A New Hero in Town

The third Balto story by: silver_balto

Nome, Alaska; January 1st 1950, 6:45 am,

Balto watched as the sun rose above the Alaskan tundra. The light reflected off the fresh snow, making it sparkle. Balto breathed in the cool air and smiled. It was the beginning of a new decade; the 1950s. A decade of change, and of prosperity. Balto turned from the sunlight and walked into town. He walked past the various new stores; a grocery store, a drug store, and a new diner. Balto admired his new surrounding and didn’t notice who was limping out of the diner.

‘’Brent? What happened?’’ Balto asked. Brent used his crutches to steady himself as he turned.

‘’I slipped on my doorstep and broke my ankle. I have to stay off it for about three weeks.’’ He groaned. Balto shook his head.

‘’Well, I think a walk might do you good. C’mon.’’ Balto replied as he started walking. Brent turned slowly and followed Balto as fast as he could.

Both friends arrived at the train station. Brent looked around and saw a mob of female dogs gathering. He knew it was a handsome male, why else would they be swarming like bees. Balto and Brent walked over and saw that it was indeed a male. He had a black and peach coat of fur on his body, and his muscles told the two that he was a sled team leader; or was one in the past. His eyes had a sort of sinister quality to them, and his all-around appearance was like Steele, only more charming. The malamute noticed Balto and Brent and walked away. Brent gave him a dirty look and whispered, ‘’I can’t believe what a jerk he is.’’

Balto nodded.

‘’The world’s full of ‘em. You have to get used to it.’’ He said as he and Brent continued their walk.

The next day, 2:23 pm,

Balto walked into the town for his usual walk. Today was the last day of an exhibition race between two teams who were running from Elim, Alaska. Balto sat on the sidelines and waited for Brent. Sure enough, he saw Brent slowly hobbling his way over to where Balto sat. Suddenly, a flare burst in the air. One mile to go. Brent sat down on the snow and waited. Just then, the two saw two little children playing on the street, and the dogs were coming into view. Brent tried to get up, but his left crutch got in the way and he went face-first into the snow. Balto knew it was up to him. He was about to run out to save the kids, when the malamute from earlier was already at the children. He put them on his back and jumped off the track, just as the two sleds flew by. Brent got into a sitting position and stared at Balto.

‘’What the heck happened?’’ he asked. Balto didn’t answer. He was too shocked to do so. Why didn’t he move? He could have saved those kids, but he froze. The malamute walked over to the children’s parents and barked. Both parents petted the malamute happily, and thanked him. Balto walked into an alleyway, still shocked. Brent got up to his feet and limped over to Balto.

‘’Don’t worry ‘bout it Balto,’’ he tried to bring Balto’s self-confidence up, ‘’it was just a lucky fluke. Next time I’m sure you’ll be able to help someone.’’

‘’I don’t think that will be possible.’’ A menacing voice snarled. Both Balto and Brent turned to see the malamute standing at the entrance to the alley.

‘’Why don’t you think that?’’ Balto questioned. The malamute grinned.

‘’Because, Balto, it’s about time this town got a new hero. You’re washed up, has-been!’’ he taunted. Brent limped over to the malamute and replied, ‘’who do you think you are? Insulting my friend like that?’’

The malamute pushed Brent backward, making him lose his balance and fall backward. Brent held his ankle and exclaimed, ‘’stupid human body!’’

The malamute smiled and started to walk away. But Balto stopped him right in his tracks.

‘’You villain!’’ Balto shouted. The malamute stopped and turned.

‘’No one ever calls me a villain!’’ he growled threw a rock at Balto. It missed, but by the time Balto was about to retaliate, the malamute was gone, with only his voice lingering behind, ‘’my name is Klondike. And one day you’ll learn why I’m the new hero.’’

Twenty minutes later…

Balto had managed to get Brent back to his home by carrying him on his back. Brent got onto his couch and flicked on the TV. He then grabbed another remote and pressed a button on it that said Play. Suddenly, a castle with a flare flying over it appeared on the screen, although in black and white. Brent pressed the Pause button and turned to Balto.

