"So," Balto said, "do you like her?"
"Well... okay.... yeah, I do kind of..." Tim stuttered.
Balto smiled at him again.
"Hey kid, you never know what can happen."
Tim backed off of that immediately.
"Yeah, but I just met her and... and
He stopped as Tycha stepped out of the shed, followed by a beautiful black and white husky.
They were laughing.
Balto bent in close to Tim.
"Keep in mind, we're hopefully not going to be here long."
"Yeah...." Tim said as Tycha and her friend walked over to them.
"Hey guys," Tycha said, "this is Jamie."
The black and white husky smiled.
"Hello Balto."
Balto's eyes widened.
"Jamie?"
` Tycha looked at the two of them.
"You guys know each other?"
Jamie smiled.
"Yeah," she said, looking Balto in the eyes. "Something like that."
Tycha sensed the energy that seemed to crackle between the two.
"Uh... Tim, why don't you come over here and.. uh.. let me show you a little bit of Anchorage."
Tim understood her meaning and followed her down to the corner.
"So how ya been Jamie?" Balto asked.
Jamie smiled and nodded her head.
"Good, good," she looked at the ground as her mind raced, trying of the right things to say.
"Balto how come you never came?"
She looked back up at him.
"Jamie... that... that was a long, long time ago."
Jamie smiled.
"I waited for you... but..."
"Jamie, something happened... I... Mikey died," Balto said.
"Oh Balto, I'm so sorry," Jamie said, "but now.. you finally came."
Balto sighed.
"Jamie... something else happened during that time."
"Well," Jamie said, smiling, "we can talk about that later, who are you looking for?"
Balto sighed
"This isn't going to be easy," he thought.
"I'm looking for a dog by the name of Jack."
"Jack.... hmmm..." Jamie said, "I think I know a Jack, orange hair? kind of a... yellow harness?
Balto smiled.
"Yes, yes, please tell me you know where he is."
Jamie looked up at him and batted her eyes.
"Of course I do Balto, I practically live at the sled barn. They got here... oh... just about two days ago."
"Can you take me to him?" Balto asked.
Jamie smiled at him.
"I don't see why not."
"Like now?" Balto asked.
"What's the rush?" Jamie said.
Balto smiled, thoughts of him back with Jenna filled his mind.
"I'll tell you later, just let it suffice for now to say that it’s an emergency."
"Well let's go then!" Jamie said.
Tim felt kind of awkward.
He wanted desperately to talk to Tycha, who was standing beside him, but he had no idea what to say.
"Oh yes," he thought to himself, "I just met you five minutes ago, but I think I love you? How stupid would that sound."
"The...uh.... snow's really pretty here." He said.
"Oh man, that was stupid."
Tycha laughed.
"Don't they have snow where you are from?"
Tim nodded his head.
"Yeah," he said, a little embarrassed.
"Where are you from?" Tycha asked him.
"Tim turned to her.
"Now's your chance!" He thought.
"Well.." he started, "I'm from Nome, Nome, Alaska."
"Well at least that's partly true." He thought.
"Nome huh?" Tycha said.
Tim nodded.
"What's it like?" She asked.
"It's a little town, not a whole lot of people, or at least that's the way it used to be," he continued. "Nome seems to get bigger and bigger each day."
"Do you think it'll ever be as big as Anchorage?" Tycha asked.
"No offence," Tim said, "but I hope not."
"None taken," Tycha said as she smiled. "I don't really care for the city life much."
"Where do you live?" Tim asked.
Tycha looked at the ground.
"What?" Tim asked.
"Oh nothing," she said, "I... I live in a pretty nice house."
"Really," Tim said, "can I see it?"
"...Yeah," Tycha said, smiling again, "of course you can."
They both heard Balto yell then, and they ran over to him and Jamie.
"Hey Tim, Jamie knows where Jack is."
"That's great!" Tim said.
"We're going to go meet him now."
"Tim was wanting to see some of Anchorage," Tycha said, looking at Tim, "could we just meet you somewhere?"
Balto frowned.
"I don't know, it'd be best if we stayed together, instead of splitting up."
"Please?" Tycha said.
Tim smiled.
