Author Note: This is one of my longest fics ever done to put that bluntly. I would like to thank Chickawaii*canine, Dragon Tamer, Dewey lone fighter, saske italian wolf, Cobalt, and Faremirel for their support. And especially Faremirel for the wonderful idea and help. Hope you enjoy!
In Her Parents Eyes: Chapter One
November 12, 1925
“Dear sister,
I have decided to visit you for Thanksgiving. I know that
Sincerely,
Susan”
Susan folded up the letter and stuffed it in an envelope. She grabbed a stamp from her black, leather purse and stuck it on the envelope and sealed it shut. She headed out of her study filled with books and down a hallway, heading towards the downstairs. Susan stopped midway and looked at a portrait of a man. The man looked in his late 30’s. He had brown hair, a mustache, and blue eyes. Susan looked at the suit that he wore. A tear trickled down her cheek and she quickly wiped it off.
Susan sighed. “Oh Robert… Why did you have to go out on that stormy sea with that terrible storm?” Her hand wiped across the picture. “I wish you were still here.”
She shook her head and put her head in her hands. After walking down the stairs she came upon a basket with two sleeping dogs. She started to gently pet her huskies to wake them up. Duchess stretched but didn’t wake. Ritchie on the other hand, yawned and licked his chops while he awoke from his slumber.
Susan started to speak to him. “Hey Ritchie. Are you and Duchess ready for a trip to visit my little sister?”
Ritchie just gave another big yawn.
All she could do was smile. “Well you and Duchess behave while I go to the post office and the store. I’ll be back later to pack for our trip. We’ll leave in two days.”
With that she grabbed her purse and she put on a jacket and a hat. She waved her hand and headed out into streets filled with snow. After she left Ritchie went over to Duchess.
He nudged her awake. “Good afternoon Duchess.” he whispered.
Duchess shook her head to help wake herself up. “What is it Ritchie?” she questioned.
“Guess where we’re going.” he said trying to have fun with her.
She yawned. “C’mon Ritchie. Out with it.”
He smiled. “We’re going to
“Does that mean-” she started.
“That we get to see her-” he cut in.
“And it’s been so long.” she finished.
“She’s such a good girl.” he sighed. “I do miss her.”
Ritchie and Duchess had been with each other for so long that they could finish each other’s sentences. You couldn’t find a pair that was closer together. You could have mistaken the two red huskies as twins if you didn’t know better. They had shared this bond for as long as they could remember.
“And just think.” began Ritchie, “We get to see her right before the holidays.”
Duchess yawned again. “Well it would be wise to catch up on our sleep before we leave.”
Now Ritchie yawned, then he laughed. “Man, yawning is contagious! …But you’re right. We should get some sleep.”
Around fifteen minutes later the front door swung open.
“Burr...” shivered Susan as she came in, “It seems to get more frigid each day.”
She quickly shut the door and started to strip the excess layers of clothing. She brushed some snow that had collected on her coat and hat off. Susan grabbed something out of her coat pocket and put it on a table close to her. She then took her damp outer clothing and hung them on a rail in front of her fireplace so that they could dry. She walked back to the table and grabbed the object. The object was a small box. She opened it and a plastic ballerina rotated up on a platform. A sweet melody played while the ballerina spun around. Susan closed the lid and the ballerina slipped back to where it came and the music stopped.
Susan gave a smile. “This should be a wonderful present for Rosie. I’m sure she’ll love this music box.”
And with that, she went up to pack for the journey.
Two Days Later:
“We have to make it.” Susan huffed.
She had overslept this morning and was going to be late to her train. She grabbed her sacks full of essentials and snatched up her sled.
“Ritchie! Duchess! Wake up!” she called to her dogs.
The two dogs woke immediately. Susan quickly put on her coat and hat and pushed open the door. An old lady stood in front of her. Susan quickly shook her hand.
“Thank you so much for watching over the house while I’m gone Miss Witherwind. I’ve took the liberty of writing down some important things that need to be done in my absence. I’ll be back in two or three weeks.” she swiftly said.
Susan threw the sled into the snow and put her things on it. Duchess and Ritchie came out the door shortly after.
“Come on, come on.” urged Susan impatiently.
The dogs came over to her and she hooked them up to the sled.
“Hike!” she called and the two dogs headed down the street.
She guided them to the train station where the train was still waiting.
“Whoa” Susan said.
The dogs stopped and she uncoupled them from the sled. She ran up to the ticket both, took her things off the sled, and grabbed everything up in her arms. She got her ticket. Then the whistle of the train blew which surprised Susan. The train started to slowly pull out from the platform.
“Oh no you don’t.” Susan said under her breath. “Come on you guys!” she yelled to Ritchie and Duchess.
Even though Susan was weighed down by the heavy items she made a break for the train with her dogs at her heels. She was about twenty feet from the caboose. She dashed to it and jumped from the platform and onto the train. Ritchie followed her act and made it. Duchess was just about to jump when she hit an icy part of platform. She fell to the ground. Duchess started to whimper in pain from her surprise fall.
Susan turned to see Duchess still on the platform. “Duchess!” she cried. “Oh what’ll I do?”
