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This is my personal Balto IV. The story begins few weeks after the story of Balto III. Balto678 helped me with the grammar, because I'm not English.

CHAPTER ONE

The forest was extraordinarily silent that day. By now nearly all the animals had learned to distinguish those terrible steps from the others. By now all the animals knew that those steps, those of the hunters, carried the dead.
But that day the animals were lucky. This particular team in fact was not in hunting, although it carried the rifles and all the necessary one, but was only in march. Sometimes in fact the team changed area, every time that the game seemed to be too much little or sly.
This team was formed from three men with a dog. The dog, a dark grey husky with a blue eye and the other brown one, had the task to find the prey, while killing it was task of the hunters’ rifles. Even if at the moment he was not in hunting, the husky’s noise wasn’t resting, by now accustomed to pick up constantly the air to search for the smells. Suddenly a gust of wind brought to him a strangely familiar one, which came from the same direction where they were going. It’s strange because it was not remembered to have already been in the city where they were going.
Funny how much little time the mind spends to cancel the most important memories.

Near to Nome, two gooses were discussing animately. They had met and fallen in love few months before and since that day they had always alternated moments of big tenderness and wild discussion for all the reasons. Though that dispute had begun for an important reason. She, Stella, would briefly have to do eggs and needed a nest. He, Boris, would have to make it, but he prevented by the same reason which had been the cause of their first argument.
“How can I do it, Stella, if I don’t fly?” Boris asked, with the voice of one who was tired to repeat it.
“There isn’t any branch in the radius of a mile from Nome which is low enough for your ability to fly?” she asked, exasperated.
“Can’t I build it on the ground?”
“Are you crazy? The first animal that passes could eat the eggs!"
“I could make it on the roof of a house. There are no animals in town.”
“Yes, but aren’t the men animals?” Stella asked ironically.
“Could you make the nest?”
“Yes, I could, but I’ll need food. Who will take it to me, if you can’t reach me?”
Boris disperately thought, but it had exausted the ideas. “Sigh!” Boris thought “Flying is always my problem. Even at the first meeting there was this problem. That time I resolve the situation with a swimming, but this time the water can’t help me. The only way in order to do the eggs on the sea is to build a nest on a... boat!”
“OK, Stella.” Boris said. “I have an idea!”

The boat which Boris had thought was an old boat of wood, where he and Balto had lived for a long time. Balto was... Well, what was Balto? You can consider him a dog or a wolf according to your point of view, because he was the son of a dog and a wolf, or you can consider him Balto, neither more nor less than he really was. But even Balto himself had employed time to understand it. He had never had relations with wolfes at Nome, so he was used to consider himself a dog. Unfortunately the other dogs had isolated him. Only after that he had carried the medicine to Nome and so he had saved the ill children, thanks to his courage and his love for Rosie, he became finally accepted by both dogs and men. Now, three years later, he forgave the dogs for their cruelty towards him, but he didn’t forget where the true love and the true friendship were, formed when he was Balto, the Outcast, and not yet Balto, the Hero. He had found the true love in Jenna, the only one dog who had accepted his difference without being scared by it, and he hadn’t found the true friendship in the dogs, but in a goose and two polar bears. The goose, Boris, secondly wasn’t only a friend for Balto, but also the father who he never had.
However, the relationship between Balto and Boris was often stormy, even more then the ones beetwen Boris and Stella. In fact both were very different after all, but this wasn’t a bar to them.
At the moment Balto, curled up under his blanket, was trying to rest, when his friends sharp voice reached him. “BALTO! BALTOOO!” Balto sighed and convinced himself definitively that he would not be successful to sleep that day. Boris reached him hastily and said to him: “Balto, wake up! I must ask you a very important thing!”
Balto aswered: “I’m awake! How could I sleep? You and Stella have done nothing but ackle for an hour!”
“It’s exactly about that I must speak to you.” Balto stretched and went to drink a little water to his bowl, then he asked: “What’s the problem this time?”
“Stella wants that I build a nest for her, but I can’t because I don’t fly!”
Balto smiled. “This reminds me of something.”
“I know. I want to ask you if Stella can move here. So I can make the nest.”
Balto thought it over, alarmed. Not very encouraging images formed in his mind: Boris and Stella who quarrel within a step from him, half dozen chicks who don’t do anything but peep all day. He will never be able to sleep! In order not to make Boris understand what he had thought, he aswered hastily: “O-of course! There’s no problem.”
Boris huged the friend with his wings, while Balto tried to wriggle embarrassed. “Thank you very much!” Boris said “I go to call Stella!”

