they descended. When they reached to bottom, Burt pushed the door open and walked into the room where the telegraph was. He guided them through another door and then another before the moon was able to look upon them once more. They looked at him quizzically as he walked over to an object that had a tarp spread across it. He yanked it off quickly revealing a small sled.

“There are enough rations to last us a few days. I thought we’d need it in case something like this happened. Guess I was right to do so… Now, help me get Star onto the sled.”

Hal and Lilith gently hoisted him to the sled, no one seeing the look of utter disgust plastered across Hal’s face. There were three slots for the dogs. Burt took the front, leaving Lilith and Hal in back.

“This is convenient, no?” asked Hal as he studied the sled.

“When you’re lucky, you’re lucky,” Burt replied.

He pushed a few vertical boards away from the fence that surrounded this plot of land and revealed a large hole. He nodded to them, and within a few strides, they were already running out of town, their breaths coming out in misty puffs and the wind nipping at their heels.

Chapter Eight:

“We just caught saw a set of paw prints heading way out, along with the treads of a sled. I’m sorry. I wish we could have found out sooner…”

“Darn it!” Kodi shouted in frustration, “They got away!”

“Kodi, it’s no use getting worked up over this. Losing our heads won’t get us anywhere..” Balto said to his son as he laid a paw on his shoulder, “But now is not the time to give up. If we want any chance of getting Star back, we have to catch up to them. We have to get Mr. Simpson up, and fast… Move!”

Within an instant, all of the sled dogs were running down the street, barking like mad. They found the postmaster’s home and began clawing, howling, barking, and making any noise they could before they heard the noises of a human getting out of bed. In a few more moments the saw a very tired looking stumble out of the door way, a thick coat hastily thrown on. He yawned loudly as he spoke.

“What is it team? It‘s after midnight so I hope it‘s important,” he looked down at them, “Have you found Star?”

Many of the dogs lowered their heads, bent their ears back and whimpered. Mr. Simpson scratched his head.

“Well, what am I up for then?”

He felt a sudden tugging on his coat sleeve. It was Kodi. Mr. Simpson tried to pull his arm away when Kaltag and Balto joined in by grabbing his other sleeve.

“What’s gotten into you guys!?”

He couldn’t yank his arms free from his dogs, so what on earth could they want? He thought for a moment, stopped trying to get away and, feeling foolish, tried to talk with them.

“Alright.. What do you guys want?”

Mr. Simpson watched his dogs move towards their sled that he had set near the house. They began pawing at it and whimpering. He looked at them in bewilderment before rubbing his head.

“You want to go somewhere, or something?”

They just continued what they were doing, and Mr. Simpson sighed in confusion.

“Er… Alright then,” he walked along and started to hook up the dogs and then ran inside quickly, grabbing the mail bag. He yelled a command and the dogs took off, and after they reached the outskirts of the town, he realized that they were heading back to Nome. “Well this is good,” he said, “I was thinking of getting myself checked out when we get home… Whoa guys, easy now.”

He called as he felt his dogs surge on with a determination he hadn’t seen. Every dog from Balto to Kaltag was racing as fast as they could to make up for lost time.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

“Jenna! Jenna where are you!?” Rosie called.

She had woken up this morning and had scoured the house to find no trace of her husky. She held a small ball in her left hand, and a hat and coat in her other. She walked into the living room and sat on the window seat, pressing her face against the glass and looking out. Nancy looked out from the kitchen.

“Rosie, c’mon, it’s time to eat Dear!”

The nine-year old sighed as she dropped the objects and rushed through the kitchen and into a dining room. She sat at the table, her knife and fork at the ready as her mom laid a plate right in front of her. She started to nibble on the food before she stopped. Her mom shot a concerned look at her husband, and in turn, he looked at their daughter.

“Is anything wrong Rosie?” he asked.

She pushed a pea around with her fork. “Nothing, I just can’t find Jenna.”

“Oh don’t worry Honey, she’ll be back. You know that she goes out sometimes by herself.”

“But this is different, normally she’s always here for Lunch.”

Nancy rubbed her shoulder, “Well, maybe she just lost track of time?”

“Maybe..”

“Now, let’s just try to eat. You’re wasting away to nothing.”

The family picked up their utensils once more just in time to hear a loud knocking on the door.

“I wonder who on earth that could be?” Nancy said, standing from the table.

