“But…I don’t want to leave Chase.”

“I’ll look out for her,” Copper promised, “I’m her brother. I don’t think she would kill me if I watched out for her. Maim me, break me, scar me for life…but not kill me. I think you’re the first dog outside of the family she’s ever let tell her what to do.”

Ketch laughed mirthlessly. “I’ll do it. To save a few lives…but mostly for Chase.”

“That’s the spirit,” Copper told him, and they both grinned at each other.

Copper felt relief squirt through his heart like hot, wet droplets. He was doing his best to protect his loved ones. That was all that mattered to him.

Chase spat and pushed at Dusty to let her past, but he remained steadfast and firm in his position. She stood chomping at the bit behind Dusty until finally Copper went back to Taya, followed by a stern-looking Balto, and Ketch padded towards her.

Dusty quietly stepped back, and Chase jumped forward. “What could Copper tell you that he couldn’t tell anyone else?” she growled.

“Chase, relax!” Ketch placed what was meant to be a comforting paw on her shoulder. “I couldn’t understand half of what he was saying, anyway. Something about Steele, and to make sure that you were careful around him.”

Chase angrily jerked away. “Sometimes I wish he would tell me something I didn’t already know. Does he think I’m too much of a pup to understand what’s going on? And he had to tell you something he could’ve said to my face!”

“I think he knew you wouldn’t be too happy with him if he told you himself,” Ketch interjected. He gazed fondly at Chase. She was small, but powerful. He admired her for her strength and her determination. He tilted his head to one side with a small smile. “You’ll always be his little sister. He wants to make sure you’re okay.”

Chase snorted. “Forgive me if gratitude escapes me.” She had never liked her brother fussing over her like she was a wayward pup in need of his guidance. His worry and care kept the family together, but sometimes she got so dang tired of it!

She looked around the cave. Aniu, Cheyenne, and Kiowa were examining the hidden cave Copper and Taya had found. Dusty had wandered over to watch, and comment if he deemed it necessary. At the mouth of the cave, Balto was talking in low tones with Copper and Taya. Taya’s eyes flashed, and Copper looked irritated. Balto was probably giving one of his infamous lectures.

Kaila paced the cave at Balto’s back. Every now and then she would look out to the tundra with a mix of fear and frustration on her face, and she would sigh and pace harder than ever, her steps ringing against the cave walls. Chase knew she must be worried about Lakota and the others, but frankly Chase didn’t care. It was obvious Kaila wasn’t coming back to Nome, but they couldn’t leave because of Steele and the stupid war! The wish stuck into Chase’s heart like a thorn: she just wanted to go home.

“Now, where were we?” Ketch said conversationally, sliding down onto his stomach.

“Before everybody started yelling at my brother and his girlfriend?” Chase sneered, taking a seat beside Ketch. “It was something about you and Matt…and White Mountain?”

“A miracle! You were listening!” he cried with a goofy smile.

Chase batted his leg. “Watch it, smart mouth.”

Ketch’s hazel eyes became distant with the past. “Yes. See, I wasn’t born in Nome. Actually, I’ve only been there a couple months. I was born in White Mountain, and my father, Shadow, was the leader of the street dogs. He was like Steele in more ways than one. He was big, almost as big as a full-grown wolf. Well, actually, he was part wolf. His parents were wolf-dogs in the alleys. So I guess I have some wolf blood in me, too.” He surfaced from his memories long enough to take in Chase’s surprised expression. “Not enough that you can tell, but some.”

Chase gawked at him. What were the odds? “Now that’s just too weird.”

“I know,” he agreed. His eyes once more took on that look like fog over murky water. Chase had the sudden thought that if she looked hard enough, she would see his past unfolding in his eyes. She brushed the thought away.

