overcame her own self-preservation instincts.

A small whimper escaped her muzzle.

Mike’s ears swiveled and his head snapped in her direction. His eyes settled on her and his gaze suddenly softened.

“Oh Jenna…” he said, padding toward her, “I’m sorry you had to see that, I… Why don’t you and I just go home?” He put a paw behind her and tried to move her from the basket, but she scampered away from him and stood between her father and mother.

“I won’t let you hurt mommy,” she said firmly, surprised at her own determination.

Mike was surprised, too, but only for a moment. In an instant, his warm eyes turned cold as ice.

“Oh, I see, you’d rather stay with your back-stabbing mother than the father who’s always cared for you,” he snarled, “Well you’ll not talk back to me!”

He swung his paw, and Jenna cried out as it made contact, sending her flying into the coal pile by the heater.

Angel screamed in disbelief.

“Mike, for heaven’s sake what are you doing?” she cried, struggling to get up to reach Jenna, “Have you gone mad? Jenna’s done nothing against you!”

Mike turned on her before she knew what had happened. In the blink of an eye, he had her pinned to the ground with his paws on her neck.

“Fine, she can stay here with you tonight,” he said, pressing down on her windpipe, “But you both better be here in the morning…if you know what’s good for you.”

He released his pressure on her throat, and she gasped for air, choking and coughing as the much needed oxygen filled her lungs.

“Please Mike,” she stammered, “Talk to Ryan, or talk to Jake. They’ve both seen me here each day.” Mike snorted in disgust. “If you don’t believe me, ask Henry. Tell him you’re angry, and he’ll be the first to tell you that nothing happened. Please, Mike…”

Mike stood in the doorway for a moment and then looked back at his mate.

“If you’re not here tomorrow morning, there won’t be anyone who can stop me…” he snarled. With that, he walked out.

Angel sighed in despair and put her paws over her head.

Jenna shook her head to clear it and staggered over to her basket, where she collapsed next to her mother.

Angel moved a paw protectively over her daughter and curled up next to her.

“What’s wrong with papa?” Jenna whimpered, “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him, dear. He’s not thinking clearly,” Angel said softly, “But we’ll stay here. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to him.”

“He’ll believe you, won’t he, momma?” Jenna asked, nuzzling her mother.

“I hope so, deary, I hope so.”

“But every morning we were there, every morning with kept our part of the ‘bargain’ it only seemed to anger him more. He would beat her, and sometimes me too. I could hide the scars and the bruises, but my mother was so badly hurt that she feared to even be seen. And so she stayed in that miserable shed, day after day,” Jenna said, “Only five days had passed before it became perfectly clear that no amount of reasoning or pleading would reach him; the father I loved was gone.”

“How could he believe such nonsense over his own mate?” Balto exclaimed.

“I’ve never been able to figure that out,” Jenna replied sadly, “But my mother wasn’t going to wait to find out. So one day, Independence Day, she sent me away once the town was awake…”

Jenna padded down the street slowly, fearing that any moment she might hear the bark of her father’s angry voice and feel the sting of his claws. Still, she chanced a glance backward, toward the boiler room. There stood her mother.

Her normally stunning figure and proud posture had diminished in the wake of her daily harassment. The night before, Mike had gone into a terrible fit and nearly beat her senseless. Her cream colored cheeks and muzzle bore the scars of his claws and teeth, as did her chest and paws. Even her eyes, which usually shone with her inner radiance, seemed dulled by her mate’s painful administrations. Yet even so, she smiled at her young daughter and nodded down the street. Jenna looked down once at the blue bandanna her mother had given her. Then she turned away and started running. I won’t let him hurt her again, she thought, By God; I’ll make him regret ever laying a paw on her. I just have to find Ryan.

Well she seemed alright by dawn’s early light,

Though she looked a little worried and weak,

She tried to pretend he hadn’t come back again,

But daddy left the proof on her cheek,

I was only eight weeks old that summer,

And I only seemed to be in the way,

So I took myself down to the fair in town

On Independence Day.

Jenna prayed for her mother as she slipped among the throngs of people crowding the streets. Please…she thought to herself; please protect her just one more day. Her eyes darted left and right, searching the crowd for a familiar face; anyone she could run to and tell everything to. But for all the people milling around, she had little success, until a pair of heckling voices reached her ears; then, she wished she hadn’t heard them at all, but too late.

