“Hey Dusty,” Kodi said as he walked over to the team.

 

 

“Your late again!” Ralph barked.

 

 

“Yea, if your gonna be a mail dog, get here on time Kodi!” Kirby added.

 

 

“No he’s not! What’s got in to you two!” Dusty snapped at him. Ralph and Kirby shut up after that and Kodi got strapped up again.

 

 

“Sorry guys, I won’t be late tomorrow! I promise!” Kodi said. Suddenly, the team was off again. Then ran out of Nome and into the wilderness, on the trail to White Mountain. Kirby looked behind at Ralph. Ralph was staring at Dusty smiling. Dusty hadn’t really noticed.

 

 

“Hey, Dusty!” Ralph shouted.

 

 

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” Kirby barked angrily and skidded to a halt sending the rest of the team to a shuddering stop.

 

 

“Kirby?! What on earth are you doing?!” Dusty shouted.

 

 

“Yea, Kirby,” Ralph sneered at him with a grin on his face.

 

 

“I saw you there! Just because your closer doesn’t mean you have the chance!” Kirby growled at him. Ralph growled back.

 

 

“What’s going on?” Kodi asked, a little annoyed that they had stopped for no good reason. “Yea! Why have you stopped us?!” Dusty said angrily.

 

 

“Tell ‘em, Kirby!” Ralph laughed.

 

 

“Ralph has a crush on you!” Kirby blurted out very quickly.

 

 

“What?!” Dusty said.

 

 

“ME! I do not! You’re the one who has a crush on her!” Ralph shouted.

 

 

“What?!” Dusty and Kodi shouted together completely confused.

 

 

“Ralph has a crush on you!” Kirby shouted to Dusty’s baffled face.

 

 

“Well, you do too!” Ralph shouted back.

 

 

“What do you mean?!” Kodi asked.

 

 

Dusty didn’t know what to say. She just stood mouth wide open. Suddenly Kodi could here the angry calls of the musher.

 

 

“Come on guys! We’ve got a job too do,” Kodi said and they began to run again. Nobody spoke. The whole team ran in silence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kari sat down and waited. She was at the same spot that she met the dog last night. She wanted to know more about him.

 

 

“Hi there,” A voice said from behind her. She looked back and saw Shadow walking towards her. He looked very different in the light. He didn’t look so sinister and huge. It must have been the darkness acting on her eyes. But he was still much bigger than her. “Hey,” She said and stood up to greet him, “Do you want to go for a stroll?” Shadow smiled, “Alright then,”

 

 

The two of them walked around the streets of Nome.

 

 

“I’m hoping to enter some of the races around here. I hear there are some fast dogs here in Nome, and I wanna show how fast I can be,”

 

 

“I’m sure you can be pretty fast. Have you heard of my father? He’s the fastest dog in Nome actually!” Kari said excited to tell him about Balto.

 

 

“Really? Who?”

 

 

“Balto, have you ever heard of him?”

 

 

Suddenly, Shadows relaxed and happy face turned to a tense and slightly angry looking face, also astonished and anxious. “Who-who did you just say he was?”

 

 

“Balto. You must have heard of him,”

 

 

“Um…  yea…  I’ve heard of him,”

 

 

“Great! Hey, maybe my dad will even challenge you to a race!” Kari laughed; she wasn’t noticing Shadow’s nervous tone.

 

 

“Um… no… I don’t think…   I don’t think we should do that,” Shadow said looking around him quickly in a panic.

 

 

“That’s ok! I was only joking! Would you like to go and visit him anyway?”

 

 

Shadow suddenly backed off from her slowly.

 

 

“Um… emm…  I gotta go,” He said and began to run off.

 

 

Kari looked surprised, “What? Why?”

 

 

But Shadow didn’t answer, he just ran off back to his home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shadow was in a big mess. He liked Kari, and Kari seemed to like him, but how could he. She was Balto’s daughter. How could Shadow betray his father like that? He would never do that to him. Balto was trouble. He had to stay away from him. From what his father had told him, Balto was bad news. But Shadow couldn’t leave Kari just like that. He really, really liked her. He liked her a lot. He was confused. Very confused. What could he do? Shadow’s father has had some bad times with Balto in the past. He betrayed his father. He felt the same rage in him that his father, a great champion sled dog, who was run out of Nome because of Balto. His father was the real hero of Nome! Steele.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3

 

 

The beginning of Kodi’s Troubles

 

 

 

 

When the team finally got back from the mail run, they all walked over to the Old Mill, where they would hang out most days. Kodi and Dusty walked over at sat side by side next to the furnace. They began to talk and laugh together. Ralph nudged Kirby and pointed to them with his head.