She walked to the front door and opened it, revealing a woman with a red face who was doubled over breathing hard.

“Susan! What’s wrong?”

Susan grabbed Nancy by the shoulders. “They’re gone!” she cried.

“Wait? Who’s gone?” Nancy asked, obviously stumped by her sister’s reaction.

“My dogs! They left two nights ago, but I thought they’d be back yesterday, or at the latest last night, but nothing!”

Nancy saw her sister beginning to sob for the first time in a long time. Those two had meant the world to her since her husband’s passing. She embraced her and whispered words of comfort.

“We’ll send out a poster, and maybe someone can find them. But the most important thing for you to do right now is hold yourself together.”

Susan looked at Nancy, her face stained with tears and running mascara as she nodded gently. Just then Rosie wobbled into the parlor.

“Hey mom, our little puppy’s missing too!” she said and then saw Susan, “Hey Auntie, what are you doing here?… Why are you crying?”

Susan opened her arms up and Rosie bounded right into them.

“Oh, no reason. I’m feeling a lot better now,” she replied, smiling.

Rosie smiled back, “Well, maybe you can help us look for Jenna then?”

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

A chubby dog took her long ear off the of the Manson’s door and quickly took to the streets. She spied a familiar looking dog and rushed too her, lifting one of her ears that was long just like hers. She whispered to her, and the other dog’s eyes widened. Her jaw dropped and she looked down.

“Are you absolutely sure?”

Dipsy nodded her head. “Heard it all myself on the way back to the general store.”

Sylvia shook hers, “This year’s sure turned out great so far. I’m sure no one will like this, but I can’t deny them their right to know.”

“Looks like there’ll be three new additions to the Missing Dogs Board… But I gotta go, my stomach’s talking to me, and I’ve never let it down yet.”

And with that, Dipsy took off down the street as Sylvia went to find Dixie.

“I just wonder what Balto’ll say about this. Or Doc for that matter.”

Just then she saw a purple powder-puff flaunting down the street.

“Hey Dixie! Have I got news for you!” she called.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Hal looked out towards the frozen ocean as they ran beside it. He saw the first rays of sun and frowned.

“Sun’s already coming up! Almost Noon!” he exclaimed.

“I know that! But it’s a huge area between White Mountain and Nome. Considering that we haven’t been back there in a good long time, I’m glad we’ve made it this far in this time,” Burt yelled back.

Star shifted uneasily on the sled and looked out at the surface of the frozen ocean, now realizing how beautiful it looked. Well, after being locked in a house for a long time, anything seemed beautiful now. There was something on his mind though, and he was really curious to find out now. He saw Lilith quickly glancing at him once or twice over her shoulder, and decided to ask her.

“Hey, um.. Who exactly are we running from anyways?”

Her breathing came out heavily as she tried to do two things at once, “Well… I had to run with them before… and I can tell you that… they’re very ruthless and merciless… ones that you don’t want to see again in your life.”

“But you should just stand up to them, right?”

“Easy now. Curiosity killed that cat. Or, dog in this situation. Asking too many questions right now would not be the wisest of decisions,” Burt called back warily.

Hal heard Star gulp from behind him and grinned cheerfully.

“Do not worry Ally, we are well on our way to safety!” he snickered.

Star stared silently at Hal as his paws thundered against the tundra and the sun began to rapidly ascend. Had he just said… Ally?

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

A red and white husky rose his head from his paws. He stared out from his resting place and saw a team of three dogs with another dog on top of a sled race past him at breakneck speed.

“Wonder what their hurry is,” he muttered to himself quietly.

Douglas stood up, stretching and yawning as bones cracked. He padded off the main street and into an alley. He saw a trashcan with no lid on it and licked his chops hungrily. He hadn’t eaten in a day or so, so it was a ‘take it or leave’ it situation. He pushed against the can and it tipped over, landing with a soft thud into the snow. Douglas immediately rushed to the open end and started to dig through it. He pulled out a half-eaten piece of goose. He chomped down on it, ripping a piece off as he continued to dig through the can. As he pulled back out, a small, square cloth hung lazily in his grasp. It was a bright pink. He suddenly got an idea. Douglas laid the cloth so it looked like a diamond from his angle. He then dragged the farthest right corner to the center, and then the left. He wove one end under the other, put his paw in the center, and repeated this again until it formed a

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