a future free of getting blamed for Loki’s antics.  “That just leaves the question of what to do about Pete and his punks.”

Loki looked at him as if he had just asked how to walk.  Then the wolf cub assumed a fighting stance.  “You call old Goliath-Breath out, genius.  One on one.  Dog to dog.  Hero to bully.”

“Victim to mugger,” Toby interjected.  “Loki, he’s twice my size.”

“Size doesn’t matter, Toby.  You’ll be just like that kid who killed a giant in the story your boy’s mom read last night.”

“I don’t have a slingshot,” Toby pointed out.  “Besides, that kid won because he had…well, I guess you might call him “the Great Spirit” on his side.”

“I think you do too,” Loki pointed out supportively.

Toby sighed.  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but my dad told me never to fight unless there’s no other way, and I can’t help feeling that there is an alternative here.”

“Well, if you figure out what it is, let me know,” said Loki.  “I’m going back to bed now.”  And with that he slipped under the bed.

Toby lay awake for a while, thinking about his problem.  How could he stop Pete from bothering Loki once and for all?  Keeping the kid inside clearly wasn’t going to work even if it would be fair, which it wasn’t.  Finally, with no more ideas than when he’d started, he fell asleep.  And as so often happens, he found the answer in his dreams.

The following morning, Toby led Loki right over to Luna’s house, catching Luna just as she was coming to visit them.  “Would you mind watching Loki?  I have to go talk to Pete.”

“How about we all go?” Luna suggested.

Toby shook his head.  “No, this is something I have to do myself.  It was my responsibility to look out for Loki, and Pete kidnapped him right under my nose-literally.”

Luna nodded.  “Alright.  Come inside, Loki.  They’ll never think to look for you here.”

 “You mean they actually think?” asked Loki.

Toby shook his head in mild amusement and walked away.  “Take care,” Luna called after him.

Loki looked up at Luna.  “You know, he sounded just like my dad when he said that stuff about me being his responsibility.”

Luna’s ears perked up with interest.  “You don’t say…”

“Hey, if it isn’t the mutt,” taunted Pete.  “What’re you doing here, squirt?”

“Listen,” said Toby.  “I want to settle this matter between you and Loki.”

Pete raised an eyebrow.  “Who?”

“The wolf cub you guys were picking on.  The one you framed for breaking into the butcher’s shop.  The one you almost got killed.”

“Hey, man, what’s it to you?  We was teaching him a lesson,” said one of the dogs.

“Quiet, Bruiser,” snapped Pete.  Turning his attention to Toby he said, “The runt was trespassing in dog territory.  Wolves stay out of Nome.  That’s the rule.”

“There’s no rule about that.  Besides, Balto is half wolf and he has more right to be in this town than all of you put together,” Toby pointed out.

The gang seemed to get quite a kick out of that one.  “That old has-been?” Pete snorted.  “He’s yesterday’s news.”

Toby bared his teeth.  Nobody talked about his hero that way.  But he didn’t have time to argue.  “Well if you want to pick on wolves, you’ll have to deal with me first.”

Pete snickered.  “All right.  You’re on.”  He gathered himself up for an attack.

“Not a fight,” said Toby.  “A race.  One week from today.  Just you and me.  If I win, you lay off of Loki.”

“You hear that, boys?” Pete sneered.  “The washed-up wannabe sled dog wants to race!”

Toby growled.  “At least I got that far.  You barely finished the trial run.”

Surprisingly, Pete didn’t seem to lose one ounce of his arrogant self-assuredness.  “So what happens when you lose?”

“If I lose,” Toby offered, “You still have to lay off the kid, but you can make me your slave for a week.”

“Two weeks.”

“One week, or I’ll tell every dog in town that you were beating up a little kid.  And by every dog, I mean all the girls.”

Toby could see he had Pete over a barrel with that one.  After a long pause Pete half-snarled, “Alright.  You keep quiet and it’s one week, including tackle-dummy duty.  One word and it’s three.”

Toby resisted the urge to point out who the real dummies were.  “Deal.”

“You did WHAT?!” asked Luna when Toby came back and told them what he’d done.

“I challenged Pete to a race.”

“You did that for me?” asked Loki.

“Toby, you’ll never make it,” Luna cut in before Toby could reply.

“Sure I will.  His dad may have been a sled dog, but Pete can’t run for beans.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.  You know as well as I that Pete will go to any lengths to win a race.”

Toby stopped, realizing that he had completely overlooked that problem.