CHAPTER TWO

In the meantime the group of hunters had arrived finally to their destination. A curious crowd made up of both dogs and men surrounded the parvenus. While the hunters decided that the first place who would have visited in the town would have been the tavern, their dog fixed absorbed a poster that said: “Welcome to Nome”. “NOME!” the dog thought “How I was able to forget it! Of course I've already been here!” After that he exited from the trance and hurried to follow his masters.

While the three hunters gladly drank, their dogs made the acquaintance of some dogs of the place outside the tavern. They were four mail dogs, who were here too because their master always has a good drink after he finished the deliveries. He had just uncovered that their names were Kirby, Ralph, Dusty and Kodi.
“And you” Kirby asked “What’s your name?”
“Paul”
“I’ve never met a hunter husky” said the youngest, Kodi “They are usually used as sled dogs.”
“Of course, but I’ve never loved the sleighs much” Paul answered “I find monotone to spend the day to run without reasons.”
Kodi became inflamed immediately, because he loved his job. “It’s not without reasons! We help the people.”
“So do we! We get the meats and the fur and moreover we send away the wild animals.”
Dusty intervened, reconciler: “After all the two jobs have much in common. Both of them are indispensable for the men and in both you have to run hard.”
“She’s right!” Ralph said "Running is always the better way in order to help the humans!”
“Then you could begin to do so, Ralphy, old man” answered Kirby “Instead of leaving to drag yourself by us!”
The five dogs laughed, Ralph too, who hadn’t any problem with the jokes on himself. They stopped immediately when Kodi exclaimed: “hay, boys, look over there! Isn’t that the mayor?”
“Yes, he is!” confirmed Dusty.
The dogs moved from the entrance of the tavern to let him enter, because the man wanted to enter. However they held the door half-closed because they were curious to know why the mayor, a well-known man for his hatred for alcohol and for his love for the office, was at the tavern. When he asked to speak to the leader of the hunters, the thing interested Paul more than the other dogs. Unfortunately they couldn’t hear alot, because the other customers were very noisy. They could only hear the mayor said to the other one: “…as I was saying, Balto is very dear
by the people of this place, therefore…”
In the end the dogs renounced, even because Paul was very interested to the little that had been heard. “Balto?” he asked.
“He’s the hero of the town” Kirby explained “He carried the medicine to Nome during a snowstorm, saving the children of the town from the diphtheria. He also saved our work from the aerial competition and saved the pilot of the bushplane after it broke. Now he’s a sort of a legend!”
Paul was very astonished from this story.
“He’s my father” Kodi proudly said. He fixed his eyes (a lot of dogs felt the inconvenience because of the eyes of Paul) on Kodi, therefore he told him: “I’d like to meet him very much. Tell me, Kodi, where does he live?”
“He lives in a wreck on the beach” answered Kodi, happy of the interest of the foreigner “If you want, I can accompany you.”
“Thanks. You’d do me a big pleasure”

Few minutes later, the two dogs were walking towards the boat of Balto. After some moments, Paul asked: “Tell me, Kodi. Does your father look like you?”
Even if it was a normal question, Kodi wondered if he actually already knew the answer. He tried to understand what he wanted to know: “No.”
“But, is he a husky?”
Kodi’s suspician began more intense, but he feigned indifference. “No, my mother is a husky, whereas my father is only half it. This is the reason because I look like a pure husky.”
“And the other half?”
The conversation was begining to become embarassing. “My father is part wolf.”
“Ah, now I understand why he lives alone in a wreck although he’s the hero of the town! The people are always afraid of the wolfs.”
“He doesn’t live alone! He shares the boat with a goose.”
This time Paul seemed really surprised. “A goose? Why doesn’t he send it away and have all the boat for himself?”
“Because they are friends. Balto had grown by the goose. He’s a sort of father for him.”
Kodi saw Paul’s face darkened. Clearly the foreign didn’t like the topic, because he changed immediately the subject: “Then Kodi, tell me something more about your job.”

