Chapter 3 – Dingo

“I wanted to be on the sled team,” Dingo finally began, “but that’s the part you knew already.  I knew it was Dad’s dream, and I used to ride Kyle around in the single-dog sled like Mom said she did with her human.  Kyle believed in me a little too much, and his dad had connections with the lead musher, so he wanted me to try out for the sled team.  I guess…at the time…I was blinded by what they wanted.  I wanted to make him happy, and I thought I could do it, so…”

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Nome, Alaska

Several months earlier, early 1928

The panoramic view of the several simple streets of Nome was lightly warmed by the fading winter of the beginning of the year.  The exteriors of the wood and glass houses were bustling with a few good spectators and barking dogs of many varying breeds, as today was an unusual day.  Balto, as apart from the town as he usually is, still knew this very well.  Both the wolf-dog and Boris ventured into the town through its darkened outskirts and back alleys, just like they used to do before the pariah had become a hero.

“Well Balto, today must be special day for you!”

“And why is that?” the wolf-dog answered, looking back curiously at the waddling goose.

“Why else?  Not one, but two of the hero of Nome’s three sons are trying out for the sled team today!”

“Oh, well of course.  The last two even, seeing as Juno is already on the team in White Mountain.  It seems all three of them want what I wanted.  That’s why we’re going to see Kodi and Dingo, remember?”

“Yes, yes.  Did you wish them luck?”

“Well, I did with Kodi.  I couldn’t with Dingo…you know how his owners feel about me.”

“Ah, yes…”

Balto kept moving through the alley and past the familiar broken fencing and pots, while Boris on the other hand had stopped and lifted a feathered hand to his chin in thought.

“Perhaps you could tell him yourself…before the race.”

Balto stopped and looked back to the goose, then hung his head as it gained the weight of doubt.

“I don’t know, it would-…would be kind of awkward don’t you think?  Just pop out of nowhere and talk to him after so long…”

“When they strap him in, he would likely be a distance from owners.”

“Well that’s true, but…do you think now is really the time?”

“If it isn’t, when is the time?  How do you know you’ll get other chance?”

Balto said nothing and looked to the main street ahead of them once again.  He couldn’t see very much as his view of the main street was blocked by the crowd, but he knew that beyond those nameless bodies his two sons were getting ready.

“Well, today’s the big day for our boy and his dog.”

Dingo strode along the side of the street, his very own harness slung around him and fitting well as he led along his boy Kyle’s personal little sled.  The sled in question was well-made by the same carpenter that made Jenna’s, held together with the very same sturdy pale wood that the real thing is usually made of.  The harness fittingly slung around the boy’s pet was of the same professional material as well, as Nome was a fairly small town and it was rather easy for Kyle’s parents to make connections with one of the mushers.  Of course, their interest in trying out their dog for the sled team didn’t hurt either.  Kyle liked to be ridden around on his sled, so Dingo had plenty an opportunity to get used to the feel of the harness grasping his slender form. 

At this point in time the dog was doing a slightly better job of hiding the wolf in him, his fur still the same shades but his eyes less golden and his tail a tad less flat.  There was also a tad more depth and a lush factor to his fur, accompanied by a slightly greater presence of muscle gained from his training process.  Dingo kept his tail high, at least at body level with the end pointing upward towards the clear baby blue sky, the harness of the sled matching the shade of the brown leather collar that still shone proudly around his neck with the license of his name still attached.  He was on top of the world today; he was going to live a dream that was not only his but his human’s, and even one of his still-mysterious father.  He channeled the anxious butterflies in his stomach into an externally-prideful prance to pull his human along on the sled, the boy in question soon giving the signal to stop as they were to reach their destination.

“Easy boy, whoa…”

Having been taught to obey the commands, Dingo listened and slowed his prancing to a steady walk to comply to the first before stopping and sitting to follow the second.  He looked back to Kyle, panting in delight with his tongue hanging out as the boy dismounted and approached to embrace his pet.

“Good boy, Dingo!”

