the side and ignored her. Rora was the prettiest of all the female wolves in his pack. She had thick, shiny grey fur, strong legs, and a commanding personality, and he did have a slight crush on her, but she didn’t think much of him, and he didn’t feel like putting up with her right then.

Rora stepped closer. “Thinking about Nanuq?” she asked carelessly, “That freak. I guess he’s too much of a wimp to stay with the pack once his lovesick mother dies, right? What a dork. I’m glad we got rid of him.” She snorted. Balto didn’t react. If he didn’t do anything, maybe Rora would go away. Rora, the queen of being annoying at the worst possible moments. “What’s the matter, dog? Domestic cat got your tongue?” Rora laughed at her own joke. Balto could feel a growl start in his throat but he forced himself to stay still. ‘Stay calm, stay calm,’ he told himself even as anger began to simmer and bubble down in his gut. ‘Don’t get mad or she’ll just annoy you more.’

Rora finally pushed him to the side and playfully flicked her tail under his chin. “C’mon, husky, I know you can talk.” Rora continued to play with him. “Wouldn’t you think it a prize if me, the most beautiful wolf in the pack, actually had a crush on you? Wouldn’t you?” She pawed at him and brushed against his side.

Balto swung around in a frenzy and bared his teeth in her face.

“Would you just shut it, Rora?!” he cried. Rora gaped at him with an expression that suggested she had been struck by a lightning bolt. Balto took a deep breath and felt his words explode from his mouth like bombs. “Why would you ever like me? You hardly cared a bird’s bone about me yesterday, and you just insulted me about being half husky now! And what do you care about Nanuq? You think he’s a freak, a wimp, and a dork, but just remember this. Nanuq is my friend, and if you think my friend is a loser, then that’s basically what you think I am, too!”

Rora stared, stunned, for a few seconds. No one had ever spoken to her like that before. She’d always been Ms. Cool, Ms. High-and-Mighty, with every wolf sucking up to her and groveling at her paws because of her mystic beauty. Balto wouldn’t get away with this. Her face clicked into a cool, superior expression. “Really, Balto, you’re so hard on a girl’s heart,” she hissed simperingly, “For a minute I thought I really liked you. But I guess you’re too much of a jerk to accept the offer of the most beautiful wolf you’ll ever meet. Good luck with your life, DOG.”

Rora swung around and swaggered away, her silvery fur glinting in the mellow morning light. Balto glared at her snaking back and said in a low voice, “Beauty isn’t everything, Rora.”

Rora spun around and glared at him. “Oh, so beauty isn’t what you’re looking for, is it, wolf-dog?” Rora hissed, “I suppose you want someone with GREAT VIRTUES, WISDOM, and the ability to stand within three feet of you and not puke, right? Well, here’s some news for you, husky. There is no one in this world that will ever be able to live up to that last one, so you might as well go for what you’ve got while you’ve still got it.” She flicked her tail at herself to make her point.

Balto could almost feel his eyes sparking with red-hot rage. “Well, here’s some news for YOU, Rora. Beauty on the outside is great, but if anyone was to look at your heart, you’d be the ugliest canine on earth.”

Balto didn’t know what hit him. A flying furry mass knocked the breath out of him and pinned him to the ground like a piece of old wood under a sharp nail. “You slimy little worm!” the mass screamed, scratching and biting, “Take that back! Take it back! I am NOT UGLY!” It took Balto a minute to realize his attacker was Rora. Gasping, he pushed himself free and started running away from this other side of Rora. Rora got up and pursued him in a fury. “Come back here, you filthy mutt! I’ll make you wish you’d been born a cat and left for a dog’s chew toy!”

Balto pounded through the forest, ducking past tree limbs and stumbling over tree roots, with Rora struggling to keep up with him just behind. Finally she gave up, and her cutting shrieks sliced the frigid air into invisible glassy blocks.

“I’ll get you for that, Balto! Don’t even think about coming back here, unless you want a bite from my teeth and a kick in the side!” Balto could hear her growling and snapping at the slender twigs and sharp, stabbing pine needles that barricaded her path to him as he slid and wove his way through the woods. ‘I’ve got to get away from here!’ he thought, shaking a paw as a splinter rammed itself into a footpad. ‘Nanuq’s gone, Rora’s gonna kill me if I go back…and I haven’t got much of a future here, anyway.’ He felt a pang of guilt about leaving Aniu, but it couldn’t be helped. He needed to get away.