-----

To be continued...

Yea you've got an Awsome start. I can't wait to read more.

CHAPTER THREE

Meanwhile at the boat Stella’s arrival caused more serious consequences than the ones thought by Balto. Since when Stella had arrived in fact she had done nothing, but to organize the imminent birth. First of all she had decided to settle in the room of order (that is “closed” room where once there was the rudder of the ship). This had been a bitter pill for Balto, because he usually slept there. For this reason he tried to protest, but Stella was unyielding.
“Do you want to put the nest out in the open, without covering in case it’s rainy?” Stella said.
After that the houseworks were begun. Stella had asked to Boris to wash the room, because the chicks would be born in “a hygienic adapted place”.
Because Boris was doing that work, Stella asked Balto to go collect some branches to build the nest. Balto willingly went because that agitation began to give him a headache.

Outside Balto met Muk and Luk. They looked like they were very bored, so they seemed enthusiastic to meet the friend.
Muk asked: “Hey Balto, where is uncle Boris?”
“He’s at the boat, boys, but don’t go to trouble him. It is very busy by the preparations for the birth.”
“So could you play a game with us, Balto?”
“I’m sorry, boys, but I have my part of work too.”
Muk and Luk became sad for a moment, then Luk said something to the brother. Muk answered: “You’re right! We want help uncle Boris too! We can help you, can’t we, Balto?”
“Of course. You should help me to find a little wood.”
Muk and Luk couldn’t be happier. They began to jump joyful and Muk said: “We know where to find it! We go to take it and we’ll return immediately!”
After they said that, they ran away. Balto decided however to give his contribution and collected the wood that he found. He was returning to his pile with the last branches when he saw two dogs who were approaching to the boat. When they got nearer he recognized his son Kodi of the two, while the other one didn’t seem any dog who he knew. To explain to the son where he was, Balto howled to Kodi. He understood the place where the sound had come and he started to run towards him, while the other dog followed him walking.
When Kodi arrived, Balto asked him: “Hi, Kodi. Why are you here? And who is your friend?”
Kodi took a breath, so he answered: “It’s a dog who arrived in town today. After that he heard us to talk about you, he insisted to meet you, so I carried him here.”
Balto looked intrigued at the foreigner, who now was near enough. A thing immediately drew his attention: he had a blue eye and a brown one.
An unexpected memory hit him with the strength of a hammer, leaving him trembling. He was in his boat. A dog was coming in the room of order, where Balto lived. He was glad to resee him finally. He remembered how he felt alone and deserted that day. The sun was setting and the shadows were growing longer. Dog’s face was darkened half by the shadow of the door. The only dog’s eye that at the moment he could see, brown colored, fixed him with benevolence.
Then the memory was replaced by another, as not clear as the previous one because it was partially darkened by the tears. This time too it was the sunset and there was the dog, the same of first memory. Except his mood two other things changed. The former was that this time the dog was leaving him, he was going away. The later was that the only one eye which he could see among the shadows of the room was blue.
The dog had returned. He was there!
Paul, continuing to walk with irritated slowness, finally arrived. Balto still fixed him trembling, while Kodi was looking at the father, worried by that unexepected reaction. Paul brook the silence.
“So, Balto? Don’t you tell me hi?”
Balto still was silent for some moments, then he said with a voice that expressed both anger and pain. “What are you doing here? Why did you go back? And where is Noil?”
Kodi, who was troubled by the tone of voice of his father, asked: “D-do you know him, dad?”
Paul smiled to Kodi and said: “Yes, he does, Kodi. I’m your grandfather.”
Kodi looked astonished and confused at him.
“Dad, leave my son alone” said Balto “and answer me. Where is Noil?”
This time Paul was openly annoyed by the hostility of his son, so he bitterly answered: “If you actually want to know that, he’s dead!”
Kodi understood by the pain expressed by the father’s muzzle, that he must have loved this Noil alot. “Dead? How did it happen?”
“He was attacked by a bear during a beat some years ago.”
Balto’s eyes of Balto filled up with tears. Then Paul approached him with the intention of comforting him, but Balto went away growling: “Don’t approach. It’s your fault if he’s dead. You wanted that he absolutely became a hunter. Where were you when all that happened? Why are you safe? I bet you didn’t lift a finger to help him.”
“Son, the pain’s upset you, I understand it. But try to reason. Your old man visits you after all this time and you do nothing but cover him with insults and ridiculous accusations.”
“How dare you call me son! Where were you during all my life to still be considered my father? You’re not my father!”
“Ah yes, and I’ve heard you found an excellent substitute, haven’t you? A goose!” Paul replied in half between the furious and the ironic “I’m surprised that the others still consider you a dog! Then, I’ve already heard how good you are at howling like a wolf. Why now don’t you get us to hear how you flutter?”
Paul couldn’t add anything more, because he was suddenly hit by Kodi. The attack pushed him back and when he stood up, he heard what Kodi was saying to him: “Don’t you dare ever again to speak to my father like that! Now go away!”
Paul looked like an injured animal, then he went away. Kodi would have wanted to ask for information from Balto, but in that moment Muk and Luk arrived with the “wood”. Clearly none of the two had never seen a nest, because they were carring a tree trunk, the same that they were used as latch.
Balto laughed when he saw them (maybe in order to try to go out from his previous mood) and told them: “Boys, I’m sure uncle Boris would appreciate very much your sacrifice, but that trunck can’t enter the boat. Why don’t you help me to carry the branches that I collected?”
Muk and Luk consented enthusiastic, clearly happy that “the uncle Boris” don’t ask for the sacrifice of their dear latch.

