tomorrow.”

Boris shrugged. “As you vish.”

Balto padded off the ramp. He headed for the town.

It was getting dark out. There were few people on the streets. Balto moved  through the dark town.

Suddenly his ears perked up. He looked around. He was in the middle of the street. He couldn’t see anything.

“Who…who’s there?” Balto called nervously.

“Well look at the little puppy.” A voice said.

Balto could faintly see the outlines of dogs.

“That ain’t a puppy. That’s a wolf.”

Balto bared his teeth. “Stay back.”

The dogs burst out laughing. “You’re a funny little guy you know that?!”

One of the dogs advanced on him. “What are you going to do big bad wolf? Eat me?” He laughed.

Balto could feel anger building inside of him. He needed to leave.

“I gotta go.” Balto turned to leave. There were more dogs behind him.

“What are you going home to mommy?” The dog teased.

Balto growled. “Shut up about my mother.”

The dog smiled. “What did she get shot? Wolf scum deserve that.”

Before he could stop himself Balto had leapt onto the bigger dogs leg. He bit down. The dog howled in pain.

“He bit me! The little twerp bit me!” The dog howled.

Balto jumped over the dog and ran off down the street. He had to get back to the boat.

He looked back. The other dogs were chasing him. “Get back here you little creep!”

Balto ducked into an alleyway. The dogs followed.

“Come out and show yourself! We won’t hurt you little guy!”

Balto wasn’t convinced. He noticed a ladder. It led to the roof of the building.

He climbed up. The other dogs noticed.

“There he is! He’s going onto the roof!”

Balto reached the roof. He looked down.

The dogs were beginning to climb the ladder. Balto looked for a way out. There were no other exits. He thought over jumping to the opposite building, but knew it was too far.

He heard a sniggering. He realized with horror that the dogs had caught up with him. He turned. The lead dog was limping. Balto could see blood seeping out of his leg.

“You shouldn’t have done that twerp.” The dog snarled.

Balto backed up. He was trembling with fear. The dog grinned.
“End of the road kid.”

Balto suddenly noticed something. There was a clothesline going from the building to an opposite building. He grinned.

“Well this has been fun guys. Really it has. But I gotta go.”

Before the dogs could react, Balto clamped his jaws around the clothesline and slid across to the other building. The dogs stared dumbfounded after him.

Balto jumped to the street. He began running, and didn’t stop until he had reached the beached boat.

Boris looked worried when he appeared. “Vhat happened to you?”

“Nothing important Boris. Why are you so worried about me?”

Boris shrugged. “It vorries me seeing young pups out zere on zeir own.”

Balto smiled. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Are you sure? You can stay for as long as you vant. Zis town isn’t very…open minded…about volves.”

“I’m not a wolf. I’m a wolf dog.” Balto corrected.

“No offence intended. But you look like volf. Humans vill, I’m afraid, see you as volf.”

Balto nodded. “Maybe you’re right.”

Balto padded over to a blanket in the corner of the boat. He wrapped it around himself to protect from the cold.

“Tell me about yourself Boris.”

Boris scratched his head. “Vell zere isn’t really much to tell. I vas flying south, and I crash landed here. I liked it so much zat I decided to stay.”

“Really? That good of a town huh?”

Boris nodded. “Vhat about you? How did you end up in za voods of Nome?”

Balto sighed. “They died. They were murdered by a wolf."

"Ah. I see. Sorry."

Tears slowly formed in his Balto’s eyes. “I don’t even know why the wolf killed them.”
Balto began crying. Boris waddled over to him and wrapped a wing around his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry Balto. I didn’t…I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

“Vhat happened to the vone who killed zem?”

Balto felt rage course through his veins. “I don’t know. He may be dead, but I’m not sure.”

Boris nodded. “Vell I’ll take care of you for now.”

Balto nodded tearfully. “Thanks Boris.”

Boris waddled away. “I hope you sleep vell. It vill be cold night.”

Balto nodded. “Goodnight Boris.”

“Goodnight Balto.”

