My first Balto fic! Slow first chapter. Picks up immediately in the second. 

<><><>

CH.1

<><><>

I was running, paws barely touching the snow as I flew over it. An icy breeze nipped at my face, but I hardly noticed. Nothing else mattered when I was running. Nothing and no one could bother me because there wasn’t anything fast enough to catch me- except, it seemed, the large canine running beside me.

She was as white as the snow surrounding us and as graceful as the wind we were racing. I had no idea who she was and yet I felt completely as ease beside her. I tried to get a better look at her only to see that she had picked up her speed and was disappearing into the fog ahead.

“Oy, Balto!”

A heavily accented and far too loud voice snapped me from the dream. I grunted and curled into a loose ball under the one, threadbare blanket I owned- or found in an alley, rather, but I was sure that no one missed it.

“Balto!” A sudden chill encased my body as the blanket was ripped away.

“Boris!” I groaned, tucking my legs under my frame in an effort to keep the heat from escaping, “Not okay.”

“Git up already. You need to see this.” I gave one last moan of protest, though I had already decided to see what he wanted. Boris treasured sleep more than I did, and I had to admit, he insisting I awake this early had grabbed my attention- albeit a half-focused, dazed and groggy attention. If he had sounded worried, I would have forced myself to be more alert, but he didn’t.

I finally opened my eyes to look at the old goose standing over me. “What is it?” I sighed, scraping a paw over my muzzle to clear it of the thin layer of snow that had collected there over night.

“Come find out.” He turned his feathered tail toward me as he waddled away and I had to fight the impulse to swat at it. Boris often enjoyed teasing me, but I didn’t appreciate it this early in the morning. Cryptic speech should be reserved for the hours following sunrise- and preferably after noon. Despite my less than enthusiastic interest, I knew Boris wouldn’t let up until I followed him, and I was still slightly curious. The question was, were a few more minutes of sleep worth his increased pestering afterwards?

I rolled my eyes, knowing sleep would not be coming back to me even if I tried, and staggered to my feet. I stretched my legs as I followed him out of the wheel house and onto the deck of the old broken down ship I called home. The weathered wood was currently covered in two feet of fresh, powdery snow from recent storms that made the usually uneventful journey much more tedious than usual. I stuck to the edges where the snow had hardened enough to prevent me from falling through. Boris kept to the railings as his walkway though I half-heartedly attempted several times to knock him off into the snow drift. Had I been more awake, I would have succeeded. As it was, I just wanted to see whatever Boris wanted to show me and see if maybe, somehow, sleep would come back, if only for another hour.

I yawned against the early dawn’s light and realized that I could actually see the sun peeking over the horizon. The recent bad weather had made that impossible for over a week now. The resulting darkness was partially responsible for my current near-hibernation state. Lack of food from the same storm explained another large portion, and Boris waking me up at this absurd hour completed the culprits.

“Storm’s let up, eh?” Boris commented from where he sat on the railing, keeping a wary eye on me for any further attempts to unseat him.

“Yeah. I’m guessing it would still be gone two hours from now and a lot more interesting to me then, too.” I teased.

He gave me a classic Boris glare and hopped off the railing, using his wings to soften the landing so he didn’t plummet straight through the powder. “That is not vhat I wanted to show you. Come see.” In a combination of hopping and waddling, he led me down off the ship and around to the side still in shadow.

I smelled what he was talking about before my eyes could adjust to the light. The scent caused the hairs on my back to stand up and any traces of lethargy immediately vanished from my body.

Someone else had been here.

I padded over and took a closer look at what Boris was motioning to. A trail of paw prints made their way around the entire ship before heading off toward the tree line. Judging by the size of the tracks, this wolf was just as big as me if not bigger.

“So…vhat do you think?” Boris asked, staring at me as though waiting to gauge my reaction. My first thought was that Boris should have acted a little more worried about this than he did. Another part of me was glad he wasn’t panicked because maybe that meant this wasn’t as much of a big deal as my instincts were telling me it was.