--------------

To be continued...

wooh! Go kodi go kick some butt!!! great story!!!!!!!!!!

I know, it's passed some time, but I was busy. But my story wasn't finished.

CHAPTER FOUR

Finally the great day came. At the boat there was a lot of agitation. The nest just built for Stella was filled up with three fantastic eggs. The other good news, at least for Balto, was that now that Stella was so busy brooding the eggs, she had stop giveing orders to everyone.
“Can we see the eggs, uncle Boris?” Muk asked skipping “Can we? Please.”
“Absolutely no!” the goose repeated “You would risk spoiling the imprinting!”
Luk did some sounds to Muk, who said: “Luk and I would want to know what these imprints are.”
“Do you mean that you don’t know what the imprinting is?” Boris asked sceptical.
“Actually neither do I. I’ve never heard of these imprints” Balto intervened.
“Not imprints, imprinting!” Boris answered irritated. Then he realized that all hung on his lips, so he availed himself to hold one of his rare conferences (or at least one of his rare conferences with an interested public): “Well, you should know the reproduction in the birds is very different than the mammals’ one. Besides the fact that we birds do the eggs and we don’t produce milk, there’s also the phenomenon of the imprinting, or like it’s called by some romantic, of the “first love”. Practically when our pups go out the eggs, they will consider the first moving thing that they see their mother. That’s the reason no one can approach until all the eggs have hatched.” Unfortunately for Boris his conference didn’t make sense to the bears, because he hadn’t even finished speaking when he realized that they were already making again for the “room of the nest”. Instead Balto was thoughtful after his friend’s speech, so much that he didn’t notice Boris’s shouts: “What did I just say? You cannot enter!”
But he was awoken by an another shout, this time human: “BALTO! BALTO! COME HERE, BOY!”
“Rosie” Balto thought, and he hastened to go towards her. He saw she was running towards the boat with Jenna close to her. When Balto reached them, he greeted both them wagging his tail and almost making the girl fall from his being overzealous.
Rosie, while she stroked him, said: “Balto! How are you? I see your house is as usual Noah’s ark.” Her comment was due to the fact that Boris, Muk and Luk were seeing the meeting from the boat.
Balto found himself looking at the girl and was surprised by the fact that she had changed so little from the year when she got the diphtheria. Actually Rosie had grown normally, but, while three years are very much for a dog, they almost seemed not to have effect on the humans. However Balto was absolutely right on one thing: Rosie’s personality had change very little. She was the usual cheerful little girl ready that give her love to anyone in need of it. Balto was immensely grateful for that and he’d like very much to be able to make her understand how much her affection had meant for him.
Rosie draws out from a pocket a bandana like Jenna’s one, but vivid red. So she, unusually serious, bound it to Balto’s neck and she told him: “Listen to me with care, Balto. Today some hunters came in town, and they say they are going to stay here for some time. The mayor has met them and he told them about you. We are worried they fire at you exchanging you for a wolf. For this reason you can’t take this bandana off, because it will make the hunters understand you are Balto.” Then she looked him in the eyes and told him: “Have you understood, Balto? Don’t take off the bandana, never. And if you can, avoid going in the forest. Understood?” Balto licked her face to try to make her understand that he had understood. Rosie became calmer and she said: “Bravo, Balto. I knew you’d have understood me. Now I have to go, but Jenna can stay to play with you.” She stroked him again then went.
Balto and Jenna looked at her for some seconds, until Balto broke the silence: “Good gracious, I've never seen her so serious!”
“She was very worried for you. You know she loves you.” answered Jenna.
“Yeah, I know. Hey, now with this thing I am a hundred percent dog” Balto said.
Jenna smiled for a moment, then she answered, suddenly serious too: “Look, Balto. With regard to the hunters, Kodi told me that…”
Balto cut her short: “Ehm, I think they’re calling me from the boat. You know, we're very busy because of Stella’s eggs. I’m sorry, Jenna, but I am very busy. See you later.”
Saying that quickly he went without turning back.
Arriving at the boat Boris asked him: “So, what happened?”
“Oh, nothing. Rosie came to give me this bandana. She said some hunters arrived and they won’t fire at me if I wear it. Ah, Muk, Luk, why don’t you move here for a little? I don’t think it’s secure to return in the forest.”

