side in guilty horror, he grinned and dragged her down with him.  Together they laughed and splashed in the tide, which was rising rapidly.  

And that was how their friendship began.

Presently Steele ambled along, expecting to find his son alone, maybe playing in the bubbling backwash of the tide.  Instead he halted abruptly, half aghast, half in wonder, to see his only son splashing lazily in the knee-deep water alongside a bright crimson pup.  For a fraction of an instant, two totally different canines flashed before Steele's vision - himself and his former love, Jenna.  Shaking his head to clear it, the husky stepped closer.

"Son...what have you been doing?"

"Nothin', Dad."  Despite his nonchalant tone, Keenan was cautious.  That hard voice gave the impression that Steele was keeping his emotions strongly in check, but that they could (and would) all come spilling out at any moment.

"Time to go home, son," said Steele.  His voice was hoarse with shock; his nose was pointing halfway to the rocks where Treble was resting when a familiar gray-brown wolfdog slid around the corner of a nearby dune.  "Steele," the hybrid breathed, resent and caution plain in every line of his long, low-slung body.  The black husky could see the wolfdog's chest rising up and down rapidly, preparing for conflict.  He was ready to defend his daughter.

"Balto."  Steele nodded curtly, shoving Keenan forward with a heavy paw.  He would not fight with that mutt in front of the children - his child, anyway.

 

Balto seemed to be thinking the same thing.  "C'mon, Dingo," the hybrid murmured.  "Time to go home."  He nudged his little auburn daughter away from the beach cove, his paws making loud slapping sounds in the salty water as they departed. 

"See ya around sometime?" Keenan muttered to Wunder, slightly embarrassed.  She nodded in a muted fashion, blinking the water from her eyes.  Her head hung low as she plodded through the sparkling shallows.

The walk back to Treble seemed to go on forever, it appeared to both father and son.  So many thoughts were swirling inside Steele's head - thoughts of reproof, of disappointment and regret - that he didn't know which ones to pluck from his head and say to his son first.  "I wouldn't count on it," he growled.

"Count on what?"  Keenan's subdued voice was low, but curious.

With a start Steele glanced down at his only son.  He hadn't realized that his train of thought had only made sense inside his head.  "You're not going to be seeing them anytime soon.  So don't count on it.  That's what I meant."

"Oh."

There was an uncomfortable silence all the way back to Keenan's mother's sunning spot.  When at last they reached her, she grinned in typical Treble fashion and stretched.  "So, did you have a good time?" she asked lazily, as if fully expecting the answer to be 'yes'.

"Uhhh..."  Steele cleared his throat. 

Treble looked up sharply.  "What's wrong?" she asked in her soft voice.  It was the one she used when her full attention was focused on something.

"We...had a run-in with somebody," Steele said.  Keenan cleared his throat loudly and shuffled his paws in the sand.

Treble raised her eyebrowns questioningly.  Then all of a sudden she understood.  Groaning, she sank to the sand.  "Not..."

"Yes," Steele nodded.  "Balto.  And his daughter."

"Steele," his mate said, almost in a whisper.  "Have you told him?"

Keenan looked up.  "Who, me?  Told me what?" 

His father groaned.  "No, I haven't," he admitted.

"Then please do."  Picking herself up abruptly, Treble left the two alone, heading resolutely in the direction of the town.

An awkward silence fell for several moments after she left.  Steele looked disgruntled.  Finally Keenan got up the courage to ask, "Dad...what were you supposed to tell me?"

The big black-and-white husky sighed, knowing that this talk would be humiliating and uncomfortable for both of them.  Nonetheless, it was important.  After settling himself on the sand and motioning for his son to do the same, he opened his muzzle for a long time without speaking.  "Son," Steele began, "A year or so ago, in 1925, there was an epidemic..."

 

 

To Be Continued...

 

 

Steele, Balto, Jenna (c) Universal

Treble, Keenan, Wunder, human family (c) Iditarod        

      
 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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