“Well it’s not one of the town dogs, that’s for sure.” I sighed, choosing to follow Boris’s lead and play it cool for now, though my pounding heart and heightened senses refused to calm down. “The trail is a few hours old. I can’t believe I didn’t hear him.” I silently cursed myself. While aware of the dangers of living alone on the tundra, I had at least been confident that my senses would alert me to threats- not anymore.

“Vell, you were sleeping quite deeply.” Boris replied with a raised eyebrow, still studying me closely.

I sat back and looked toward the trees. While this ship had been my home for almost a year, I’d never really worried about other wolves. Heh…I say “other” as if I was one. I could hardly be counted among wolves, or dogs for that matter. The wolves stayed in the forest and the dogs stayed in the town and I was right in between them in every sense.

My territory wasn’t all that big, but it wasn’t so much my territory as it much as it was just land that nobody wanted to begin with. It was enough for me to live off of, which was all I needed. I’d never been challenged until now- if I was being challenged. I really had no idea, which was part of the reason for my wariness. The few months I actually had a mother were not enough to ingrain in me the ways of the wolf as I’d never been a part of an actual pack. What I knew was based on instinct and what little I did remember being taught.

“The wolves are getting curious about you?” Boris suggested, letting out a short, nervous sounding laugh. That’s when I started to suspect that he wasn’t as unaffected by this as he seemed.

“I don’t know…” I put my nose to the ground, sniffing a bit more. “It’s just one wolf and he’s out of his territory.” I’d heard that lone wolves were dangerous, but then again, what was I but a lone-half-wolf?

“Maybe you are not intimidating enough, pup.” Boris teased.  I felt a little foolish as I realized his show of nonchalance was all on act on his part to calm me down.

I smiled back, embarrassed, but grateful for the goose’s attempts. In fact, it encouraged me to relax in order to put him at ease in return.  “Well, let me put it this way, Boris,” I started with a sly grin, “If he’s here looking for food, this ‘pup’ is all that’s standing between him and his breakfast of Russian bacon, and I enjoy my sleep.”

The goose eyed me carefully. “Well played, Sir.” Our familiar banter seemed to flip the switch I needed.

A genuine laugh escaped my lips and I shook off my anxiety. I was freaking out over tracks in the snow, after all. My pent up energy from being cooped up for days during the storm was causing me to overreact. If the wolf had wanted to hurt me or Boris, it could have easily done so. Maybe there was a curious wolf out there, like the white one I had encountered not long ago. That thought actually excited me. I’d often dreamed of meeting that wolf again, and asking all the questions I had thought of only after it was gone. I gave one last longing look at the forest before turning back to Boris.

“Well, I’m going to get breakfast. You want to come?” I asked before I dove into the snow and rolled around, releasing the recent build-up of tension from my muscles. I always asked even though I knew the goose hated town. He’d come close on more than a few occasions to being the dinner of quite a few different species that called Nome home. I asked more out of amusement than anything else.

He replied predictably. “I would rather not be ‘uman’s breakfast… or third vheel.”

I jumped up and cocked my head in confusion. “Third wheel?”

“You are telling me snow bath is for all the hybrid-loving people of Nome?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

I gave Boris a look before shaking the snow off my coat, making sure to splash plenty of it onto him. I knew what he was hinting at and wanted to stop the conversation before it started. This particular topic never ended well for me. “Suit yourself.” I shrugged, and started quickly trotting toward the town.

He flew in front of me and landed, halting my progress. “So, how is pretty lady?”

“No idea what you’re talking about, Boris.” I said, glad he couldn’t see the heat rising into my face as I sidestepped him and continued on.

He quickly caught up and hopped along beside me. “Your face says differently, Casanova.”

I chose not to respond, mostly because he totally had me. While usually able to keep a straight face when I wanted to keep something from Boris, it was almost impossible when I was talking about the gorgeous red husky. At least with thoughts of Jenna now consuming my brain, all worries about the mystery wolf had vanished.

I usually confided everything to Boris, but quickly found that I couldn’t do that when it came to Jenna. Boris was convinced we weren’t moving fast enough because we had not yet had pups and named them all after him. Far from having pups, I don’t think Jenna and I could be defined as any sort of couple whatsoever. We were good friends, and even that was a great leap from what our relationship had been a few months ago, which was practically nonexistent. 