“I’ll never forget him,” Ketch said quietly, “He looked so…fearsome. You could tell he was part wolf by his size and the color of his eyes. He had golden eyes like your father and your sister, and they were so bright and hellish that whenever he looked at me when I was a pup I had this fear in the back of my mind that I would be burned by his gaze.” Ketch shook his head at the memory. “He was black all over except for gray on his legs and face, and those burning, fiery eyes…No one dared stand up to him. A lot of dogs said my father was respected, but he was only feared. I was afraid of him. No one challenged my dad’s authority…until I was almost a year old.” A grin spread across his face as if he were savoring a crime he had enjoyed committing. “A female wolf-dog came into town from the wilderness. She said she was looking for her family, and since my dad was a wolf-dog she asked him if he might be her brother.” Ketch’s grin hardened into a dark frown. “He laughed and laughed at her. Laughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world. It hurt her pride; I could tell. Then all of a sudden she got red in the face and started screaming at my father, standing up to him like no one had ever done before. I saw my dad’s face, and all I remember thinking was, ‘Yes! That’s the way it’s supposed to be! Yes!’ Right then I believed this girl was an angel sent straight from heaven to help me find my courage…It was dead silent when she was done yelling, and my dad started going towards her. I knew he wanted to hurt her, because no one talked to him like that, and I knew I couldn’t let my courage die. Somehow I got between them and told my dad ‘no’. Well, that just about shocked him to the bone. He was so shocked that after only a couple threats he let the female go, and she left town safe.”

Ketch stopped for breath, looking thoughtfully up at the ceiling. Chase looked, too, and wondered why everyone looked upwards when they were thinking hard, or trying to remember something. Did they think the answers would be written on the ceiling or in the skies above?

“In a strange way, I think my father was proud of me for finally standing up for my beliefs,” Ketch continued, “On the other hand, he wasn’t happy that hehad been the one I stood up to.” Ketch was quiet for a second, obviously remembering Shadow.

Chase fidgeted. What would it be like to have a father so heartless and cruel? “Then what?” she said at last. Her heart began to pick up speed, as if she knew what was coming.

Ketch looked at her, and Chase got the feeling of being transparent. “That night, there was a rebellion; a mutiny, I guess you could call it. Most of the street dogs, encouraged by the assertive performances by me and the female wolf-dog, ganged up on my dad and tried to stop his cruelty over us by killing him in an unfair fight, him against the rebel dogs. You would think I was safe, but no. Others saw me only as Shadow’s son, and they set out to kill me, too. I remember running through the streets from a pack of dogs, when my friend Matt pulled me behind a corner and told me if I wanted to save my butt, I would have to follow him.” Ketch laughed a little, the moonlight dancing in his far-away eyes. “Kind words in a desperate situation.”

Chase grinned a little. “What are friends for?”

Ketch smiled, shaking his head. “He did save my butt. We slipped out of town and escaped across the tundra, running for all we were worth. A few dogs followed us from White Mountain, but they all gave up pretty quickly. The death of me wasn’t as important as the death of my father. While we ran, Matt told me he had heard of a town called Nome that was close by, where we could stay. The mail team from that town dropped in on White Mountain every once in awhile, and a few years back a wolf-dog from there became a hero by going after a lost sled team and bringing back the medicine for the kids who were dying.”

“My dad,” Chase said in a bored voice, “Balto, the hero of Nome. Woohoo, whoopee, next subject please.”

Ketch gave her a sharp look, but kept going with his story. “Yeah. Well, right then any place sounded good to me, and we were in luck because the mail team had stopped at White Mountain a couple days before and left a trail we could follow to Nome. We ran all through the night, and by the time we reached the alleys of Nome I was so exhausted I plopped down and didn’t wake up until late that afternoon.” Ketch’s eyes were refocusing, and he began to come back to the present. “Nothing really extraordinary happened until a few months later when Steele came, and then you.” He blinked, and he was back. Ketch smiled at her, the past fading from his mind. “And one dog was definitely better than the other.”

Chase goggled at him. And to think she was proud of her own story! “That was…incredible,” she breathed. Just listening to it had made her awed at his trials and bravery to overcome them.

Ketch shifted with embarrassment. “It’s no less miraculous than your own story,” he told her.

Chase just stared at him. To think when she first met him she took him for a filthy, homeless simpleton…

Ketch watched her cautiously. “What?” Something changed in his eyes. “Are you thinking about Ava and the troops?”

A scowl rushed over her face. “No, I wasn’t, but now I am!” she cried sourly.

“Sorry,” Ketch said sheepishly.

Chase turned from him and curled up in a ball, tucking her dark red and white tail against her side. “I’m going to sleep before you put any more images like that in my head.” She waited for a reply, but there was none.

She heard Ketch clear his throat and shift behind her. His fidgeting went on for a few minutes until she rolled her eyes in exasperation and cried, “What?”

He jumped, and squirmed uncomfortably. “Sorry again. Chase, there was another thing Copper told me about…”

“I knew it!” Chase flipped over to face Ketch. “What’s he