another, and turning each corner it touched into a gray, ashy, wasteland. He was quickly thrown out of his world when there was a rapping at the door. He idly wandered to the front door and leaned against it.

“Is this where Steele is staying?” he heard a feminine voice say from behind it.

“Depends,” he replied, “who’s looking for him?”

“His sister, Lilith.”

His eyes widened and he opened the dog door quickly, making Lilith jump back from the other side. He motioned her inside quickly and looked up and down the deserted streets for a tick before looking at her.

“Lilith? What on earth are you doing here? You were supposed to stay in White Mountain.”

She traced a circle with her paw and looked down in shame. “I wanted to, but I was forced here. They were down a sled dog, Star I think was his name if I remember.”

Steele nodded and then suddenly looked at her in surprise. “Wait… Did you say Star? I thought I ordered you to grab Balto…”

Lilith bent down even farther, hiding her face. “Well… we… ugh… made a mistake. Please. Forgive us.”

Steele started to pace back and forth uncomfortably, his tail swishing back and forth fiercely as the fire played with his shadows. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. He had to think of something, and quick. He kept looking at Nikki and then at Lilith out of the corners of his eyes. His frown then turned to a smile, and then to a grin. He patted Lilith and escorted her out of the room so they could talk in private.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Seth walked into his ‘guardian’s house, and flopped onto the green and red rug that was laid ever so exactly in front of the fireplace. He rolled onto his back and stared into the crackling fire. Why was Stevan always treated so well? Why couldn’t he stay? Did his uncle think him useless? He frowned as he continued to pour over these questions. Maybe Uncle thought that Stevan was better than him? …Seth could prove him wrong. But he’d have to wait for a good time, right when his brother would be at his weakest, and then he’d strike, and once and for all, show that he was the superior dog.

“See, I told ya he’d be back Honey.”

“Is it even any use to tell you not to call me anything sweet? It messes with my reputation.”

Seth rolled back onto his stomach and turned behind him, trying to hide his disgust through the mask of a smile. Ritchie was the first to walk up to him and he noticed for the first time how his fur made it appear like there were large, black half-moon shapes under his eyes.

“So Pup, where were you on the eve of today?” Ritchie inquired.

“Just out playing games with the other pups,” Seth forced a wider smile until he felt it start to hurt.

Ritchie put on a mock tough-guy face, “Alright, we’ll let it slide this time, but never let it happen again.”

Duchess opened her mouth to reply, but paused for a moment as she actually focused on the pup. She had a hunch, but she couldn’t be sure right now, so to be polite she shut her mouth and stood there as she let Ritchie finish up.

“Now that’s a good boy, now, go get some rest!” Ritchie called as he gave Seth one last noogie and walked back to Duchess.

When he was in earshot, Duchess whispered to him, saying they had to talk. She sounded serious enough that he didn’t think it would be wise to trifle with her, so he followed her without a word. As they padded up the steps, Seth stuck his tongue out at them as he tried to get comfortable. Duchess stopped Ritchie when the reached the top of the stairs. She glanced back to the first floor and then down the short narrow hallway before she spoke.

She pursed her lips as she spoke. “I know this’ll sound crazy… but I think that’s one of Lucy’s pups.”

He gave her a dumbfounded expression which she blew away a lock of fur and frowned at him.

“The dog. She was my friend… The one who didn’t.. make it.”

“Ooh! The one‘s we found in the alley!” he exclaimed but was quickly shushed by her.

“Not so loud!” she hissed, “But she mentioned having pups, it was only on the rare occasion though, so no wonder I forgot.”

“Or maybe there’s the possibility that it’s just some street dog that we decided to take in.”

“Perhaps. But I have this gut feeling. Didn’t Jenna say that she had a pup come to her too? They could be related.”

“But we never even saw what she looked like. I say that it’s just a coincidence.”

Duchess rubbed her head as she tried to think. “You’re right. We’ll just wait until we can see Jenna again.”