Until recently, I don’t think I had even spoken a full sentence to Jenna. Of course by the time I’d psyched myself up enough to start a conversation with her, Rosy, Jenna’s human, had come down with this horrible disease. She wasn’t the only human either. In fact, most of the children of the town became infected. Despite my precarious relationship with adult humans, I couldn’t help but feel horrible for the little ones. They were more understanding then their older counterparts and much less likely to see me as the “dangerous wild animal” and more likely to see me as another dog.

So for the sake of the children, I decided to help the cure get back to Nome. I’d been left behind at first, but when I heard the dog team assigned to retrieve the medicine had gotten lost, I set out to find them. Only by embracing my wild roots did I manage to lead the team back to Nome in time to save Rosy and the other kids. The humans became more accepting of me after that, and best of all, Jenna and I had grown a lot closer.

Before the storm had started a couple weeks ago, we had been spending almost every other day together. I smiled to find that I was anxious to see her again.

“Vhat are you smiling at?” Boris asked, snapping me from my thoughts. “Is Jenna, yes?”

“Oh no, it’s just that I’m heading for the butchers and you haven’t turned around yet.” I said brightly. By the time I looked over, Boris was ten feet behind me and unmoving.

“I think I will go find my own breakfast. Do svidaniya.” He immediately took off in the other direction.

I grinned as I lapped up some of the fresh snow in my mouth and continued on.

It was still early and the town was just waking up, leaving only a few people to walk the snowy streets. Since the medicine run, people were much less wary of my presence in the town and some even gave me a friendly greeting. I was ignored for now, which was fine with me. Anything was better than the ridicule and sometimes violent rejection I’d been subjected to before.

I found the butcher to be the most forgiving human in all of Nome. For as many times as I’d been accused of stealing his meat, he was now quick to offer me all the scraps he had on hand. This was probably because his young son had been very near death when the medicine arrived.

His shop was where I was headed now. While not the best hunter, I was capable of finding my own food most of the time. However the storm had sent most of the game running for cover and I hadn’t eaten for nearly a week. Instead of waiting for their return which could take a few more days, I decided to accept the butcher’s gift and stave off starvation until then.

“Look who it is.” A friendly voice called as I approached the shop. I looked up to see the butcher just arriving. He waited at the door for me and crouched down, holding his hand out in greeting. I trotted over and allowed him to scratch behind my ears. “Hey, Buddy. It’s been a while.” I wagged my tail in response and licked his chin once. “Wait here.” He went inside the store and soon returned with a string of sausages. “These are going to go bad soon if someone doesn’t eat them. Might as well be you.” I waited patiently for him to throw them to me. While not formally trained like all the other dogs in town, I knew from watching what was expected of dogs before they were given food. Besides, the wolf side of me that wanted to rip the meat out of his hands and threaten him if he tried to take it back wasn’t the side that made me very many friends or granted me future meals.

I dragged the food into another alley, away from prying eyes, so I could eat in peace. While the dogs who roamed the town had been just as quick to ridicule me as their humans, they rarely ever challenged me for food. Being half wolf had its advantages there. I was twice the size of most of the dogs in town height-wise. I was definitely leaner, but my teeth were still bigger, so my scraps of meat were hardly worth fighting for to them. But also like their humans, the dogs’ attitudes toward me had softened since the serum run. Still, habits die hard and instinct dies even harder.

I spent the rest of the morning taking in the sun from a roof on the edge of town. That was another habit I had yet to break- traveling by rooftop. I’d learned it out of necessity, to avoid humans and their judgmental canines. I hardly needed to do it now, but couldn’t help it. For one, it was pretty fun, and for another, I didn’t really like attention. I’d heard some of the town dogs speculate that wolves were much more aloof than their canine cousins, and I guess that could be partly to blame. My bad history with humans didn’t help either.

It was a little past noon when I’d had enough of sitting around and got to my feet, surveying the town from my perch. The town was busier now as people went about their business. Dogs generally followed their masters when they went out, but some had free reign over the entire town due to owners that either didn’t care or didn’t know. I kept an eye out specifically for two of those dogs; One of them I actually wanted to see, while the other one I hoped to avoid at all costs.

