not to tell you where he is."
"WHAT!? Why the hell not?"
"Well…it’s complicated…."
"I want to talk to Boris. Make him come to me!" Raider demanded, becoming defensive and bearing his fangs.
The bears shook nervously.
"Yea…yes, sir!" That said, the 2 frightened bears ran off.
The door of the cabin flung open, causing Raider to jump. Lucinda stood in the doorway.
"Stop that barking! You’re giving me headache!" She shouted, slamming the door.
Raider growled at the door before lying back down.
Why won’t Boris allow me see my son?
Jenna sat outside her home looking at the snow. Her mind was racing. She lifted her head when she heard the creak of a nail against the wood fence. It was Balto.
"Good morning Jenna." He smiled.
"Hello, Balto." She replied quietly.
He went to her, rubbed his head against hers and sat down.
"What’s new?" He asked.
"Oh…nothing important."
After an awkward silence, Jenna looked up at her mate.
"You wouldn’t happen to know where Boris is, would you?" She asked.
"Boris? He left this morning. He said he was going to see you."
"Yes. I saw him this morning. But, he ran off. I think it had something to do with this dog that came to town."
"What dog?"
"Well, I don’t know much, but I heard my humans talking about this famous husky that was stolen 5 years ago. It seems that he was found and returned today."
Jenna stopped for a moment to catch her breath.
"He stopped and looked at me."
"Did he?" Balto asked, a bit of jealousy in his voice.
"Yes. He smelled me…then, he growled."
"He growled at you?!" Balto questioned, enraged.
"He looked…I don’t know, disappointed. He called me a ‘dog’."
"What?" Balto questioned with a small laugh.
"I know it’s weird, but, he seemed very angry that I’m a dog."
"Well, if I find him, I’ll give him something to growl at!"
"Balto…" Jenna giggled.
Balto stood up and turned away.
"Where are you going?" Jenna called.
"To find Boris. I think you’re right. He knows something about this self-hating dog. And, I’m going to find out what."
That said, Balto dashed off into the snow.
Raider lifted his head again. A down feather had brushed against his nose. He stood up and peered around.
"Psst…" Someone called quietly from around the other side of the house.
Raider hopped off the porch and walked around the house. A huge wing grabbed him and yanked him behind the house.
"Boris!" Raider barked happily.
"Shh!" Boris hissed. "Keep it down!"
"What’s going on, Boris? Why won’t you let me see my son?"
"It’s very complicated, Raider!"
"Why is it complicated?"
"Because Balto doesn’t vant to see you!"
"What?"
"He…he thinks you abandoned him."
"I did no such thing! You know that!" Raider snapped.
"Yes, I know. But every time I try to explain, he runs off!"
"So he doesn’t know what happened?"
"I’m sorry." Boris apologized, hanging his head.
Raider turned away.
"I have to talk to him." He said sternly, walking back towards the house.
Boris grabbed his tail.
"You can’t! If he von’t listen to me, vhat makes you think he’ll listen to you? And besides that, you’re chained up!"
"I’m his father! He will listen to me! As for the latter, I’ll be off this thing momentarily. Just go hide by those logs over there." Raider pointed to a stack of wood about 50 feet from the house.
"But, Raider…"
"Do it, Boris!" The dog snapped aggressively.
The goose immediately did as the fanged beast requested. Raider then returned to the porch. He faced the door and whimpered. He paced, whimpered some more, then stopped and arched his back. Robert took a peek out the window. He turned around.
"Jimmy! Raider’s about to bend a fresh biscuit on the porch! Better let him off the leash."
A boy, around 16, reluctantly shuffled to the door with a groan. Robert grabbed his shoulder.
"And this time, pay attention. We don’t want to repeat history…"
The family and their dog dismounted their sled and looked up at the new cabin. Robert opened the door and stepped inside, his wife close behind him. Jimmy stumbled in with the luggage after tying the dog to one of the pillars on the porch. Raider turned and watched the sled leave. A howl rang throughout the sky. The dog’s heart skipped a beat. It was a wolf, and it wasn’t too far away, either. Raider turned towards the house and whimpered excitedly. His cries went ignored. Flustered, he stretched as far as his leash would allow him to go and simply stared into the horizon. He kept his ridged stance all day. By nightfall, his feet were cold and ice crystals had formed on his whiskers. He hadn’t heard the howl since. The sudden slam of the door broke his intense gaze. It was Jimmy. Raider got up, stretched, and walked over to the boy, his tail swaying to and fro.
"Uncle Robert says it’s time to let you off the leash so you can relieve yourself." He said, pulling the rope over the dog’s cold ears.
