lose faith in his dad now. This would blow over eventually. He was suddenly shaken from his thoughts as he heard a conversation coming into earshot. It was still too far away to actually make out any of their word though, so he crept forward. He could tell that the voices were coming from one of the alleyways, so he pressed himself against the nearest building, and held in a hiss as he stepped wrong. He realized that at least one of the two voices sounded awfully familiar.

“So, you have your orders. I expect you to not let me down.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t. So let me get this straight. You want me to-”

The talking suddenly stopped and Kodi gritted his teeth. His paw had made the snow crunch. He probably just messed up the only chance to hear what was going on.

“You’ll do fine. You have the time. Now go.”

Kodi peaked around the corner and saw one of the two figures suddenly bolt down the other end and disappear into the darkness. He pulled his head back quickly as the second figure began to walk casually towards his direction. When the shadowy figure walked around the corner, he gasped.

“Oh Kodi!… It’s only you. You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Henry exclaimed.

Kodi eyed him up and down suspiciously. “So. Who was that you were just talking to?” he asked.

Henry laughed nervously and rubbed a paw behind his head. “You see, I had this idea. I got myself a secret informant. One of the gossips using their talent to benefit the town for once. I just hope it won’t be a waste of my time, and that they’re reliable. But we’ll have to see.”

Kodi raised an eyebrow. “I heard you talking about orders and times.”

“Well, that’s because they wanted to stay anonymous, unless they bring something really useful. I gave them a time that we could meet so they wouldn’t have to worry about snoopers like you.”

He stepped in front of Henry. A rush of wind whipped up snow and whirled it around the two dogs as the moon flashed through an occasional cloud.

“I think that you’re not being completely honest now,” Kodi said, trying to hide any emotions.

Henry didn’t try to smile this time. “Looks like you’re just like your father. He seems like quite the character.”

“Hey! Don’t you go after my dad! You’ve already done enough,” Kodi growled.

“Now calm down. No need to jump to conclusions and prove my point… If you please though, I would like to get some rest for tomorrow.” When Kodi didn’t move, Henry pushed him aside and began walking away. He stopped and turned around, smirking. “I would advise that you behave yourself youngster.”

Kodi watched Henry disappear down the main street with a certain feeling of mistrust. He was up to something, this was Kodi‘s gut feeling. But there was nothing he could do in this condition, and he knew it. So he continued to hobble down the lane towards his home as a sign above him creaked in the wind.

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

Jenna hadn’t moved for a few hours now. She had skipped her dinner, and had refused to play with her girl since the meeting. She was still doing what she had been, lying down and staring into the fire. The flames danced in her brown eyes and seemed to be her only company right now, the only thing to help comfort her. She heard the dog door swing open and sway. She didn’t bother look back.

“Good evening Mom.”

“The same to you Denali. Come to visit me?”

“More or less.” Denali walked up beside her and sat down. He laid a sympathetic paw on her back. “Don’t worry. I’m sure this’ll all blow over soon.”

She turned up to her son and looked at him hard. He was surprised to see how well the worry and pain seemed to shine through her eyes.

“But what if it doesn’t?… I have this feeling… This horrible feeling that this isn’t going to be alright.. I just hope so badly that for once, I’ll be wrong.”

Denali laid down beside her and put a paw on hers. “I know this is coming from me, but you have to stay positive and hold yourself together. As soon as you give up hope, then the battle is already lost. But remember, Dad’ll get off scot-free if something happens while he isn’t in town. So all this is, is a waiting game.”

Jenna gave him a faint smile. “I’ll try. For him, and all of you. First thing tomorrow, I’m heading over to his boat and seeing him. No matter what they tell me what not to do. And right after that, I’m going to talk with Henry about this.”

“That‘s the spirit. We’ll be here for you every step of the way. You can count on that.”

Jenna nuzzled her son and gave more of a smile. He offered to stay the night with her in case she need comforting, and she was only happy to accept the offer.

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

“Is utter nonsense!” squawked Boris.

The goose began to pace back and forth, mumbling here and there. Balto on the other hand, was feeling quite down and out. He sighed heavily and lifted up his blanket, crawling underneath and resting his head against the hard, cold, wooden deck. His tattered and weather-worn sheet was lifted up by a wing.