Obviously, one was Jenna. The other was Steele. Although I had seen neither hide nor hair of the large black and white husky for over a month, I still kept an eye out for him. It was odd for him to be silent for so long, even after his fall from grace after the serum run. Some of his teammates reported that their musher had retired the husky and kept him inside, while others insisted he was playing injured and that’s the reason he hadn’t been outside. Either way, I knew I could only expect hostility from the husky and the prolonged silence only managed to heighten my wariness of the dog. At this point, I’d rather face that lone wolf than a vengeful Steele, as misplaced as his vengeance was.

It was Steele’s own actions that had revealed his true character to his teammates and the town dogs. I just happened to be the one being acted upon. Of course Steele had always hated me, so there was no reason for him to direct his frustrations elsewhere. Who better to blame for his fallen status than the half-breed he devoted his life to tormenting?

Luckily the husky I spotted was not the oversized glory-hound, but the petite and gorgeous Jenna. The red and white husky was padding down the street with her “friends”. I didn’t know their names, but to Boris and me they were the stuck-up Afghan and the yappy Pomeranian. If I had learned anything about dogs and people, it was that dogs usually took after their humans, and because of this, I hoped I never ran into the owners of those two designer hair balls. Something told me they would be just as unaccepting of me as their snobby pets.

Jenna seemed to be just as annoyed at their presence as I was. I think the two females gravitated toward Jenna because they believed their pure-bred looks ensured that they were cut from the same mold. I could also tell from the look on Jenna’s face that she had about had enough of them. I smiled to myself. This was why I liked her so much. She didn’t take crap from anybody and couldn’t care less what your pedigree was.

She crossed by the house I had taken refuge on and I lost sight of her. While moving to try and spot her again, a large, heavy section of snow gave way under my feet, dragging me over the edge as it slid off in one giant slab. I was lucky the snow was so soft as it cushioned my landing. I untangled my feet and crawled my way to the surface only to come nose to nose with the rust-colored husky.

“Jenna!” I cried in surprise. “Um…hey.”

She looked at me, then up at the bare roof. “Were you just-?”

“No.” I answered quickly, still struggling to extricate the rest of my body from the pile of snow.

She stepped back to give me room, all the while smiling in amusement. “Really? Because it sure looks like you were.”

I shook snow off my coat for the second time that day and smiled back at her. “I’m fine, by the way.”

Jenna laughed. “That was my next question.”

“Ah, so finding out if I was on the roof is more important than my well-being? I’m hurt.” I grinned.

She started walking down the street and I trotted after her. “Well I wanted to find out if you deserved it. That’ll teach you to stalk people.” She teased.

I scoffed. “Stalk? Please. Have you ever been up there? It’s the perfect view. If I wanted to stalk you, you would never find out.”

Jenna raised an eyebrow. “Well maybe next time you’re enjoying the view, you should pretend you’re stalking somebody. That way you don’t end up in a snow drift.”

I laughed. “That’s fair. So what are you up to? I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, I was worried about you out there in the storm. I’m glad you’re okay.” I noticed the switch in her tone, and was that a glint of concern in her eye?

“Oh, I see, you wasted all your worry last week. That why I didn’t get any back there.” I teased. Sometimes I just couldn’t help myself. I bit my lip, trying to prevent anymore stupid things from coming out. We had almost had a moment and I ruined it.

Jenna gave me a sidelong glance and bumped my shoulder. “You just have me all figured out.” I was lucky that we had a similar sense of humor.

I gave her a genuine smile back. “You don’t have to worry about me. That old ship holds up better than you would think and this pelt wasn’t designed for sunny beaches.”

Her beaming smile made me feel like I was floating as we walked side-by-side down the street. I hardly even noticed that I was walking in public among dogs and humans without feeling apprehensive about it.

“Actually,” She said suddenly, breaking the spell I had been in, “Rosy wanted to play outside today. You should come.”

“Her parents are finally letting her out, huh?”

