

 

The dogs were tired, beaten, and just desperate to get home. They were so happy that this whole thing was almost over.

 

These animals had risked their lives for each other. None of them ever in their wildest dreams thought that they would have friends like that.

 

They slowed to a walk for a few more miles, then rested for the night.

 

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

Day 8 (their last day of travel, and the day they get home)

 

They had woken up a few hours ago, and were now only a few minutes away from Nome.

 

“I can’t believe we came all this way.” Rylie said, so proud of himself.

 

“I know, it’s amazing.” said Ashlie.

 

“Not much further now.” said Balto.

 

The dogs were trotting over a flat, hard, and tan colored terrain with many evergreen trees in the background.

 

Decoy was slowly cantering, several yards ahead of the pack, and looked back at the rest of the dogs, who were trotting.

 

They eventually made it to the top if the last mountain. One their way down, Jenna spoke. “Oh my god! Look you guys! We made it!” Jenna yelled as she stopped.

 

The rest of the dogs stopped and gasped.

 

“Whoa! Balto, you were right all along!” said Decoy.

 

“This is unbelievable.” said Sage.

 

“Wow, it’s beautiful!” Chenelle said in amazement.

“Good job Balto.” Scout praised.

 

“Come on you guys, let’s go home.” said Brendon.

 

The pack began to trot down the mountain.

 

Even now, none of the dogs knew how they did it, but there they were, finally. They were home.

 

Jenna laughed with excitement, and they entire pack started to run down the mountain.

 

From Rosie’s house, they could here a howl. Not just any howl, it was Balto’s.

 

“Mom! Did you hear that?” Rosie asked quickly.

 

“Yes I did!” her mother answered in disbelief.

 

“I can’t be.” her father said.

 

They ran out of their house, along with the owners of the other lost dogs, and a few of the towns people. They all ran to the edge of town as a group.

 

In the distance, they saw their dogs running towards them.

 

The dogs finally got there, and jumped all over their owners!

 

“Balto! Oh, good to see you boy.” said Rosie’s father.

 

“JENNA!” Rosie yelled as she gave her dog a hug. “Oh I missed you so much!” she yelled again.

 

Jessie petted Rylie and Scout. “How did you do it? How did you do it?” she asked.

 

“I can’t believe they made it!” yelled Jake, Decoy’s owner.

 

“Wait...where’s Banshee?” asked Rich, his owner.

 

The other owners fell silent and looked around, but Banshee was no where to be seen.

 

“Oh no....Banshee.” Brendon said as his owner petted his neck.

“Oh he’s gonna be heart broken.” said Sage, referring to Rich.

 

“If only there was some way we could tell him what happened.” Decoy said sadly.

 

Rich looked out in the direction where the dogs had come from, and he didn’t see Banshee anywhere.

 

“It was a long way, it was too dangerous.” Rich mumbled.

 

“Oh I’m so sorry.” said Rosie’s mother as she stood up.

 

“I’m gonna miss him.” said Scout, quietly.

 

“Look there!” Rosie said.

 

Everyone looked to where she was pointing. They saw Ashlie.

 

“It looks like a wolf.” said Rosie’s father.

 

“I know, I saw her running up with our dogs.” said Rosie’s mother.

 

“Do you think the wolf traveled with them?” asked Jessie.

 

Balto walked up to Ashlie and stopped.

 

“Come meet them.” he said.

 

Ashlie looked nervous. “Alright.” she said.

 

Balto turned and started walking the group of people.

 

Ashlie cautiously followed, keeping her head low, letting the humans know that she meant no harm.

 

Balto said down next to her, and looked at Rosie.

 

“Balto seems to think she’s ok.” said Rosie’s mother.

 

Rosie was very curious about wolves, she put her hand out towards Ashlie.

 

“Rosie!” her father yelled.

 

Ashlie sniffed Rosie’s hand, and then licked it a few times.

 

“She’s nice.” Rosie said.

 

She knelt down and held the fur from Ashlie’s necklace in her hand.

 

Rosie’s mother carefully petted Chenelle on the head.

 

Ashlie put her ears back, smiled and panted.

 

“Come on, lets get these dogs to a vet.” Rosie’s father said.

 

The dogs had learned so much from this journey. They learned that you can do anything if you really believe that you could. They learned to have faith in themselves, and dedication to their goals, and that sacrifice, friendship, and even love, is what can get you through anything.

 

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

 

Later, in the waiting room, the owners sat there patiently, waiting for the vet to come out. When he did, he walked up to the owners and spoke.

 

“They’ve been hurt badly by what seems to be many different things. We’re going to have to keep them here for a few days until they’re well enough to go home.” the vet said.

 

“But they’re gonna be ok?” asked Rosie’s father.

 

“Yes, they all should be fine.” the vet replied. He then walked through the door to the back of the building.

 

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

 

Days later, after they were sent home, the dogs were in the old mill with their friends and most of the pups, who weren’t really pups anymore. They told the story of their incredible journey, every dog was fascinated by what they had gone through.

 

Amber looked out the door, then at Balto. “Balto, it’s time!” she said.

 

All the dogs got up and ran to the crowd of people surrounding the road where sled teams began their journey, at the edge of town.

 

Balto smiled. At the head of the team was Dakota, his son, who was finally living his dream. Next to Dakota was Demon, and behind him was the sled dog Chinook known as Biji, and a female husky named Dusty, and the wheel dogs were Dodger and Shadow.

 

Dakota smiled at Balto and all the dogs smiled Back. He was a mail dog now, he even had his own sled dog collar, with the metal loop in the front.

 

Balto walked up to Dakota, who was now a grown dog, as big as Balto. “Good luck Dakota.” he said with a smile.

 

“Thanks dad.” Dakota replied.

 

Dakota’s musher yelled for him to go, and off he went, with his very own team.

 

Anela was standing away from the crowd, with two wolves, one of them being Chenelle. They all howled as Dakota and the team passed them.

 

“Thanks Rylie, I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through this whole thing without you...or Balto.” Scout said. 

“Oh, it’s no problem Scout.” Rylie said.

 

Scout smiled at Rylie and licked his nose. Rylie smiled back, and they both nuzzled each other.

 

Togo watched them angrily from a distance.

 

Balto looked at the other wolf that Anela was with. He had met this wolf the day before.

 

He was bigger

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