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Sorry for my recent absence, but I'm back now!
My latest story, Jenna: Memoir of a Hero is finished and my next Balto: Two Hearts Racing is on the way.
This one is a bit different from the rest, but I think you will enjoy it.
So, on to the story!
Jenna: Memoir of a Hero
Started: 07/11/06
Finished: 08/19/06
Pages: 79
Words: 10, 256
Note: The character’s Drake, Astarre, Trixie and Blaize are © 2006 by Anthony E. Rotramel. The events of this story are jointly © 2006 Anthony E. Rotramel, Universal Pictures, and Amblin Entertainment.
The other characters are © Universal Pictures and Ambin Entertainment.
Note from the Author: This story does not take place in my reguar timeline until way, way, way, way in the future, and the events of this story will not affect that timeline in anyway.
In other words, I’m still intending to write Balto stories. This is by NO MEANS my last one!
Dedicated to Balto, the savior of Nome, AK. “In the cold winter of 1925.”
© 2006 All Rights Reserved
Prologue:
Nome, AK
June 19th, 1941
Jenna made her way as quickly as she could down the sidewalk on mainstreet, Nome, AK.
She was panting from the effort, Jenna wasn’t as young as she used to be.
She’d just been informed that Balto had collapsed after getting out of Luke’s new plane… the prognosis didn’t look good…
Jenna came to the gate to Luke’s yard and ran through it, and up to the porch of the old cabin, where already, many dogs were gathered. Most were related to Balto, his children and grandchildren, but some of their friends still remained as well, though as the years had passed both he and Jenna watched friends dissapear, as one by one, time, the inevitable hunter, caught up with them.
Jenna climbed the porch and was stopped by Blaize.
“Hey mom.” He said.
Jenna sighed. “How is he?”
Blaize hung his head and sighed as well. “…not too good.”
Jenna felt a tear come to her eye and she continued forward, entering the cabin via the doggy door Like had installed almost ten years ago.
When she’d entered the house, Jenna walked forward to the living room and stopped.
Luke knelt beside Balto, who was lying by the fire.
Luke patted the old dog’s head and said something unintelligible to him.
Then Luke ran his hand through his now sandy gray hair, and stood, exiting the room.
Jenna walked into the living room and over to Balto.
“Blaize was right.” Jenna thought. “He doesn’t look very good…”
Balto looked up at her and a smile split his face. “Hey Jen.”
She smiled back and laid down beside him.
Balto raised his head and sat it on her paws.
“I… I think the time has come Jen.” He said.
Tears came to Jenna’s eyes.
“Balto… let’s not talk about that.” She said. “You’re going to outlive me by a hundred years.”
She smiled at him.
Balto smiled back and nuzzled her.
“It’s been an adventure Jen.” He said quietly.
Jenna took a moment to reflect upon what he’d said. How much time that one statement implied. Almost twenty years of events that had made up the two dogs lives, that had shaped them into what they were today.
“I’ll wait for you Jen.” He said quietly, his vioce seemed like a whisper in her ear.
Jenna sighed. “Balto…”
She stopped.
Everything was still for a few minutes.
Jenna couldn’t feel his breath against her neck anymore.
She opened her eyes and looked down Balto’s eyes were closed. He was leaning heavily on Jenna’s shoulder, a smile on his face.
His head slid from her shoulder to the rug he had been sleeping on.
Jenna’s eyes filled with tears.
She bent her head close to his and nuzzled him.
“Good-bye Balto.” She whispered softly.
At the age of seventeen, Balto, the savior of Nome, was gone.
June 18th, 1945
Nome, AK.
Trixie was standing outside the aging home that she’d been born inside only four years before.
She was thinking of the grandfather she never really knew, and the grandmother which she was afraid she’d soon lose.
Her grandmother had been a big part of her life. The loss of her mate had almost killed Jenna, but she found someone else to pour that love into, and that someone was Trixie, who was always by her side.
Indeed, the two looked as twins, Trixie was a mirror image of a much younger Jenna.
Now, Jenna’s age was starting to show.
A fine dusting of snow blew up on the porch of the small house, pushed upward by the howling winds which careened up and down the city streets like some incensed sprit.
Blaize stepped out onto the porch, and walked over to his daughter.
“Mother want’s to see you.” He said.
Trixie nodded and turned, walking inside the house, via the doggy door set into the front door.
Blaize walked over to his mate, Astarre, who turned to him.
Blaize nestled his head in her neck as tears started to come to his eyes.
Astarre sighed and put her paw on his head, comforting him as best she could.
Inside the small house, Trixie took a left and walked through the kitchen and into the living room, where she could see her grandmother lying by the couch in the corner.
Her once lustrious rust coloured coat had dulled in her later years, darkening to a deep scarlet.
Jenna’s eyes were sunken and she looked depressed. Her white markings were now an almost tan colour. Her father had told her that her grandmother used to wear a red bandanna all the time, that it was a symbol of love between she and her mate, but in four years, Trixie’d never seen her wear it, and when she asked questions, her father clammed up and quickly changed the subject.
“Grandma?” Trixie asked.
Jenna weakly raised her head, and smiled.
Trixie smiled back, and walked over beside her.
“Dad said you wanted to talk to me.” Trixie said.
Jenna nodded.
“My child, there is a story I want to tell you, about a time long long ago, when I was still young, and when this town was barely a spot on the map.”
She smiled, remembering.
“This story I’ve not told in a long time,” She sighed.
“I guess I’ve been hiding from it… but as one gets older you realize that you don’t have all the time you thought you did when you were young. You start to realize that there is an end to all things, and you want everything to be right when your time comes.”
She looked back at the young dog in front of her.
“I want to tell you a story about a wonderful dog, whose name I’ve not spoken nor heard in four very long years.”
“Who’s that?” Trixie asked.
Jenna smiled. “His name was Balto.”
She paused.
“Gosh, it feels good to speak that name.”
She looked down at Trixie.
“I’ve not heard his name in almost five years.”
“Balto?” Trixie asked. “I’ve never heard that name before. Who is he?”
Jenna nodded. “I know child. He was your grandfather and my mate, my one love. We were together for almost seventeen years.”
“Wow.” Trixie said. “That’s a long time.”