Jenna let out a soft laugh. “Yes, finally. They’ve been a little overprotective lately, but Rosy’s far too hyperactive to keep down for long. Honestly, I think her parents will welcome the break.”

“So they’re not going to be there?” I asked a little too quickly.

She cocked her head and gave me a look. “Balto, you know they’re okay with you now, right?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but hesitated. There was no reason for Jenna to understand. All she had ever known was a loving home. I shut my mouth again and looked around, suddenly feeling claustrophobic among all the buildings and people.

“Balto?”

I almost jumped at the sound of Jenna’s voice and was surprised to see her standing in front of me. I hadn’t even noticed I had stopped walking. “What?”

“Are you okay?”

I scoffed, “Yeah. I just got distracted.”

“Okay…” She said slowly, studying me with her amber eyes. “So are you coming?”

“To what? Oh yeah, Rosy. Definitely.” I mustered up a grin which she gratefully accepted.

“Alright,” Jenna smiled in return. “She’ll be so happy to see you again, Balto, really.”

My apprehensions immediately seemed to melt away. “So when’s the big outing going to happen?”

“As soon as she’s done with lunch and her parents finish fussing over her, which will take much longer than usual.” Jenna said, rolling her eyes.

I laughed, “Well I’ll meet up with you, okay? I have to check in with Boris.”

“See you soon.”

Her smile sure hit me hard. I don’t even remember leaving the town. It was stepping through a patch of soft snow and getting a face-full of slush that finally forced me back into reality. I was selfish to think it, but I sometimes wondered what it would be like if Jenna was like me. Not in the half-wolf sense, but in the no human sense, because no matter what, Jenna would never leave Rosy, nor should she. Jenna belonged with people…

I however, did not, and that wasn’t for lack of trying. The epidemic had brought me closer than ever before to finally having a place in Nome, but in actuality, I would never belong there. I’d known it since I was a shy, four-month-old pup that couldn’t get even the most dog-friendly humans to take me in. It was a combination of personality and genetics that I would never overcome.

It used to drive me crazy. I wanted so badly to fit in somewhere, anywhere. I cursed the wolf side of me for making me an undomesticated animal that would never have a human home and I cursed the dog side of me for making me long for that same home. Torn between two worlds, I was afraid to accept either one. It wasn’t until the medicine run that I’d learned to embrace both sides. Without the endurance and senses of my wolf heritage and the sledding skills of my domesticated ancestors, I never would have made it.

Despite all that, it still didn’t change my situation. The difference was it didn’t upset me as much as it used to. I was still torn between my love of being free and desire to be accepted, but I was learning to live with it, even to enjoy the life I had. Jenna was playing a huge part in that last bit, but I was also realizing that being accepted didn’t necessarily mean that I had a human home. I wasn’t even sure I wanted one anymore. I’d more than likely drive that person and myself crazy. No, it was good enough to not be kicked and ridiculed by every passing creature.

I stopped in my tracks as a familiar scent came to me on the wind. An unsuspecting Russian goose was nearby. I smiled to myself and crept over the next snow bank to see him staring intently into a hole in the ice as he waited for his lunch to swim by. Staying low, I quietly but quickly stalked toward him across the ice. When I was only a few feet away, I threw my head back and let out a howl.

Boris leaped into the air, letting out a cry of surprise. He only grew more agitated when he saw it was me and that I could barely contain my laughter. “Balto! You give me heart attack!” He flapped over to me and started beating me about the head with his wings. I rolled onto my back in surrender and tried to swat him away with my paws, still laughing. Boris finally backed off and landed beside me. “You should not play such games with lone wolf around. My whole life flashed before my eyes!”

“I’m surprised you didn’t fall asleep.” I teased, rolling over onto my side to see him better. He puffed up his feathers in annoyance. “Oh come on, Boris. If anything, I should be doing this to you all the time. Imagine if that lone wolf had found you just like I just did. I don’t think you’ll be lucky enough to find he plays with his food like I do.”

Boris narrowed his eyes at me, “Fair enough…” He waddled back over to his fishing hole, finally relaxing. “What has you in such good mood anyways?” He asked, looking back at me.

I sat up, still smiling. “Oh, nothing.”

