demise.

          At last in the feeble afternoon light a dark spot appeared in the distance, and as it grew closer two horses became visible, and then the sleigh behind it. Tumak grew more and more excited as it neared, and with a drumming heart he leaped beneath the porch steps and huddled there in the cold shadows, already picturing Jenna’s sweet face, smelling her musky scent, feeling her neck against his muzzle…

          He heard the sleigh runners shush to a stop and the horses stomp and snort impatiently. Luggage fell to the ground with a thud, and heavy footsteps led the horses away. Lighter sets of footsteps pattered slowly above his head, and the front door squeaked open and shut as he heard a small voice sigh, “Balto…”

          Tumak winced. The little girl. A pang of guilt hit him in the chest, but so weakly that he brushed it aside, and stepped out of hiding to find Jenna at the bottom of the porch steps, staring listlessly at the snow. The very sight of her took his breath away.

          Quietly he padded up to her side. “Jenna?”

          She slowly raised her head, and when her eyes met his they widened into a silent scream.

          Remembering how much he looked like Balto, Tumak quickly said, “It’s Tumak. Jenna, what’s wrong?”

          Her face gradually crumbled into open despair, and before he could say anything more she collapsed onto his shoulder and sobbed. “Oh, Tumak…Balto’s gone…”

          “Gone?” he said in false alarm, relishing his success that had taken barely any effort. “What? You mean…? How? Oh, my– I’m so sorry, Jen.” He felt a glimmer of triumph when she didn’t reproach him on the endearing nickname.

          She let him hold her as she grieved, and she was convinced of Tumak’s own loss over Balto. But if she had looked into his eyes she would have seen the twisted satisfaction there, and the bittersweet victory.

          Balto lay delirious, with blurred images rushing through his mind and swimming before his eyes. Every color was bright and garish, and every flicker of sound was magnified and dragged into the next. Through the ache and the chill he remembered the wind whistling past his ears as he tumbled from the riverbank, and the hard shock that almost knocked him unconscious when he hit the cold water. The river beat him and threw him from side to side, and his eyes and ears and mouth filled with water while his lungs filled with flames.

          The current made him hurtle forward to scrape against rocks and dirt, and each impact made his chest burn. At last, when he thought his lungs would cave in before he got another breath of air, he smashed through the surface and gasped and choked, before the rapids spun him like a top. White foam smacked him in the face and made his eyes sting as he was hurled through the waves once again. Fear snapped through his limbs like electricity, but soon he was too tired even to be afraid.

          The beating continued until he was limp, and then one wave lifted him to the gray sky, and crashed down on the muddy shore, receding but leaving Balto behind.

          He lay there for he knew not how long, feeling the water and the cold start to frost his fur. The icy waves lapped at his back legs and tail, and yet he felt nothing except the cold and the bruises that pulsed beneath his skin. After awhile he no longer felt even that, and he closed his eyes and plunged into blackness even deeper and darker than the river.

          Eventually, as if from a galaxy away, he felt his body being lifted and then dragged through the snow. There was something warm and furry brushing against his front legs occasionally, and then he was gently pushed onto something soft in a place where there was no wind or snow, just warmth…

          Balto shivered and opened his eyes, trying hard to banish sleep from his mind. He was in the back of a small red rock cave, resting on a ratty green blanket with another chewed-up gray blanket draped over his back. In the recesses of the cave a tiny stream trickled and splashed into a small pool. The cave entrance was only about eight feet away, and beyond it Balto could see all was dark except a tinge of pink along the horizon. It was the sunrise.

          Balto rose and gingerly padded over to the stream. His whole body was sore, but he managed in the end. The stream seemed to come from underground, and when he caught a spurt on his tongue it tasted all right. He took a long drink. Then he found some old dog food hidden nearby and dug in with relish. Only when all his needs were satisfied did he dare to look around and wonder, ‘Where am I?’

          “Oh, good! You’re okay.”

          Balto spun around to see a pale brown mutt standing at the mouth of the cave. She was mildly pretty, with husky ears but a build too small for a sled dog, and a great bushy tail like a German shepherd. Her most beautiful asset was her deep brown eyes, made gorgeous by the flashes of rich purple and pink behind her in the sunrise. She smiled widely at him, and ran forward as if to catch him in an embrace, but stopped just in time, still grinning foolishly.

          Balto stared at her. He hadn’t seen her at all when Talon yelled at her for fighting with her boyfriend, and he had only gotten the briefest glimpse of her lying in the dark alley defending herself. But he recognized the voice, and now he was truly dumbfounded. “Lila?” Balto said in amazement.

          She laughed at his surprise. “Yes.”

          Balto stared at her all the more, trying to find the truth behind those bewitching eyes. “But- How-? What-? You…you rescued me?”

          This time she snorted. “Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. I had to drag you from the river to here. It wasn’t that far, but…I can’t believe Talon would do something like that…” For the first time she sounded sad, but then her head snapped up again with a grim expression on her face. “Actually, I can.”

          Balto felt the ice of anger grip his chest, but he swallowed it and looked around. “Where are we?”

          A faint blush crept up Lila’s cheeks. “Me and…Sanctus used to come here a lot. When we…wanted to be alone.” She avoided his eyes, and her gaze fell to his shaking legs. “Are you all right?”

          Balto hadn’t even realized he was about to fall. “Yeah, I just need to lie down.” He stiffly lowered himself onto the blankets. Lila quietly padded over and lay next to him, but not touching. Balto breathed a little easier. “How long have I been out of it?” he asked.

          Lila raised her eyebrows. “Now? Four days.” She shuddered. “I was so scared you weren’t going to make it.” She smiled tentatively at him. “I’m so glad you did.”

          Balto felt the uneasiness creeping through every muscle in his body. He couldn’t tell if she was simply being friendly, or trying to flirt. He gulped and said hoarsely, “Why did you save me?”

          Lila’s paws clenched against the cave floor, and she stared fiercely at the dirt between her front paws. “Because you’re the first guy who’s ever respected me. Or really cared about me. Because you stood up for me. Because…because you saved me.”

          She lifted her eyes to his, and in them Balto could see the ache and the hurt and the longing to be loved. And the final, fragile hope she had found in him. In him. He was both awed and humbled by her starved heart and depth of caring. This was why she had endured Sanctus, why she endured Talon, why she had put up with all her past boyfriends: she just wanted to be loved, to be cared for and cared about. She broke his heart to pieces.

          Lila’s smile trembled, her being on the verge of grateful tears. “Thank you.” Under his shell-shocked gaze, she crawled over to him and laid her head against his neck, nuzzling him, showing him affection the only way she knew how.

          Although it hurt his heart to hurt her, Balto thought of Jenna, and gently pushed Lila away. “Where’s Jenna?” he asked, hoping to remind Lila of the reality that awaited them outside the cave.

          Full of pain but not surprised, Lila kept her eyes locked on his as she replied, “She left