hovered above them shook with a gust of wind that sent the light swaying fanatically about the sides of the buildings. The team slowed to a steady walk and the leader, Steel, wrinkled his upper lip at the town. The dog right behind steel, a pure black and pure blood husky noticed this.
“What is it Steel?”
“Nothing!” Steel snapped. “Just memories Char. Keep your nose in your own business.” Steel continued on through the town. In a way he expected a trap to be sprung on him at any moment, and leading up the charge right to Steels jugular would be that cutthroat Balto. He could still see that mongrels loose hair and bright yellow eyes whenever he thought of Nome, or Jenna.
Jenna, Steel mouthed. The thought of her made him quiver with uncontrollable rage; rage at her for never choosing Steel as her mate, rage at her for choosing a half-wolf to bear her children. But her name also made steel tremble with love; her beautiful fur and shape, the way she would smile and settle even the most unruly dog to an obedient puppy, and her eyes which looked like pools of silver in the darkest of forests, perfect, beautiful. He had to see her again.
“GEE!!” Mr. Miller, Steel’s new owner, commanded.
Steel turned the team right down the main street of Nome. Nobody stood on the streets, only the yellow glow of lanterns guided them along towards the only hotel in Nome.
The team pulled up under the Hotel Nome sign. “WHOA” Mr. Miller said jumping from the sled. He turned to his wife before she could pull herself from under the blanket she had over her. “Put the dogs up out back and bring our stuff around to the front here. I’ll go in and pay for our room.” He walked up the stairs and through the door before she could’ve even answered. Bonnie sighed and pulled herself out of the sled. Her eye’s instantly locked onto Steel. “Now be nice to me Steel.” She pleaded presumptuously. “I don’t want to hurt you, and you don’t want to hurt me, right?”
Steel watched Bonnie as she came walking towards him, her mitten outstretched towards his harness. A growl began to emanate from Steel as she neared him.
“Come on Steel, don’t be this way.” She reached even further.
Like a flash Steel lashed his teeth towards her and caught her mitten full in his mouth, tearing it from her hand as she flew backwards and away. She screamed and came back upright, then lashed out with her boot catching steel in the ribs and causing him to scream out with a high-pitched squeal.
“What the hell is going on out here!!!!?” Mr. Miller said running out of the door, leaving it open, and running to his wife’s side. “What happened?”
Bonnie turned stunned to her husband. “Steel bit me.” She said meekly. “So I kicked him.”
Mr. Miller didn’t hesitate, he threw his hands into the front of his wife’s coat, picking her up, and flashed around to the side of the building where he threw her into the snow at the foundation level. “YOU EVER TOUCH MY LEAD DOG AGAIN I’LL BREAK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” He screamed and pointed his finger at her, then launched his right boot into Bonnie’s thigh. “Now get inside.” He pointed towards the door like a parent to a child. “NOW!”
Bonnie stood and limped into the Hotel post haste, closing the door behind her.
Mr. Miller grabbed Steel’s harness and pulled him around the corner of the building towards the back. Once settled down, Mr. Miller grabbed Steel and ravaged his hands lightly across his prized dog. Mr. Miller was expecting Steel to screech out in pain, and he knew that if Steel did his wife would hear about it as well. But Steel didn’t even whimper at his masters hands finished.
“Good.” Mr. Miller smiled. “Nothing broke or hurt to bad.” He stood straight up and looked down on his dog. “Let’s get you boy’s settled down.”
The back of the Hotel had been set up specifically for the comfort of dogs. Four large cages built with two-by-fours and chicken wire had been constructed one after the other against the side of the building. Inside each cages ten little rundown ramshackle dog boxes all stood in rows with small sections of chains hooked to each house; not enough for a dog to have much free room, but enough for him to keep occupied and out of trouble for a while. They all looked dreary and dismal with a fresh layering of snow and absence of lively dogs or life for that matter.
Mr. Miller unhooked Steel first, then attached him to the nearest house just inside the man-door entrance to the cage. He continued until all his dogs stood, or laid down, inside or out of their little homes letting their muscles relax. Finally Mr. Miller finished up the evening with his dogs by pulling out his alcohol stove and large metal five gallon bucket. He filled the bucket with snow he scooped from a large pile that had collected under the eve of a nearby building and set it on the stove which he lit with a single match. To this he added six fish, which he cut in two, and several large pieces of moose meat. After thirty or so minutes of stirring the concoction he pulled out some silver dishes from his sled bag, and served out a large bowl to each of his dogs. As they ate Mr. Miller put all his cooking stuff away in the sled bag, pushed the sled into a corner of the cage where it would be out of the way, and carried a cotton sack containing clothing around the front of the hotel and away for the night.
Steel felt very unsettled at being back in the town he had long ago forgot. He moved and twitched as if fleas were attacking every part of his body; or he had accidentally got some coffee in his slump.
The pure black husky who had noticed Steel’s anxious behavior earlier lifted his head from his bowl of slump. He watched Steel twitch his eye’s around and stand stiff-legged in front of his box just a few feet away “Hey Steel.”
Steel snapped around on his chain and faced the voice. “What!”
“Take it easy Steel.” The dog said as easily as possible. “You’ve been jumpy ever since we got here. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing Terr.” Steel replied. “I’m just excited is all.”
Terr raised his eyebrows. “Why’s that?”
“Do you remember when I first met you and told you about that wolf dog who took my life from me?”
Terr looked back in his mind. “Uh … yeah, I believe so.”
“And do you remember how much I wanted to hurt him?” Steel growled.
“Yeah.”
“How much I wanted him to suffer?”
“Yeah.”
Steel paused, letting the silence of the moment build up the plan he had formulated in his head. “And do you remember that husky I met out on the trail yesterday?”
“Yeah … but what does he have to do with the wolf dog?”
“He’s the wolf dogs son.” Steel grinned. “And he’s going to be my ticket for revenge.” Steel laughed with a sinister voice. “Now help me out of this collar. I want to go see some old friends.”
“Oh Balto stop it.” Jenna giggled and let her head lay against her mate’s shoulder tenderly. Both of them walked down a long dark alley intermitted by bright yellow gasps.
“Come on Jenna, you know it’s funny.” Balto pressed. “Especially when you slipped in the mud.”
Jenna raised her head off Balto’s shoulder and looked scornfully at her mate. “Balto, that was not funny. I had mud everywhere.” She said matter-of-factly. “Rosy was so mad at me for getting all dirty.” Jenna paused. “But you are right, it was pretty funny.” She giggled and Balto giggled like littler children at a dirty secret.
For the first time in what seemed forever, Jenna was no longer thinking about her troublesome child, Kodi; just as Balto had hoped the evening would go. Jenna had been in such an uptight, strung out, and out of her mind behavior that she had begun to shed everywhere and go into mood swings so sudden that nothing compared to it. Eventually Dixie sent Star to see Balto about getting Jenna’s problem fixed.
So Balto, in all his wisdom, got the bright idea to take Jenna on a first date again. The evening started a little rough as Jenna didn’t
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