Jenna nodded. “That’s what happens when you find the right dog my dear.” She sighed. “Sadly, it doesn’t happen much anymore. The days of one life, one love are all but gone.”
A faint glimmer of the brightness that Jenna’s eyes had once exuded shined in her eyes. “…but in a few the idea still flourishes, and those relationships will stretch the very bonds of death himself.”
“So how’d you meet him?” Trixie asked.
Jenna smiled.
“It was race day, and I was trying to get to the awards stand before they were given out.
I was walking down the alleyway by the old general store and hotel… they burned down in ’38, so you would know the area as the gas station on Mainstreet… but there used to be an old metal fence across the alley, from one building to another. I tried to go under the fence, and got stuck. The red bandanna I was wearing around my neck got stuck and I couldn’t get it off.”
She smiled.
“I pulled and pulled, but I just couldn’t get it off the metal. I guess it made quite a racket, because Balto was attracted to the sound, seeking to help. I didn’t even know he was there.
He stepped on something on the roof above and tripped, rolling down the roof and crashing into a dumpster below.”
Jenna looked at Trixie.
“I was scared. I mean, I had only arrived in Nome about a week prior to that, and I didn’t know many of the other dogs in the town. Then your grandfather stuck his head out of the dumpster.”
She sighed.
“There was something in his eyes that told me I was safe with him, but I didn’t know him at the time, so I was a little wary. He helped me and I got free of the fence.”
Jenna smiled, remembering.
“We talked for a while, and then went our separate ways. Later I learned from my friends that he was a wolf/dog, half wolf, half dog. They said he was dangerous, and that I should stay away from him… and I believed them.”
She sighed.
“If there’s one thing I wish I could do over again it’s… well, one day I was sitting with my new friends, and Balto walked by. They all started picking on him like they did all the time, and he was hardly fazed by it anymore. I noticed that they were all looking at me, see, I hadn’t said a word. I thought I might lose my new friends if I didn’t, so… I joined in…
I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it was something stupid… and hurtful.”
Jenna sighed.
He looked up at me then.
Tears filled Jenna’s graying eyes, the memory still just as traumatic as the actual event over twenty one years ago.
“The look he gave me then cut me to the heart, it was a mix of utter disbelief and the deepest betrayal I’ve ever seen. He just hung his head and walked away.
The others noticed the reaction as well, and they cheered me on, trying to make me feel good for making Balto feel so bad.”
She sighed.
“…but all the freindship and popularity couldn’t salve the pain that filled my heart because of what I’d done.
People, individuals are the most important, not your standing and popularity with the dogs of the town. Always remember that…”
She stopped.
“So, did you ever get to talk to him about it?” Trixie asked.
Jenna nodded. “Yes, but not for a while, you see, I got together with another dog, Drake, and that’s another name I haven’t heard in a long time now.”
She looked at Trixie.
“He died a long time ago. Way before you were born. He was Keeper of the Law before your father.”
She smiled.
“He was very nice, and he was cute too.”
She sighed.
“…but I was soon to find out that that’s not always what matters.”
“What do you mean?” Trixie asked. “What happened?”
“Well, earlier, when I first got into town, my new friends tried to hook me up with a sled dog named Steele.”
Here, Trixie interjected.
“Who’s Steele?” Trixie asked.
A look of disgust came over her grandmother’s face.
“He was the most popluar dog in Nome at one time. Steele was a monster of a dog, who for some reason, was also the most popular dog in Nome at that time. He was the fastest dog in the area, and held almost every racing title for the last few years. Needless to say, we didn’t get along, and I ended the relationship just before I got with Drake.
“Now, back to the story,” Jenna said. ”Steele showed up one day and he wanted what I had refused him when we were together, and he didn’t care how he went about it.”
Jenna looked at Trixie.
“You’re old enough now to understand what I mean by that right?”
Trixie nodded.
“Well, as soon as Steele made his intentions known, Drake took off. The dog that I had thought would stay with me ‘till our deaths, abbandoned me to a fate worse than death itself.
Steele beat me up a bit, and just as he was about to get what he wanted, Balto showed up.”
“Balto?” Trixie asked.
Jenna smiled, a tear coming to her eye.
“I don’t know what made him come, especially after the way I’d treated him, but… he came all the same.”
She looked at Trixie.
“Now, I was unconcious for the fight that followed, but, though Balto was beat up fairly badly, he fought off Steele and his gang, and all for little ole me.”
She smiled, her mind slipping back in the memory.
“Balto took me to the old boat he was living in at the time. There I was introduced to Boris, the goose that had raised him and his two polarbear friends.”
“Goose?” Trixie asked, a confused tone entering her voice, “Polar Bears?”
Jenna smiled. “Boris raised Balto after he was found out in a snowstorm. I never really found out where they met the polar bears.”
Jenna smiled.
“That was the first time that really felt something toward Balto. It was hard to define at this point, and I wouldn’t classify it as love, but I suppose that was the beginning,,,:
She looked at Trixie and smiled again.
“…and now that you know the beginning, I can tell you what made your grandfather the greatest hero this area will ever know, and changed both our lives forever…”
Jenna paused, recalling memories she’d buried within her mind for many years.
She was somewhat surprised to find that for the most part, she could recall the event, which had taken place over twenty years ago.
Jenna smiiled.
“It was Rosie’s seventh birthday, and her parents had just given her her prersent. It was a sled and a hat, a musher’s hat to be exact. The sled was minaturized to better accomadate the small girl, and of course, it was I who was harnessed to it, and I was the one who pulled little Rosie on it.”
Jenna smiled. “I didn’t mind though, just to have Rosie there with me was reward enough for anything she could ever ask of me… plus, I was quite a bit stronger in those days too.”
Jenna laughed softly.
“…anyway, we went out to Main Street and got ready to watch the finish of the weekly dog races.
As the dogs drew closer, just entering the street, not two hundred yards ahead of us, Rosie waved her new hat in the air, and called out something… I can’t remember what it was anymore… anyway, the wind blew just then and tore the hat from her grasp, blowing it into the middle of the street, in front of the racing teams.
Rosie started to go for it, but I stopped her by biting her sleeve. I was responsible for her safety after all, and though I didn’t want to see her new hat torn up, I didn’t want Rosie killed even more.”
