Back at the boiler room:

            “So do you understand Balto?” asked Ritchie after he had finished his speech on how important Jenna was to him.

            “Yeah I understand.” answered Balto.

            Ritchie walked from the middle of the boiler room to the side farthest from the door and Balto followed.

            “Why’d we come over here?” questioned Balto.

            “Oh, no reason.” Ritchie then slightly nodded and scratched underneath his chin. “Balto?”

            “Yes?”

            “Do you like to sleep?”

            “Yeah I guess, why?”

            “Oh, you’ll see.” smiled Ritchie.

            Chapter Seven:

            “Huh?” Balto gave a puzzled face. “I’m afraid that I don’t quite follow you.”

            “Well, I have a present from me and the Mrs. that I would like to convey.” said Ritchie with another smile.

            Balto could only think of what he meant, all he knew was that it was going to be a surprise.

            Then Balto realized something, “Where is this present?” he asked.

            “Right here.” came a voice masculine voice from behind him.

He felt a tap on his back and when he turned around he met a fist that contacted hard with the side of his face. And as if to add insult to injury, he felt another fist land hard on top of his head.

As blackness invaded his sight he could here, “I always hated wolves and he’s no exception. Thank you Greg…” and then he was out like a light.

            “What should we do with him now?” asked Greg.

            “Know anyplace where we can hide him for a couple days?”

            “Yeah, behind my owners house, I have just the thing.”

            “Oh, and Greg,” began Ritchie as Greg began to take Balto out the door, “drop by our house tomorrow around noon okay?”

            “Sure thing.” Greg said as he proceeded to take Balto away.

            Not a minute after Greg had left the boiler room, Jenna came waltzing in. She quickly noticed that Balto was not with her dad.

            “Um, Dad? Where’s Balto.”

            “Ugh… Hmm. We just finished talking and so he decided to go back to his hole, I mean home.”

            “Okay, well I wanted to say goodnight but it looks like I missed him. But what has me worried is that Mom said-”

            “Let’s not talk right here. I’m tired and I want to get home.” Ritchie quickly interrupted.

            “Whatever you say.” Jenna reluctantly replied. ‘What is with them today? I just have this nagging feeling that something is wrong.’ she thought to herself.

            “Nancy!” called Susan from downstairs.

            It was early in the morning. At such an hour that almost everyone was asleep, including Nancy.

            Nancy walked down the stars slowly, still in her night cloths, when  she groggily asked, “What is it…. Sis? It’s so early.”

            Susan gave a concerned look. “Deary, it’s practically seven o’ clock. You should have been up way earlier than this. But nevertheless, I will be taking a look around town so I didn’t want you to worry about me while I was absent.”

            “No problem. Just don’t catch cold.” Nancy replied, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

            “Toodles!” said Susan as she slammed the door behind her.

            After she had left Nancy started to fume. “Seven A.M…. Seven A.M! I’m sorry that everyone isn’t a morning person.” she huffed. “Might as well get breakfast started.”

            “He should be here by now.” muttered Duchess. “He said noon and it’s five minutes past.” she said nervously looking at the clock in the den.

            “Just calm down Sweetums.” Ritchie said.

            Duchess looked at Ritchie and fluttered her eyelashes. “You calm me that again, and I may make an attempt to snap both your paws.”

            “Sorry I opened my mouth.” retaliated Ritchie.

            “You should be.” she said.

            Just then they heard a knock come from the door.

            “Oh that must be him!” Duchess exclaimed. “Hurry, go get Jenna!”

            While Ritchie rushed out from the room to fetch Jenna, Duchess walked over to the doggie door and checked herself in a mirror nearby to see if she was presentable. She casually opened the flap and let the one waiting in.

            “Oh I’m so glad that you came, Greg. I’m so anxious for you to meet Jenna in person. She really is a nice girl once you get past her stubbornness.”

            “I’d be obliged to see her. I hope she approves.”

            “Here she is!” Ritchie announced proudly as he led Jenna into the room.

            And she was almost breathless right there, and she said, “Oh my.”

            “I’m serious! I heard it all from Star!” yelled Dixie.

            “And where did Star hear this hmm?” asked Sylvia.

            “Well, he said he heard it from a fence, but you know how he is, so uncensored. It was probably so juicy that the dog wanted to stay unknown.”

            “Yeah. Guess your right for once.” Sylvia said. “But I gotta tell everyone what Balto did. So doesn’t seem like him.”

            And word spread like wildfire. From inside the telegraph office, Morris could make out certain phrases of this rumor as a group of passerby’s exchanged words. He immediately started to bark out in Morse code towards the boiler room.

            When Doc heard this news barked to him from the telegraph office he couldn’t believe it. He turned to the other dogs in the boiler room that had gathered there to chat.

            “I have some sad news to tell you all. Our hero, our beloved Balto, has had a change of heart. And for the worst I’m afraid. From what I have heard, you do all know that Jenna’s parents are here right?” he asked. Many dogs shook their heads yes. “But anyways,” he continued, “I have heard that last night, while Ritchie was having a heart-to-heart conversation, Ritchie accidentally said something that must have offended Balto somehow and Balto turned against him. Ritchie wasn’t hurt, but only because of a good Samaritan who came to his aid to help calm down Balto. It sounds