doesn’t belong on the team, or anywhere else.”

“What? You know I belong next to you, babe,” Lucas purred.

“Silence! We’ll proceed with the activities we’re here for,” Doc ordered, “To honor and congratulate the team. Mail team, line up over there. Everyone else, over on that side of the building…Kira and Lucas are to be separated, though I think that goes without saying.”

Dusty, completely on edge, took his place at the end of the row of mail team members. He studied Kira, who was only two dogs over from him, and Lucas, who was in third place with Kirby and the female Dusty on either side. Through all his quiet ways Dusty had learned how to analyze behavior and appearance and guess at why a dog acted the way he did. Quickly, before the ceremony began, he stared intently at Lucas without drawing the dog’s attention. Lucas seemed hard and rude and completely unaware that there were such things as boundaries when showing feelings. He didn’t act at all like a dog that had grown up in a town, and Dusty suddenly wondered if Lucas was a stray. The iron gray mutt did have a collar, but the leather smelled fresh, and the silver license was as shiny as a new coin. He probably had been taken off the street and away from the alleys only a few days ago…though by the way Kira acted, Lucas had been flirting with her for quite some time.

Dusty shook his head and moved on to Kira. She stood with her head up and her furious green eyes on the door across the room, ignoring the wanting looks Lucas kept giving her. Dusty knew now that she was a friendly, kind, and talkative soul, but if something or someone threatened her, she turned into a vicious, protective monster that could fight with the bad boys. He found himself feeling a twinge of jealousy for Kira’s personality and talents. If only he could be more like her…

“Now,” Doc said firmly, “I will call out the names of the members of our new team. You may voice your support for them. Kodi!”

Kodi grinned proudly and a little nervously at the crowd as a wild cheer went up. As the supportive shouts grew louder his embarrassment melted away, and he swished his tail and thrust his chest out with pride.

“Dusty!” Doc cried.

The other Dusty smiled and stood taller as yells and whistles went up for her.

“…Lucas!” Doc said.

Silence. Lucas bared his teeth at them all.

“Kirby! Ralph! Kira!” Doc shouted. The crowd whooped and stomped their feet, and the forest of wagging tails was so thick it looked to Dusty like the very room was swinging back and forth.

“And, last but not least, Dusty!” Doc cried.

Dusty froze as his name echoed through the old building, and he looked out in astonishment as the cheers continued. He thought everyone was probably just being polite, since he hardly knew anybody, but the support stirred him inside and made him grin like a carefree pup.

“Yeah, Dusty!” Kodi yelled from down the line, “Welcome to the team!”

Dusty felt himself swell inside, and before he could stop himself, he howled. He howled for joy, and he heard Kodi laugh in surprise and howl, too. Soon the others caught on, and the whole mill shook with the joyous cries of the dogs.

Suddenly, the wildest and most beautiful howl cut through all the others. Dusty fell silent and turned with everyone else to see Balto in the middle of the crowd, lowering his muzzle as the soaring call died away. His father smiled softly at him and winked. “Dad,” Dusty muttered with a grin.

“You have two of your kids on the mail team now,” Sylvie drawled, “You’ve got to have something to say about that, Balto.”

“Speech!” yipped someone else, “Give us a speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!”

Balto shook his head in wry amusement. “Okay, okay! I’ll give you a speech…This isn’t going to sound like anything you ever heard before, just to warn you.” He thought for a minute, then looked at Dusty, and he laughed at himself. “Sorry, guys, but I don’t have anything to say except…You all know my father, Scout, was a mail dog? Jenna’s father was a mail dog, too. When we raced Duke in his high-tech plane, I was also part of the team for awhile. And now I’m glad that the tradition’s gone on through the generations. Kodi is one of the best sled dogs I’ve seen, though I guess everyone expects me to say that, since he’s my son. But it’s the truth; he is good.” The female Dusty nudged Kodi in the gut with a smile, and Kodiak beamed.

Balto looked at his other son with pride in his golden eyes, and Dusty felt an anticipating shiver go down his back.

