Copper couldn’t tell. The area around and mostly below the eyes moved and turned into a stately white wolf. Copper gasped, and though he had only ever heard descriptions of her from Balto, Copper was almost positive of who it was. “Aniu?”

The white wolf gazed at them through unblinking golden eyes, and suddenly turned and howled and padded briskly into the storm. The unearthly sound rang in Copper’s ears and through his heart, and as if guided by something inside Taya stepped forward and began following the wolf. Copper leaned against Taya and unconsciously dragged his paws through the snowdrifts. The whole world started to blur and spin even more, and with a final spooky howl from the leading white wolf, night entered Copper’s mind and he fell unconscious.

Copper woke with vague recollections of awakening at the edge of the dark town, with the white wolf nowhere in sight and him having to nudge Taya in the shoulders to tell her which way to get to Johnson’s house. He lifted his head and looked around to see he was sprawled out in front of the closed front door with Taya collapsed beside him. She must have just made it through the doggy door before collapsing head-long and throwing Copper off her back, and they had stayed in the same positions they had landed in until now.

Snores coming from down the hall told Copper Johnson was there. He had obviously been on the one of the eight sleighs that had escaped the police last night. The wolf-dog glared down the hallway at the man that had abandoned him the night before, and tentatively got up, to a ripping, slicing pain in his left front leg. He looked down to see the limb was crusted over with dried blood, and even a little ice still there from the long journey last night. Copper tried to shake it, and almost fell over in wincing pain. The bone was probably fractured, even possibly broken. He would have to wait till Johnson noticed enough to take him to the vet. Meanwhile, he would have to get used to walking on three legs…and consider dumping Johnson as an owner. After what that man had done to him last night, there didn’t seem to be much reason to stay. Maybe he could live with his brother Dusty and his owners, the Tolbecks. The little girl Julie was always looking for more pets, and she was a little spoiled, so chances were Julie’s parents could buy Copper off Johnson, and Johnson would get rid of the dog he no longer loved or had use for, Julie would get her second pet, and Copper would get a home and get to know his younger brother better. If worse came to worst, Copper could live with Balto on his boat along with Kaila…it would lose him some of his dignity, but it was better than living on his own on the streets. A lone street dog he would never be. No way.

Copper’s red-brown eyes flicked over to the strands of mellow, early morning light streaming through the windows and glimmering on the floor. The light danced across the wood to play along Taya’s red-gold fur, making it shimmer. Copper smiled a little and limped over to bump Taya in the back with his nose. She quickly lifted her head and looked at Copper with her piercing, pale sapphire eyes. “We made it through?”

“Yep,” Copper replied, “Welcome to Nome once again. It looks like we came through safe and mostly sound.” He nodded to his wounded leg with a small grin and a shrug, and Taya snorted and heaved herself up on trembling legs.

“You were never sound to begin with,” she said, tapping her head with the tip of her tail, “Which would explain why you rescued a dog like me, almost got us frozen to death trying to get here, and-”

“Well, geez, you think you’d be a little grateful to some one who just saved you from your death in that little cage under that rickety old house,” Copper huffed, a little hurt and annoyed, “I risked my life for you!”

“Yeah, but who ended up carrying who here?” Taya shot back. Copper could feel his face redden and heat up, but he didn’t say anything. “Okay, so you risked your life to get me here. I get that. What I don’t get is, why? You said yourself I’m worthless! Plus, you didn’t even know me then, and you don’t know me now! Why would you risk your life for ME?”

Copper looked down at his paws and studied them. They were supposed to be white, but his left paw was a moldy kind of red with old blood; his right paw was a little less so, but it was also a dirty brown-gray from the dirt in the fighting ring. Reminders of hell. He imagined Taya looking down at her bloody paws after a fight many more times than him, and he wondered what she had felt. Guilt? Sadness? Or did she just not care? No, that was impossible, he thought. She talked so bad about herself because she did care that she hurt and killed other dogs.

“I knew it was the right thing to do…” he started, but Taya interrupted angrily.