As the boy’s sleeve-covered arms were wrapped around Dingo, the dog nuzzled into the dark warm coat as much as he could to show his love right back.  He had always loved the feeling of his human’s embrace; to him it was the greatest thing in the world.

“You’re gonna do great Dingo,” the eight-or-so-year-old boy continued in his speech as well as his embrace, “you’ll go out there and get lead dog right away!  I know it!”

Dingo kept loving the embrace, his closed eyes only accentuating his increased smiling and nuzzling.  He gave his boy a big lick as well as a few delighted and playful barks, making Kyle just giggle and smile.  He pranced around as well to heighten the human’s happiness, stopping only when the boy’s father came closer.

“Alright Dingo,” the man said, “We’ve got you your tryout.  Just get out there and do your best, alright?”

Kyle’s father then unhooked the harness from his son’s sled, ushering Dingo off to approach the remainder of the crowd.  He was deliberately led to the presence of the head musher, who would be orchestrating the tryouts for the dogs today.  Caught up in the crowd, however, Dingo had accidentally ran straight into the musher in question and Kyle’s father quickly pulled him back a tad as the man turned around.

“Well hello there!  Who do we have here, another tryout?”

“Yes indeed,” Kyle’s father answered for the dog for obvious reasons, “this here is Dingo.”

“Dingo huh?  Alright.  He looks a little different there; what breed is he?”

“Ah well his mother’s the local Jenna, so that’s purebred Siberian Husky there…”

“And the father?”

“Well, his father’s none other than Balto himself.  Not much husky on that side, but his dad did make the serum run a few years back.”

“That’s right!  Well then!”

The musher took a knee and placed a gloved hand onto the space between Dingo’s ears, ruffling it around as the gesture turned into a kind petting.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Dingo.  Here’s hoping you do a good job today, so that way I can have you on my team.  You know, as a matter of fact I think we’ve got your brother here today too…unless one of your parents has been fooling around.”

Dingo didn’t take offense to the last comment before the musher chuckled and headed away.  For one because the remark was told in good humor and he knew it, and for another he no longer knew one of his parents.  His father was out in the wilderness somewhere; how was he to know if anything happened out there in his absence?

 Kyle’s father then released his hold on the dog’s collar and harness, allowing him to scamper off into the crowd among the other tryouts and trainers.  To wit he found his brother Kodi, with whom he had no quarrel with at the time, and his trainer Nikki.  Yes, that Nikki.  These two being the first familiar faces in the crowd, he quickly approached to say his hellos.

“Hey Kodi, Mr. Nikki.”

“Hey Dingo,” Kodi replied eagerly and quickly with his own enthusiasm for the day, “you ready for the tryouts?”

“Yep, pretty sure I’m as excited as you are.”

“It’s gonna be great!  If only Dad could be here.”

“Yeah,” Dingo trailed off as he looked down and to the side, “if only…  Say, have either of you seen my trainer?”

“Who, Kaltag?” Nikki answered. “Yeah, he’s a little further in lookin’ for ya.”

He pointed Dingo in the right direction and the red dog expressed his thanks, goodbyes, and good-lucks before venturing off.  He inched his way through the crowd of dogs, not even seeing his trainer yet before he spoke.

“Dingo, there ya are!”

Dingo felt a cold and wet nose against his torso as a set of canine chompers took a hold of his harness, eventually pulling as well to drag him away from the crowd and into one of the shaded side alleys.  Obviously he was caught off guard, but then became at ease when he found Kaltag’s form before him as the grasp was released.

“Oh, M-Mr. Kaltag!”

“Of course, who else did you think?”

“I don’t know; you just caught me a bit off guard really.  Anyway, thanks again for taking me up as a pupil.”

“No problem, it was a pleasure working with your dad!  He was the greatest, the most inspired, the most-!  Well, you get the idea.  Anyway, on to business.”

“Right!”

Dingo took his seat with his head held high confidently, taking on a very military-esque expression of seriousness as Kaltag copied and began to pace back and forth around him to run through the routine.

“Now, did you have a good night’s sleep?  Got your energy up?”

“Yes sir!”

“Did you have a hearty breakfast, one that filled you up but not enough to weight you down?”