“Knowing him, he and his gang will do anything they can think of to get across that line first.  Even if it means making sure you don’t cross at all.”

“Oh, come on.  Even Pete’s not low enough to kill me.  Even if he were, he wouldn’t have the guts.”

“I agree, but what about his gang?”

Toby considered.  “Well, yeah, but he’d stop them, right?”

“Are you willing to bet your life on it?” asked Luna.  “Because by the sound of it, you already did.”

Toby nodded.  “I guess I see your point, but what can I do now?”

Luna stared at the ceiling.  “Go over the deal again.  Tell us all the details.”

So Toby repeated his story, with Luna and Loki paying close attention to every word.  “You say you promised to keep quiet about what they did to me, right?” asked Loki.

Toby nodded.  “Yeah, that was part of the deal.”

“Alright, I think I know the answer.”  Loki beckoned Luna down and whispered his plan in her ear.  She giggled and agreed that it sounded perfect.

“Well, what is it?” asked Toby.

Luna came up and whispered something in Toby’s ear.  Toby considered.  “Hmm…”

Toby trained hard all week, racing up and down the street.  He dragged out the dogsled he and Charlie played with sometimes, and didn’t stop barking until Charlie hitched him up.  He pulled Charlie all over town, working his muscles to the bone.  He was worn out at the end of every day, but Loki and Luna’s faces made it all worthwhile.

Seven days went by, and then it was time for the race.  Two of Pete’s dogs stretched a rope taut, then slapped it down on the ground to mark the starting line.  Luna was pretty sure Pete’s part of the line was a little farther forward, but the angle was so slight that they couldn’t prove it.

“Okay,” said Luna, “You both know the rules.  No tripping, no tackling, no biting, and no accepting help during the race.  Run down this street all the way to Main Street, take Main Street to the General Store, and come back by the same route.  Each time you hit the turn, and at the store itself, you have to pick up a flag to prove you didn’t take any shortcuts.”  The “flags,” which had been Loki’s idea, were taken from the remains of various items the wolf cub had damaged or destroyed.  “First one back across the line wins.”

Toby grimaced.  Pete’s gang had driven a hard bargain on the racetrack, and he knew that most of it would be out of sight from the starting line, leaving Pete and his gang to do who-knew-what.

“On your marks,” Luna called out.

Both dogs hunched down at the starting line.

“Get set…!”

“Ready to die?” Pete whispered.

“I heard that, Pete!”

Pete lifted his head and glared at Luna.  “It was just an expression, Princess Prissy.”

“Go!” Luna shouted, pretending she hadn’t heard.  Toby was off like a shot.  Pete, still awaiting a response from Luna, didn’t realize Toby was gone until the mixed-breed was almost to the turn.  Spluttering in protest, he took off.

Luna was getting ready to fend off the protests of Pete’s gang, but the pack of dogs was nowhere in sight.  “Come on, Loki,” she said, picking up the wolf cub and heading for a roof at the corner.  “Let’s make sure we see what happens.”

Toby snatched the flag from its place at the turn, making sure he left another one for Pete.  Pete followed close behind, taking the other flag.  Toby easily widened the gap between them until a gray blur shot out from the side of the racetrack and bowled him over.  Pete ran past as one of his gang’s members ran roughshod over Toby and then took off.

“Did you see that?!” asked Loki from his and Luna’s vantage point.  “That hit-and-run creep just clobbered Toby.”

“It’s not over yet,” Luna replied as Toby got back up and continued running.

True to Luna’s expectations, Toby easily caught up to his half-brother again before a rope sprang up in front of him, pulled tight at knee level.  Pete, who had obviously been expecting the trap, easily jumped over it, but Toby was bowled over into the snow.

“Come on, Toby, you can do it!” yelled Loki.

“Hang in there, Toby!” Luna shouted in encouragement.

Pete made it to the second stop ahead of Toby and grabbed both flags!  “Ha, ha!” he jeered as he dashed past Toby on his way back.

Toby gritted his teeth and ran the rest of the way to the turnaround point anyway, then chased after Pete.  About a length behind the husky, Toby fake-tripped and fell on his face.

Pete turned and let out a derisive laugh, dropping both of his ill-gotten flags in the process.  Quick as a wink, Toby was on his feet and gone, taking one of the flags with him.  Snarling, Pete took off after him again.

Toby was almost to the corner when half a dozen members of Pete’s gang jumped him, burying him in a mass of dogs.  Pete ran past and grabbed the last flag, then jogged towards the finish line.

“No fair!” screamed Luna.

“Cheaters!” Loki