“That’s great, then! I’m just a poor, abused mutt that you felt sorry for, and you rescued me just out of pure pity! Well, keep your pity, wolf! I am NOT a charity case!”

“…And I also knew you deserved another chance at life,” Copper continued quietly, and Taya stopped her ranting and raving and stood where she was, her tall ears twitching now and then. “Look, all I know is that you’ve been forced to do things all your life you probably wouldn’t have done if you weren’t being forced to. You don’t deserve a life like that; no dog does. I thought it would be possible to get you a good home, a better life…that’s why I saved you. Let’s just leave it at that, okay?” He rounded on her forcefully. “Any other questions?”

“Just one,” Taya muttered, and Copper could tell she was trying to take in all he had said to her. “Do you have any idea who that white wolf was? I followed it because it was the only thing left that might lead us to somewhere, but I heard you say something when you saw it. Do you know that wolf or something?”

Copper grinned secretly. “I know this sounds crazy, but I think SHE was my grandmother. Her name’s Aniu. She’s my dad’s mom…and she always seems to show up at the most convenient times.”

There was silence between them as Taya pondered this, but soon she straightened up, backed away a few steps, and announced something she had been mulling over for quite some time. “I’m not staying in Nome.”

Copper’s jaw dropped open. THAT was out of the blue. “What? Why?”

“Nobody’s going to accept me for being Steele’s daughter. I’ll never belong here.”

“Oh, c’mon, Taya,” Copper pleaded, “That was your dad, not you. You’re hardly like him at all. Anyone can see that. You don’t even look like him. Nobody would know.”

“Copper,” Taya said in a low, tense voice, “I couldn’t live that kind of lie.”

“Well…” Copper said helplessly, at loss for what to do. “Listen, I don’t think my dad would hold anything against you. He knows you’re not your dad…Okay, so there might be a couple dogs that won’t exactly agree…” Thoughts of a gossipy Afghan hound and an equally mouthy terrier had come to him in that instant. “…But…”

“Copper,” Taya said again, cocking her head a little to the side and narrowing her eyes, “Why do you want me to stay here? I could get myself a home as easily in another town as here.”

Copper said nothing. He just looked up at Taya, hoping she could read the message he was trying to send her through his eyes so he wouldn’t have to explain himself out loud. He didn’t know how to put his feelings into words. Taya studied him for awhile, and when he thought she just didn’t get it and he would have to tell her, she lowered her head and spoke to the floorboards. “Oh. I get it…You want to make sure I actually get a home.” And then she whispered the next part so quietly he almost didn’t catch it. “And you also like me as almost a friend.”

Copper breathed a sigh of relief, and grinned sheepishly and nodded when Taya looked up at him to see if she had gotten it right. He was glad that she understood him; sad that she wanted to leave. And now she was GOING to leave. Taya was going to leave. ‘Taya’s leaving.’ The thought echoed inside his head for what seemed like forever, and he felt something in his chest tighten as emotions pinwheeled through him. Someone was always leaving: Kaila, Balto, Storm, Hawk, Johnson, and now Taya. Whoa! He put on a mental screech of brakes and reversed through his thoughts. Kaila, Balto.

While one section of his heart was bruised and beaten down for Storm and Taya, another part rose slightly in hope. Could Kaila and Balto have returned home?

“Thanks, Copper,” Taya said, jerking him out of his whirlpool of thoughts, “But there’ll always be some kind of prejudice here. I couldn’t live with it. Some towns haven’t even heard of the story about your dad and mine, so I’ll shoot for those towns. Who knows, I know I’ll try to get an owner and a house, but maybe I’ll even start a family or become a sled dog. I’ll miss you, Copper, but I gotta leave.”

Copper nodded wordlessly, then found his voice. “Alright.”

Taya stepped closer to him until she was almost at his side. “Do you know of any way I could get out of here?”

Copper almost burst out laughing, but managed to hold most of it in while a few chuckles escaped. All this time Taya had talked about