“Yes sir!”

“Did you do some practice laps?”

“Yes, last night sir!”

“Alright then.  I’ve taught you everything I know about dog-sledding, and I’ve done this for a while so I know a thing or two.  All that’s left is for you to take what I’ve told you and apply it to the most extensive, the most thorough, the most well planned-!  Well, it’s the tryouts.  You’re going to try out as a Team Dog, a center position just like your brother.  There’s the least amount of pressure from the musher there for you, but you’re in the middle of the dogs so you’ll need to keep a steady pace.  That shouldn’t be a problem for you, you can run and your slim build will help you get out from line snags.  Just keep aware, listen to commands, and do what the outside dogs are doing.”

“Got it.”

“After all, I’ve been prepping my replacement here.  It’s all down to this kid, so get out there and make all that hard work worthwhile alright?”

“Sir yes sir!”

Kaltag then took his own seat in front of him and, as if to complete the ensemble of military discipline, they saluted each other with a front paw placed strongly above their brow.  When it was released, Dingo’s enthusiastic smile returned as he gave a nod of confirmation.

“Alright,” Kaltag concluded, “now get out there!  Make me and your dad proud!”

“Alright sir!”

Dingo turned and broke into a dash back towards the crowd, looking back briefly to his trainer with a smile.  From the absence of his real father, whom everyone just loved to bring up around him in accidental spite, during this training period Kaltag had become his father figure.  It wasn’t difficult for him to get accustomed to this; Kaltag was teaching him and at the same time told him a bit more about Balto.  Dingo got a lot out of this relationship, and now it was all going to pay off.

He very soon disappeared in the crowd, but just as quickly reappeared at Kodi’s side.  Considering their tryout positions, this was right where he should be.  Among the crowd the brothers soon also found their mother Jenna approach them for, like Balto albeit unbeknownst to them, she also wanted to see her children off.

“Hey you two,” she proclaimed as she admired their donned equipment, “look at my boys all in uniform.”

She nuzzled them both for the sake of affection as well as good luck.  Dingo had looked up to her when she approached, even keeping himself up during this display of affection, but he lowered once again in embarrassment after she spoke.  Kodi on the other hand stood prominent and prideful, unintentionally showing off his own present-at-the-time collar while doing so as the sled dog harness wasn’t yet a license of ownership in itself.

“Glad you could come, Mom.  I wish Dad could have been here too.”

“Aww, well don’t sell your father short boys.  He just likes to be mysterious sometimes; he’s probably somewhere watching right now and you just don’t know it yet.”

Dingo’s ears turned to the conversation, soon to be followed by the rest of his head in response.

“Y-You think so Mom?”

“I know so.  Believe me, he wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Dingo became enticed with this notion, beginning to scan the crowd and open spaces for the father he barely recalled before broadening out his view to the alleys.

“He did wish you good luck didn’t he?” Their mother inquired.

“Yeah,” Kodi answered, “he told me last night.”

“And Dingo?”

“Well, you know how his family is about wolves.”

Dingo couldn’t help but confirm his brother’s remark with a nod as he looked back to them, ears dropping to match his declining good mood.

“Well in any case, good luck you two,” Jenna stated to begin her farewell as she trotted away, “you know I’ll be watching and cheering for you both.”

“Thanks Mom,” Kodi replied, “see ya after the run!”

Jenna just kept her smile as she gradually disappeared into the crowd.

The musher began to verbally usher the crowds away, Balto’s two sons just grinning at each other before the other dogs took their places.  Several varying dogs, all of them dominantly husky, took their places in front and behind, beginning their own introductions.  Two particularly familiar huskies, but not familiar to Kodi and Dingo, turned from their position in front of the two siblings.  One was very built and large with masculinity, with toned down blue fur and an even more toned down variance underneath.  The other was slim, sleek, and feminine in purple faded fur and a more grayish variance underneath as well.  She turned after the previous form, who also spoke first and sounded rather simple-minded.

“Hey there!  You two the big newcomers, the sons of Balto?”