“She would be insulted to hear you talk about her like that.” Boris said slyly with a knowing grin.

“Okay, you got me.” I sighed.

“So why are you not chasing tails together or whatever it is you pups do for fun?” Boris asked, not taking his eyes off the water.

“Well she invited me to come over when Rosy heads out later today.”

“You want permission to go out on date?” He chuckled at his own joke.

I rolled my eyes. “No, I just wanted you to know in case it got late or something…” I trailed off, suddenly realizing how that sounded. I saw Boris’s grin grow. “Not like that! I also wanted to warn you. I’m serious about that lone wolf. Don’t get caught off guard again.”

“Ah, don’t worry about me, Balto. Big, strong goose was fending for himself before you were born, and for you after you were.” He added.

I climbed to my feet. “Alright, then. Don’t have too much fun without me. I think I smelled Muk and Luk on the way over.”

Boris froze as I started walking away. “Vait, really? Balto? Balto!”

I grinned to myself as I trotted over the hill and out of sight. Again, my smile was short lived.

Halfway to town, I heard the cries of a musher as he urged his team to sprint the last mile home. As I climbed over the next rise, I could see them approaching. Their current path would lead them to pass right below me. I could make out a few dogs that I recognized, but I didn’t know the musher. Still, I was going to hold my ground and maybe greet the few I did know. Dog friends were a perk I did enjoy in the aftermath of the outbreak.

Then I saw their cargo.

Most of it was typical for sled teams this time of year, a couple small caribou and maybe a few birds. It was what topped the pile of carcasses that made me slink back over the ridge and out of sight. Draped over the caribou were the bodies of two wolves.

It was a cruel picture that perfectly represented the reality of my precarious existence. I could either be a sled dog that was forced to haul around the bodies of my own kind, or dead, hunted by my other side, and destined to become somebody’s expensive rug.

Seeing those who I considered friends, who had accepted me, wolf and all, assisting in the killing of wolves was, to say the least, confusing. Where did I draw the line? My only interaction with an actual wolf had been with the white one I’d encountered a month ago. Dogs, on the other paw, I saw all the time. That, however, didn’t make my wolf side any less important. I’d learned that the hard way. Dogs and wolves were hardly natural enemies, at least no more than two neighboring packs of wolves, I suspect. What made them wary of one another were humans, plain and simple. Dogs hunted and feared wolves because the human told them to. Wolves saw the dogs with the humans and associated them with the hunter. In the end, it was the humans who decided everything.

I guess that’s why, despite their change in behavior, I was still nervous around people.

There I go, being morbid again. I really needed to see Jenna. She had a way of making me forget all that.

I neared the western edge of town where Rosy’s house sat. Her backyard blended with the tundra that stretched out around me and was currently just as empty. Jenna was right about Rosy’s parents taking their time…

Deciding to let them get it all out now so Rosy could play uninterrupted, I settled into the snow just far enough away from the house that I would hear when anybody left, but wouldn’t be visible to anyone looking out the window. The sun was still high, warming me through my thick fur. The contrast with the icy ground under me made for a perfect balance of temperatures. It could have been my recent lack of food that had left me exhausted, or the heat I hadn’t felt in weeks, but I drifted off. 

I had the dream that I was running with the white wolf again, only this time, we weren’t alone. Waiting over the next ridge was a human, face in shadow, holding a gun. One shot rang out. The beautiful white wolf fell beside me, her coat now stained with crimson. I stared at the human in shock, but only for a second. The next moment I was charging at him. He reloaded and aimed again, this time at me. I wouldn’t make it in time. His finger squeezed the trigger.

BANG!

My eyes snapped open as I jumped up, entangling myself in my long legs. I fell back to the snow and struggled to get up again, all the while, frantically searching my surroundings.

“Balto?”

I jumped, but luckily didn’t yell as I spun around to see Jenna standing only a few feet away. “Oh…hey…” I greeted breathlessly.

I was really racking up the points with Jenna today. Really, they should make a shrine to my stupidity. First I fall off a roof, than I look like an idiot. Both of those qualify as idiotic, now that I think about it. Bottom line? I was just happy Jenna wasn’t rolling on the ground, laughing hysterically. I probably would have been. That’s why she’s a better canine than I am.