She smiled.
“Balto came out of the crowd then, and ran alongside the teams, actually catching the Steele, who was a famous lead dog remember, but despite Steele’s racing record, Balto caught him, passed him, and leapt in front of the team, snatching the hat just moments before the runners would have torn it to shreds.
Balto walked over to us, and I was glad. It had been some time since I had seen or talked to Balto, and I wanted to thank him for saving Rosie’s hat.
Rosie patted him on the head, and told him that he was crazy, and just “showing off for a pretty girl.”
Balto got a little embarrassed, as did I, and then Rosie tried to harness Balto to her small sled.
He smiled, and looked overjoyed that at last, someone wasn’t persecuting him for his pedigree, or I guees more accurately his lack thereof.
Just as he was stepping into the harness however, Rosie’s father, Roger, saw him.
He ran over toward his daughter and told her to stay away from Balto, that he might bite her because he was half wolf.
I could see Balto’s happiness melt instantly, giving way to the hurt depression I’d realized was normal in his brown eyes.
I wanted to say something to him, but I couldn’t get away from Rosie’s father.
Steele walked up to me, dogged by his ever present fans, most of them female. However, for some reason I’ll never be able to understand, Steele seemed to be interested only in me.
He walked over and tried some lame line on me. I don’t even remember what it was, but I do remember him saying something about my taste running more towards wolf, meaning Balto of course.
I think he was talking about food, bones or something, and I said that I’d lost my appeitite, that’s what brought up the tastes running more toward wolf comment… Oh, I don’t know, it’s been so long. Well anyway, I remember thinking then, “what if they do”. What if I really did start to like Balto? The conclusion I came to was that I would lose all of my hard won popularity, my friends… I would be committing social suicide. I wasn’t too anxious to do that, but then all this was speculation based on a windbag’s comment anyway, so it really didn’t mean anything.”
“…but eventually you did, right?” Trixie asked.
“Did what?” Jenna asked.
“Well, I already know that this Balto was my grandfather, so you must’ve gotten over the whole “social suicide” thing.”
Jenna smiled.
“You could say that. You could also say that I discovered something worth much more than popularity.”
“What’s that mean?” Trixie asked.
Jenna smiled again. “You’ll find out later in the story, now, where were we…
Ah yes, the race on Rosie’s birthday. We walked over to the awards stand and the mayor started giving out the trophies for the day’s races.
During the awards I was able to sneak away and soon picked up Balto’s scent. I began to follow it, walking down an alley and emerging onto a small side street.
At this point, I was almost run down by the young wolf-dog himself. I don’t know if he’d heard Rosie calling for me or what, but he came barreling down the street, and had to slide to an abrupt stop to avoid crashing into me, which would have been a very awkward position indeed. As he slid to a stop, our noses touched.”
Jenna smiled.
“He pulled back quickly and kind of stumbled over himself, trying to think of something to say I guess.”
She looked at Trixie.
“About that time Rosie and her family found me and called my name. I looked back to make sure it was them, and sure enough, it was. They’d found me.
I turned back, and Balto was gone. I looked for him. I really wanted to talk to him, to apologize for Roger’s treatment of him. After a few minutes, Rosie called my name, and I had to leave. From there, we went home.”
Jenna sighed.
“What is it grandma?” Trixie asked.
Jenna sighed again. “I guess this is where the story really starts. I noticed later that afternoon, that Rosie was coughing, and that she hand was hot when she petted me.
Her mother and father decided to take her to the hospital, and as always, I followed.
I watched from the window as Rosie’s parents checked her into the hospital. I noticed that there were many children in the hospital, and all of them seemed to be sick with the same thing, they were all coughing.
Rosie saw me watching her through the window, and ran outside, forgetting her coat.
She jumped and ran around me, and I felt better, I thought she would be alright.
Then she stopped and started coughing really hard.
I realized then that she was still sick, and she petted my head. Her skin was so hot…
Her father came out then and scolded her for running out to me. He put her coat on her shoulders and then he said something that caught my attention. He said. “…you’re going to catch your death out here.”
I hadn’t realized how serious Rosie’s condition was… I’d certainly never thought she might die.
Rosie’s father sheparded her back inside the hospital.
I went back to the window and watched as Doc, the doctor at the hospital then, came in and took Rosie and her family to the back.
It was at this point that I heard a nervous voice call my name.
I turned. Balto stood there beneath the window. I said hi, and turned back to the window. I must’ve seemed terribly rude, ignoring him like that, but my world had been shaken apart. Rosie was my world. If I lost her… I didn’t know what I’d do.
Balto pressed on though, unintimidated by my shrugging him off. What he asked me next has faded over the years, but I think it was something about chasing a stick by moonlight. I think he meant with him. It was the first time he’d ever mentioned the fact that he cared for me… like that. As more than the casual friends we already were. I was so engrossed with Rosie and her situation that I didn’t even really realize it till much later. Right then, the possibility of losing Rosie was foremost on my mind.
Balto noticed then that something was wrong, and hopped up on the boxes near the window next to me.
He asked me what was wrong, and I told him about Rosie. I asked him then what was wrong with her. Even now, I can’t tell you exactly why I asked him… I suppose that he was the only one nearby, and I desperately wanted an explanation, a reason for her sudden illness.
Balto actually surprised me then, by telling me that he didn’t know, but that he did know a way to find out.
He jumped off the boxes and I followed him to a shed at the back of the hospital, where the boiler that kept the hospital warm was located.
Balto led me further down through a hole in the wall, down under the buildings above.
Now, I was a husky, and a pet at that, so I wasn’t used to living the street life, like Balto was. I did not like dirt, or getting dirty and this place was filthy. I almost couldn’t stand it, but I decided to follow Balto, why… I really don’t know. I had no real reason to trust him… I just did.
Balto told me that dogs came from miles around to see this place.
I couldn’t understand that, as nasty as this place was, and I told Balto so.
About that time Balto and I stepped into a large open area, beneath the building overhead.
The verbal interchange he and I had then will never leave my memory.
He told me that I was looking at the bowl half empty, and then Balto pushed a pile of broken glass up on top of a pile of dirt and said. “See this, this is the polar icecaps.”