“Oh, yeah.” Dingo replied as he took into account his brother’s excitement turned to anxiety. “I’m Dingo, this is Kodi.”

“Alright, cool!  I’m Ralph, and this here is Dusty.  Dusty, say hello!”

“Alright alright,” the purple husky responded, her voice conveying a certain age that her form did not, “name’s Dusty, but he already told you that.”

“Yeah I did!”

“Nice to meet you guys,” Kodi finally replied as he perked up, “guessing you’re on the team already?”

“Yup!” Ralph replied, first once again and with great enthusiasm. “Same with Dusty here.  We’re the Point Dogs right now, the ones behind the Lead Dog.”

“As you can guess,” Dusty continued from Ralph’s comment, “the lead dog’s been here a while too.”

“Right…” Both Kodi and Dingo replied in some fashion, their glances darting as the obvious was stated for them to really show their place.  Dingo was the first to perk back up and look to Dusty.

“Hey, are we the only ones trying out?  Do we have any competition?”

“Well,” she answered abruptly while looking behind them, “I think we’ve got one more in the back.  Said he was Star’s son or something.”

“Yup, we got him.  He’s all the way in the back by the musher.” Ralph cut in as he began to chuckle. “Could ya believe it, he wanted to be a Wheel Dog!”

“Nearly the opposite of his dad if that’s really the case,” Dusty continued, “considering Star was a Point.”

The brothers turned their glances to the back of the sled, vaguely able to make out a smaller and scraggly dog in the back by the musher.  He was looking rather nervous, without an ounce of apparent confidence.

“He’s not gonna make it,” they heard a new voice ahead of them bluntly state.

They turned to find the lead dog had traveled around the Point Dogs to approach them.  He seemed to be the perfect combination of Ralph and Dusty, both in appearance and personality.  He retained a large burly build but wasn’t as monstrous as Ralph, well fitting a healthy coat of faded brown fur.  His voice emanated the masculinity of Ralph’s, even if abandoning its simple-mindedness and replacing it with the grit of Dusty’s vocals.  His face was round and rugged rather than sharp like the others as well.

“He’s been shaking in his paws all day,” the lead dog continued, “we can’t even be sure that anyone trained him.”

“Wow…”

“Anyway, the name’s Kirby.  I’ll be the Lead Dog for today, as usual.  You’ve already met Dusty and Ralph, our Points.”

“Yeah, I’m Dingo and this is Kodi.”

“Hmm, Dingo and Kodi.  You two are Balto’s kids huh?”

“Yeah, everyone seems to be making a big deal about that…”

“And for a good reason.  You know what he did for this town, right?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Anyway, with that along with your trainers and the positions you’re taking up here, we’ve got high hopes for ya.  Just do what we do and keep up, and you should be fine.”

Kodi and Dingo just nodded in confirmation, after which Kirby began to head back to his post in the front.  The musher came by and checked all their lines, attaching those who weren’t yet and such before taking his own place upon the sled.

“Alright…”

“Hey, they’re starting!”

Balto quickly dashed ahead and into the crowd, accidentally knocking Boris to the ground.  The wolf-dog inserted himself between two humans in the front row, extending his head outwards into the street to get a look around.  Of course the prepping sled team wasn’t vastly far away; he found them quickly and saw his two sons right in the middle.

“Kodi!  Dingo!”

Boris came to his side soon after, both in acknowledgement that the wolf-dog’s exclamations weren’t heard.  Balto thought to try again, but before he could the musher began to speak.

“Alright, we’re gonna start off now.  Kodi, Dingo, Speckle.  You three are new and we’re expecting great things.  Alright, let’s get on to it now.  Hike!”

With a whip of his reins, when aligned with the command a part of the human language that all the dogs there knew, Kirby and the rest of the team took off across the snowy street.  Balto and Boris watched from their indentation in the crowd as the sled dogs rushed by, barking and receiving commands from the musher as they were heading to the outside of the city. 

And as they passed this same area, Dingo turned his head to a side of the cheering crowd and saw the vague profile of a brown-gray wolf-dog watching him before they quickly darted away.