 

 

 

Chapter 7

 

Balto woke up to Boris’s ice water bucket.

Two years had passed since he had met Steele. He was now fully grown. He shook the ice cold water of his fur.

“What was that for?”

“You have slept in.” Boris replied. Boris had changed over the years.

Raising the stubborn pup had turned him into a cynical, grumpy old goose.

“Slept in for what?”

“You have been staying on boat for veek!”

Balto sighed. “We discussed this. If the town keeps shooting at me, I stay away from the town.”

“I see no bullet holes. Obviously zey’re missing.”

“So I’m staying on the boat until they stop shooting at me!” Balto snapped back.

Boris sighed. “Not dog. Not volf. You are vegetable.”

Balto got up. “Screw it. I’m not a vegetable. I’m going to look around.”

“If I get shot you’ll be sorry.” Balto muttered as he went down the ramp.

Balto padded stealthily into town, keeping to the alleyways. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle up. He groaned.

“What do you want now Steele?”

Steele padded up to him. “What do I want? The same thing I‘ve wanted since the moment you showed up here. I want you to leave town.”

“This isn’t your town. And just so you know I am probably going to leave soon.”

Steele grinned. “Really?” He turned to leave. “I want you out by the end of the day.”

Balto sighed. He really was considering leaving Nome. He had had enough of Steele. He had had enough of the humans. He had had enough of they’re disgusted glances, they’re guns, they’re fists.

“You’re leaving?”

Balto spun around to see who had spoken. It was Togo.
“Yeah, why?”

Togo shrugged. “I never saw you as a quitter.”
Balto chuckled humorlessly. “You want me out?”

Togo shook his head. “No. You’re a good kid. That’s more than I can say for Steele.”
Balto nodded. “Thanks.”
“My point is, I don’t think you should leave. Not just because of Steele.”

Balto sighed. “This isn’t just about Steele. It’s about…everything. I’m not staying in a town that can’t stand the sight of me. I almost got shot a week ago.”

Togo nodded. “Well it’s your call. If you want to leave that’s fine with me. But I’m sure if you looked around you’d find someone who appreciates you. I know I do.”

Balto turned to leave. “See you Togo. I have to think about it.”

Balto noticed an old building. He had been cornered here when he was chased by a bunch of dogs. Balto smiled. That had been his first day in Nome.
He climbed the ladder. He was not being chased this time so he had time to look over the city.

 It was beautiful. Just as Balto had thought when he had arrived here. He looked across to the other building. When he was little he had feared the large gap between the buildings. But now that he was older, it seemed…manageable.

He suddenly ran at the buildings edge. He leapt gracefully in the air and landed cleanly on the opposite building. The adrenaline pumped through him.

He noticed the other building was manageable. He jumped onto the roof of the other building.

Soon he was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, through the town.

He failed to realize that the gap between one of the buildings was too wide. He jumped. Realizing his mistake he let out a whimper of terror, then smashed into the side of the opposite building and fell to the ground below.

He tried to get up but was pinned to the ground.

He had fallen on a bunch of trashcans, and one of them had trapped his leg.

“Need help?” A sweet voice asked.

He looked up. “Huh?”

“You took quite a spill there.” The dog padded over. She was a white and red husky. “Need some help?”

Balto nodded. “Kind of…a bit…pinned down.”

The husky lifted the trashcan of his leg. Balto got up. His leg was hurting slightly but he wasn’t seriously hurt.

“What’s you’re name?” The husky asked.

“Uh…I’m…uh…” Balto was stunned by how beautiful the husky was.

“What was that?”

“Oh um…my names Balto.”

“Oh, nice to meet you Balto. My names Jenna. My family just moved here.”

Balto nodded. “Oh…uh well…Nome is quite a place.” He chuckled nervously.

“Well I guess I’ll see you around then Balto.” Jenna said.

“Uh yeah…bye.”

Jenna gave him one last smile, then turned and padded away.

Balto went back to the boat.

When he was talking to Jenna he had a feeling he had never had before. He padded up the ramp. Boris was waiting with

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