At Nome, the mail sled was again going to leave. The dogs were impatiently waiting to leave, while the human master was loading the letters on the slides. Kodi smiled when he heard behind him Ralph who was complaining about the sun which blinded him. “He’s never satisfied” he thought, but without annoyance, because he actually liked Ralph very much. His thoughts were suddenly stopped when he saw Paul who was approaching. Kodi was very curious and confused about that dog. If Balto hadn’t treated him so badly, he’d have been in seventh heaven to have finally met his grandfather. What the devil could he have done to deserve that cold welcome from his son? They talked about the death of a certain Noil, but it couldn’t be the cause of the hostility, because Balto was already angry with him before knowing of his death. Kodi decided to be cold and indifferent with his grandfather, until he had asked his father for information on him. So he pretended not to notice him when Paul reached him. But he was dumbfounded when he discovered why he had come there.
“Good luck, Kodi.” He told him “I’ve heard you are very fast when you run, so I came to see your departure.”
Kodi, taken unawares, found himself answering, embarrassed “Ah, t-thank you.”
Paul winked to him and he went away to allow the slides to leave. The man screamed “Mush!” and the dogs left.
That one was the first departure where Kodi wasn’t excited or impatient. He couldn’t stop thinking of Paul. He didn’t seem so bad. He had even come to see him although he had hit him quite hard some days before. Is it possible that Balto was wrong?
“Kodi!” Kirby shouted to him from his position “Do you make up your mind to run? Between you and Ralph today I am doing it all!”
Kodi suddenly came back to the reality and went faster. In order to set his mind at rest he took a decision: he’d have asked Balto why he was so angry with Paul. Now wasn’t the moment to think of that. Now he had a delivery to do!

While Kodi was tormented by these questions, Balto in the quietness of the evening was observing the sea. And its surface, continually moved by breaths of wind, reflected the spirit of the wolf/dog, tormented by a pain less obsessive, but deeper. And more ancient. In the absolute silence of the night, where it seemed a sin to emit a sound, to Balto it would have seemed a sin not to pronounce that name, now because of so much sadness was in the past it was because of so much happyness.
…
… …
… “Noil” … … …
.




to be continued...

This story IS incredible, I really love it and I really hope you have not forgotten about it, I knwo your probably busy, but just wanted too say I love this story and your an amazing writer!

