was no response.

Balto looked down at his daughter

“No,” Balto said, in disbelief as he looked into her eyes.

“She’s dead,” Balto thought, “my little girl.”

Balto heard a voice then, and looked up, the combination of the cold, his injury, and the events of the lasts few moments made him pass out.

Balto’s head fell across Jadze’s neck.

“Balto?” Roger said, as he stopped the sled beside him. “Oh no!” He loaded the two dogs on the sled and headed for home.

Chapter X

"Jadze."

Balto looked up.

"How did I get here?" He thought.

He had wandered off, while he was thinking, and he was home.

He stood under the old oak tree in the front yard.

Balto looked at the ground and sighed.

Roger had buried Jadze under the tree.

Balto had never had one of his kids die. He'd never had to deal with that before.

"I wondered off a long ways," Balto thought, "I wonder what time it is."

Balto heard the front door to the house open, and saw Max step out of the house.

"She looks a little better," Balto thought.

Max walked over to Balto.

"Are you okay, I thought you were going to the race today?"

"I did," Balto said, "I was just thinking, and I wound up here."

"Are you okay," Max repeated.

"Yeah," Balto said, "I mean... I.. I don't know."

He looked at the ground.

"I... I don't know if... if I'll ever be able to do it again Max."

He looked back up at her.

"What happened was my fault, sure, Roger was pushing us fast, but I was the leader, I made the decision to go at that speed."

He sighed.

"If we'd been going slower, maybe I would have seen the tree, maybe... maybe Jadze would be standing here beside me, maybe she'd be running the race today.

I... I let her down Max, I let all of you down, but especially her.

If... If only I could have made it into town, Doc could've....

Max cut him off.

"not have done anything for her."

Balto you've got to quit blaming yourself for what happened, yeah it was terrible, and yeah, it might have been avoidable, but it's not your fault."

She sighed.

"You know as well as I do, that even if Doc had been there the moment it happened, he... he wouldn't have been able to save her. You tried, but...

She smiled at him.

"but even a hero can't change things like that."

"I know you miss her, I know, because I do too, and Jadze wasn't my kid, but you.. you've got to get past this. I know it's hard, but you're a good leader, and your team needs you. How much different would things be if it had been Kaltag, or Flash, or..or even me, would you have still quit the team?"

"That's not fair, and you know it." Balto said.

"My... my little baby.... I watched her grow from a little pup into a small dog, and she was making the transition into an adult, she was so... independent, she always wanted more responsibility. She would have made a great lead."

Balto looked back at the ground.

"And I... I had to watch her struggle for every breath she took, had to watch as she couldn't even stand up. What was I supposed to do, leave her there, to die alone? I'd've killed myself."

"Which is what you're doing now Balto," Max said. "You may not realize it just yet, but you are, look at you, you've given up the one thing that Jadze really enjoyed, the thing that she was most excited about. That's where you've hurt the team Balto. You don't think that Blaize is hurting?"

"I didn't say that," Balto said.

"Blaize is still on the team." Max said, "he's running the race today; you know why? The same reason I'd be there today, if I wasn't sick, we're dedicated to the team, to the race, to each other. Have you even talked to Blaize about it?"

Balto shook his head.

"I know," Max continued, "you want to know how I know? Cause I have. He's hurting too, he misses his sister more than it shows. He tried to bottle it all up, just like you are, he wanted to talk to you, but he knew how much the subject hurt you, so he came to me and Flash.

Balto, he was ready to give up too, but then he talked to us, let it out, and now he's at the race today. I won't say he doesn't miss her, he misses her horribly, you know he hasn't slept in a week?"

"No," Balto said, concerned, "No I didn't."

"See Balto," Max said, "you're so wrapped up in your own grief, that you can't even see the state of your own family. They need you too Balto. You've emotionally secluded yourself from them, and they need you now, more than ever.

What about Jenna?"

"I know I need to talk to her about it," Balto said, :but I.. I don't know how to tell her."

"She wants to know Balto. Jadze was her kid too."

"I know," Balto said.

"Right now all she knows is that Jadze died in an accident. She doesn't know a thing about what happened. She hasn't asked you yet, because she knows that it was hard on you, so she's waiting for you to come to terms with it, but she just wants to know. Wouldn't you?"

Balto just looked at the ground; he didn't say anything.

Balto you just need to talk to them, talk to anyone, just get it out of your system. It's going to destroy you."

Balto nodded.

All was quiet for a while.

Balto looked up at her.

"So how are you feeling?"

"Better," Max said, "I wish that I was with Flash and the team, but I'll be alright I suppose.

Balto nodded again.

"Well I've got to go rescue Kaltag, he's been watching junior for me."

"Poor Kaltag," Max laughed. "he doesn't know anything about pups."

"Especially that one," Balto added, "he seems to just live in constant trouble, if he's not getting lost, he's jumping off roofs."

Max looked at him questioningly.

"Long story," said Balto. "I'll tell ya later."

Balto turned and started to walk off.

He stopped.

He looked back at Max.

"Hey, Max?"

Max smiled at him.

He smiled back.

"Thanks."

Then he turned back around, and started for town.

Chapter XI

Jamie ran.

She didn't know where she was running to, she just ran.

She'd left Nome about an hour ago, and she was in the edge of the mountains now.

"I was so stupid," she thought, "I thought it'd be neat, getting to see Balto everyday, even if I couldn't be with him, at least I could be his friend."

But Jamie was finding it hard, very hard to live right next to him and his friends.

"Nobody accepts me, I'm a nuisance to everyone here."

She stopped running, and slid to a stop at the edge of a cliff.

"I bet no one would even notice I was gone if I didn't come back. Balto's too busy with Jenna to even recognize that I exist."

"I should just end it here," she said aloud.

She looked over the dizzying drop below her.

"I've got no one left."

She stuck one of her paws off of the drop.

“Can I do this?”

She looked down at trees that looked like toothpicks.

“I can’t stand this anymore.”

She closed her eyes and stepped forward until her front paws hung off of the edge.

She started shaking.

“I wonder, will it hurt?”

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Jamie opened her eyes.

“Who are you?”

The white husky took a step towards her.

“Don’t come near me?”

The husky took another step forward.

“I mean it,” Jamie said, she took a step back.

“Woah,” the husky said, “calm down; I just want to talk.”

She stopped.

“Why don’t you just leave me alone.”

The husky smiled.

“I can’t let you mess up a body as good looking as yours, it’d be criminal, I’d never be able to live with myself.”

Jamie didn’t know what to think of this comment.

“Back off buddy.”

“You know what those trees would do to you?” The husky continued.

He shook his head.

“Gosh, they’d tear you up. But at least you picked a drop that will get the job done; must be what, three hundred feet?”

Jamie looked at the drop behind her.

“It is a long ways.” She thought.

“And those rocks at the bottom?” The husky continued, “it would be like landing on knives or something, see how sharp and pointed they are?”

Jamie did.

She gulped and looked up at the husky.

“What’s your name?” She asked.

He started to take a step forward.

“I said stay back,” Jamie said, stepping towards the cliff again, her paws were now on the edge.

“Okay, okay, take it easy,” the husky said, “its Meko okay, don’t step back again, you’ll fall. Now what’s your name?”

“Jamie,” she said.

“Okay , Jamie,” Meko said, “what made you come out here?”

“I…”

Jamie sighed,

“I’ve got no friends, no one cares about me.”

Meko smiled.

“See, now there you’re wrong.”

“What?” Jamie