Scene 1: Balto's Nightmare

  Balto was running.  He heard Jenna's voice.  "Balto!  Where are you?  Help!"  she yelped.  Balto picked up the speed and ran faster and faster until he came to the source of Jenna's voice: the shed attatched to her house.  He shoved the door aside.  He saw Jenna, tied up to a hook on the wall.  But she wasn't alone: Steele was there, telling her how Balto was such a loser and he was going to beat the fight out of him in the race.  What race? Balto thought.  Then Steele chose that moment to turn and face the door.  "Ah, Balto, I've been expecting you.  See, I want a race.  You and me.  Lobo versus perro.  Wolf versus dog.  I'm comin' back to Nome.  And you'd better be there.  And you'd better race me.  Got it, mutt?"  Balto was angered by Steele's words.  He bit at Steele, who vanished, leaving no trace.  Jenna was crying to get away from the rope.  Yelling and crying.  "Balto!  Balto, get this thing off me!  BALTO!!!!" 

And that's when Balto woke up.

Scene 2: Steele's Return

  "Hey, Balto!  Come down here!" It was Jenna's voice, but she didn't sound frightened, as she had in the dream.  In fact, she seemed excited.  I wonder what she's so happy about? Balto contemplated.  He leaped down from the deck of the old boat he lived on. 

  Jenna was waiting below, smiling.  "Balto, I've got a surprise for you!"  she said.  "Come on!"  With that, she trotted off, Balto trailing close behind.

"What's this all about?" he inquired her as they went.

"I told you, it's a surprise!  I will say this: you'll be very happy," Jenna replied.

"Okay..." Balto said, confused.  He pondered what the surprise could be.  Another ride in a plane?  A big feast of yummy foods?  "Did I forget our anniversary?!?!" he thought, suddenly afraid.

  When Jenna finally stopped, they were in front of her shed.  Balto stepped closer cautiously and sniffed.  Not Steele's scent... but it was a familiar smell.  And it was friendly...

  Suddenly, a paw stepped out.  Then a body was visible.

  "Hello, Papa," Aleu said, smiling gently.  Balto couldn't believe his eyes.  Aleu?  Here?  Impossible.  She had crossed the ice bridge a few years back. 

  "Aleu?  Is that you?" Balto asked, bewildered.

  "It's me, Papa."  Aleu ran up to her father and nuzzled him.  She stepped back.  "Papa, I need your help.  See, I brought the clan back.  I wanted to be closer to home.  But do you know a sheltered place in the woods for us to stay?"

  "Uh, sure," Balto responded, confused slightly.  "You can stay in the forest behind my boat.  It's safe there.  And there's a river nearby.  You can live there."

  "Thanks, Papa!  Oh, and I'd like you to meet my advisor, Kenai."  Aleu ran off.  She soon returned with a dark gray wolf.

The wolf bowed his head.  "You must be Balto, Aleu's father.  I have heard much about you.  You are a great example of brave canines, even if you are not a wolf."

  "Well, thank you.  And you must be Kenai, Aleu's advisor.  Actually, I'm half wolf.  My mother was Aniu.  Have you heard of her?"  Balto replied formally.

  "Oh, my!  You are Aniu's son?  And your father was a dog, I assume?"

  "I suppose so."

  "Hey, Kenai, we're staying in the woods behind my father's boat.  That's on the beach.  Let the clan know, please," Aleu said.  Kenai was an eager-to-please wolf, so he nodded and dashed away...

  As Kenai disappeared into the distance, Balto caught Aleu staring after him.  Was that a hint of affection in her gaze?  Balto smiled slyly at Jenna, who obviously had noticed, too.

  Balto turned his gaze to Aleu and remarked, "Well, he seemed nice.  What do you say, Jenna?"

  "I say he was quite handsome.  Don't you agree, Aleu?"

  "Look, guys, I don't like him like that, okay?" Aleu retorted, embarrassed.

  "Mmm-hmm," Balto said.  "Right.  Very believable."

  Aleu thanked Balto again, and left.

  "She likes him," Balto stated.

  "Yes, it's pretty obvious.  And it seems like he likes her back.  It makes me wonder if she'll take him as a mate eventually."

  Later that night, Balto was lying awake on his boat.  He couldn't sleep.  Suddenly, he heard a voice that made his hackles raise and his lips curl into a snarl.  "Balto!" the voice barked.