Ritchie walked to a door to their left, revealing an empty, crimson bed reserved for them. “After you M’lady.”

He held it open as Duchess did a form of a curtsy and walked through. Ritchie followed soon after and hopped up onto the bed and moved closer to her.

“Sweet dreams Dear.”

“Say that again and I’ll rip your lips off.”

“Sounds wonderful,” he yawned as the room fell silent to the sounds of shallow breathing.

Chapter Six:

“Well, unfortunately, it’s that time again.”

“Balto, must they take you away on the mail run again?”

“Yeah. Fresh outta dogs, and besides, the others wanted my help in looking for Star.”

“Well the best of luck in finding him. The town’s been such a bore without him to liven things up.”

“That it has Jen, but alas, I must depart.”

Balto nuzzled her tenderly and she licked his cheek. He gave his usual cheesy smile and she giggled.

“Just take care of yourself and the others, and I’ll be waiting here like the overprotective mother and mate that I am.”

Balto chuckled as she gently lowered her orange bandana from her neck and placed it around Balto’s. She eyed him over and smiled.

“Careful now. You look so handsome, especially when you wear that, that I may have cause to be jealous.”

Balto grinned cheerfully and couldn’t help from nuzzling her once again.

“Alright, I’ll see you in a day or so, okay Jen?”

“I’ll be fine as long as you are.”

“I love you, bye for now.”

“I love you too. See ya!”

Balto turned around and exited through the pet flap. He walked briskly down the main street as he saw the sled team waiting for him eagerly. He ran the last stretch and skidded to a halt as he waited for Mr. Simpson to see.

“Ah! There you are!” he called.

The man grabbed Balto gently by the scruff of the neck and led him to the front. As they passed the rest of the team, Balto identified each one of the more familiar faces.

He saw the new dog, Lilith. She seamed to have a look of fear or discomfort. When he was hitched to the front slot, he spoke back to her.

“Everything alright back there Lilith?”

She jumped from her trance. “Y-Yeah. Everything’s okay on my end,” she said shakily.

“If you’re sure then.”

“Oh, most definitely!”

She crossed her front paws and tried to look as content as she could. Balto was about to speak again but was interrupted by Mr. Simpson.

“Alright team, let’s get moving. The sooner we get to White Mountain, the sooner we can hand out these posters to help find Star… Hike!”

Within an instant of the uttering of this last word, the team had already started, kicking the powdery snow high into the air. Within minutes they had already passed the sign that indicated their town, and were well on their way.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

The ice creaked noisily under the paws of a red and white husky. He could hear the sounds of the river as he saw his small village appear before him. He quickened his pace as his kill, a dead rabbit, hung limply in his grip. He noticed that the sun was starting to rise, casting its bright gaze across the tundra.

‘Guess it must be close to lunch time anyways,’ he thought.

His pace quickened as he entered his small village. He walked down the narrow main street and glanced at the overhanging signs, many of which had the name of the village, Solomon, somewhere in them. There were some people roving around in the street, but most chose to stay in there nice warm homes. It must have been nice to have a home for this husky sure didn’t have one. It was for good reason though. No human wanted a dog like Douglas. He was thought to be too much of a danger to even think of taking him in.

Douglas threw up the rabbit and jumped high to catch it again. “Got cha!” he said triumphantly.

He went through a few more volleys of tossing the rabbit and catching it before he became board and decided to stop messing around with his food. He set down his kill before he started to greedily chow down. He licked his lips as he discarded the carcass, burying it under the fluffy snow. Douglas rose his head suddenly as a series of barks came closer to his ears. He walked up the lane and just caught the sight of Balto as he and the team flew past the village.

“Him again,” Douglas hissed through gritted teeth.

He took a step in the direction that the team had disappeared, but quickly stopped himself. There was a sigh as he regained his self-control.

“No. I promised her that I wouldn’t let myself go this easily… I promised.

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