I wasn’t so easily persuaded, and responded. “Balto, those are broken bottles, and they’re not half empty, they’re all empty.”
Balto continued, apparently unfazed by my dejected tone, and tossed his head at the light streaming over his head from a grate in the floor of the room above. “…the Sun.” He said.
I laughed, for I truly thought Balto had lost his mind at this point. I started to tell him so, but he cut me off.
He said. “…and to the North?” Then he stepped out of the light, and it hit the bottles, blazing brightly for a moment, and then reflected against the wall in front of me, bathing it in shimmering multi-colored light.”
Jenna paused.
Then she looked at Trixie and smiled. “The thought of it still causes a shiver to run down my back, not just because it was beautiful, which it was, but because of what happened next.”
Trixie looked somewhat impatient, having been sucked into her grandmother’s story long ago.
Jenna smiled again.
“Well, I said it was beautiful, and Balto only said. “Yeah… beautiful.”
I heard his voice change somewhat,
and I turned to face him.”
Jenna smiled.
“He wasn’t looking at the lights. He was looking right at me.”
Trixie smiled back at her grandmother. “Oh, I get it.”
Jenna nodded. “Us girls always do, don’t we?”
Trixie nodded.
“Well actually,” Jenna continued. “I didn’t understand at first, see, I’d been “in love”, or thought I had anyway, and I’d never felt like this before. I was almost afraid, my pulse sped up and I found myself incapable of taking a breath, but then I told myself that this was Balto, and I didn’t need to be afraid of him. I guess it was about that time, that I opened my eyes, and realized our noses were maybe an inch apart.
Then the light was shut off, and just like that, the moment ended.
I don’t know who looked more embarrassed and confused, myself or Balto.
We just kind of looked away from each other for a moment, and a very awkward moment of silence followed.
Then I heard Doc’s voice. He told Rosy Goodnight, and she answered him by saying she was cold.
Her voice was somewhat distorted, and I could tell she was tired and in pain.
Doc walked into the next room, and Balto and I followed, again concentrated on Rosie, the moment before forgotten.
Rosie’s father asked Doc how his daughter was doing, and Doc sat down in a chair near a big stack of human medications.
He said she was exhausted from her coughing, and that she had a bad fever. He said it was Diphtheria, and that my Rosie wasn’t the only one, there were eighteen cases in that week alone.
Then he dropped a bomb on us.
He said he was out of anti-toxin for the diesese.”
Jenna sighed. “Immiediatly I thought I was going to lose little Rosie, and I ran back to the boiler room, tears filling my eyes.
Balto hurried to catch up with me, and finallly did so in the middle of the boiler room.
He apologized, and said that he shouldn’t have taken me down there.
I told him I was glad he did, after all, knowing something, even though it was bad, was better than not knowing at all.
For a moment, I looked into his eyes, and the feeling from back under the hospital came back, but I shrugged it away this time, too preoccupied with the fate of my little girl to even begin to sort that mess out.
There was a crash at the door, and Steele stumbled into the boiler room.
Trixie interjected again. “Steele, again? Doesn’t he ever learn?”
Jenna sighed. “It would take much more than that to convince him. You can ask your father about that one, it’s a different story, and I don’t want to get off track.”
Trixie nodded.
Jenna continued.
“Now, as I said, Steele stumbled into the boiler room, a strand of sausauges from the butcher’s hanging from his mouth.
He said something to me, but I don’t really remember what it was. Then, he asked me to join him for dinner, that I could start at one end, he on the other, and well, you can use your imagination to figure out the end product he was hoping for. Well that was most certainly not going to happen.
Balto started to bark at Steele, and snapped at the sausauges. I told him to stop, because I didn’t want to see him get hurt.
I acted like I thought Steele’d want me to act, how the other females acted around him, I melted for him.”
“What!” Trixie cried. “Why?”
Jenna smiled.
“Oh I had my own agenda, believe me. I talked to him so he’d listen, doing my best to sound alluring. I’m afraid I wasn’t very good at it, but my performance impressed Steele. I backed up as I talked, and eventually, as I came to the close of my little conversation, Steele backed straight into the boiler door.
Jenna laughed and Trixie joined in.
“I know it sounds mean, but you’ve got to keep in mind who this was when I say that that has got to be one of the funniest things I’d seen in a while. I don’t know how Balto kept from laughing.
Steele howled and jumped in the air, at which point Balto and I seized the opportunity to run out of the boiler room.
Balto shut the door behind us, but an enraged Steele leapt through it, throwing the door against the wall with a crash.
Steele landed on top of both of us, and all of a sudden, this wasn’t funny at all, it had become very, very dangerous.
I was afraid Steele might kill the two of us.
Then we were saved by a pair of human voices and a light coming our way.
Balto and I ran again, but I heard Balto fall.
I turned to see Balto on the snow, a flashlight beam bathing him in bright light. The pile of sausages were tangled up in his legs.”
“Hold on.” Trixie said. “So this Steele made Balto take the fall for him?”
Jenna nodded.
“…as was his character to do, yes, Balto received the blame for the stolen sausages. The butcher even gave them to Steele as a reward for catching him.”
“I don’t believe it.” Trixie said.
Jenna nodded.
“I know.” I tried to follow Balto, but Rosie’s dad grabbed me by my bandanna and hauled me back and toward the hospital.”
Jenna stopped, sensing Trixie’s need to say something.
“What is it my dear?”
“Well…” Trixie said, pausing as she wasn’t quite sure how to word her question.
“…why didn’t anyone like Balto?”
Jenna sighed. “Trixie, some people, and dogs as well, have prejudices that they must overcome in order to accept someone… and some just don’t want to give those prejudices up. It may be how they were raised, it may be fear too.”
She sighed again.
“See… wolf-dogs have a bad reputation for being aggressive and sometimes violent. I don’t know why I wasn’t scared of him.”
She laughed softly.
“I guess if I were smart, I should’ve been, but… I never saw myself in danger with Balto… he never hit me out of anger, not once in seventeen years.”
“So they were scared?” Trixie asked.
Jenna nodded and sighed.
“Some of them… but anyway, after that, at the worst possible time, a huge storm blew in, one of the worst I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot.”
“Oh no…” Trixie said.
Jenna nodded.