She leaned her head to look in front of the caboose. She had about a hundred feet of platform before it disappeared.
“Ritchie, stay here.”
Susan was just about to jump when the train lurched. She dropped her things and grabbed for something to support her. The train started to speed up again. Susan didn’t look back and quickly jumped onto the platform to get Duchess. She ran as fast as she could and lifted Duchess up.
“Okay. Let’s get onto our train.” she whispered.
She turned to see the train speeding away. She sprinted after the train with her dog in her hands. She caught up to the caboose and was about ten feet away. There was only twenty feet of platform left. She gave it all that she had and grabbed onto the railing of the caboose with her free hand. She tossed Duchess as gently as she could into the caboose. Susan jumped onto the train just as the platform disappeared from below her. She looked over her things to make sure everything was there and carried them through the caboose to the nearest coach. She collapsed into the closest seat by her.
Susan sighed, “That was way more excitement then I needed. I hope the rest of the journey doesn’t give me heart attack. I’ll be perfectly fine with a calm trip.”
The door in the front of the coach opened. A man stepped through and closed the door. The man wore a blue uniform and cap which had the word “Conductor” written in gold letters. He went down the aisle with his ticket puncher in hand and asking any passenger for their ticket. He finally got to Susan.
“Ticket please.” the conductor said while clicking his ticket puncher.
Susan handed him the ticket. He looked it over and punched it.
“Madame. After looking at yer ticket there, it seems that you belong in that first class coach… Mind if I escort you miss, miss-”
“Whitley.” she said.
His face showed a puzzled look. “Wait just a dog gone minute. Are you Susan Whitley? One of them rich women of
Susan nodded her head.
“Well we better get you up to the front.” the conductor said. “Post haste.”
The conductor helped Susan out of her seat and they both headed towards the front of the coach with Susan’s luggage He opened the door which sent a strong wind of cold air. He jumped from the coach to the next one and opened the door. Susan looked down to see the train couplers and how fast the ground was going beneath her. She hesitated before she jumped. Her dogs did the same.
“And this here is the dining car Miss Whitley.” pointed out the conductor.
She looked around at the tables which had a beautiful view through the windows.
“Let’s continue.” he said.
Finally she got to the first class coach. Before she could take a seat the conductor spoke to her again.
“Now, the coach that’s up ahead of here is the sleeping quarters. Have a good night Miss.”
Susan smiled. “Why thank you for the tour. And you have a good night too.”
The conductor tipped his hat and disappeared into another car. She bent down to pet her two dogs.
“I just remembered something.” she said while opening up one of her suitcases.
She grabbed out two bandanas. One purple and the other green. She tied the purple bandana around Duchess’s neck and the green around Ritchie.
“There we go.” she grinned. “I may be able to tell you two apart because Ritchie’s a darker shade a red. But I don’t want anyone to confuse your names.”
The train traveled on into the night. The snowplow that was attached made it easy to push aside the heavy drifts of snow. A rabbit, fresh with his winter coat, sat beside the tracks. When he heard the train coming he bolted into a forest. The rabbit ran through the forest of pines until he thought it was safe.
After a bit his ears perked up and he sprinted again as a pack of animals and a human rushed past. The animals pulled a sled which a human and a few sacks rested on. Distant cries of “Hike!”, “Gee!” and “Haw!” could be heard echoing through the night. The sacks were transported by different sled dog teams from town to town. These sacks were picked up and dropped off. Except for one which was heading west. The exchanges of these sacks continued until morning.
Chapter Two:
“Here ya go Mr. Conner.” Mr. Simpson cheerfully said.
“Why thank you Mr. Simpson. And ya got the mail here on time.” Mr. Conner replied with a smile.
“Yup. Nikki, Kaltag, and Star may be getting up in years but I couldn’t ask for better sled dogs.”
“That you couldn’t. Well see ya later Mr. Simpson.”
Mr. Simpson waved his hand as he exited the post office. Mr. Conner the post master opened up the bag of mail and began sorting the letters into cubbies for each mail recipient. One particular letter caught his attention. He looked at the return address which had a name on it.
“Susan Whitley’s sending mail here? She’s probably just coming here to visit or something. But who knows?” he asked himself.
He shrugged his shoulders and continued sorting mail. Just then the door opened and a family of three walked in. A small dog stealthily entered behind them. This dog was a bit pudgy and had long droopy ears. She was looking for a particular dog.
“Mel. Mel!” she called.
Just then a dog about the size of herself rushed up to her.
The dog started rambling. “Dipsy! Dipsy! We have a problem!”
“Uh-huh. Sure we do. I brought some food from the store. Want some?” Dipsy asked.
Mel started panicking. “How could I think of food at a time like this!? Do you know what’s gonna happen?!”
Dipsy started to eat some beef jerky that she brought with her. “Nope. But I’m sure you’ll tell me.”
“We’re done for! This is terrible!” stammered Mel.
Dipsy looked at Mel. “Oh really? I haven’t seen you this worried since yesterday.”
“Why wouldn’t I be? Susan Whitley’s coming!” blurted out Mel.
“And she would be?” questioned Dipsy.
