Shadow slowly opened his eyes. He moaned and lifted his head up.

“Huh…?” He said in a dozy voice, “Where am I…?”

Kari turned round and gasped.

“Oh your awake!” She shouted with joy and ran over to Shadow and nuzzled him,

“I thought I’d lost you!”

“Kari?!” Shadow sounded amazed, “What are you doing here?”

Kari sat down beside him. Shadow’s owner had gone to find some breakfast for himself and Shadow. He had stayed with Shadow all night, like Kari did.

“Eh, saving your life!” Kari chuckled. Shadow stared at her eyes.

“I’ll tell you the story!” She laughed.

After a long talk of how Kari and Balto saved Shadow, Kari asked him what she had been thinking for a long time.

“Shadow, what do you think you were doing running away like that?” Kari asked.

“Oh, I don’t know…” Shadow sighed, “I guess I just wanted some breathing space you know…  some time to think. Then I got lost and didn’t know what to do,”

Shadow yawned and he blinked slowly in a dozy kind of way.

“I think you need some more sleep, Shadow,” Kari said sweetly, “You stay here and rest a bit more. I’m going to go out and see my friends and family quickly, I need to tell them the whole story!”

Shadow grinned with a hint of a laugh, but then sunk of to sleep.

Kari walked out into the street. The snow was freezing against her feet that a second ago were warm and toasty next to the furnace. She trotted through Nome to the dog salon, and saw her friends Jess and Sasha sitting on the wooden porch just outside it. She thought it was about time she apologised to them. Kari also wanted to tell them about her adventure last night, she was dying too, and they were her best friends. Kari walked over to them and they looked up at her with slightly worried faces, as if she would yell at them again.

“Jess, Sasha – I want to say that I’m sorry,” Kari said, “I over-reacted, and I know I shouldn’t have behaved like that to my best friends, it wasn’t right. So, I’m sorry,”

Jess and Sasha both smiled at her.

“Oh! Of course we will forgive you sweetie!” Jess said and cuddled Kari.

Kari laughed, “Okay, okay Jess! I’m not dying or anything!”

“So, tell us about last night! We hear you were quite a hero,” Sasha said. Kari would usually feel embarrassed, but this time she wasn’t. She felt more proud of herself and was glad to be able to tell them the whole story and all the tiny details. Sasha and Jess listened in closely, intrigued, hanging on her every word.

Next stop was her mom’s. Kari walked over to her mothers. Balto was still asleep, but Jenna was awake and ready to hear her story. After Kari had told last nights events for the third time that morning, she decided it was time to go back to Shadow. So she left Jenna and trotted back over to the Old Mill.

Once Shadow had found his strength back he got up, stretched and walked outside. The sun was bright and Nome was full of life. People were rushing about, dogs barking. It was all so wonderful for Shadow to see.

“Come on Shadow,” Kari said, “There’s somebody I want you to meet,”

Kari led Balto down and alley and into Jenna’s house. There sitting by the fire with a crimson blanket laid over him was Balto, exhausted. He woke up when he heard the sound of the door creaking open.

“Morning dad,” Kari said, “Did you get a good sleep?”

“Very good sleep,” Balto said and stretched.

Kari stepped in with Shadow close behind.

“Ah, Shadow, glad to see your looking better,” Balto said.

Shadow looked embarrassed. He had been told all that horrible stuff about Balto and believed it and even gone against Kari for it. He felt so stupid.

“Eh… Balto…  I’m – I’m sorry,” Shadow said and stared down at his paws.

Balto smiled, “It’s alright,”

“I guess your not so bad after all…   you know, saving my life and all,”

“Guess not,” Balto chuckled.

“Thanks, I guess without you…   I would be gone. Just like those children…”

Balto widened his smile and beamed at Shadow.

The End

Authors NoteHello all, I hope you read and enjoyed this story! I wish to write some sequels to this fiction soon. If you have read this, please comment and tell me what you thought. Suggestions are always welcome! And please, the characters "Kari, Sasha, Shadow and Jess" all belong to me, so please respect this and do not use without my permission. Thank you! 

 Highland' Wolf