Prologue

In the northern tip of the Alaskan territory, lies a small isolated town called Nome.Nome like most tiny towns has its share of problems. Including supplies can’t be brought in by any convenient manner. Every possible way for supplies to get through involves someone placing their life on the line, airplanes, cargo boats and dog sleds. Earlier then was a diphtheria epidemic that struck the younger population of Nome, Alaska. The winds were too fierce and the ocean was to rough for the airplanes and ships to make it through. There only other option was to have Dog sleds haul the medicine to and from the pick up point. A brave group survived the harsh weathers in the year 1925 to bring back the panacea for all the children symptoms. Every thing returned to normal for the residence of Nome. Now they had dog sleds run the mail in and out of Nomethese dogs were seen as valuable assets for the community.

The year is 1929 four years after the epidemic and now Nome has a mail team led by Kodiak (A.K.A. Kodi).He took over after his friend Kirby received a leg injury.

Second behind Kodi is Largo and as his name suggests he’s large, and fast and oddly enough kind of shy. This is not because of his size but because he is just naturally shy around other dogs. He was now in Kodi’s old position. Behind him is another rather large dog, but not near as big, Ralph. And behind him the only female dog on the team Dusty. Behind her are the last two dogs of the team Kai and Roy.

Chapter One:

The New Comers

            The storm’s severity was increasing and the mail dogs were late. The leader a red and white husky named Kodi knew that they had to keep going ,but if they didn’t stop they probably wouldn’t be able to find their way anyway. Realizing this as well the handler had them pull over behind a ridge to keep the bitter wind from blowing on them. “Looks like we’ll have to wait this one out guys”, said Mr. Simpson, while letting the dogs off the reigns so that they could move around.

“This sucks” said Dusty. Shaking her white and grey fur to knock off all the collected snow, “we could have been back by now if someone hadn’t of slowed down”, looking at a large black and white husky.

“ME!” Ralph said shocked as his black and white fur stood up. “I had a broken nail and it was driving me crazy.”

 “Oh not that one again” said Largo, also a black and white husky, but substantially larger then Ralph; looked away in annoyance.

“Hey guys just give it a break; instead of fighting you should be getting some rest. We still don’t know how far we have to go”, exclaimed Kodi.

They all anxiously complied and they all lied down to and fell to sleep. Though Kodi was one of the younger dogs in the group he was in charge and Largo even though they were about the same age respected him, Largo wasn’t sure if it was for Kodi’s leadership skills or because how everyone even the older dogs listened to what he had to say.   

            Several miles away at the sled dogs destination the storm was just as fierce. Both man and animal alike didn’t dare go out in this sort of weather. On the edge of town two hazy figures trudged towards the town. Inching their way through the deep snow their legs sinking in to the snow causing a blistering cold chills to run down their spine with every step. Although now they no longer felt the sharp protruding pain in their legs their whole bodies felt numb with a tingling sensation.

            On the outer edges of town a boiler room was still burning strong. Most of the dogs in the winter would stay here because it was always warm no matter what the weather. All the dogs gathered together gossiping about how the mail team was doing. “They must’ve got lost out in weather like this”, one older husky said.

 “Something horrible must’ve happened to them. Maybe an avalanche covered them up and their out their now slowly digging their way out of the cold, blistering snow”, another said in response. Not knowing how much more of this he could stand Kirby the former leader of the sled team laid down and placed his large tan paws over his ears to try to block all the sound of the others dogs nonsense. He knew Kodi was smart and wouldn’t try to continue in weather like this. But no matter what position he took or what he placed over his head Kirby couldn’t drown out the sounds of those ignorant dogs. Finally something in him snapped,

“HEY SHUT UP WILL YOU!” All the other dogs looked at him shocked. Most have never seen Kirby this angry but the ones that have, mostly dogs in his age range, knew to stay quiet and not say anything else. Though flustered and tense at first, he soon relaxed and spoke in a deep calming voice,

“Kodi knows what he is doing. If their late their late. There is nothing that we can do about it but wait”.  Laying back down on his usual pillow Kirby curled up and appeared to be relaxed; however when his face wasn’t visible to their prying eyes he wore a worried look on his face deep in thought; praying that they would all come back safely, because he didn’t want to lose his friends.

