them, so maybe they perceive him to be a threat? I don’t know, but I think it’s the wild…. Adventurous ones who take to dad well. Take my Aleu for example, she was a rowdy pup and still is extremely stubborn and a little too headstrong at times, but that’s what makes her such a great leader. She leads a pack of wolves in the north. She took to dad right away. But Dash and Melody, who wouldn’t hardly let Balto get near me, for the first few days, without throwing a fit. They turned out to be relatively mild mannered and open to reason.

Anyway in a few days there eyes will open, and then dad’s cool, everybody, well for the most part she said, remembering their son Blaze, loves him. From then on it seems like the days fly by,” Jenna said. “Pretty soon you’re a grandparent, twice. Soon they’re walking and talking , she slowed down and began to think. “making friends….falling in love and having kids of their own. Gosh it seems like just yesterday when Balto and I had Aleu at home. And just hours since Dash and Melody were born. It goes by s fast.

You know it’s kind of funny,” she said. “Both of my most recent pups wound up falling head over paws for wolves.”

“I wonder why?” Char said sarcastically.

Jenna was about to reply when Doc opened the door, holding an extremely tired looking Gemeni in his arms. He sat her down on the ground she stood up shakily. “She still looks bad,” Jenna thought. She was about to walk over and talk to her friend, when she saw Drake leap up from his place beside Jack and run over to her. She noticed that Jack held the team off for a while. She smiled, she’d talk to her later, for now she was exhausted. She waked over to the sled, climbed on and went to sleep.

CHAPTER XIIII

Drake had been talking with Jack when he saw Doc carry out Gemeni. “She’s ALIVE!” He thought. He’d half, or more than half expected Doc to come out empty handed. He excused himself from his conversation with Jack and ran over to her. Jack understood and told the rest of the team to give him oe time with her before they went over. A few of them grumbled about it, but they didn’t understand… Jack did.

“Drake?” Gemeni said weakly, “I didn’t think I’d see you again.” He had tears in his eyes as he walked up to her.

“Gemeni,” he began, “I’ve got to tell you something…”

He paused, unsure of how to continue

She smiled faintly, and said.

“Yes?”

“When I thought you were… well I realized I hadn’t told you….”

“Hadn’t told me what Drake?” She asked.

“… that I… I love you.” He said slowly

“Oh that had to sound stupid,” he thought.

She smiled, “I know,” she said.

“Now I know that it might not make much sen…You do?” he asked, confused.

“You..”

she stopped. The smile vanished and was replaced by a grimace of pain.

“You didn’t know, but…I was conscious for a little of the time that you were dragging me to the shed. I heard you. You were screaming at me, at Steele, at the weather, at everything. I thought you’d give up and leave me, when you fell.”

“Never,” Drake said.

“You know that was pretty dumb,” she said, “you were out there for like forty minutes, trying to drag me to the shed. You could have frozen to death you know?”

“Yeah,” he said, “but I couldn’t just leave you out there.

“I was gone,” she said.

“What?” Drake asked.

“I’d started to feel warm all over and felt really tired, I’m talking like I’d just run a seventy day race without stopping or something, I started to fade away, and then I saw your face… You brought me back, made me keep fighting. I couldn’t have you freeze to death out there trying to save me and then die on you. I thought I’d lost when I passed out. .. but I woke up here. You saved my life..” she said. “What was that you were saying about not making much sense?”

“I’ll tell you on the way back to the shed, come on,” The two of them got on the sled and Drake saw Jenna. “

She looks tired,” he thought. He sighed, jumped down from the sled and looked up at her.

“What are you doing?” Gemeni asked.

“I’m going to help pull,” he said, “ I’ll talk to you more when we get back. She saved you by the way,” he said. “If it hadn’t been for her leading the team here… well I couldn’t have drug you to Doc’s.”

Gemeni looked at Jenna and laid down beside her.