“You all know Dusty isn’t the most talkative dog,” Balto continued, “But his feet are fast where his mouth isn’t. Has anyone here seen him run? He has speed, he has endurance, and I’m not surprised he made it as a mail dog. I’m glad Kodi and Dusty are part of a lasting tradition…and I know Dusty will be a great new member of the team.”

“Yeah!” someone cried, and others stomped and cheered to show their approval of Balto’s speech.

Dusty, however, was still. He looked around at the crowd, then his searching gaze flicked to Kira and Lucas. So much was expected of him. He knew his father had faith in him, but he could feel doubt throbbing like a purpled bruise on his heart. Could he be a good sled dog, with one friend, one enemy, and his father’s and older brother’s shadows hanging over him?

Suddenly, he had an urgent desire to break away, and run free. But Dusty shook himself. No. He had a job to do.

“All you new dogs are in the back so you watch and learn from the pros,” Kodi explained, showing off in his position as lead dog.

“ ‘Pros’?” Lucas sniffed, “How about old-timers?”

“You better watch that mouth, Lucas,” the other Dusty said, switching her tail in his face, “Because I don’t take no crap from nobody.”

The dogs were all lined up outside the post office in the order they had finished the race in, fully harnessed and impatient to get started. Dusty, who was disliking being the wheel dog, half-listened as his teammates bickered among themselves. The run certainly wasn’t off to a good start. He hoped the others would cool off before they got to Fairbanks.

“Hey. Dusty.”

He glanced up and saw Kira looking back at him from her position in front of him.

“Does Kodi normally act like this?” she asked, “You know…” She lifted her head and made a pompous expression with her nose in the air.

Dusty laughed in surprise, and shrugged. “Yes and no. He’s normally pretty confident, but he’s being especially cocky because…we’re all kind of below him, being new to the mail team and everything.” The words seemed to flow right out of him. Since when had he said so much at one time? He clamped his mouth shut and vowed to get quieter in case his mind went blank while he was talking, or he said something dumb.

“Oh.” Kira looked up the line at the other dogs. “It’s going to be weird having two dogs around. Does it bother you at all?”

Dusty shrugged. What was there to say? A name was a name. The team would eventually get used to yelling “Dusty!” and having two dogs answer “What?” Or maybe he just wouldn’t answer at all, and if there was silence after the call, he would know someone was speaking to him. Everything worked out.

“Alright, team, let’s go,” the musher said as he walked out of the office and dumped two bags of mail on the sled. “I’ll check your harness and then we’ll start our run to Fairbanks.”

He tightened the buckles on Kodi’s harness. “Here’s my lead dog,” he said warmly, fondling Kodi’s red ears. He adjusted the girl Dusty’s straps, and went down the line from there. He was inspecting Ralph’s pads after tightening the harness, when Lucas kicked Kirby in the face in the middle of a heated argument they had been having. Kirby growled as the wound from Lucas’ nails whelped blood that dripped down his face. The musher got between them and scowled. “What’s the matter with you? Oh. It’s Lucas, isn’t it?” He sighed. “Training these new dogs is always the hardest.” He unbuckled both Ralph and Kirby and switched them, giving Lucas a tiny swat on the back as he strapped Ralph in. “There. Are we happy?” He strode back to the sled and jumped onto the runners.

“Kirby, what was that all about?” Kira asked.

“That no-good, lying, son of a…” Kirby muttered angrily.

“I know what you mean,” Kira agreed.

“Mush!” the man yelled, and Dusty started trotting along with the others, and let his emotions blow away on the rushing wind as he felt his slight body flow into a swift canter, and then a free-flying run.

What he had just witnessed flashed through his head. He wasn’t exactly sure why Lucas acted the way he did, but he did know that he hated the mongrel with every hard white bone in his body. Fire surged up every time Dusty saw Lucas treat Kira disrespectfully, or hurt another dog. Dusty longed to right the wrongs, to protect Kira and the team, but something held him back. It was like a distant memory always at the back of his mind, so blurry and yet almost clear that he nearly remembered what it was, but it was always just out of reach. He knew he was a coward, and he knew that the memory would help him understand why. Every now and