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Both girls left Klondike to pick himself up and dust the snow off and headed on to Balto's.
"Believe it or not, he used to be much worse" Mindy smirked. "But two tough gals like us can handle him right?!"
Mindy smirked to herself... if Buck was here, Klondike wouldn't have even tried that! But he was right... Charcoal was definately Buck's daughter. And Mindy couldn't have been more overjoyed about it!

Charcoal grinned at her mother, "Well he should be glad he still isn’t like that anymore. Your right though. We can handle anything." Charcoal giggled, happy to be with her mother. She always seemed to make things better. Charcoal returned to what Klondike said about her father. Was she really like him? Inside she hoped so and maybe someday, she could find out what he was really like and if Klondike was truthful or not.

Mindy and Charcoal left Nome and headed toward the abandoned boat that Balto lived on. They walked up the ramp to find Balto asleep next Atka, his daughter.
"Rise and shine!" Mindy chirped. "Doesn't Jenna ever come and wake you guys up?"
Both grumbled and Balto ducked under his blanket. Atka yawned but opened an eye to see who was bothering her.
"Mom lets us sleep in..." Atka groaned.

Charcoal rolled her eyes, "Now thats got to stop..." She whispered loud enough for Mindy to hear. Charcoal walked up to her cousin and started playfully biting and pulling at her ear, "Come on Atka! Rise and shine! Its time to get up ok?" Charcoal growled playfully.

Atka playfully wrestled back, pretending to tackle Charcoal, then letting Charcoal tackle her. While Atka and Charcoal played, Mindy turned to Balto.
"We met Klondike on the way in" she said in a lower voice.
"Another attempt to make you forget Buck?" Balto asked, slightly amused.
"That and he started to talk about Buck... things kinda got out of hand. WE might have attacked him... sorta"
Balto rolled his eyes.
"He rubbed off onto both of you, didn't he?"
Mindy smiled, but remembering what she was just talking about, her face turned more serious again.
"None of the pups really know about Buck. I told them he was part wolf, but they'd have a better life here. They don't need to know what happened to him or where he is, and then Klondike comes out of no where and just blurts it out. God I just wish Buck was back here so Klondike wouldn't stick his nose in other dogs' business!"

Charcoal laughed loudly as her and Atka played. She suddenly stopped and sat down. Making sure she talked only loud enough so Atka could hear, she asked, "Hey Atka, I know you used to hang out with my father. So do you think that maybe you could tell me what he was like? I mean, I have heard a bunch of stuff from others around town, like Kodi, but it wasn’t enough. Did he leave for good reasons or just to leave us?" Charcoal sighed. She might have been asking to much, she just had to know.

"Buck?" Atka smiled. "Well let's see... I was in his pack for about a year and a half..."
Atka tilted her head, trying to think of how to describe her uncle.
"He was almost all black... he had some white on his chest though. And he could beat up anyone he wanted to! Klondike especially, from what I heard at least. He gets angry pretty easily, but I haven't seen him since we found out Mindy was going to have you and you're siblings. And Buck would have never left you if he knew you were alive. He didn't even know Mindy was pregnant. But I don't know where he is now: he went off to fight Boss"
Atka had to cringe at the last part, then added, "He made me stay behind, so I don't know if he's back with the pack or what"

Charcoal looked intently at her cousin. Pictures ran through her mind, trying to peice together what she said about his looks and personality. She took a second to think about what Atka said, "So...he has a pack? Where would that be? And who is Boss? Is he like an enemy of my dad or something?" She tilted her head. Trying not to ask to many questions was hard and she couldnt help but have her mind wander. She then started to think, 'Maybe if he did know about us, he would come back.'

Atka nodded.
"Well at least he used to... I'm not sure how to describe where he is but there's a trail I think. He lives right on top of a tiny little mountain with a trail winding all around it" Atka sighed, remembering the wild. Then with a much darker tone, she added, "And Boss is his enemy. I don't know if he's still out there, but he's the most brutal, evil, repulsive thing out there! He tried killing Buck several times, but I was only there for two... he's just someone you never want to meet!"

Charcoal nodded, "Well I hope dad wins that fight. The Boss guy sounds positively horrible. Well I’m sorry but I have to go. Thanks for answering all my questions." Charcoal stood and trotted toward Balto and her mother, "I’m sorry but I must go. I forgot to...um...go get something. I'll talk to you later mom. Bye uncle Balto!" Charcoal nuzzled them both a good bye then happily jumped off the boat. She started sprinting to the town as soon as she hit the ground. She had to find someone who also knew where Buck lived. A trail around a mountain wasn’t good enough for what she was going to do. And after hearing about Boss, she had made up her mind to go find him.

All three bid her farwell, but Mindy watched her daughter run away.
"What could that girl be up to now?!" she chuckled.
Balto shrugged, "Beats me"
Atka plopped back down on the ground, but something in her gut told her that she'd said too much...

Charcoal sat on the post office porch and growled to herself. Who on earth would know where he was except Yukon? The only problem was that he was still with Buck. What was she going to do? Charcoal stomped her foot and growled to herself again. She would go out there and try herself to find it, but most likely she would get lost. The only thing she was sure of at the moment, would be that she couldn’t tell anyone what she was doing. She sighed and stood, maybe one more round about town would show at least some usefulness.

KC, Atka's daughter, paced around in her back yard. All she wanted was to get out of that stupid yard. Once again, she walked by the wooden fence, searching for a crack or some small hole she could escape through.
"Who buys a dog then goes off to college?!" she asked herself frustratedly. Normally, she was a very quiet young dog, but penned up in a tiny little space with only a chew toy had her annoyed and angry.
For a brief moment she froze, ears swiveling to pick up what sounded like someone else coming. She darted to the fence and peered in between the posts. It looked like... Charcoal?!

Charcoal went into full alert again when she started to have a sinking feeling that someone was watching her. Charcoal stopped dead in her tracks and looked around, "Who's there!" She tried to sound fierce. Her ears turned every which way and her tail twitched. As a small breeze swept through the town, she finally figured out where the watcher was. Charcoal looked toward a picket fence and growled, "State who you are now!"

The reddish wolfdog paced up and down the fence like mad, seeing Charcoal stop and come towards the fence.
"It's KC!" KC barked. "Atka's daughter! I think we knew each other when we were younger! Can you give me a paw?"