me" balto

yelled at him, "I...I'm sorry Balto" Kanook said sadly, "he...not enough" balto told him angryly and he walked into town at a fast pace,

The next day was race day, "mushers get your dogs ready" a man shouted, the dogs went up to their sleds, all the mushers strapped up their dogs, on the Nome team

Kodi was second dog whilst balto took over the lead dog position, Maska was looking at Aleu who was sat with her mother saying goodbye to their team, Aleu glanced at him

but pretended not to notice him, Fritz was limbering up for the race, "balto?" Kanook whispered to balto, Balto turned away and ignored him, "OK, fine, have it your way"

Kanook said turning to face ahead again, "I will" balto said just loud enough for kanook to hear, "READY" the man shouted, "be careful Balto" Jenna said to him and nuzzled

his neck, "I will" he replyed nuzzling her back, all 14 teams lined up at the start line, "RACE IN 3...2...1...GO" the man shouted and a flare shot into the sky, all dogs

barked as the teams raced off, Baltos team and Kanooks team were first into the lead, the other teams were'nt far behind though and they all raced towards Nenana,

The teams raced along steep cliff edges and through deep snow and all the while the storm was getting worse, finally all 14 teams made it to Nenana, the mushers rested

their dogs for a while and gave them some food and a drink, "Kodi, are we going to race back in the storm or not" Dusty asked Kodi nervously, "I'm not sure" Kodi answered,

"dad, are we racing back?" Kodi asked Balto, balto glanced at kanook, "yes, we're racing back to Nome and winning" Balto told Kodi and the rest of team, the others looked

unsure, kodi looked at the others then back at his father, "I'm with ya dad" Kodi told him confidently, the other dogs looked at each other, "we're with too Balto" Dusty spoke

up, the other dogs on the team nodded, Balto smiled at them, "we're racing back too right boss?" Fritz asked Kanook, "Of course we are" Kanook told them confidently, the other

dogs on his team smiled, the storm was getting worse and many mushers decided to stay at Nenana till it'd past and give up the race, all except for Balto and Kanooks teams, their

mushers had gotten into an argument and decided to settle it with the race, the dogs on both teams were lashed up and both raced off into the storm towards Nome, the other teams

all looked worried as they headed off but none were brave enough to follow.

Deep in the forest the wind was howling gales and the snow stung the dogs eyes as they ran, both teams were neck and neck and pushing themselves hard to run faster, they ran out

of the forest and into the mountains, "DAD...MAYBE WE SHOULD GO BACK?" Kodi yelled to Balto, Balto looked over at Kanook who glanced back, "NO" Balto replied to Kodi, "WE RUN ON",

and both teams did but the nearer to Nome they got they thicker the snow and the stronger the winds and to make matters worse thunder was now rumbling over head with the odd flash

of lightning making the snow seem brighter, Balto and Kanook were now more determined than ever to beat each other to Nome, "DAD...THIS STORM IS GETTING REALLY UGLY" Kodi exclaimed,

"WE SHOULD STOP" he suggested, "YEAH...STOP AND GIVE UP LIKE THE COWARDS YOU ARE" Fritz shouted teasing them, "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TELLING US TO GIVE UP?" Dusty quickly spat back,

"I'M THE SON OF A CHAMPION" Fritz answered back, "STEELE, HE WOULD'VE BEEN THE HERO HAD 'BALTO' NOT STOLEN IT FROM HIM!" Fritz growled staring at Balto, Balto shot a stare right back

and pushed on harder now even mor determined to beat them, the rest of his team also seemed to push harder hearing who Fritz was, both teams kept glancing at each other as the raced

each time pushing harder, the cliff narrowed but none of the dogs noticed, they were too busy exchanging glares, "easy now" their mushers encouraged them to slow down but the dogs

were having none of it and kept pushing, Balto glared at Kanook and Fritz and they glared back as Kodi growled at Fritz and as they did they ran onto a thin sheet of ice hanging over

the edge of the cliff, Balto was first to notice and tried to stop but his paws slipped on the ice, all the other dogs realizing what they were running on started to panic and the ice

cracked and strained under their weight until it finally gave way and both teams of dogs fell down into the snowy ravine.