“…heard that he’s gotten real steamed up about something to do with Angel.”

“…doesn’t deserve her.”

Jenna froze.

Could someone already know?

She looked around frantically for the source of the voices; it only took a moment to find it. Jenna padded quickly up to a pair of grey females who were chatting quietly near the post office. Though they seemed quite intent on their discussion, they acted bored and uninterested as Jenna padded up to them.

“Gloria, Daisy, what have you heard about my mother?” Jenna said as calmly as she could, “Please, tell me.”

“Your mother? We’ve heard nothing about her,” said the one on the left, scratching her ear.

Jenna cocked her head and stepped closer.

“But you were just talking about her, I heard you,” she replied.

“Not us, deary; it must have been someone else,” insisted the other of the pair.

Jenna looked from one to the other and, more than slightly annoyed, walked quickly away. But as she did, she glanced over her shoulder and saw the two were back to talking and a few others were joining in. Jenna sighed in frustration.

Well word gets around in a small, small town,

They said he was a dangerous man,

But Momma was proud and she stood her ground,

She knew she was on the loosin’ end.

Some folks whispered, some folks talked,

But everybody looked the other way,

And when time ran out,

There was no one about,

On Independence Day.

Jenna nearly cried out when she finally spotted Ryan. The black husky was padding quickly down the street, but she controlled herself and ran to catch up with him.

“Mr. Ryan!”

Ryan turned his brown muzzle toward her and smiled.

“Jenna, what a surprise,” he said, “What can I do for you?”

Jenna swallowed hard.

“Mr. Ryan, you’re the judge, and you wouldn’t let anyone get hurt here, would you?”

Ryan, a bit shocked to be hearing this from such a young pup, shook his head.

“No, of course not, Jenna,” he said, “But I’m in a hurry at the moment…” He cast a glance down the street. “Why on earth do you ask?”

“There’s something I have to tell you,” she replied.

But before she could say another word, the town bell rang out and cries of ‘Fire! Fire!’ came from the crowd.

Let freedom ring, let the white dove sing,

Let the whole world know that today is a day of reckoning,

Let the weak be strong, let the right be wrong,

Roll the stone away, let the guilty pay, it’s Independence Day.

“The whole time I was looking…even as I tried to get Ryan’s help…” Jenna sobbed, nearly hysterical, “It was already too late!”

Balto averted his gaze, unable to bear the sight of his mate in such emotional distress. Finally, he moved beside her and pulled her close. By then, Jenna had calmed down enough to continue.

“When we turned around, we saw the smoke,” she choked, “And when we got there…the whole building was in flames!”

Well she lit up the sky that Fourth of July,

By the time that the firemen come,

They just put out the flames and took down some names,

And sent me to the county home,

Now I ain’t sayin’ it’s right or it’s wrong,

But maybe it’s the only way,

Talk about your revolution… It’s Independence Day.

Jenna’s were wide with panic as the reality of what was happening set in.

“Momma!” she cried, racing toward the enflamed shed.

“Jenna!” cried Ryan from behind her.

Jenna shut out Ryan’s voice and, bowing her head from the heat, made it to the door of the shed.

“Momma!” she cried again

There was no answer save the enraged crackling of the flames as they licked the walls and climbed to the roof. But suddenly, among the hellish glow of the fire within, she saw her mother lying on the floor in a puddle of blood.

Jenna backed away in shock, unable to comprehend what she’d seen. For an instant, she forgot Ryan, forgot the fire dancing ever closer to her, even forgot her father. Only her mother remained. In that instant, she began to cry.

Just then, there was a loud snap above her, but before she could move, she felt a strong body collide with her, pushing her away. She heard someone scream as the darkness consumed her.

“…and that’s all I remember,” Jenna said, “I woke up the next day at home, with Melissa sitting next to me –she was so relieved to see me wake up. But by the time I got back to the shed, all that was left was the heater; everything else was burned to ashes.”

Jenna began to tear up again, so Balto nuzzled her and let her rest her head on his shoulder as he blinked the tears from his own eyes.

“Jen, I-I don’t what to say,” he whispered.

“It’s alright,” she said, “I just wish I knew what happened.”

“Maybe I can help,” said a voice from the doorway.

Chapter Two- An Old Friend

Jenna and Balto looked up in surprise.

There stood a husky, still wearing his sled team harness.