That was great I couldn't stop reading it, not that I wanted to Can't wait for the next chapters.

If i may offer a suggestion... there is a fan fic post place on the main site, you could type up your story on Word or something then put it all together on there if you like, i'm reading the one you have here right now.

Thank you very much. I didn't expect to find comments after having back from my vacations. Of course I won't forget it.



Oh, yeah, I know, I'm waiting to have finished it for that, since you can send only finished stories there. Meanwhile I write it here. But thanks for the suggestion.

Like I said in the German Forum: Very nice story. I've the Italian version but it's too hard to understand for me. Please translate it more into English. I want to know what will happen.

Fieto

(An die Deutschen Baltofans hier: Seine Geschichte gibt es auch auf Deutsch. Bei Interesse PN an mich oder FAB.)

Note: For this chapter my mistakes checker is Loz.

CHAPTER FIVE

The sledge arrived several days later in the middle of the night. The journey had been longer than expected. The ground had become impracticable and some series of landslides had blocked a lot of the passages, so the team had stayed trapped at White Mountain until that day and they spent an entire day to arrive.
Since it was really late, no one waited for the sledge with impatience, so the dogs didn’t find the usual welcome. In spite of that and though he was exhausted, Kodi was satisfied with having succesfully ended his “mission”. The last days trapped at White Mountain had been very unpleasant, both because he hated to let a job be unfinished and because he was dying to finally see Balto as he had wanted to before.
Kodi decided to go immediately to see him, although it was late. If, how it was extremely likely, he found his father sleeping, he would avail of the occasion to rest beside him until the next morning. So, walking slowly, he made for the boat. He chose to take the shorter road, because he was dying to finally rest. The shortcut passed next to a high totem, which was a useful landmark in order to find the way for Balto’s boat leaving from the town and viceversa. Kodi decided to stop a moment, because now that he had no more of the work to boost him every step was for him a pain. While he took a breath for a moment, he studied the totem as a distraction.
Since when he was younger he had often gone past the totem, every time that he wanted to go to visit his father. Once he had asked Balto what it was for and the reply had been “Oh, it’s only a big woody pole sculpted by the men.” After that question Kodi had been no more interested by the totem, even because he had been disappointed by the fact that the men hadn’t included a dog among the drawn animals.
Smiling thinking of those events, Kodi stared at the animals on the totem. On the base there was a wolf, followed by a caribou, a bear and a wolverine, and at the top of it the head of a fox closed the series. No dog. What a pity, after centuries of faithful service to the men, it was the minimum that he would have expected, however… “Hey, wait a mintue!” he suddenly thought “There were six animals, weren’t there?” He rapidly went with his eyes along the totem: wolf, caribou, bear, wolverine and fox. Strange, he was sure that there was also a bird somewhere in it. He was about to forget it and to begin again his walk, when a raven’s noise above of him induced him to look again at the totem. There on the top, over the fox’s head, a raven was lazily roosted. Kodi wasn’t sure it had appeared only in that moment, because its black figure was not so much visible in the night darkness. The raven was instistencly staring at him. Kodi stared at it in his turn and both kept still for long time. At a certain moment, Kodi decided he could no more mantain his stare, which seemed more ancient and more mysterious than any thing the dog had ever seen, and he ran away as fast as his legs would carry him, forgeting his weariness. He ran all along the road between the totem and the boat. When he arrived to his father’s house the fear has stopped, but rhymed a certain worry. He was sure that the meeting with the bird hadn’t been casual, but that the raven was there for him. Fortunately now he had arrived at Balto’s home. He would have surely comforted him. In that moment he heard a noise, and more frightened than ever Kodi ran into his father’s board. He knew his father slept in the old room of order, so rapidly he entered it. But once inside it he didn’t find Balto curled up in his blanklet as he expected, but a nest with inside an egg and some broken shells. He cautiously approached and he noticed that on the egg there were some small cracks. “Strange” he thought. In fact being a dog, Kodi didn’t know the true function of the eggs. He approached a little more his muzzle. A small part of the shell broke off and from the hole he saw a small bird’s microscopic head emerging.
“Kodi, what are you doing? Get out immediately!” he heard a feminine voice say behind him. Kodi suddenly turned his head and saw Stella on the threshold, very worried, with two other small birds in her wings. But the moving with his head, without it he knew that, it had strongly and forever bound the chick’s the destiny to his. In fact the little bird, full of love and trust, went out clumsy from the shell and it tried to walk towards him with its little shaky feet. When Stella saw the egg was already open and understood what had happened, she shouted. Immediately Boris, Balto, Muk and Luk ran up to discover what had happened.
“What’s the matter with you, Stella?” Boris asked, worried “Why did you scream?”
“Why? Why?” Stella says, with tears in her eyes and a desperate voice, “Because I lost MY son” and then she adressed Balto “and that’s YOUR son’s fault!”
Balto looked at Kodi, who was staring, feeling very uneasy, the rookie that was twittering clung to a paw of his, and he said to Stella: “I’m sorry, Stella, but Kodi didn’t know what he was doing.”
Stella was furious, but she knew she could do nothing now. She adressed Boris, despairing, and said: “Well! We’ll move immediately away! We’ll find another place and build a nest! I don’t want to stay in this hovel a second more!”
She clasped the other two rookies in her wings, as if she was afraid that someone wanted to kidnap them, and she went away straiding. Boris cast a look to Balto, and then he hastened to follow his mate.