"Steele," Balto growled.

The well-muscled husky was smirking at Balto, and he said, "Well, well, well, wolf-dog, you don't seem too glad to see me."

A figure stepped out of the shadows and stood beside Steele.

"You should remember me," the figure growled.

"Niju!  What are you doing here?!"

"Enjoying the town," Niju joked.

"Niju's going to work with me as my swing dog in the race," Steele cut in.

"Uh-huh," Balto replied uncertainly.

"Now, let's get down to business.  I haven't got all night!" Steele barked.  "We'll say the race'll be in a week.  You have that long to build your team.  Got it, mutt?"

"Got it," Balto glared down at his enemies as they left.

Scene 3: Building a Team

The next day, Balto spent some time gathering his pups for the race.  First, he headed to Aleu's hideout.

"Hey, Aleu?  I need a favor."

"Anything, Papa."

"Would you run in a race with me?"  Balto blurted.

"Of course!  I owe you.  And I'll help gather my brothers and sisters, too." She turned to Kenai. "You're in charge until I come back."

"Yes, Aleu," Kenai bowed his head and was about to dash away when Aleu stopped him.

"Don't get in a fight with Dante again," she warned quietly.  He nodded and walked away.

Aleu and Balto sprinted to where Kodi lived and asked him if he'd compete with them against Steele and Niju.

"I dunno, Dad...Dusty's gonna have her pups soon," Kodi replied.

"How soon?" Aleu cut in.

"A week, maybe sooner," Kodi answered his sister.  "I'm glad you're back, by the way," he added.

"Glad to be back, Kodiak," she responded, laughing a bit at her accidental rhyme.

Kodi smiled.  "I guess I could help."

"Thanks, Kodi.  This means a lot to me," Balto sighed.

The three canines headed toward Skylar and Aurora's house and they joined in immediately.  They then went to Denali and Polaris's house.

"Of course we'll help you, Dad!" Denali exclaimed.  To her brother she added, "Come on, Pol!  It'll be fun!"

Polaris gave in, a smile playing his red face.  "Oh, all right, Den.  We'll help ya, Pops."

"Great, that's everyone!  But now we need the gear and a musher," Aleu said urgently.

"I know just the man," Balto grinned.

Scene 4: The Race

At the end of the week, it was time for the race.  The dogs got in order; Duke placed all the gear in the sled carefully.  As wheel dogs, Dingo and Saba stood at the back while waiting to be harnessed; Denali and Polaris stood in team dog position.  Kodi and Aleu played swing dogs, just behind where Balto would stand when he returned from visiting Jenna.

"Good luck," Jenna said, nuzzling her mate.

"Thanks, Jenna.  I've gotta go now," Balto replied, dashing off.

"I'll be watching at the starting line!" she called after him.

When Balto returned, he saw Kodi lying beside the sled.  "Let's go!  Harness up!" he called to his son.

Kodi weakly lifted his head.  "Dad, I don't think I can run," he groaned.  "My leg..."

Balto looked at Kodi's foreleg.  It was bleeding.  "Who did this?" he growled.

"Steele," Aleu spat disgustedly.

'Who can run?"

Aleu brightened.  "I know just the wolf!"  She ran as fast as she could and returned with Kenai.  She instructed the confused gray wolf to stand beside her and let Duke harness him.

"KODI!  Kodi, are you okay?" a voice howled.  Balto turned to see Dusty, plump with the weight of the puppies she'd soon deliver, waddling as fast as her pregnancy would allow toward Kodi.  She licked his face vigorously.  "Are you all right?"

Kodi laughed weakly, wincing as he tried to stand up.  "I'm fine.  You shouldn't be bustling around so much," he scolded gently.  "You'll lose the pups like that."

Dusty rolled her eyes at her mate.  "You worry too much," she teased him.

Kaltag (who had, like his companions, Nikki and Star, joined Steele's team out of fear) glanced over at them, whispered to his friends, then unharnessed and carried Kodi to the place where he and Dusty lived together, with Dusty hobbling after them.  After dropping off the two, the three sled dogs returned and slipped back into their harnesses before Steele noticed a thing.

Mel, the worrisome Airedale terrier whose human worked at the post office,  scampered to stand in front of the two teams. He cleared his throat and uttered a loud roof, grabbing the onlookers' attention.  "Ladies and gentledogs, there'll be no biting, scratching, clawing, or causing harm of any kind.  And now, on your marks...get set...GO!"