“Ugh… Listen Boychick. I am sorry for all of craziness that is happening. If there is anything I can do help, please, don’t be hesitating in asking.”

Balto turned away from Boris and his ears lowered. Boris moved himself right in front of Balto again.

“Boris.. If you really want to help, it would probably be best just to leave me alone right now. Besides that, I don’t think there’s anything else you can really do.”

“I could go into town and kick a little puppy rump?” he offered, trying to get a smile from Balto, but it proved useless. He scratched the back of his head and tried to think. “Hmm, maybe we can be going into town tomorrow so you can see Jenna?”

This caught Balto’s attention. “That actually doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

“Alrighty then. We shall be sneaking, so we must be getting sleep,” Boris smiled.

Balto nodded, and he quickly began to burrow deep into his blanket as best he could, accidentally ripping off a small piece of the fragile sheet with a claw. In a few minutes he and the goose were both asleep.

Chapter Fourteen:

Each dog that had actually showed up was bleary eyed and yawning. Some were doing there best to not nod off, but they found it increasingly difficult. The heat that radiated from the boiler did little to help their cause. Henry walked through the half-asleep crowd and stood before them, a most troubled look spread across his face. He pawed at the ground as the other dogs began to wake up fully. Jenna sat near the back, her parents to her left, and her sons and daughter to her right. She could hear all the whispers going around, most of them asking some other dog the question of why they would be here so early in the morning, to which there was not an answer. There was a sudden blast of wind as the door swung open. Boris waddled through the open door first and sat next to Duchess. He sighed heavily and buried his beak into his wing. Balto then appeared from the outside, an unfamiliar dog by his side. The dog led Balto to the front and sat him down behind Henry. He nodded at Henry, and Henry cleared his throat.

“I apologize for awaking you so early this morning, but I thought this was too dire ‘a situation to put off for later hours.” He coughed quietly and scratched underneath his chin. “None of you has a clue about why you have been gathered, am I correct?” Nods were seen throughout the crows, so Henry continued. “I see. Well then… I guess I must tell you myself… Mere hours ago, I was awoken by a most terrible sound that I think may haunt my memory for as long as I breathe. It was a blood-curdling screech that I heard. I rushed out of my bed and ran in the direction of the wail. I looked down that particular alley just in time to see a dark figure rushing South. I walked down the alley, being very careful, and I found exactly what I had feared. Another dog. Murdered in her prime.” There was a sudden increase in whispering and you could tell that the dogs in the room were definitely awake, especially Balto.

“But, why am I here?”

Henry refused to look back. “Isn’t it obvious Balto? Because you were the very one to do it!”

The murmuring suddenly escalated to a dull roar. Jenna began to step towards Henry, a very upset look upon her face.

“Where is your proof? What do you possibly have that could prove that he did this?”

Kodi rushed up beside her. “And what was this whole business with you talking with a shadowy dog last night, huh? What about that?”

Henry smiled at them. “Well, I have the answer to both of your questions. Max, please come here.” An orange husky walked up. “Tell them what happened last night.”

Max nodded. “Last night, I was given a watch by Henry. He told me to keep an eye on Balto’s boat, to make sure that if he left, I could catch the time that he left and then when he returned. But I was told to stay afar so I wouldn’t be seen. I was about ready to pass out when I saw a dog leave Balto’s ship. This was around 11:53 P.M. and so I was left struggling to stay awake until he returned, which was about 12:18 A.M.”

“See?” said Henry, “Conclusive proof that he left and then returned. And that would have given him just enough time to kill that poor dog.”

“But how do you know that wasn’t another dog?”

Henry turned to Balto, completely ignoring Jenna’s question. “Balto, do you sleep with, or without some kind of covering.”

“I have a small blanket, and that’s it,” he said quietly.

“I see… Hmm. Interesting. Because I found a small, tattered piece of fabric on the victim’s body.”

“But-” Jenna tried to cut in.

“Enough!” Henry snarled, “Security! Please, escort Jenna and her family off of the premises until the verdict has been made!”

A group of dogs came up immediately and surround them. They started to force Jenna and the rest of her family out of the door, while they tried to push back.

“Balto! No!” Jenna called out as she desperately tried to

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