city agreed to send a box of the much-needed medicine, but due to a terrible blizzard, the train carrying it could only reach the town of Nenana, which was about 600 miles from Nome. No other form of transportation could reach the station, . . . except for teams of sled dogs, so that morning, the town dogs would race against each other with the fastest making it on the team to bring the medicine through the rough winter storm.”

“600 miles?!” Aleu’s expression was total astonishment. “That seems impossible for one team to travel that long of a distance!” 

“That’s true, but it was the only way to try to save those kids,” Balto said. “The dogs that were selected for the team not only had to be fast and fleet of foot, but also able to endure and persevere through the long distance and the rough weather of the blizzard. It was necessary for only the best dogs in town to pull that medicine on the sled and get it to Nome safely.” He paused once more, cleared his throat and continued. “Anyway, I knew I was the best dog to help bring the serum home to Rosy and the other kids, so despite Boris’s crazy rantings on why I shouldn’t be running in the race to help a town that hated me, I jumped into the line of eager huskies seconds before the starting gun was fired.”

“Wow, I guess they weren’t expecting that, were they?” Aleu chuckled. 

“No, they weren’t,” Balto added, also chuckling at the memory. “but it didn’t stop me from taking off at the starting gun. The other huskies tried making obstacles for me, anything to make me lose . . . they even knocked me off the road and onto a frozen patch of water by the harbor!” Aleu let out a gasp as her father continued. “I still didn’t let their tricks and trials stop me from reaching the finish line first, because I used the path in front of me and found my way past the lead dog in the race. To everyone’s surprise, I crossed the finish line in record time, seconds before the previous lead dog!”

“Awesome, Papa!” Aleu nearly barked aloud. “I can’t believe that you would still show the town your worth, despite the fact that you were half-tame! That’s so crazy!” 

“Yeah, it was crazy, alright,” Balto sighed, getting close to the point of blushing with embarrassment. “but Jen . . . Jenna was watching, and I wanted to show her that I was more than enough dog to lead the team to the medicine and save Rosy.”

“Always for love, huh?” The quarter-wolf commented with a slight smirk and chuckle. 

“Well, I was thinking about the children too, but making Jenna happy was just as important.” Balto paused as his ears lowered with the next memory. “Steele, who couldn’t believe that some dog like me would beat the rest of his team, ignored me, calling the rest of his dogs to the sled. I told him that I was the fastest dog, which was true, but still he refused to have be join him. Even Jenna, the husky he liked defended my words, but he wouldn’t dare talk badly to her . . . but it was the musher who made the final call, so Steele knew he had to play dirty in order to get what he wanted. When the musher approached me, he didn’t notice Steele pound on my front paw, causing my mouth to open with sharp, bared teeth. That only reminded him of my mixed breeding, and out of fear, he turned away from me and called Steele and the team to be harnessed to the sled.”

“That . . . that . . .” Aleu huffed angrily. “That horrible brute!” She let out a snort. “No wonder his daughter’s such a meanie! Why would the musher walk away when you showed that you were the fastest dog?” 

“Again, humans are afraid of what they are unable to understand,” Balto explained. “He knew I was even faster than Steele, but once he saw my teeth, the musher remembered who I was and what wolves were capable of doing once they turned on humans.” Again, he had a sad look on his face. “I even turned Jenna away from me, reminding her of what I could do to her. I didn’t want to hurt her, even though I knew she wanted to cheer me up, . . . but I ran away from her for her sake – it was something I had to do. My spirit felt broken and crushed as hours later, I watched the team take off from the telegraph office on Main Street. There was a lantern that a human hung by the door of the office, saying that if there was any hope left, the light would lead them back. I was back at the old boat, sadly looking from the top of the boat and thinking to myself, ‘I should be leading them to the medicine! I was the fastest dog at the race, not Steele!’ I just felt powerless, helpless to anyone . . . and most especially to Rosy and Jenna.”

“How awful,” Aleu gave her father a nuzzle underneath his jaw for comfort. “What did you do about it?” 