"Oh alright," Balto said, "I guess you can do whatever you want to Tim," Balto said. "Just meet me right here tomorrow morning."
"Alright," Tim said.
"Hey Tycha," Balto said, "I need to talk to him for a minute, you go on ahead, and he''ll catch up to you."
"Okay," Tycha said, as she took off, running down the street.
"Tim," Balto started, "be careful, it's a big world out there, lot's of ways for little dogs like you and Tycha to get hurt, and not necessarily the cars either, though keep an eye out for those too, but... well you've seen that Tycha isn't very... aware of her surroundings. Watch out for her, she'd be dead right now, had I not knocked her out of the way of that car today, watch out for her and yourself, watch who you're hanging around and..."
Tim interrupted him.
"Balto sheesh, you sound just like my mom. I'll be fine, don't worry. I can take care of myself."
Balto smiled.
"Alright kid," he said, "go have some fun."
Then Balto and Jamie took off.
Tim watched as they ran all the way down the street, and disappeared behind some buildings.
"Tim are you coming?" Tycha yelled.
"How am I going to tell her, I'll lose her for sure if I tell her where I'm really from, what I really am." He thought.
"I'm coming Tycha!" He yelled. Then he ran towards her.
It didn't take Balto and Jamie long to make it to the sledding barn. They'd stopped running and were just talking, about the days, when Balto used to live in Applegate.
"Do you remember when I fell in the river?" Jamie asked.
Balto nodded and smiled.
"I had a cold for weeks after that, because I had to jump in and save you."
"You had to save me?" Jamie asked. "I seem to remember pulling a certain half drowned wolfdog out of the water at the bottom of a waterfall. "
Balto frowned at her.
"I couldn't see that log, hanging over the river, not while I was trying to keep your head above the water."
She laughed.
"Those were some good times," Jamie said.
"Yeah," Balto said, quietly.
"Well we're here," Jamie said, "let's go find Jack."
The two of them walked into the barn.
Balto saw him almost immediately.
"Jack!" He yelled.
Jack turned around.
"Do I know you youngin?" He asked.
"Yeah," Balto said, "Nome. remember?"
"Oh yeah," Jack said, "yeah, I remember you. The one who..." Jack noticed Jamie standing there. "The one who did the right thing? Right?"
"Yeah," Balto said, "I need to talk to you for a minute," he turned to Jamie.
"Umm... Jamie... would you uhh.. well," he paused , unsure of how to say it without hurting her feelings.
"This matter is a little private."
Jamie smiled at him.
"Okay Balto," she said, "I'll go talk to some of my friends, over there. Just come and get me when you're through."
Balto nodded at her, and watched as she walked away.
"How am I going to tell her," Balto thought, "I don't want to hurt her...."
He turned back to Jack.
"Hey buddy," Balto said. "I need a favor."
He winced, that was the same exact thing that Trinea had told him, that night.
"What is it Balto?" Jack said.
""You remember that night, right? What I didn't do?"
Jack nodded his head.
"I need you to come back to Nome with me."
"Well I don't know if I can just leave the team," Jack said.
Balto looked him right in the eyes.
"Jack... Trinea, the girl I was with, she told everyone that I did do it, and my mate..... Jenna believed her."
"That is a predicament." Jack said.
Balto rolled his eyes.
"You're telling me, she got so upset, she kicked me out of the house, and then got our judge to take away my kids, I can't even go near them.. or her.."
Balto looked at the ground, then back up at Jack.
"And you're my only witness," Balto said.
"So you need me to tell her that it never happened and that this.. Trinea is lying?" Jack asked.
"Yeah," Balto said, "that's pretty much it."
"When do we leave?" Jack asked.
Balto looked up at him and smiled.
"Tomorrow morning, if that's all right with you."
"Sounds great," Jack said.
“So is he your dad or something?" Tycha asked Tim.
"No," Tim said, "I never really had a dad."
Tycha smiled and walked over closer to him.
"Neither did I."
Tim smiled at her, as they continued walking.
“Tim, buddy,” he thought. “You’ve got to tell her, you can’t keep this up forever.”
Tim followed her up the steps of a large home.
“Wow, you live here?” Tim asked.
Tycha nodded
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