idiotic.”

“And think of how you wouldn’t be able to compare yourself to me, had I not been spoiled rotten. What a tragedy that’d be.”

“I’d rather not.”

Balto looked up at his two sons, his face now serious and full of thought. They noticed this and sat down.

“Listen, I think something really serious is happening. Rosie came a little while ago, crying and holding her hand. I heard later that she was bitten by another dog, did you two hear anything about that?” The two looked at each other and shook their heads, making Balto sigh again. “Great… Something else to worry Jenna, if that Henry stalking her wasn’t enough…”

“That guy is some real creeper, huh? If I was twice as big and a year younger, I’d teach him a thing or two.” Haida chuckled.

“Haida.” Balto said warningly.

“Oh,” he lowered his ears and head slightly, “sorry Pop.”

The front door opened quickly and Nancy rushed through and then ran upstairs. Jenna made it inside the house just before the door slammed shut. She gave a quick sign of greeting towards her boys before stepping up to them, clearly out of breath.

“What…What is she so worked up about?” she panted.

Balto stood up and scratched behind his head, “Well, Jen, I don’t know how exactly to put this-,”

Haida interrupted, extending a paw, “-and that’s why he hired us to tell you!”

Denali quickly shoved his brother and mouthed the words ‘shut up’.

He stepped closer to Jenna. “Jen, Rosie’s been hurt. A dog bit her while they were out.”

Jenna let out a quiet gasp and took a step back. “Is… Is she alright?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Nancy wouldn’t let me in to check on her…”

“Well we have to get in there right now!” Jenna was about ready to run up the stairs when Balto stood in front of her.

“We can’t go in there. She’ll only yell at us and keep us away. I’m pretty sure we’ll hear how she is when Tom gets home.”

“Let’s hope so,” she murmured quietly.

“Soo… When were you planning on telling the rest of us that Pop was home?” Haida chimed in.

Jenna sighed, “As soon as I could actually get out of the house without worry. I’m not supposed to leave still, remember?”

“Oh yeah, heh, forgot about that,” he shrugged.

“But since you two are already here, would you mind telling Saba, Kodi, and Dingo?”

“Sure thing Mom.”

Haida saluted with the straightest face he could manage before smiling again. He began to follow Denali out when Jenna stopped them again.

“Oh, and tell them and your grandparents that there’s a meeting at around Six. That’s from Henry.”

The brothers nodded and stepped into the streets swirling with snow. Jenna wandered over to her pet basket and flopped down into it, Balto curling in around her soon after.

“Speaking of Henry, how did that talk go?”

“Ugh,” she grunted, “he was trying to hit on me the whole time, and it was all just the worst form of unpleasant.”

Balto smiled and nuzzled her softly. “Glad to see you still have your sense of humor.”

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

Kurtis slipped on his trench coat and bustled after Maurice into the windy, dim-lit street. His stethoscope swung around his neck and his doctor‘s case jingling with miscellaneous items. For some reason, the telegraph operator had come running into the house, only saying that he would tell the doctor everything as soon as they got to the office. It took little time to reach their destination before they burst through the door. Without even bothering to strip himself of his heavy outerwear, Maurice hurriedly tapped the machine briefly.

“Alright Doc, I don’t have much time ta explain, but we have a problem in Nome. ‘Parrently, ‘nother girl was bitten.”

Kurtis scratched his head. “Another? But how? No dogs were coming in or out of White Mountain since we found out about this in the first place.”

“Could have been a’fore we found out. But that doesn’t matter right now,” he flung up his hands and flung his coat down, “we gotta fix this up an’ quick.”

Maurice motioned to a chair towards a far corner and Kurtis was all to happy in taking a seat. He rubbed his hand on his near bald scalp and looked up to a hanging light.

“Do you know when she was bitten?”

“Ugh, I think a few hours ago at least.”

“Hmm, let’s hope she doesn’t show any symptoms. One doctor can’t be in two towns at once.”

The telegraph machine began to bounce and Maurice quickly took out his pad and pencil, scribbling down the message as quickly as he could.

“Alright, he brought the mother and the daughter. Let’s begin.”

“First, ask if the girl has any real indications of sickness. Like a fever, nausea, etc.”

He sent the message, the line going silent for a brief period before he received his own. Maurice began that habit of speaking aloud as he wrote.

“White Mountain… Girl only feels pain… Nothing else…”

Kurtis breathed a sigh of relief. “Well that’s a good thing. She should be safe for now.

Maurice was about to send this message through, until there was a loud rapping on the door and a figure barged through. She looked immediately at Maurice and Kurtis.

“What was it? You came running inside and-”

“No need to worry Stacy. I just needed to get Doc here.”

“What for? If our little girl has some kind of attack, we’ll need him there!”

“Now calm down. He has to be here. There’s the possibility that another child about as young as yours could have the same disease.”

“That’s right Miss,” Kurtis said politely, “the only way we can tell though is if she develops symptoms in the near future. For now though, she appears to be fine.”

He turned away, missing the obvious look of confusion on her face. “Near future? But our little girl felt bad right before she was bitten.”

The doctor turned back towards her, this time his face was riddled with bewilderment. “I’m sorry, but did you say that she was starting to get sick before?” She nodded her head, and he shook his. “You do realize that rabies isn’t an airborne virus, correct?”

“Well, I know for animals it isn’t,” she replied with a perfectly straight face.

“Madam, a virus is a virus. It isn’t going to magically transform any part of itself, least of all the way it transports itself, to deliberately infect a human.”

Kurtis stood up from his chair, shaking his head in minor irritation. He walked to where he had thrown down his stuff and found his black bag, opening it and taking out a small notepad. He took a pen from his pocket and flipped to a certain page.

“What on earth are you doing?” Stacy asked.

“Thinking of which disease it could possibly be… but it’s hard to…”

His voice trailed off as he started to think. He paced around the room, lost in thought. He snapped fingers and looked at Maurice.

“Ask what the dog looked like that bit her.”

He did so, and the reply was just what the doctor ordered. “Says it was a… clown.”

“That’s what our daughter-”

“said bit her. Exactly,” Doctor Welsh smiled, “so it wasn’t a hallucination after all! She must just have influenza.”

“So, that’s good?” the mother asked.

“Not at all,” said Kurtis, “but it’s a heck of a lot better than rabies. In fact…” he rummaged through his bag and found a medical kit, “I should have the thing in here to make her better. But I’ll have to stay for an extra day or two to make sure that she’ll be fine.”

“Oh that’s great! I have to go back and tell my husband!”

Within an instant, she was flying out the door and away from their sights. Kurtis smiled at Maurice.

“Tell them that their little girl is going to be just fine.”

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

The chilling wind blew fiercer and carried more snowflakes by the minute. Two dark figures watched from the mouth of a backstreet, both silent and smirking. The dim light from across the way wavered as a gust rattled the lamppost. They watched the swirling black clouds above until another figure appeared into their vision. The light caught the figure, and in an instant, told the two that it was Doc, the St. Bernard. As the old dog was just exiting their gaze, he abruptly halted as a series of barks were heard. He lifted his ear, and one of the figures did the same. The round of shrill barks ended as quickly as they had begun and the St. Bernard began to make his way. The second figure whispered into the ear of the first before smiling and running off into the darkness. The first figure stepped out into the shadowy street. His steps were as silent as his breathing and his brown eyes blinked. He was now within a few inches of Doc.

“Evening Doc,” he grinned when the old dog jumped and spun around to see him, “now… what was that that you just heard?”

“Nothing of real interest to you I’m sure,” Doc said as he slowly

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