“Hang in there, pal. You’ll make it.”

As the musher moved Toby into a more secure position on the sled and wrapped him in whatever he could find to keep him warm, every dog was hoping that somehow Kodi’s words would prove true.

The journey to Nome was a hard one for Toby. The others did everything they could to keep him warm and comfortable. The dogs huddled around him whenever they weren’t on the trail, and the musher brought him into the tent at night to keep him as warm as possible. Whenever a fire was built the first thing anyone did was to move Toby close to it. And on the sled, every bit of soft material was either his blanket or his mattress. Even so, the disease and injuries took a heavy toll on him. He was so weak his food had to be cut up and fed to him, one little piece at a time. Every night as the musher wrapped him in the blankets, Toby could hear him praying, “Please, God. Let this dog live. Let Toby survive.”

“Here they come,” said Jenna, watching the sled approach. Dusty, who had managed to slip outside, wagged her tail at the thought of seeing Kodi again.

Luna squinted. “That’s funny,” she noted. “There are only six dogs.” She studied the team. “Oh no,” she gasped. “Toby!” she yelled as she ran towards the sled.

“Toby?” asked Terry, dashing after Luna. Balto and Jenna were fast on Terry’s heels.

“Uncle Kodi!” called Luna, desperately hoping there was an explanation. “Where’s Toby?”

“In trouble!” answered Kodi. “We’ve gotta get into town right now!”

“Where is Toby?” Terry echoed Luna’s question.

“He’s on the sled,” called Kirby, “And in bad shape. He needs a vet on the double.”

The sled sped into town and didn’t stop until it reached the clinic. “Doctor!” called the musher, hopping off the sled and gently lifting Toby. “Doctor!”

“What happened?” Terry demanded.

“Well, first he got sick, and then he just about killed himself saving us from a bear,” answered Norik. “If it’s any comfort, your boy’ll go down a hero.”

“WHAT?!” Clearly Norik’s efforts did not comfort Terry at all. For that matter, Balto, Jenna, and Luna didn’t look so happy either.

The vet came out wondering what the commotion was. The sight of Toby answered his question. Toby didn’t look like a dog who had won a race less than two weeks ago. He barely even looked like a dog. His nose was stuffed up and running, his eyes were glassy and barely open, and his frame was practically skin and bone. “Bring him inside, quickly,” ordered the doctor.

While Balto and Jenna assured themselves that everyone else-especially Kodi-was unharmed, Terry and Luna followed Toby inside the clinic. They would have followed him into the office itself if they hadn’t been shooed back out into the waiting room. “Toby!” called Luna. Terry scratched at the door, but to no avail. Greatly dejected, they sat down to wait.

“Toby…” she said Terry softly, as if she couldn’t believe this was happening. She hadn’t felt like this in years, and it had not been long enough at all. Toby, her son, was in there dying while she sat outside the door, powerless to do anything.

Luna patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Toby’s tough. He’ll pull through.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” asked Terry.

Luna wanted to say that it was silly to think that Toby would die, and she would have if it had been true. “Let’s listen in and see what we can hear,” she suggested, flattening an ear against the door. After a moment, Terry did the same.

They were only able to catch snatches of conversation. The musher explained about the bear, and the vet answered something about infection. They heard him say something that sounded like “doesn’t look good,” followed by something neither of them could decipher.

The musher slammed a fist on the table in reply. “No, doc,” he said harshly. “This dog was placed in my care, and he risked his life to save me and my team. I am not going to let him be put down.”

Both Terry and Luna gasped, and tears started to well in their eyes.

They heard the musher sigh. “Please, you’ve gotta do whatever you can.”

“That’s up to his owner.”

“Well until she gets here, I’m saying you’ve gotta do anything you can! I’ll cover the bills, but do whatever it takes. Just make sure he lives.”

“I’ll do all I can,” promised the vet, “Although from everything you’ve said he should have died yesterday, if not sooner.”

