the telegraph machine.

“What brings you here?” Lawrence asked, not looking directly at the other man.

Mr. Simpson shifted uncomfortably. “You know how Nikki, Kaltag, and Star are getting up in years right?”

Lawrence nodded. “Yup. What about it?”

“Well, they haven’t been showing up, so the mail’s been going later than usual. I was thinking that I may need to bring in replacements. Right now though, it seems like Nome is tapped out for decent sled dogs.”

“Yeah, I know what ya mean… I’ll get on the horn, see if they have any up for grabs.” 

“Thanks, Lawrence.”

He smiled. “Nothin’ to it. Now you best be getting back home if you want to catch some shut eye.”

Mr. Simpson returned the gesture before exiting the telegraph office. He definitely hoped that any replacements would be up for the task.

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

Balto gave a loud, drawn-out yawn and opened a drowsy eye and noticed something. The sea of white and red fur that he had fallen asleep to wasn’t there anymore. He stood up and staggered when a dull thump made itself known in his mind. He shook his head and blinked.

“Jenna?”

Maybe she was out? No. She was supposed to stay inside still. He took in a deep breath through his nose. Her scent was there, but there were others mixed in with it… Something about this seemed painfully similar… When Star had disappeared, the same thing had happened… The difference was that these other smells were very familiar, but he couldn’t put his paw on where they came from. If this was anything like last time, he had reason to worry. She had to be in trouble… but if he dared go outside by himself, then he risked being killed, and he would be no good to her if he were dead. He paced back and forth slowly, his bushy brown and light tan tail swishing along with him. He gazed into the fire and the flames danced in his eyes.

“What do I do?” he asked himself quietly.

He watched the fire until the flames burned down to a dull flicker and the embers started to die one by one. He was suddenly shaken out of thoughts when the dog door swung open. He whipped around, listening to his first instincts and trying to hide, but when he saw who it was standing there, his shoulders relaxed. It was Kodi, obviously disobeying his ‘house-arrest’. But something wasn’t right about his appearance. He was very shaken, and his face had concern written all over it, including his reddened cheeks.

“Where’s… Mom?” he asked, out of breath.

Balto sighed, “I have no clue… I wasn’t sure to go looking for her or not…”

“Well I think we better,” Kodi panted, “I just heard that a dog saw her being dragged out last night!”

“Did they say where, or even when?”

Kodi shook his head, “They only said what I told you.”

“Darn it! Now how’ll we-”

A ball of purple fur burst through the dog door and skidded across the floor before falling flat on its head. Star stood up, and shook his head while a practiced franticness covered his face. He saw Balto and Kodi and he tried to hide his excitement.

“Balto! I’m so glad I found you!”

“But how did you know-”

“No time to explain!” Star cut him off immediately, his voice sounding more commanding. “We have to go right now!”

Kodi stepped up to Star. “What are you talking about.”

“Sheesh! Do I have to spell it out? I saw them dragging Jenna into this house, we chased ‘em off, but she needs you really badly!”

“Woah, calm down Star. No need to be rude.”

As soon as those words were uttered, Star immediately fell silent and his features softened enough that he seemed half asleep. Balto looked at him curiously.

“Star? Are you okay?” he asked cautiously.

Star padded over to Balto slowly, his eyes were dull enough to match his pupils and his expression. He came within inches of Balto’s muzzle, breathing very softly.

“Now, why wouldn’t I be okay, Balto?” he asked in a smooth voice, “I’m feeling perfectly fine…”

Kodi coughed nervously and Balto pulled away from Star. Star continued to stare, as if he were in some kind of trance. Suddenly, his eyes brightened again and he grinned at the two.

He spoke in an overly-chipper voice. “Well, let’s get going! Don’t wanna keep her waiting!”

Star turned on his heal, his tail swishing back and forth without care. He glanced back at the two, who were still somewhat freaked out and motionless.

“You two coming or not?”