The storm kept the ships and planes from being able to deliver the lifesaving anti-toxin to Nome, which meant that Rosie and all the other children were going to die, and they’d just be the first. The adults would follow. Diphtheria is a very contagious disease.”
“So what did you do?” Trixie asked.
“A few days later, we got a telegram that offered some hope, if only a little. It said that the governor was shipping the anti-toxin by train to the small town of Nenana, where the rail line ended.
Nenana was over four hundred miles away from Nome.”
“Four hundred miles!” Trixie exclaimed in a raging snowstorm?”
Jenna nodded. “Yes, I know it sounds impossible, but it was done.”
“…by Balto?” Trixie asked.
Jenna sighed.
“…no, not at first.”
“The humans held a race the day after receiving the telegram to find the fastest team. This race wasn’t done by teams though, each dog raced on his or her own. It was an individual effort. See, they needed the best team in the town, and that meant the best dogs from each team… the medicine had to get here fast, so speed was a definite factor here… though not the only one, well, that’s why they were hacing the race.
I was sitting at the sidelines, watching as usual with my friends Dixie and Sylvie. They were prattling on about Steele, as always...”
Here, Trixie cut her grandmother off.
“What is it with this Steele character? He seems mean and awful full of himself. Why did everyone worship him like they did?”
Jenna sighed.
“Nome has always been a racing town, in fact, long ago, the first dogsled race in Alaska was held here… Steele was a very good racer, so it followed that he was also very popular… see, the world rarely looks at the true nature of a person, especially if they are popular like Steele was. Steele’s heart was as cold as ice, and everyone knew it, they just didn’t care… he was a god in racing, so he was a god to them… well, certainly not me, but most of them anyway.”
Jenna smiled.
“…but enough about Steele, let’s get back to the story.”
Jenna paused.
“I’m sorry child, but my memory is getting worse and worse as the days pass, where was I again?”
Trixie smiled.
“You were talking about the race grandma, about sitting on the sidelines and your friends talking about Steele.”
Jenna smiled.
“Oh yes, I remember now, I’m sorry dear, now, back to the story. I remember telling them that the race for the medicine wasn’t a one dog show, but that there was going to be a dogsled team. Dixie seemed to be shocked at my reply and asked me, yet again, why I didn’t like Steele.
Then Sylvie said something that made my blood run cold. She said that the reason I didn’t like Steele was because I was running with Balto now.
Instantly I could see my friends turning their backs on me, my hard won popularity in the town falling away from me… and then my blood turned hot, as I got about as angry as I’d ever been. See, I realized that if my friends did turn their backs on me because of my friendship with Balto, they weren’t true friends anyway, and I didn’t need them.
Sylvie said someone saw Balto and I in the Boiler Room, and that this someone was a very reliable source, and that I couldn’t even try to deny it.
I was so angry I really couldn’t see straight, but I smiled and replied. “Then I won’t.”
Jenna laughed.
“You should have seen the looks on their faces, it’s the first time I’d ever seen them struck speechless.”
When the dogs finally took off, I was surprised to see Balto running with them. I was so excited as he rounded the corner, he was coming up in the lead!
Then another dog kicked him in the face and he fell to the frozen bay alongside the street. I thought he was done, but as I watched he scrambled up the mooring poles of the dock and onto the deck of one of the ships in the frozen harbor. He jumped from the deck of one ship to another, until finally, he was back over the street, at which point he dropped and landed back in the race, in front of the leader!
He crossed the finish line, and I ran over to congratulate him.
Steele walked up to him just as I got there, I didn’t hear what he said, but I heard Balto’s reply. He said, “Now just a minute there Steele, I was the fastest dog.”
Steele laughed and told him that if he thought any musher would put Balto on his team that he was more mixed up than Steele had thought.
I interjected then, trying to come to Balto’s rescue, reminding Steele that he wasn’t the only dog, that there wasa team of dogs going for the medicine.
Steele’s musher came over then and saved us all from what I was afraid would soon turn into a violent confrontation.
I forget now what Steele said before that, something about turning Balto into a cat toy I think, but I can’t be sure… it was so long ago… anyway, The musher stuck his hand out to Balto, but Steele stomped on Balto’s paw and made him growl in pain.
The musher pulled his had back quickly and told the man beside him that he couldn’t trust Balto because he was half wolf… so Steele won by default.”
“Wait a minute!” Trixie cried, cutting off her grandmother yet again. “So you’re telling me that Steele won, even though Balto beat him!”
Jenna sighed and nodded.
“That’s so unfair.” Trixie said.
“I know.” Jenna said. “…Balto became very withdrawn then, and slunk off, ignoring me completely… now, it wasn’t anything about me, Iit was just something that Balto did. Growing up he had no one but himself, so when he’d get upset he’d often retreat into himself, shutting others out. It was thing about being a stray that never left him… anyway, I watched the team leave from the yard of the hospital that night and hoped they’d return fast. Rosie grew worse with each hour and I was afraid that she wouldn’t make it.
Jenna paused.
“So a few days passed and we got word that Steele’s team had made it to Nenana and picked up the anti-toxin, but then, no news for three days… really, they should’ve been half-way back, but they hadn’t hit any of their checkpoints… they were off the trail, lost in the storm… and there was no more time to send another team… the children weren’t going to make it.”
Jenna sighed.
“I knew it must be bad when they let me come into the hospital, see, us dogs usually weren’t allowed in the hospital, or well the human part of it anyway.
I walked into the hospital, and saw Rosie up close for the first time in a few days… she was real sick, I could tell from the way she looked, and sounded.
I put my paws on the bed and licked her cheek. She opened her eyes about half way and smiled breifly as she said my name softly. Then she closed her eyes again, and started moaning. “
Jenna sighed again, tears coming to her eyes, the traumatic event still very fresh in her mind, even after the vast amount of time that had passed.
“I… I felt so helpless. I mean, it had always been my job to take care of little Rosie; to comfort her, and I’d always been able to… if she fell from her bike, which she often did in those days because she was still so young, I was able to be there, to pick her back up… well, not physically of course, but emotionally, able to cheer her up when she was sad, even make her smile when she didn’t feel well, but this… dyptheria, I couldn’t break through it’s hold on her…”
There were more than a few tears on Jenna’s face now as she slipped deeper into the past, feeling as if she were there again, in that hospital so many years ago.