Jenna was staring out of the window at the storm outside feeling very worried for Balto and Kodi, "They'll be okay mom" Aleu tried to reassure her, Jenna glanced at her with a faint

smile, "I hope so" Jenna whispered, just then they heard Rosy talking to her father in a worried tone, the two looked at each other then wandered to the top of the stairs, "But dad Balto

and Kodi will come back okay won't they?" she asked her father sadly, "I'm sure they will Rosy, go and play for a bit and try not to worry" He told her, Rosy slowly walked into the living

room, "You should'nt get her hopes up like that" Her mother said her father quietly, "I don't know what else to say" her father replied, "two teams left Nenana in the storm and the chances

of them making it are slim to none and Balto's team was one of them" her father explained to Rosy's mother, Jenna gasped and ran back into Rosy's bedroom sobbing, "Mom?" Aleu exclaimed,

Jenna sat in the corner, tears rolling down her face, "It's alright mom" Aleu told her trying to sound hopeful and curled up next to her mother, "Papa is strong, he'll find a way through"

Aleu said mainly to herself trying to hold back tears.

Balto stirred in the snow, all the dogs had fallen out of their harnesses during the fall and both mushers had been thrown away from the sleds, Balto tried to stand up but cringed in pain

and fell back into the snow, he tried to look around for Kodi and the others but the snow was whipping his face so hard it stung, he placed his paw over his muzzle and began to whimper,

'What've I done?' he asked himself, 'I was so stupid letting such little things get to me and now look what's happened, I've failed miserably' and tears began to fall down his face, he sniffed

and smelt something he had'nt smelt in a long time, he slowly lifted his paw off his muzzle and gently opened his eyes to see a giant white paw right infront of him, it looked as though it was

glowing but he was'nt sure if that was the snow or not, he slowly looked up and saw the white wolf he had seen twice before staring at him with her amber eyes, Balto stared at the wolf for a

few seconds before gently whispering "Aniu?", the large wolf nodded her head in reply, "get up my son" she told him in her soft voice, Balto listened to her and tried but yet again writhed in

pain before falling back to ground, "get up" she told him more sternly but still softly, Balto looked at her, "I can't, it hurts too much" he told her, "there is no such word as 'can't' for a

wolf" she said to him before stepping back a few paces, "but I'm not..." Balto stopped what he was saying and felt that same strength he felt when on the serum run flowing through his body, he

glanced up at Aniu who turned to face left of him, Balto followed her gaze and saw Kodi and all the other dogs lying in the snow, his shot his face back to Aniu and she tilted her head upwards

slightly, Balto, understanding her movements, summoned all his strength and slowly raised himself from the floor and standing up straight looked at Aniu almost eye to eye and together they let

out a loud, long, beautiful howl, Kanook hearing the howls jilted in his position and looked up in amazement at the sight of his beloved Aniu standing infront of Balto, he slowly and painfully

stood up and limping wandered over to them, Balto and Aniu stopped howling and Balto smiled, he turned and faced his father, "Aniu" Kanook whispered, Aniu walked over to him and nuzzled him under

his chin and he nuzzled her back, Aniu stepped back again and Balto stepped forward, "I'm sorry...dad" he told Kanook, "I should'nt have acted that way" Balto apologized, Kanook smiled and nuzzled

his son, Aniu smiled at them and howled disappearing into the wind as she did, by this time all the dogs were watching astounded, "lets get home together" Balto told them, all the dogs barked in

reply and pulled their mushers onto the sleds, slipped into their harnesses and ran for Nome with a newfound strength.

The teams were nearing Nome and as the town came into view Balto let another long, magnificent howl which Jenna and Aleu heard, they both looked up and ran outside barking, people started gathering

to see what the commotion was about and one person noticed the two teams running towards the town, "look, the lost teams!" they shouted, everyone turned and sure enough they all saw both teams darting

toward Nome, "BALTO!" Jenna shouted running through the crowd, the teams ran into town Balto's team first and everyone was overjoyed at their return, the musher came to and realized they were home,

"hehe, Balto has done it again" their musher exclaimed petting Balto, "BALTO" Jenna shouted finally getting through, she ran up to him and they nuzzled each other lovingly, "Kodi" she sighed, nuzzling

him too, "Balto?" a voice came from behind him, Balto turned to see Fritz standing there, expecting Fritz to have a go at him Balto sighed and turned to face