“There wasn’t anything I really could do, Aleu,” Balto spoke dryly. “I felt that I was just a spectator and would never be part of the action, but a little over a week after the team had left, Morse, the dog owned by the telegrapher, gave us a message: the team had reached Nenana safely and was on their way back, but they had missed a major checkpoint . . . and they may be lost.” Aleu again gasped in shock. “I ran from the larger boiler room and water tower straight to the doctor’s office. I wanted to check on Rosy to see how she was holding up, and . . . it didn’t look too good.” A near tear tried to swell up in his eye. “Rosy was coughing, struggling to breathe . . . and although Jenna was my her side, even I knew her love for her girl wouldn’t be enough to make her well. To make things worse, I could hear the tap-tap-tapping of a hammer hitting a nail. I curiously followed the noise trail, but only saw the carpenter sadly making something in his shop. They were several caskets, . . . wooden boxes to put bodies in once they . . .” He couldn’t finish his sentence, for the emotional strain on him was too great; the memories of losing Jenna flooded back into his mind, only to come out in the form of large salty teardrops. Aleu licked the tears from his eyes, calming him in a matter of minutes. Once he was in a slightly better composure, Balto continued. “Once I realized what they were and the various sizes of them, my thoughts were all about Rosy. The humans were losing hope, and if the medicine didn’t arrive soon, those that were sick – even the young ones like Rosy – they were all going to give into the sickness and be taken away from the ones that loved them. I knew that I had to try to do something to help save the team; if I didn’t, many innocent people and a team of dogs would be lost.”

“But they hated you, Papa!” Aleu reminded him. “Why would you want to do something to help when no one understood you?” 

Balto let out a chuckle. “You know, Boris said almost the same thing when I told him what I was going to do. I knew I could track the team and bring them home safe – if no one else would find them, who would?” Aleu nodded, understanding her father’s situation. “That night, I took one final look through Rosy’s window to remind me of my mission before Boris, Muk, Luk and I left the town limits and began our journey to find the team. It was snowy and cold, but together we endured the trail. I marked several trees on the way so that I could lead the team back home once I found them . . . that’s actually what I did on my way out here to find you. Anyway, I thought the blizzard and the long stretches of snowy terrain and forest land would be the hardest challenge we were going to face, but we were almost at the mountains when it happened . . .”

“What happened?” 

The interrupting voice of Geona surprised both Father and Daughter with a gasp and a near jump off the ground, but the light-gray she-wolf chuckled with the Thin Leaf in her mouth. She placed it on the ground and reassured them that everything was okay. “Hey, calm down! Your secret’s safe with me. I just came to deliver this Thin Leaf before I go back to sleep.”

“Oh,” Aleu stood up and approached her friend. “Sorry White Feather had to wake you up just to help me.” 

“It’s okay, Aleu,” Geona smiled softly as she began to pull a piece of Thin Leaf with one of her clawed paws. “While I slept, I felt worried about you and the secret about your father. Once I was nudged awake by White Feather, she told me to get some Thin Leaf for Balto’s wounds and help you while she dealt with a situation in the main chamber.” The light-gray placed the Thin Leaf onto the shoulder wound, causing Balto to let out a slight hiss. His head winced with pain, but within seconds, he had calmed down.

“There you go, Balto,” Geona told him after she used her tongue to gently press against the patch of Thin Leaf that now draped over his wound. “That should help ease the pain and close the wound. Give it a while’s rest before trying it out, okay?” 

“Thanks, Geona,” Balto gave her a short nod. “That feels much better.”

“I’m glad,” The she-wolf smiled. “Now, what happened in the forest in your story?” She asked curiously. “I apologize for eavesdropping, but it sounds quite adventurous.” 

“Yeah, Papa,” Aleu coaxed him. “What did happen?”

“Well,” Balto began to summarize the parts Geona may have missed before continuing to the next scene. “We were by the edge of the forest with the mountains close in front of our path. My ears began to twitch as I sensed that an unwelcome stranger was watching us. I gasped and stood still, but I continued to tell my companions to keep moving. The silence was soon broken once I noticed that a large grizzly bear was near Boris and the polar bear cubs! The bear was about to bite the snow goose and out of defense for my friends, I leapt out at him, not realizing how much a bear’s claw would make you hurt once they attacked back. It swiped me down from the air as if I were nothing, and I felt myself fall hard onto the snow-covered ground. My