Raider trotted a few feet from the porch, sniffed around, then lifted his leg. The boy stood shivering on the porch watching the dog and making sure he didn’t run off. A howl boomed across the open night sky. Raider jumped and looked out on the horizon, pinpointing the origin of the howl. Jimmy shuddered at the eerie sound.
"Hurry up, Raider!"
Raider stayed where he was. He was free and unbound by the dreadful rope. He took a step forward.
"Raider, NO!" Jimmy scolded.
The rope may have been gone, but the dog was still bound by the law of humans. Of course, every law has a loophole. He immediately began pacing. After a moment or two, he stopped and arched his back.
"Ew, gross!" Jimmy shouted turning away.
As soon as the boy’s eyes left his own, the dog/human bond was broken. Wasting no time, Raider bounded away towards the wild without a second thought. Jimmy turned back around cautiously. The dog was gone. Nervous, the boy squinted his eyes trying to see into the dark.
"Raider!" He whispered.
The dog did not return. Jimmy carefully stepped off the porch and walked into the darkness. Another spine chilling howl rang over the snow. Frightened, Jimmy scurried back to the porch. Tears filled his eyes. He had just lost his uncle’s priceless dog. He turned and ran into the house, crying wildly.
"UNCLE ROBERT!!!!!"
The 16-year-old rolled his eyes.
"Uncle Robert, that was years ago. I won’t make that mistake again." He grabbed the knob and stepped outside.
He stopped and glared at Raider, who simply wagged his tail. Jimmy knelt down and grabbed the leash buckle.
"Don’t even think about running off again, mutt-face." He sneered.
Raider simply turned away with a snuff. He listened carefully for the snap off the leash. The buckle clicked and the weight of it fell from his neck. Thinking quickly, Raider grabbed the end of the leash into his mouth and ran around the boy with great speed, wrapping the leash around his ankles. With the material still in his mouth, Raider jumped off the porch and pulled tightly. Jimmy went tumbling face first into the cold snow. Knowing he had done wrong, Raider whipped around and ran away. Boris stuck his head out from behind the woodpile just in time. Raider snatched the goose’s head in his mouth as he zoomed by. Flailing and kicking, Jimmy finally freed himself, but the dog, once again, had alluded him.
"DAMN IT!" Jimmy shouted kicking off the rest of the rope.
He looked around. Raider was long gone.
"Everything okay out there?" Robert called from inside the house.
"EVERYTHING IS FINE!" Jimmy screamed. "I CAN HANDLE IT!"
That said, Jimmy trudged off through the snow following Raider’s paw prints.
In the cabin, Lucinda and Robert sat in their den, reading.
"He lost the dog again, didn’t he?" Lucinda asked.
"Yup." Robert said, flipping a page in his newspaper.
There was a moment of silence between them. Lucinda shook her head.
"That’s one stupid boy."
Once he felt he had enough distance between himself and Jimmy, Raider slid to a stop in the middle of town. He dropped Boris in a puddle of cold slush.
"Wow! That was the most fun I’ve had in years!" Raider laughed, prancing around the wet, angry goose.
Boris got up and shook off.
"Fun for you maybe!" He honked.
Raider gave one last small chuckle and began sniffing around each house.
"Vhat are you doing?" Boris asked.
"Looking for the house Balto lives in." Raider answered, not taking his nose off the ground.
"Sniff all you vant. You von’t find him here."
Raider brought his head up and looked curiously at Boris. "What do you mean?"
"Balto doesn’t live vith humans."
"So, he lives with a wolf pack then?" Raider hoped.
"Not exactly."
Raider walked back over to Boris and sat on his haunches.
"What do you mean, Boris? Why doesn’t my son have a home with human or wolves?"
"Vell, it’s difficult to…"
"Boris, please. Stop beating around the bush. I really want to know what’s going on with Balto."
Boris sighed and rubbed his head.
"Alright, boy-chick. I’ll tell you everything."
Jenna was about to turn the corner when Boris and that dog caught her eye. She backed up quietly behind one of the buildings and listened.
"Balto cannot live vith volves because he is ashamed of that half of himself."
"No…" Raider whispered, shaking his head.
"And he cannot live vith human because of his volf half. They…they hate him for it."
Raider got up, furious.
"What? That’s ridiculous! What do they think their dogs are made of? They’re only domestic wolves! If it weren’t for our curly tails, they wouldn’t even know the difference!" He ranted.
Jenna shook her head at the conversation. Why was this dog so interested in Balto’s life? She continued to listen.
"I know you’re upset, Raider, but it’s not like Balto is a hermit! He pulled a sled for a vhile and saved a bunch of kids, and he ran vith a volf pack for a vhile vith his daughter, Aleu. But, his one true place is vith me on his boat."
"No. I did not want my son to wind up this way. Ashamed of what he should be most proud of…"
Jenna’s eyes widened.
His son?
She backed up,
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