“I bandaged up her hand as best as I could, and gave her antibiotics to fight any bacterial infections, but if she really does have rabies, then I can’t do anything about it, unless by some miracle we could get the proper shots in time.”

A medium-sized woman appeared from behind her husband. “Please Doctor, there must be something more you could do… She’s our only daughter.”

“I realize this… But Madam, there’s not much else I can do…” He suddenly received a most unpleasant glare from the woman. “But I guess I can try to do anything I can to save her. I must warn you though, it would be best if you spent as much time with her as you possibly can. The chances for anyone pulling through this disease without proper medication are marginal at best. Especially if she develops hydrophobia, the fear of drinking any liquids. At that stage she will be gripped in a paralysis and may… pass away from dehydration.” He saw tears welling up in both the mother’s and father’s eyes, and he shook his head. “I’m… dreadfully sorry. I didn’t mean to be so blunt… I promise you, that I won’t give up on her, not yet.”

The mother spoke in a whisper. “Thank you… But… can we please spend some time with our daughter?”

Kurtis nodded. “I think that would be best.”

The couple opened the bedroom door silently and gazed upon their daughter under a mound of covers. They stepped up to her bedside. She had long, auburn hair that was draped halfway across her young face. A clean, white bandage was wrapped around her right hand. The mother began to weep quietly and her husband pulled out a neckerchief which she used to dry her eyes.

“First we lost Lilith, which brought our girl so much joy… And now we’re losing her too… Why did all this have to happen?” she sobbed into his shoulder.

He patted her on the back and replied softly. “Don’t worry… She’ll get through it. She’s my girl, and she’s a trooper. And I’m sure Lilith will come home. I know she will. We just, have to have faith is all.”

Doctor Welsh had been listening from the hallway, when an idea struck him. He entered the room, being as silent as possible. He whispered to the couple.

“Does this town have a veterinary clinic?”

“Well, of course it does,” the woman replied.

“Alright then… I was wondering. I don’t know how different the formula is for rabies shots between human and animal, but maybe, using the animal version would have the same effect on a little girl.”

“There’s no way that would work,” the man said, “we’ve already checked our stock, and all of our rabies medication is outdated by a few years. It’d be too risky to do.”

“Wait, so that means-”

“Yup,” the mother cut in, “we’re the veterinarians of this town. My husband and I.”

“Then you two should  have been able to pick up on the rabies, instead of bringing me all the way out here."

“Remember Doctor, we only deal with animals. We didn’t know if the symptoms and treatments were the same for humans as they are for animals.”

He was about to reply when they heard a slamming from downstairs. All three adults stood up and rushed down the flight of stairs. In the doorway stood Maurice, doubled over and catching his breath.

“Doctor,” he panted, “I fixed the connection. We’re gettin’ everything from Anchorage to Juneau loud n’ clear.”

“Oh thank the heavens! Quick! I need to get them on the horn!” Kurtis replied, smiling along with the two parents.

“Already did sir, the medicine should be on its way. Unless, the storm worsens.”

“Storm? You mean this little flurry?” the man asked.

“Apparently this thing stretches far south and east, and in some parts its gettin’ really bad.”

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

Lawrence Kode rocked back and forth in his chair, trying to keep himself somewhat entertained. He set the chair back onto its four legs, stood up, and walked slowly over to a dusty bookcase. He eyed the different titles sticking out at him and was about to reach for one in particular when he heard a little bell go off from his side. There was heavy breathing and when he turned to look, he saw a woman standing, her face red, her chest heaving.

“Can I… help you Ma’am?” he asked.

She held up a finger, asking for a minute while she caught her breath. “Where… Where is Doctor Welsh?… This is an emergency!”

“What seems to be the problem?”

“My daughter, is at home, crying her eyes out! I did the best to bandage up the wound, but I don’t know what else to do. I went to the Clinic, but there were only nurses there, and I don’t think any of them can see if everything’s okay like Kurtis.”

“Now just hold on a second. What’s this talk about a wound?” Mr. Kode asked, walking back towards his chair and sitting down in it.

The white hat on her head drooped over her eyes. “We were shopping, and my nine-year-old daughter rushed off ahead of me through a shortcut to the candy store, and suddenly she came running back to me, crying. She was holding her right hand, and I had to pry her other hand off of it when we got home. She had a deep gash on her hand that only could have been caused by a dog bite, and an extremely nasty one at that! So tell me, where is Kurtis!?”

The woman saw a very troubled look on the telegraph operator’s face. She bit her lip and stepped closer to him.

“Mr. Kode… Is something wrong?”

Lawrence nodded his head and looked up at her. “Just the last evening, I received a distressed message saying that a girl got bitten in White Mountain. And Kurtis left over to help her... She had rabies.”

The woman clasped her hand over her mouth and suddenly began sobbing into her hand. “Dear God, please no… That’s… something I wouldn’t wish on my worst of enemies… Least of all my own daughter… Lawrence, you have to get Kurtis back here now! It was bad enough seeing her go through the diphtheria, and being completely helpless. But rabies is much, much worse. Please… Get him here.”

“I’ll try, but I can’t guarantee you anything.”

She put a gloved hand on his shoulder as she tried to regain her composure. “Thank you. But, I have to get home right now… Oh how am I going to tell my husband about this? What are we going to do if we lose her?”

Lawrence looked her hard in the eyes. “Listen to an old man’s words. I swear that I’ll get in touch with him. But I’ll need to fetch you when I do, so you can tell him any symptoms that she may have.”

The woman wiped away a few shed tears. “Alright… I’ll be waiting at my home. I’m pretty sure you know where that is.”

“Sure do. Now, you best be getting home.”

She nodded and she quickly rushed out the door, leaving the old man to his beeping telegraph machine.

Chapter Seventeen:

January 19th, 1928

The dog-door swung open slowly as a crimson and white husky peered inside. He looked around, not spotting his mother in her basket, nor any other real signs of life except for noises from upstairs. He stepped inside, followed by another dog with a similar persuasion to him. Haida turned around to his lagging brother and held up a paw.

“Shh. Be vawy, vawy quiet. I’m hunting mothers.”

Denali swatted his paw away and shook his head. “You are such a bonehead.”

“And you aren’t?” he smiled smugly.

“Oh be quiet. The only reason I brought you was because out of all of us, you’re the only one idiotic enough to make Mom smile again.”

“Ahem, I do believe that I was the one to convince you to come with me.”

Denali sighed. “I knew I should never have never let you talk me into it. But let’s get looking. She has to be hiding somewhere.”

Haida shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

The two lowered their muzzles to the floor and began to sniff about. Denali suddenly caught a strangely familiar scent and began to follow it. He came upon  a broom closet and he pushed it open slightly. A dim ray of light shot into the confined space and he saw a brown and tan lump buried deep inside. There was only one dog that that could be.

“Dad?” Denali asked curiously.

Balto suddenly shot up and whirled around to see one of his children. He quickly relaxed his shoulders and sighed.

“Oh, Denali, it’s good to see you again.”

“The same. But what are you doing here? Not to sound rude, but you’re supposed to be… banished,” he said at a whisper.

“I know. But Doc came and told me how badly Jenna was doing, so I had to come here.”

“She knew about this, and didn’t even bother to come and tell us? Shame on her.”

Denali jumped as Haida pushed through him. Balto chuckled and opened the door wider.

“Glad to see your manners are as stellar as ever,” he said with a smile.

Haida held a thumbs up and gave a wink. “Just trying to make you proud Pop.”

“Now I know why he’s such a bonehead,” Denali cut in plainly, “he’s been rewarded for being idiotic.”

“And