Balto looked up to see Talon standing a few feet away, grinning pleasantly. “Hey, Talon,” he said by way of greeting, “Uh, no, I’m not lost. Have you seen Jenna?”

          Talon furrowed his brow. “Jenna? Oh, yeah, just this morning. She went to go see Cooper, I think.” He gestured towards the further end of town.

          Balto could smell Jenna’s scent on the street for a moment, before it grew cold with the new snow. “Thanks,” he told Talon, “I guess I’ll see you around.” He started padding down the cobbled street.

          “Oh, you won’t catch them now,” Talon said smoothly, stepping in front of Balto in time to block his path. “I saw them walking on the tundra just outside town.”

          “Really?” Balto replied, trying not to look skeptical. But he couldn’t help it; something didn’t seem right. Could Talon have found out about Sanctus already? “Why would they do that?”

          Sympathy lined Talon’s usually-hard face. “Well, with Jewel’s death, I guess it brings back a lot of memories,” he said, shaking his head sadly, “You know Jenna’s father died when she was only a few weeks old? And then her brother Lake died –out on the tundra– almost a year later. Cooper told me,” Talon answered Balto’s questioning look.

          “Yeah. I know about her father,” Balto muttered, “But she never told me much about Lake.” The memories had been too painful for her to discuss.

          He straightened his shoulders and turned to head back into the house. “Well, if they’re talking, I shouldn’t interrupt–”

          “Sure you can,” Talon assured him, wheeling Balto around and guiding him towards the outskirts of Stanton. “I’ll go with you. I have to talk to Cooper, anyway. He’s been playing pranks on the other dogs, and it has to stop!”

          Balto was dumbfounded. “Uh–okay,” he agreed, not at all sure how this would turn out.

          With a satisfied grin Talon took the lead, and they began their trek out onto the tundra.

          Suspicion ate away at Balto’s brain like acid with every passing minute. Could Talon have found out about Sanctus’ unexpected demise already? It was barely dawn! Lila was okay, and she would have hidden the body – wouldn’t she? Furthermore, how did Talon know where he was going? With the new snow still falling, there were no scents to track, no pawprints to follow. Questions churned inside him until he couldn’t take it anymore. “Talon,” Balto began, “Did you-?” And then guilt and shame glued his tongue to the roof of his mouth. How could he admit what he had done to Talon when he could barely admit it to himself?

          “Did I what?” Talon asked without turning his head.

          Balto’s head drooped. “Nothing.”

          They continued their silent journey until they reached the banks of a roaring river.

          Balto stared down at the foaming white swirls of the current until his stomach began making rapids of its own. Rainbow spray spewed up and misted on his face, soaking his fur through. Turning, he cried, “Talon, what are we doing here? Where’s Jenna?” But there was no one there.

          Balto spun around. “Talon?” And then there the husky was, staring with a dark smile into Balto’s eyes.

          Balto contemplated running, but it was too late. Talon had him cornered. And now he was sure Talon knew. He had known all along.

          “Look, I’m sorry,” Balto began.

          But Talon cut him off with a low snarl: “Do you know how Lake died?”

          Balto slowly shook his head. “No.”

          The malicious triumph in Talon’s eyes couldn’t be missed. “Drowning.”

          He lunged forward, and Balto tumbled with a cry into the river’s watery clutches.

          A commotion outside interrupted Jenna and Cooper’s conversation.

          “What in the world?” Jenna said. She and Cooper rose and padded out into the street, where it seemed all hell had broken loose. Dogs were running everywhere, bumping into each other, shouting, and ultimately creating absolute chaos. A sizable crowd was gathered around something in the middle of the alley.

          Jenna stared around in bewilderment. “Cooper, what’s going on?”

          “I don’t know,” Cooper murmured, “But with this crowd, there’s only one way to find out.” He narrowed his eyes in deep concentration, sucked in air until his chest bulged, and used all his power as he yelled, “HEY! WHAT’S GOING ON HERE??!”

          All talk ceased and a ringing silence reigned as every face turned towards Cooper, but when they saw Jenna the murmuring started again, growing to fast roar: “Jenna, Jenna, it’s Jenna, Jenna, oh no, Jenna…”

          A steel gray husky pushed through the crowd and stood before Jenna, his eyes and head lowered.

          Jenna stared at him. “Talon? Talon, what’s going on? What’s the matter?”

          His hazel eyes flicked up to meet hers, and the empty gleam there was unmistakable. He licked his lips, and said in a quiet voice, “Jenna, I’m so sorry…Balto and I, we were walking by the river…He was hoping to find you…Well, I slipped and almost fell in. He caught me and saved me, but then he fell instead…I’m so sorry. So sorry.”

          Cold water dripped from his fur and the moth-eaten blanket thrown across his back. Jenna watched the drops as if in a trance, the wet pinging of water on stone echoing in her head. His words echoed, too, and in her mind she was suddenly whirled back to the past, to another place where a black and white malamute, with bowed head and sorrowful tones, informed her of Balto’s death.

          He lied.

          Rage cut through her heart like a burning knife, but her blood cooled as quickly as it had flared. Talon had no real reason to hate Balto. Yes, there was that one instance with Talon’s overprotectiveness of the town dogs when Balto had tried to suggest something, but nothing had come of it. How she wished she could look into Talon’s sad eyes and declare firmly, as she once had, “You’re lying. Balto’s alive.” But Talon was no great enemy of Balto’s. It looked as if Balto was truly gone.

          Voices surrounded her, full of concern and bereavement, and in that instant Jenna hated them all. She dove deeper into her torment to make them fade, and everything began to blur.

          Suddenly she jerked from the depths of her darkening mind and into reality, and found herself skidding to a halt in front of her mother’s grave. All was silent, a small comfort to her raw heart, and her orange bandana lay there as bright and full of memories as ever.

          She stared at it for a long moment, and the intensity of her gaze made her tremble violently. Her legs buckled under her and she collapsed face-first into the scrap of cloth, burying her head in it and nosing it hard so as to catch any trace of Balto. The faint whiff of his scent made her throat burn, and the sobs that tore from her chest did not lessen the pain as she felt her heart crack.

          She remembered painfully his loving words, his tender kisses, his gentleness with their pups. She loved him for his strength, his loyalty, his determination, his courage, and even his mistakes: his favoritism, his anger, and his pride.

          She choked at the thought that these would now be only memories, and she cried for the body that lay in the roaring river and the body that lay cold beneath the earth, beneath her paws.

          Tumak stood looking out on the horizon from the porch of Jenna’s house. In the time he had been there the sky had changed from rose pink and fiery orange to robin’s egg blue to a deep blue-gray laced with ashen clouds. His bronze eyes stared, unflickering, as he searched for the sight that would confirm Talon’s success in Balto’s demise.

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