After an hour that seemed like a year to Terry and Luna, the door opened and the vet and musher came out. “I’ll go get…” the musher was saying, but he suddenly found his feet swept out from under him as if they’d been hit with a club. Terry and Luna bounded into the room, dashing to the bed where Toby lay. They put their paws up on the table to get a look at him. The bandages had been removed and replaced with fresh ones, but his leg was still in a splint, not a cast, and Toby looked even worse than some dogs Terry had seen that were already dead. It was only because of how thin he was that they could even tell he was breathing.

“Toby?” asked Luna, nuzzling his cheek. Toby didn’t respond. “Toby, if you die on me I’ll kill you,” she threatened.

Terry took her turn. “Toby?” she tried, almost begging. “Wake up.”

Toby stirred slightly and opened an eye. “Mom? Luna?” he asked. His voice sounded like the voice of a frog that hadn’t seen water for a month.

The two started crying with relief that he was alright. Terry asked him what had happened, but he coughed and asked if he could tell them later. The two agreed quickly, which Toby was glad for. It wasn’t that he had faked the cough or anything, because he hadn’t. But he would rather face that bear again than explain to his mother why he had kept pushing himself when he was so sick. ‘If nothing else kills me,’ he thought, grateful to find he could still joke, ‘She will.’

After they left, Kodi slipped in through the door. “I just wanted to tell you that the other guys said they were sorry for making fun of you.”

Toby nodded. “Apology accepted.”

“If there’s anything you want, we’ll do it,” Kodi promised.

Toby remembered something he had been thinking of on the trail. “See if you can get Pete to fill in for me.”

Kodi’s eyes widened in amazement. “Pete? But I thought you hated each other.”

“He hates me,” Toby corrected. “But I don’t hate him. He’s still family, even if he is a jerk. Besides, his dad was a racer, so I figure he ought to have a shot.”

Kodi considered. “Okay, I’ll do it,” he agreed. “But it sounds crazy to me.”

Toby smiled weakly. “He’s a purebred, so you can probably skip intermediate training. Go straight to, say, level ten.” Training level ten on the system they had used meant getting up before sunrise five days a week, running all day on each of those days, and not stopping until after sundown. If it were done more than five days a week, or for that matter if it were done without buildup training, it would probably put the trainee-and possibly the trainer-in the hospital. Toby wasn’t worried, though. If Pete quit by noon on day one, it would be all he could do and more than Toby expected of him. Pete’s health was well-protected by his hatred of a challenge.

Kodi nodded. “Will do. And Toby…” he added, as sad and as worried as a dog can be, “Get better soon. We really need you.” Then he left the room.

Toby dropped his head. “Yeah, right,” he muttered. “Like a thorn in the paw.”

Toby recovered slowly, but his spirits didn’t seem to recover at all. Every time someone came in, they would find him with his head hanging dejectedly off the table. When Luna asked him what was wrong, he let out a miserable sigh. “I heard the musher tell Alicia this morning that I can’t run anymore. My biggest dream, and it’s gone.”

Luna couldn’t believe her ears. Toby had lived through a series of events that would have killed most dogs, and he was feeling sorry for himself because he wouldn’t be a sled dog? “Is that what you’re upset about?” she asked. “Toby, you should be glad you’re alive.”

“Why?” asked Toby. “I can’t pull a sled anymore. That’s all I wanted. To prove I could do something I wasn’t bred for.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “You mean you wanted to be like Balto. For crying out loud, Toby, you’re more determined to be like my grandpa than Uncle Kodi was. So what if you’re not like Balto? Lots of dogs aren’t on the team. My parents aren’t on there, and neither are most of my aunts or uncles. Aside from Uncle Kodi, nobody in my family is. And they are bred for it! Your parents aren’t on the team either, but they’re wonderful anyway.”

“Yeah, but none of them are heroes. That’s all I wanted to be.”

“You want heroes?” asked Luna in disbelief. “YOU WANT HEROES?! Your dad’s the guy they go to when they need to track down thieves and murderers. He’s the one they call when kids are lost in the woods and