“I… she was my little girl, I cared more for her than I did my own children, she was mine and I was hers… I just…”
Jenna paused.
“I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, of never seeing her smiling face, never feeling her warm touch behind my ears, to never hear her young voice call my name… I couldn’t even imagine it. It was about as lost as I’ve ever felt.”
Jenna paused again.
“Anyway, when it became apparent that I wasn’t going to be able to do much good for Rosie, they put me back outside. I went to the window to resume my constant vigil over my little girl and laid my head on the window.”
Jenna smiled.
“Then I recognized a familiar scent and looked at the path leading beside the hospital, and out of town… I saw pawprints.”
“Who was it grandma Jenna?” Trixie asked.
Jenna smiled again.
“It was Balto.”
“Balto?” Trixie said, then she paused and Jenna smiled as she saw her grandaugther realize what had happened.
“He went after the lost team, huh?” Trixie asked.
Jenna nodded.
“Yes he did.”
“…but what about the storm?” Trixie asked.
“It was still blowing full force.” Jenna replied. “…hadn’t slackened in the slightest, that’s what made him a hero.”
“I guess so.” Trixie said.
Jenna smiled.
“Now, I felt better then, knowing that Balto was out there trying to help… somehow I knew that Rosie would be alright, somehow I knew that Balto wouldn’t give up, that he would return with the medicine.”
“…and he did, right?” Trixie asked.
Jenna smiled again.
“Well, we’re not quite that far into the story just yet child.”
She paused.
“So a few more days passed. It had been nearly two weeks since Rosie had gotten sick, and the town thought all was lost.”
“What about Balto?” Trixie asked. “Didn’t they belive in him too?”
Jenna sighed.
“At this point I was still too afraid of losing my friends to admit the friendship that Balto and I shared… I… I didn’t tell anyone what I knew.”
“Oh.” Trixie said.
Jenna nodded.
“Anyway, that night I heard the telegraph man relay some news to the others. There had been an avalanche at Eagle Pass, and the route was blocked. This was significant because I knew, and I knew that Balto knew that Eagle Pass was the fastest route to Nenena from Nome. I knew he’d be heading there, and when he found it blocked he’d have to backtrack to Mountain Trail, losing precious hours that Rosie couldn’t afford to lose.”
Jenna paused.
“I decided then to leave Nome, to find Balto and relay to him this crucial information.”
“That was awful brave of you grandma.” Trixie said.
Jenna smiled.
“I guess so, though crazy is what I would’ve called it then. I mean, I was just a pet, I’d never had to worry about food or a home, I’d always been cared for, now I was venturing into the wilderness, without a clue how I was going to survive.”
“Why’d you do it then?” Trixie asked.
Jenna smiled again.
“It was for Rosie. I’d do anything for my girl, even as old as I am now, and as bad as I feel, if my girl needed me I’d be there… or die trying… it’s what it means to be a dog, the reason we’re called man’s best friend.”
Jenna paused, waiting to see if Trixie would respond. When she didn’t, Jenna continued.
“So it took me another day or so to catch up to Balto.”
“That’s fast.” Trixie said.
Jenna nodded.
“Balto made it easy for me though, he was marking his trail by scratching pieces of bark off the trees he passed.”
“That’s smart of him.” Trixie said.
Jenna nodded again.
“Yes it was, he was a very smart dog.”
“So did you tell him the news about Eagle Pass?” Trixie asked.
“Not yet.” Jenna said.
“Why?” Trixie said, a confused look on her face. “I thought you said it was important.”
“It was.” Jenna said. “…but when I found Balto he was in a little trouble.”
“Trouble?” Trixie asked.
“Trouble in the form of a Kodiak standing over him about to crush him.” Jenna said.
“Oh no!” Trixie cried, “What did you do?”
Jenna smiled.
“I did the most crazy, insane thing I could’ve done. I attacked it.”
“You did?” Trixie asked.
Jenna nodded.
“I bit its paw just as the bear wass about to drop it on Balto’s head. The attack worked long enough for Balto to get his breath back, and then the bear threw me off and I crashed to the snow.”
“Ouch.” Trixe said.
Jenna nodded.
“Yeah, but strangely enough I didn’t really even feel the pain then, I got back up and attacked it again.”
“Again!” Trixie said.
Jenna nodded.
“This time Balto was able to get up and then I was thrown off again, and hit an old tree branch. I felt something in my leg give, and that time I did feel some of the pain, enough to take me out of the fight for a few moments anyway.”
“What happened grandma?” Trixie asked.
“Well,” Jenna said. “By the time I got back up the bear had backed Balto down the hill and onto a frozen lake. As I got to the top of the hill, the bear plunged through the ice and drowned.”
“Yea!” Trixie cheered.
“I told you Balto was smart.” Jenna said. “He’d counted on the bears weight to do it in, what he didn’t count on was that the hole the bear left would weaken the ice to the point that he was too heavy as well.”
“Oh no!” Trixie said. “He fell in?”
Jenna nodded.
His two polar bear friends jumped in the lake and found out from Boris then that they couldn’t swim.”
“Polar bears who can’t swim?” Trixie asked.
Jenna smiled.
“That’s exactly what I said. Well then, Balto, he didn’t come up for a while, and I thought he was gone. Then I saw him under the ice, trying to breathe through it. For only a brief moment, I put my paws on top of his and looked into his frightened eyes.”
Jenna paused.
“I think that was the first time that it occurred to me that Balto might be more than just a casual friend to me… I mean, he’d saved my life, taken care of me… he was always there when I needed him… and never there when I didn’t.”
“What do you mean by that grandma?” Trixie asked.
“Well,” Jenna said. “I’m sure he realized as I did that my popularity in the town would be in jeopardy if anyone knew we were friends, and he also saw that my popularity meant a lot to me… see, I wasn’t concieted or stuck up, I just… I’d lost my mother only a few months prior to that, we moved away from her, and in many ways my popularity was my security blanket, the thing that fillled the hole in myself that losing my mother had caused… anyway, Balto understood most of that, and he kept his distance from me in public.”
Jenna paused.