His mind wandering, Balto broke through a clump of evergreen trees, and he stopped. He sucked in his breath so hard he felt one of his jawbones crack.

There before him was Nome, a small, twinkling town that to Balto looked like a powerful fortress embedded with glowing stars. It rose above the crystalline snow in a pale, regal ascent, and buttery golden lights dotted every pathway like angelic beacons of guidance and hope. The light, blocky buildings blended against the deep horizon and stood with humility beneath a weaving, patchwork sky. Colors shifted and shivered in their place in the heavens, and the small town of Nome looked magnificent, yet humble against the painted skies of the Arctic.

Balto stared in wonder and awe at this blending of man’s and Nature’s artwork, but his bright golden eyes soon noticed a strange lump at the bottom of the icy hill he was standing on. It had reddish spots on it that were covered in snow, and two snowy white paws were splayed out in front as if it was trying to climb the hill…Paws?

Balto leaped down the knoll and skidded to a stop beside the strange lump, and, curiosity burning, he began to dig and swipe the snow off the ‘thing’. A husky’s face and body emerged from the snow, red-and-cream-colored fur stirred with ice crystals and almond-shaped eyelids frosted over with tiny snow gems. Balto breathed in slowly, then let it out. “Oh, no,” he breathed as he stared at the husky (Jenna) and wondered what to do. Darkening clouds were blowing in from the east and they filled the sky above Balto’s head with faces like thunder. White powder snowed down from above and scattered across Balto’s fur, and he shook it off and muttered under his breath, calling himself an idiot and trying to think clearly. Even now, the unpredictable Arctic weather changes still caught him by surprise sometimes.

Suddenly, something clicked inside Balto’s head. Hoisting Jenna onto his back, he dashed into the forest and suddenly bounded into darkness, dead brown leaves swirling behind him as a black monster swallowed him up.

A cave.

Balto slowed down to catch his breath as he wandered to the back of the cave. It was fairly large and roomy, and Balto could only hope that the cave was abandoned and that it provided insulation. He had passed it many times before on his way through the forest, but had never really bothered with it until now.

Jenna slid softly off his shoulders to the cave floor, and he bent down to examine her. She was still breathing, Balto noted with relief, even though she had been nearly frozen out there on the hill. He also observed that she was…kind of pretty, he admitted to himself with some embarrassment, but she was also a pure-bred husky.

Jenna’s breaths were getting faster and shallower, like she was sipping something from a glass when she really wanted to take a great big gulp. Balto hesitantly lowered himself down onto her cold body, and the moment his hot skin touched hers, she twitched and coughed and a wavering shiver slid down her spine. Balto smiled slightly. She would make it.

Hours snailed by, and Balto alternated lying across Jenna’s back and shielding her from the tiny ice crystals that sailed in from the blizzard howling outside. Once Balto thought he heard Aniu’s howl, and then Nanuq’s, but he told himself it was just the wind outside and to stop being an idiot.

The snow trapped in Jenna’s fur soon melted and soaked her through, and she squeezed enough energy from her sore muscles to push herself nearer to the heat streaming from Balto’s body. Balto just kept staring at Jenna. He could hardly rip his eyes away. As the clear crystals that encased her melted away into a puddle of the past, Jenna became even more beautiful to Balto. Her red-and-cream-colored fur was sleek and soft, and her gentle features gave away her slightly-quiet personality. She was so small that after awhile Balto was afraid of crushing her while lying on her.

Balto was staring at her with wide golden eyes when Jenna finally came to, coughing and sputtering. “Where…where am I?” she said weakly, “And who are you?”

“You’re in the middle of the forest outside Nome, and I’m…my name’s Balto.” He slipped off her back to lie beside her, and she stared at him with her fiery red-brown eyes. Balto shifted uneasily under her strong gaze, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted her to look away or to keep staring at him. “Are you alright?” Balto asked. Jenna winced as the blood began to ebb and flow through her body again.

“I am now.” She coughed.

“Well,