“Are you okay?” Oh no… worse than laughing, she was showing sympathy. She felt sorry for how pathetic I was.

“Yeah!” I laughed too forcibly and tried to calm my pounding heart before speaking again. “Yeah, I’m fine. I see you chose to lead with that question this time.”

“Well my options were either you had just fallen from the sky, or you were sleeping. I just assumed it was the sky this time.” She teased with a comforting smile.

“You got me.” I shrugged, grateful that she always played along. “Boris is a horrible teacher. Flying lessons aren’t going nearly as well as they should be.” Her melodic laugh didn’t help my heart to cease its relentless hammering in my chest. In an effort to clear my head, I took the time to shake off the snow and stretch. “So where’s Rosy?” I yawned.

“She’s coming, finally.” Jenna added with a roll of her eyes. “By the time she gets out here, her mother will be calling her for dinner.”

“Jenna! Jenna! Come here, girl!” A voice called.

“Shall we?” I asked with a grin. Jenna nodded, and pranced along beside me as I trotted toward the little red-headed girl.

“Balto!” Hers was the only human voice that said my name with such joy. Rosy waddled toward me, decked out in who knows how many layers of clothes, and threw her arms around my neck. “I missed you, boy! You gonna come play with us? Come on!”

She brought out her miniaturized sled and pulled the harness over Jenna. “I wish I had two harnesses, boy. But you can pull in a few minutes. Hike, Jenna!”

My long legs allowed me to jog comfortably beside the sled as Jenna ran. After a few minutes, the houses of the small town were almost out of sight. I almost didn’t notice that Jenna had fallen a few paces behind and was slowing down.

“Showoff.” She panted, giving me a teasing sideways glance as I turned around to join her.

“Well if living with your genetics is showing off, call me guilty.” I chuckled.

Rosy came around and let Jenna out of the harness. “Alright, puppies.” She declared. “We’re going to build a snow-dog and play fetch and stay out here as long as we can so we can get away from that stuffy old house. Ready? Hike!”

I had to hand it to Rosy, she knew what she wanted and she went for it. I would imagine she’d be a handful for a male in the future. She was certainly a handful for her parents right now from what Jenna told me as we watched Rosy. She was molding the mushy snow into a shape that somewhat resembled a canine minus the muzzle, which kept falling off.

For a small girl, Rosy had a pretty good arm, but her range was still limited, so you would think that fetch wouldn’t have been as fun, but it was. Jenna and I raced each other to the stick and more often than not, grabbed it at the same time. We wrestled and tried to pull it from each other’s mouths. I even let her win a few times. Jenna got mad at me when she suspected I was going easy on her. In retaliation, she charged me and pinned me into a deep snow bank. Rosy’s excited giggles as she watched us just warmed my heart even more.

I struggled to escape the deep snow, trying to roll over and flailing my legs helplessly as Rosy squealed with delight. Jenna snickered as she stood over me. I finally managed to gain some traction and pulled myself from the hole. Jenna was waiting in a play bow, watching me with mischievous amber eyes. I pretended to stalk her for a few feet and then took off after her as she sprinted away. Jenna was agile and incredibly graceful as she ran. My mind was so captivated by the way she moved that I wasn’t ready as she cut in front of me and ran in the opposite direction. I fumbled in the snow and took off after her again. Finally catching up to her, I tackled her into the snow. We rolled over each other, laughing the whole time, until I managed to pin her.

Our laughs faded and the sound of our heavy breathing took over. Our warm breath caused a mist between us and obstructed my view of her. When it cleared, I saw her smiling up at me, her eyes shining. I stepped back and she rolled over onto her stomach, her eyes never leaving mine. I stepped closer again, lowering my head ever so slowly toward hers.

A sudden, terrified shriek split the silence. Our ears flicked simultaneously in the same direction.

“Rosy.” Jenna gasped.

<><><>

A/N: Well it took a while, but I finally got to the good stuff. I'll be uploading the next part as a new story called Good Enough Ch. 2, so keep an eye out!