“It… It sounds really bad now, but that was the way things were then.”
Trixie nodded.
“So anyway, I had about thrity seconds for all of this to pass through my mind before a current swept him away from me. Then came the longest silence I’ve ever heard; nothing moved.
Then Muk and Luk burst out of the ice a short distance away, dragging a very wet and unconcious wolf-dog to the surface.”
“Balto!” Trixie said.
Jenna nodded.
“I was so happy I started running to the other side of the lake, where the two polar bears had put Balto on a rock and were trying to wake him up.
Boris was running alongside me, and then he tripped and went sliding across the ice and into the big polar bear, Luk, who fell on Balto’s back. A fountain of water shot out of Balto’s mouth and he started coughing.
I kind of pushed Boris away as I got there, and Balto stood up, laying down in the snow beside the rock, shivering.
I laid down on top of him and…”
Jenna stopped as she saw the smile that spread across her grand daughter’s face.
“So he was only a good friend huh?” Trixie said.
“Oh no.” Jenna said. “It wasn’t like that, it really wasn’t. I was just trying to keep him warm.”
“Uh-huh.” Trixie said. “Sure.”
Jenna smiled.
“Anyway, I told him then about Eagle Pass and we decided to take Mountain Trail.”
“We?” Trixie asked.
“Well yeah.” Jenna said. “I’d made it this far, I just figured I’d stay with him.”
“Oh.” Trixie said,
“…but it wasn’t to be.” Jenna said. “I got up and started to walk toward the forest and I fell. I thought I was just clumsy, and said so. Balto said I was hurt and I responded that I was fine, but then I fell again. It was then that the pain started.”
“From the fight?” Trixie asked.
Jenna nodded.
“I’d pulled a muscle in my right shoulder or something, I can’t remember exactly, but Balto insisted on taking me back home. I told him that Rosie couldn’t hold out much longer, and he decided that the bears would pull me back on bough of pine that he found nearby, and Boris would lead us.”
“So he was going on alone?” Trixie asked. “In that storm?”
Jenna nodded.
“I know, I didn’t like it either. I decided that I had to do something for him, and I gave him my bandanna.”
“The red one?” Trixie asked.
Jenna nodded, a confused look on her face. “How do you know about that?”
“Dad told me you used to wear one, he never would tell me why, or why it was so important though.”
“Oh.” Jenna said. “Well, yes, it was the red one. My mother had worn it as long as I’d been alive, and when Rosie’s family and I left Shishmaref she gave it to me. I hadn’t ever taken it off until that point, and it felt extremely weird not to have it on.”
“So what happened?” Trixie asked, eager to get back to the action.
“Well, the bears pulled me home as they were told to, I went to the hospital, was told that there was really nothing they could do for my leg, and I spent the next few days at the window of the hospital, as before. That was the end of my adventure.”
“So what about Balto?” Trixie asked. “What about the town, what about Rosie, what about the team? You can’t leave off like that grandma!”
Jenna laughed.
“I said it was the end of my adventure child, not the story.”
“Oh.” Trixie said.
Jenna smiled.
“So I gather you want to hear the rest then.” Jenna said.
Trixie nodded.
“So, a few days later, Dixie was walking by and saw me limping. She was all worried about me and asked me what happened, and the next thing I knew I was sitting in the old mill telling the rest of the dogs about what had happened.”
“When I got to the part about Balto setting off to find the lost team the other dogs laughed. They thought he was insane.”
“That wasn’t very nice of them.” Trixie said.
Jenna shook her head.
“No it wasn’t, and I was about to tell them so when the door opened and a dark shape stood in it.”
“Balto?” Trixie asked.
“I thought so.” Jenna replied. “…but no, it was Steele.”
“Steele?” Trixie asked. “What was he doing back without the medicine? Or the team?”
“Well,” Jenna said. “He started into this story about all of them freezing to death, and then he said that he’d been dragging the medicine all alone, and then Balto appeared and demanded that Steele let him take the medicine. Then Steele said he grabbed the crate, but he couldn’t handle it, and he slipped, falling off a cliff.”
“That doesn’t sound like Balto to me.” Trixie said. “Steele made that up.”
Jenna nodded.
“I thought the same thing, but then he pulled out my bandanna and told me that Balto told him to take care of me.”
“That doesn’t sound right either.” Trixie said.
Jenna nodded again.
“I know, but how did he get my bandanna. I’d given it to Balto… two really horrible thoughts crossed my mind then. One was that Steele had been coming back and found Balto dead somewhere and taken the bandanna, the other was that Steele had found Balto alive and killed him, then taken the bandanna.”
“Oh no!” Trixie said.
“I stood up, took my bandanna, and ran out of the old mill. See, I’d just realized that what I’d suspected back at the lake was true, Balto was more than a friend to me, much more. I realized then what that fear-like feeling I’d felt under the hospital was… it was love. I loved Balto… and it had taken me losing him to realize it.”
Trixie sighed.
“Now I know why you never talk about him.”
Jenna smiled.
“I know my memory is bad child, but I don’t remember saying “the end” yet.”
Trixie looked confused.
“You mean…”
Jenna smiled.
“Anyway, I was crushed. I truly thought Balto might be dead, murdered by that foul creature Steele.
As I was sitting outside the hospital I saw the telegrapher walk out of his office, shake his head and take down the lamp he’d left lit to guide the team back to Nome.
Though I thought Balto might be dead, I hoped he wasn’t, and I walked down to the dumpster to get what I needed.”
“The dumpster?” Trixie asked.
Jenna nodded.
“It took several trips to get all the broken bottles and thee lantern onto the hill outside the town, and I fell a lot, my leg was still injured remember, but I did it anyway, for Balto, on the off-chance that was still alive.”
“You recreated the northern lights, just like he did under the hospital… huh?” Trixie asked.
Jenna nodded. “Mine were somewhat bigger and brighter, but yes, I could think of no better signal to Balto.”
“That’s pretty cool.” Trixie said.
“I suppose it is.” Jenna said.
She paused.
“Well, a few hours passed and I was let back into the hospital. Rosie’s father had retied the bandanna around my neck, but now it felt strange, only a reminder that Balto, the dog loved, would never come home again. I gave serious thought to throwing it away, and probably the only thing that kept me from doing that was my need to be with my girl, whom I was now sure I would soon lose as well…”
Jenna paused and smiled.