“Thank you my friend,” she said quietly as she heard Jack order the team. The sled lurched under her and they were off.”

“I’m leaving,” Jenna said.

“No Jenna,” Drake said, “you’ll never make it in this storm.”

I’ve got to take my chances, Aleu’s cave isn’t far from here, I can make it.” “I hope I can make it,” she thought.

“Jenna please listen…” Gemeni said.

“No,” Jenna said, “I’ve already endangered all of you long enough. I’ll lead Steele away from here. When Balto gets back tell him where I am,” Jenna told Drake.

“Jenna… What if Steele catches you before you get to the cave, assuming you can even do that?” Drake said.

“It… it doesn’t matter,” Jenna said, knowing full well what would happen.

“Like hell it doesn’t,” Gemeni said.

Jenna shook her head furiously.

“Don’t try to talk me out of it anymore, I’m going,” he turned to Drake, “you’ll tell Balto?” Jenna asked.

Drake nodded his head, “sure, I’ll tell him his mate is the craziest dog in all of Nome.”

Jenna smiled.

“Be careful Jenna,” Gemeni said, “he’s so fast… I did’t even sense he was near..”

“I know, he attacked me too, remember?”

“Well I hope nothing happens to you,” she said. “I guess we’ll probably be gone before you get back.”

“Yeah,” Jenna said, thinking of her new friend.

The whole team walked over then. “Jenna we just wanted to thank you,” Jake said.

“Yeah,” Dix said, “you saved Gemeni!”

“We all owe you our leader…and friend,” Mike said.

“Yeah,” Char said, “and I owe you something much more… I’m gonna try Jenna.”

Jenna smiled, “I’m glad to hear that Char.”

“I still don’t know how good I’ll be at it, but I’ll try, for their sakes if nothing else.”

“You’ll do fine,” Jenna said. “Thank you all for being so kind,” Jenna said.

“Jenna,” Gus said, “why don’t you just lure Steele here, we can take him out.”

Jenna smiled again, “Thanks for the offer Gus,” she said, “but I can’t have anyone else hurt trying to help me.”

“Good bye guys,” she said, then she walked out the door.

“Steele,” she yelled, “you freaking idiot where are you? I know you’re out here ya’ big coward!”

Steele stepped out of the shadows a little to her left.

“So, give up?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Where are your friends?” He asked, looking around.

“I’ve got you a deal, Steele, she said.

“Leave them alone…,” she paused and looked at the ground.

…and… you can have me.”

“Fair enough,” Steele said, grinning

“But there’s a catch,” Jenna said.

“Well you’re not really one to make the demands,” Steele said, “but seeing as you’re going to be dead soon, I’ll humor you, sure ok, what is it?”

Jenna swallowed her fear and got ready…

“You’ve got to catch me first!” She yelled as she ran down the street.

She ran like she’d never run before. Her paws kicking up snow as she ran. Steele just looked after her, letting her almost vanish from sight before he gave chase. “I always did enjoy a good hunt!” He thought.

Jenna ran like her life depended on it.

“Which it does,” she thought. She couldn’t see Steele behind her, but she knew he was still there.

She was actually making better time than he was. Her small paws didn’t sink into the snow like his big ones did. She’d been able to stay ahead of him so far. “Have I made a mistake? Will I ever see Balto again?” She thought. A thousand questions posed themselves in her mind. She didn’t have any of he answers. She just ran.

Jenna was lost! “I can’t remember where to go from here!” She thought. She’d put quite a bit of distance between her and Steele. She was quite a bit smaller than he was,so the wind didn’t affect her as much. She backtracked all the way back to the log bridge, across the river. She remembered that. She couldn’t see it, for the swirling snow. Not only was it still snowing hard, but the wind was kicking up the snow that was already on the ground. She could hear the river though.

She suddenly had an idea, or a memory rather.

“I’ll never make it,” she thought, ”I’ll freeze to death!”