            Just when everyone was about to settle down for the night in the boiler room the door flew open letting the cold frost bitten wind in to nip at the dog’s warm ears. At the entrance to the boiler room two figures appeared both blanketed with snow covering both their faces and their bodies. One stumbled when he took a step on solid wooden floor obviously used to the constant shift of snow beneath his feet. And when he had the wooden floor totally beneath him floor he gasped “Finally!” in a raspy voice. Then he collapsed. His companion hurried to his friend’s side and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him farther into warm room. He was also used to the shifting of snow beneath his feet, and lost his own footing a couple of times. All the dogs looked stunned caused either from a couple of strange dogs who came in or the frigid wind that was coming in through the open door. When the strange dog had finally dragged his companion as far as his body would allow he collapsed under the strain of fatigue, and landed besides his friend closing his eyes and drifting for the first time in a long time into a deep sleep.

            Calm, serene, and blissful was the dream that Balto envisioned. Flying that had been his one true passion and when he wasn’t in the air in real life he was in his dreams, but something seemed amiss. The skies he was soaring in became dark and cloudy storm clouds and there was no end to them on the horizon. Looking down he realized just how high he was off the ground and the wind was rushing from underneath him making his fur whip rapidly behind him. He was rolling around thrashing in the air, falling from thousands of feet in the air towards the ground. As he approached the ground he noticed that a dog he never saw before. The dog had grey coat on the upper half of his body and his belly had a tan color. He looked familiar as he stared at this dog the fact that he himself was plummeting to the ground. Those moments lasted to Balto for hours. The uncertainty he felt about this dog made him uneasy and restless. When he fell and became eye to eye with the dog he finally realized where he had seen this dog before. The dog seemed to not be phased by Balto falling in front of his eyes. 

“BALTO!”, a voice said causing Balto to wake up from his slumber Balto was panting. “You were growling and tossing all night”, said Jenna. Balto looked in to her eye. This seemed to always calm him down when he was excited or anxious. She moved closer and moved he body against his. Balto took a deep breath and exhaled a long sigh to let her know he was alright.

“I just had a nightmare that’s all”, he said in a calm voice to keep her from getting worried.

“I’m glad that’s all it was”, she replied with a concerned voice not totally buying it. “Well it’s still storming outside so we’ll have to stay inside for a while yet. I hope Kodiak is alright”, She sighed. Balto knew that she only used Kodi’s full name only when she was either; surprised, angry, or worried and he didn’t need a hint as to which one it was. He had to admit he was also worried, what was that dream about and what did it mean?

“Quick shut those doors! Do you want us to freeze to death”, barked Kirby at the dogs that were closest to the gaping doors to the boiler room. Quickly complying two of the dogs nudged the doors shut. Kirby walked up to the two strange dogs. They both were still covered in a thick blanket of snow and he feared for the worst. He brushed his paw up and down the dogs’ back until all the snow had been removed. The dogs were soaked from all the snow and they weren’t even shivering. He was feared that they both had already entered the critical stages of hypothermia. “You help he move these two closer to the furnace”, he commanded to one of the younger dogs. Then he dragged the larger one by the scruff of his neck till he was mere feet from the furnace. The younger dog did the same.

“Who are they”, asked one dog.

“Haven’t seen them around town before”, replied one of the other dogs. Kirby hearing more gossip perked up his ears.

“What did I say about meaningless gossip”, barked Kirby. All the dogs became quiet once again. Sighing, “I guess we’ll have to just wait until they wake up before we know anything”. 

 
“Who am I? Where are those