The teams rushed past him, Balto's team immediately in the lead.  Steele glanced over and snarled when he saw that Balto was ahead of him.  Balto grinned at his pups and barked encouragingly, "You can do it! Let's go!" 

Soon, the team reached White Mountain.  Like the mail race he and Kodi had competed in a year ago, this was their turning point.  The team slowed and rested for a few minutes, then got up, picked up the pace swiftly, and ran as fast as they could back to Nome.  As they left, they saw Steele's team puffing and panting as they sprinted into the little town.  Aleu shouted to the team, "Don't get cocky!  They still might catch up!"

"True words, Aleu!" Kenai yelled back, being respectful to his alpha.

"Suckup!" she laughed and nudged him in the shoulder.  He stumbled and laughed along with her, the affection between the two showing.

After about a half hour, they pulled into Nome, the town dogs howling and cheering, Steele's few remaining followers grumbling.  Jenna rushed up and nuzzled her mate and each of her puppies in turn.  She gasped when she saw Kenai instead of Kodi.  "Where is my son?" she demanded.

"Kodi was injured by Steele.  He'll be okay," Aleu said, intervening quickly.

"Speak of the devil," Denali barked, looking in the opposite direction.  The others turned to see Kodi limping as fast as his injury would let him towards his siblings and parents.  "It's Dusty!  She's going into labor!" he panted.

The dogs swiftly unharnessed and followed him.  Once they reached the alleyway, Aleu glanced at Dusty, who was lying on the snowy ground, and a connection flashed between them.  "We've got to get her to a vet!" she ordered the others.  Denali, Aleu, Jenna, and Saba picked her up and carried her to the vet.  The males followed.  Balto noticed that, standing side by side, Denali and Aleu almost seemed like twins, except that Denali as red and white and Aleu was tan and white.  Thinking of Aleu reminded him of something he needed to do.  "You three go ahead.  I wanna speak with Kenai."  He beckoned the gray wolf over as the three brothers went on ahead.  Kenai slowed his pace to match Balto's.  "I'd like to ask you something."

"Yes, sir?" Kenai asked nervously.

"Do you really like my daughter?"

"Aleu?  Yes, I like her.  Probably more than I should, seeing as she's my superior.  But please understand that I do love her, and if she were to take me as her mate, I wouldn't cheat, and I wouldn't abuse her."

"And if she does...? There's always that shot, Kenai.  Why don't you take it?"

That seemed to encourage him enough to make him smile and say confidently, "You know what?  You're right!  It is worth a shot!  I'll tell her while we're waiting."

As they waited, Jenna stayed inside to help Dusty.  Kenai drew Aleu away to talk to her.  Balto, watching out of the corner of his eye, saw Aleu's eyes widen in shock, then a smile play her face as she responded.  Kenai leapt high in the air and howled with joy.  Aleu laughed.  They rejoined the group just as Jenna popped her head out and said, "There's a new puppy in the world!  A little red girl with brown eyes."  She glimpsed Kodi's proud and excited face and said, "Come on in, Kodi."

Fifteen minutes later, two gray twins with blue eyes, a boy and a girl, entered the universe.  Then, an hour later, the last two puppies, a red and gray brown eyed girl and a red blue eyed boy, arrived.

Jenna led the others in and showed them the puppies.  Kodi and Dusty were contemplating names.

"Can we name this red female Jen?  After your mother?" Dusty inquired.

"Sure.  And this little gray male should be Togo," Kodi replied.

"The petite gray female could be called Dayna," Dusty went on.  "And I'm dying to name the red and gray one Sophie."

"And finally, the red male," Kodi said.  "He should be Fritz."

Scene 5: Aleu's Puppies

THREE MONTHS LATER

Aleu and Kenai's puppies had been born.  They'd named them Juneau (miniature Aleu), Alyeska(Juneau's twin), Nikolai (gray and white female, Balto's markings), Shasta (miniature female Balto), Amaroq (black male), and Nanuk (white female with red paws).  They played on the beach with their grandfather and cousins. 

Jenna padded up to her daughter, something dangling from her jaws.  "Aleu, I'd like you to have this."  She put a yellow bandana around Aleu's neck.

"Thanks, Mom," Aleu responded, nuzzling her mother.  She stepped back, sat down, and watched her puppies play.