Balto, Kodi, Muk and Luk still hadn’t moved. Balto thoughtfully stared at the rookie that continued to butter his son’s paw. Kodi was full of questions and worry, but he didn’t dare to break the silence. The two polar bears hadn’t precisely understood everything which had happened, but they had understood it was not joke. It was Balto to break the silence: “Muk! Luk! Please, follow Boris and Stella until you discover where there moving to. And try to do it without attracting attention.”
Happy of to be finally able to go out from that embarrassing situation, they obeyed without saying a word, leaving alone father and son, that was exactly Balto’s purpose.
At that point Kodi could no more keep his questions and asked: “Dad, what happened?”
Balto drew a long sigh and said to the son: “Sit down, Kodi.”
Kodi obeyed and the rookie crouched between his feet, on his warm breast.
Balto asked: “Why did you come here so early?”
“Well…” Kodi began embarrassed “I had come to ask you… about Paul… and you… well, what happened… why…”
Balto drew another big sigh and told him: “Kodi, listen to me carefully. The birds when they are born consider their mother the first thing they see moving.”
Kodi, who was beginning to understand the terrible truth, didn’t dare to interrupt him.
Balto went on: “This is why Stella wanted no one to approach the nest until all the eggs were open. When you arrived, Stella was showing Boris the first two babies, in order to let him see them and so that the last one that hadn’t hatched yet wouldn’t think it’s brothers were its mother. But it seems that all these precautions were useless. Now that little one considers you its father and it won’t accept anyone else to look after it. In every respect it is your son.”
Kodi was clearly upset by his father’s words.
“No, dad, it’s impossible. I can’t… Stella can come back to take it, can’t she?”
“Haven’t you listened to what I’ve told you? A birds’ mind works differently to a dogs’! The little one is forever bound to you.”
Kodi was still hopeless trying to understand the enormity of what had happened. Balto chose to tell him the truth immediately, because he had to understand what being a father really means. “It means, Kodi, that you won’t be able to deliver the mail for a short time.”
When he heard those words, Kodi’s glace became authentic fear.
“You… you can’t ask me to do that, dad. You can’t ask me to give up my work!”
Balto assumed a more severe tone of voice: “Don’t give your work a greater importance than the one that really is more important!”
“But YOU said to me that thanks to my work I can help the people!”
“It’s true, Kodiak.” Balto said, this time sweeter “But in this room there is someone who needs your help more than enyone else.”
Kodi looks down towards the rookie. Balto stays fixed on his son’s eyes.
“Listen to me, Kodi. You had come here to know the truth about me and Paul, hadn’t you? Then let me tell you my story. When I finish, you will tell me what you mean to do. All right?”
Kodi agreed, sad but at the same time still interested. Moreover it gave him the opportunity to have more time before the terrible decision.

Thanks, SimbasGuard!