“What is it grandma?” Trixie asked.
“…then I heard a howl.”
Trixie looked confused for a moment and then smiled.
“Balto!”
Jenna smiled again and nodded.
“I ran out to meet him, but unfortunatly the entire town did as well, and I got lost in the crowd. I did see that he had indeed brought back the anti-toxin as well as the lost team.
I didn’t catch up with him until I walked back in the hospital about ten minutes later. He ran to me, and we ran circles around each other like we were puppies or something, then we both stopped and our noses were touching.
Balto looked confused, as if he didn’t know how to proceed, and I can imagine how he felt, I mean, I’d sent the poor guy so many mixed signals lately… anyway, I smiled and nuzzled him and he smiled and nuzzled me back, and that was it. We were together, for better or worse Balto and I became mates, my popularity and friends be *****, I’d discovered that I didn’t really need them anyway.”
Jenna paused and the smile faded from her face as tears appeared in her eyes again.
“I had everything I’d ever need in Balto.”
“So what happened to him?” Trixie asked.
Jenna sighed.
“My child, the year before you were born… Balto passed away.”
“Oh.” Trixie siad. “I’m sorry grandma.”
Jenna smiled.
“It’s alright child, Balto lived a long and very good life. After the diptheria run everyone accepted him, and after a few years he was even adopted by a man named Luke.”
Jenna smiled.
“He lived a full seventeen years and we had many more adventures. Together we had many children, raised them, suffered through heartbreaks, rose over tribulation and rejoiced in the joy of one another… there’s nothing to be sorry about.”
Jenna paused.
“Which reminds me, I have something for you child, something that I want to entrust to you.”
“What is that grandma?”
Jenna got up slowly and walked over to her bed against the wall. She pulled the cushion out of it and bent her head inside.
“Can I trust you to take care of it child?” Jenna asked.
“Oh yes grandma.” Trixie said. “What is it?”
Jenna withdrew her head and clasped in her teeth was a somewhat ragged looking red bandanna.
Trixie’s mouth dropped open as Jenna walked over and laid it in front of her.
She was unable to speak for a moment, and a tear came to her eye.
“Grandma… I… I can’t take this from you.”
Jenna smiled.
“Take it child. I don’t need it anymore, I’ve kept it for many years, waiting until I found someone who deserved to wear it, and that someone is you.”
Trixie smiled.
“Go on.” Jenna said. “Put it on, let’s see how it looks dear.”
Trixie pulled the aged but still strong cloth over her head and onto her shoulders. Then she noticed a shimmer near her neck and looked down, finding a beautiful heart shaped diamond wedged tightly into the knot.
“What’s this?” Trixie asked.
Jenna smiled and tears came to her eyes as she gazed upon the small stone for the first time in many years.
“A gift from Balto.” Jenna said softly.
She smiled.
“Well child, you look like me twenty years ago. The bandanna does you just fine. Keep it, it’s yours.”
Trixie stared at her grandmother.
“Thank you.” She said. “I promise I’ll take good care of it.”
“…and someday when you’re a mother, you can pass it down to your daughter.” Jenna said.
“Oh yes.” Trixie said. “Yes I will.”
Jenna walked back over to the side of the couch and laid down.
Trixie looked at the bandanna for a long while, before she spoke.
“Grandma I…” Trixie stopped.
Jenna was sleeping soundly by the couch. It seemed that the story telling had worn her out.
Trixie smiled and nuzzled her grandmother.
“I love you grandma Jenna.” Trixie said.
Then she walked out of the room.
That night, Jenna felt someone tap her on the head.
She was a little irritated, after all, she’d just gotten back to sleep, and at her age she needed all the sleep she could get.
She looked up and froze.
“It… it can’t be.” She said.
The dog in front of her smiled.
“Why not Jen?”
“You’re… you’re dead.” Jenna said.
Balto smiled.
“Jen, I said I’d wait for you and Aniu is growing quite impatient with me, so I think it’s best if you come with me now.”
“Come with you?” Jenna asked but how…”
She fell silent.
“Look behind you Jen.” Balto said.
Jenna looked behind her and saw herself, sleeping in her bed, but… she wasn’t breathing anymore.”
Jenna turned back to Balto.
“I’m… I’m scared Balto.” She said.
“Don’t worry.” Balto said. “It’s wonderful where we’re going. We’ll never have to worry about food or death or sickness ever again. Every day with Aniu is perfect in every way… well, at least now that you’re here it will be.”
Balto nuzzled her.
“I’ve missed you Jen.”
Jenna was little baffled.
“I… I missed you too Balto.”
“Come on Jen.” Balto said, turning as a blue light filled the room. “Let’s go home.”
THE END
Closing Note from the Author:
This story was largely inspired as I listened to the song “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion. Made famous by the movie Titanic, “My Heart Will Go On” is a beautiful song that speaks of love, and I believe definitly describes the love that Balto and Jenna feel for one another, as such, I’d like to reproduce the lyrics here:
My Heart Will Go On By: Celine Dion
Verse 1:
Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you
That is how I know you go on
Far across the distance
And spaces between us
You have come to show you go on
Chorus:
Near
Far
Wherever you are
I believe that the heart does
Go on
Once
More
You open the door
And you’re here in my heart and
My heart will go on and on
Verse 2:
Love can touch us one time
And last for a life time
And never let go till we’re gone
Love was when I loved you
One true time I hold to
In my life we’ll always go on
Chorus:
Near
Far
Wherever you are
I believe that the heart goes on
Once more
You open the door
And you’re here in my heart and
My heart will go on and on
Verse 3:
You’re here
There’s nothing I fear
And I know that my heart will go on
We’ll stay forever this way
You are safe in my heart and
My heart will go on and on
Jenna: Memoir of a Hero
Set in the very distant future “Memoir of a Hero” is the tale of Jenna’s passing on Balto’s legacy to a new generation. Inspired by the song “My Heart Will Go On”, this is sure to be a tale of adventure, love and remembrance of those who have passed on.
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Last edited by Rotramel the Writer on Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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I'm really looking forward to Two Hearts Racing too. Good to have you back. 
but sad :'(
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