 

 

“Don’t worry Ralph, will get in there somehow,” Kirby whispered to him.

 

 

“Yea, Kodi doesn’t even have a chance!” Ralph laughed.

 

 

Kodi turned round as he heard his name.

 

 

“What’s up guys?” He asked. Ralph and Kirby looked a little uneasy.

 

 

“Umm…  nothing!” Ralph said. Dusty gave him an un-trustful look.

 

 

“What are you guys doing?” She asked suspiciously.

 

 

“Nothing!” Kirby shouted getting annoyed. Dusty continued to glare at them.

 

 

She stood up. “Come on Kodi. Do you want to go down to the shore again?”

 

 

Kodi stood up as well, excited, “Yea, sure!”

 

 

The two of them walked out the door of the old mill. Ralph checked to see if they were truly gone, then he turned back to Kirby.

 

 

“Did you see that?!” He whispered angrily.

 

 

“Yea!” Kirby replied, “Well he doesn’t stand a chance against us!”

 

 

“But Kirby, this could be a real problem!”

 

 

“Don’t worry! I’ll win Dusty over for sure,”

 

 

“You?! I was talking about me! It’s gonna be a real problem for ME to win her over!”

 

 

“Oh yea! Well let’s just see shall we!”

 

 

“Yea, but first we gotta get Kodi out the way!”

 

 

“Well, Kodi’s my friend yea, but he can’t stand in the way between me and Dusty!”

 

 

“Yea! But I can assure you, it will be my way he is standing in the way off,”

 

 

“What do you mean by that?!”

 

 

“Well, doesn’t look like you have a chance with her does it,”

 

 

“What?!”

 

 

Kirby and Ralph began another ear splitting argument.

 

 

 

 

“Hey, what was wrong with Kirby and Ralph?” Kodi asked.

 

 

“Don’t know. What were they on about earlier as well?” Dusty answered back.

 

 

They were walking along the smooth snow that was painted orange and pink because of the setting sun.

“Yea, I know. I think Kirby and Ralph have a crush on you,” Kodi said.

 

 

“What?! Oh no! They don’t do they!”

 

 

“Yea, that’s what they were arguing about, saying that they both had a crush on you. Hey! Maybe that’s why they are arguing so much lately!” Kodi seemed happy to finally find out why they were arguing, but Dusty wasn’t happy one bit. She was worried. How could she tell Ralph and Kirby that she didn’t really feel the same way about them? “Oh no, I can’t!” Dusty said, “How do I tell them?”

 

 

“Tell them what?”

 

 

“That I don’t feel the same way!”

 

 

“Why don’t you give it a shot? Go out with one of them,”

 

 

“What?! Are you crazy?! With Kirby or Ralph! Besides, how could I choose between them, it’s not fair on me, or them!”

 

 

“I guess your right there. But come on, you should try it! It would be fun!”

 

 

“There’s another…  reason too…”

 

 

Kodi looked at her. She was blushing slightly, and seemed quite shy to tell him.

 

 

“Go on,” Kodi said happily.

 

 

“I…   kinda have feelings…   for someone else,”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kari walked over towards the dog salon. She didn’t feel like getting her usual bath and beauty. She was so confused about Shadow. Why did he run away like that? What did he have against her dad? She had to tell Jess and Sasha. She had forgotten all about what Jess had said and she thought it might make her feel better to tell someone. Kari walked in and the bell rang as the door shut.

 

 

“Hey Kari! Sorry, about last night, sweetie…” Jess said as she walked over to them. Kari got placed into a metal tub and bathed. Jess continued to talk to her,

 

 

“I didn’t mean to upset you, Kari! I didn’t know what I was saying! I…”

 

 

“Never mind that, Jess! It’s ok!” Kari interrupted her, “I have something to tell you,”

 

 

“Oh, what is it?” Sasha said excited to hear the news.

 

 

Kari was about to answer but she was soaked by a bucket of water. After the water had drained out her face, she

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