‘’Thanks pal,’’ he smiled, ‘’but once I get better, I’m gonna turn that malamute into a cheap throw rug! He’s gonna pay for what he said and did.’’

‘’But before you start plotting revenge, you’d better get some rest.’’ Balto reminded. Brent nodded and relaxed on the couch, starting up his movie.

Balto walked through the door and closed it behind him. He knew that this Klondike character was trouble. Just as Balto was about to walk to Boris’ boat, he heard a women screaming.

‘’Help! Someone help! My baby! Help!’’

Balto ran straight for the source of the sound.

Near the edge of town was a small, but deep river; mostly frozen all year. Balto stopped at the scene and saw that a small child had fallen through the ice, and was trying to swim. Balto slowly walked out onto the ice, spreading out his feet ass far as they could go so he wouldn’t fall through as well. Suddenly, Klondike appeared and ran across the ice, grabbing the child by the hood of its parka. Balto turned and fell through. He swam to shore and shook the water off of himself. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy. But he had to keep trying.

One day, and countless tries later…

Inside his house, Brent slept on the couch, the remote still in his hand. He had no idea what was about to happen. Two dogs walked in and quietly knocked the professor out. They then carried him outside and headed toward the train tracks.

Balto had woken up early that day to see how his friend was doing. Balto knocked on the professor’s door. No answer. Balto checked the living room where the TV and couch was. No one was there. Balto walked into the house and saw that wherever Brent had gone, he had forgotten his crutches. Then it hit Balto like a ton of bricks. Brent hadn’t gone somewhere, he’d been taken somewhere. Balto grabbed Brent’s crutches and looked for something that would tell his the local. He then noticed some fresh footprints heading for the railway treacle bridge just outside town.

It was just as Balto had thought. There was Prof. MacWolf; unconscious and tried to the tracks. Balto then heard a sound he’d wished he hadn’t. A train whistle. The morning train was coming. Balto dropped the crutches and ran onto the treacle bridge. He slapped Brent face in an attempt to wake him up, but it didn’t work. Balto suddenly felt a small vibration. The train was getting closer. Balto soon yelled, ‘’wake up damn it! Wake it!’’

Brent’s eyes shot open and he looked at Balto.

‘’What the heck? Where am I?’’

Brent then noticed the tracks, and the train.

‘’Balto, get me off these tracks!’’ he exclaimed. Balto nodded and started to untie the ropes. He had just about untied the first one when Klondike appeared. He ran up and pushed Balto out of the way. Balto moved backward and felt his balance failing him. Balto fell backward and off the bridge. He reached out and grabbed a wooden support beam. Above, Klondike had untied Brent and ran away. Brent turned and saw the train heading right for him. He could see the headlight perfectly now, and the expression on the conductor’s face. She gave the whistle a blast as the train came closer. Brent limped toward the end and jumped, just as the train rolled over the spot where he had been just seconds before. Brent grabbed Balto’s legs and held on. Balto looked up and saw the train reversing. The conductor called down, ‘’you guys need any help?’’

Balto nodded, ‘’we could use some of that thanks.’’ He answered. The conductor disappeared and re-appeared with a rope. He threw it down to Balto and yelled, ‘’tie it to your waist; I’ll use Hartwell II here to pull you guys up. Oh, and don’t forget to hang on.’’

Brent tied his end of the rope to his waist and yelled up, ‘’I don’t think you need to worry about that pal. We got no other choice!’’

As both friends watched, the conductor blew the whistle and started to reverse. Steam hissed from between the wheels as Utah slowly moved backward. Balto and Brent felt themselves slowly rising, and soon, they were able to get onto the bridge. Balto untied his rope, and Brent did the same. The conductor waited until both friends were off the track and chugged forward. He then stopped and hopped from the train. He was a grey timber wolf with green eyes. His fur, however, was a brown colour. Balto assumed this was because of the soot and dirt from the train. The conductor wore a grey and white striped shirt, with a collar and