Balto nodded slowly and followed behind Star, at a distance of course. Kodi quickly got the hint and rush up beside his father, unsure of what to think of what had just happened. Star hummed merrily as he pushed the dog door open and held it that way with his tail while the other two exited the nice, warm home. The stiff, wooden boards begged the two dogs not to follow, but it fell upon deaf ears. Visibility outside was zero. The wind blew in a harshness not seen in quite some time, thrusting snow into the eyes of anyone stupid enough to leave the safeness of their houses. Star led the two dogs at an agonizingly slow pace. He walked with a swagger in his step that was ignored by Balto and Kodi. The path ahead of him was nothing but a blur of snow and brightly colored dots. Soon, Star saw wood sidings appear before him, signaling they had crossed the street. He turned to his left and followed the building, not bothering to check behind him. They took this direction for a few more minutes until Star came to a sudden halt. He turned around and had to yell in order to be heard over the howling wind.

“We’re here! But I think it would be best if you waited outside Kodi! She’s really emotional and all, and I don’t want her to break down!”

A streetlamp near them flickered momentarily, lighting up Kodi’s concerned face before it was once again engulfed in darkness. Star led Balto onto the porch of another building, and Kodi tried to follow anyway. Balto saw this and shook his head.

“Just stay out here Kodi! I’ll come get you when she’s ready!” he shouted, his voice sounding somewhat hoarse.

Kodi frowned. “But Dad! Something doesn’t feel right! Just let me come in with you!”

Balto put a paw on his son’s shoulder. “Just trust me! Everything’ll be fine!”

With some reluctance, Kodi finally nodded his head. Balto turned back to Star and stepped into the building after him.

Chapter Nineteen:

January 20th, 1928

Douglas hummed quietly to himself as he waited with the pup named Stevan. All Hal had told them to do was wait here until the time was right, but he hadn’t told them anything else besides that, so he felt rather frustrated. Another thing he wanted to know, was why on earth he had to baby-sit some rug rat. He took in a deep breath and coughed loudly, his eyes watering. He forgot that this room smelled horrible and burned his nose. He shifted his weight uncomfortably from one side to the other. The pup looked up at him.

“Why’re we here? Nothin’s happening.”

“That’s an excellent question, er, Steve.”

“Stevan,” he corrected.

Douglas rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

The pup was right though. So far, there had been no reason for calling him here. He was missing precious time with his trophy and his new plaything. He padded over to the wall and leaned against it. Not only did his paws hurt, they were wet from whatever was on this floor. Probably snow, or something. He looked back towards the far wall and realized that there was no way snow could have gotten in like this. There was a stack of boxes against the window that only left a crack. How peculiar… He was shaken from his thoughts as a horrible grinding sound made itself to his ears. He fell to the floor instantly and covered his ears as best as he could with his paws. It lasted for only ten more seconds before stopping as quickly as it had begun. Douglas stood up and shook his head before shaking.

“What the heck was that?” he asked.

He ran to the door to check for intruders, but was thrown back. He landed flat on his back, dazed and surprised. Stevan walked up to the door slowly and placed a cautious paw on the hard wood. He tried to push it open, but it didn’t budge an inch. He whined and whimpered helplessly as he kept trying over and over.

“Move it!” Douglas demanded.

He pushed the pup aside and put his full weight against the door, but the door just mocked him by staying put. Douglas scratched his head. Another noise came to his ear, but it was quick. He turned around and saw a light flickering from behind the boxes. It began to gain in intensity and soon, it was obvious of what was causing this light. The flames ran around the boxes and began leaping onto anything that would burn, or that was coated in gasoline. Douglas’ eyes widened in horror when the haunting words that Nikki had said to him earlier rang in his mind.

“He promises that this’ll be the last thing you’ll do.”

The phrase just kept repeating itself, laughing at him. He had been played like a fool!

“Why you no good son of a-!”

He growled angrily and Stevan cowered at his feet. The greedy, dancing flames were coming closer and closer to the two dogs, eating and torching anything they came into contact with. They leapt