“Hello! Only the richest, most powerful person in
“Mel. Your only a year old and you feel like the world’s gonna end in a day. Just try to-” Dipsy started.
She heard the door open as the family was starting to leave.
“Oh, bye Mel!” she called as she scrambled out the closing door.
Dipsy hurried back to the general store while the family headed home. The family entered their house and was quickly greeted by their husky. The little girl of the family rushed over to the dog and began to pet her. The mother sat down in a chair near her.
She started to talk to her husband. “This is so odd Tom. I never get mail.”
“Well see who it’s from Nancy.” answered Tom.
“Oh it’s from my sister Susan! The last time she sent mail was last Christmas!” she exclaimed as she began to open and read it. “It says that she’s coming for a visit!” she cried out as she finished the letter.
Their daughter Rosie jumped up. “Aunt Susan’s coming for a visit!? I haven’t seen her in a long time!” she happily squealed.
It was Tom’s turn to talk. “I still think it was awfully nice of her to give us Jenna. And to think, it was her dogs first and only pup.”
“Well, that aside.” started
They quickly went upstairs to the guest bedroom. This guest room was being used for storage and need to be cleared out. While they cleaned up the room their husky, Jenna, silently slipped out the doggie-door. The red and white husky traveled from her abode to well out of town. She came upon and old, abandoned fishing boat that had been washed up onto the shore. Of course it was not abandoned as some thought. When she was twenty feet away from the boat she was suddenly attacked by a flying furball.
“Gotcha momma.” the furball yelled excitedly.
“Ahhh! What’ll I do now? It’s a vicious monster.” Jenna screamed, obviously playing along. “Now it’s my turn to get you Alue!”
The large pup ran ahead and wagged her tail at her mother. “Come and get me!” she yelled again.
Jenna decided to just play along with her daughter Alue. Jenna happily ran and jumped around with her pup which looked very different from herself. Her pup had a coat of dark brown with a stripe of tan running underneath. Alue was about seven weeks old and looked very wolf-like. Balto, the resident of this run down ship, came up to the husky.
“Hi Jenna.” he cheerfully greeted. “What brings you here?”
“She wanted to play with me that’s what.” interrupted Alue.
Balto looked like his daughter except wasn’t quite as wolf-like.
“Well actually-” Jenna began, “I just wanted to tell you that my parents are coming for a visit.”
“Well that’s great.” Balto smiled before he was pounced on by Alue. “Oh I see that someone’s feisty… Hey Boris, wanna help me out?” he asked as the goose came off from the ship.
“Uncle Boris!” cheered Alue.
Boris was instantly attacked. The four continued chatting and playing until the day grew to late sunset. A dog-like figure watched them from atop a hill. The dog slunk off the hill and headed for
The setting sun cast shadows through the town that were perfect to hide in. The dog quickly hid behind a barrel by the general store as two dogs walked by. One was small with bright, purplish fur and the other was bigger with long ears and blonde fur.
“Hey
“What news Sylvia?”
“Well.” Sylvia started. “I heard that a certain rich person is coming to town. And her name is Susan Whitley.”
“Well what does she have to do with us?”
“Oh nothing with us. But with Jenna.” Sylvia stated.
“Ahhh. Why didn’t ya say that first?”
“Because I thought you had enough of a memory to remember the last time they came.”
“Well I’m sorry that I can’t be as intruded as you.”
Sylvia shook her head. “Anyways, I also heard that-” The sound of a falling tin can could be heard before she could finish. “….We should probably be getting back to our homes, now.” she finished quickly. “Don’t know who could be out.”
As soon as the two dogs walked away the dog grinned widely. “Perfect.” he murmured. ‘Although I should’ve watched out for the stupid can. I could have gotten more information. But I got what I needed.’ he thought.
He swiftly ran from town, already thinking of the many possibilities for his plan.
Chapter Three:
The next morning a steaming locomotive hissed into the station in the town of
“My-my, things sure have changed here… Like they always do.” sighed Susan.
She walked down a lane with different shops and stores following the path. She set her sled and bags down on the ground and went into one store that was labeled, in gold letters, “Butcher’s Shop”. She opened the door and a little bell above jingled. Susan walked up to a counter in the back of the shop. She saw a tall, skinny, man with his back turned towards her, behind the counter. He wore a green suit with a white apron and a stout white cap.
“Excuse
“Yes?” asked the man as he turned around. “How can I help you miss?” He looked down at her dogs. “Um. I’m sorry. But we don’t allow animals here.”
“Oh don’t worry. We’ll be out of here quick as a jack rabbit,” she insisted, “just as soon as I can buy some things.”
“Okay then.” said the butcher, not at all happy about having dogs in his shop. “Well let’s get it over with then.”
“Righty-o. I would prefer six pounds of jerky and maybe, mmm, three and a half pounds of beef please.” Susan ordered.
The man went into back and returned minutes later. He brought out two different packages. One for the jerky and the other for the beef.
“That’ll be sixteen cents please.”
Susan opened up her purse. “Well that’s a bargain.” she said while she handed a dollar bill to the butcher. The butcher took the bill and put it in the cash register. He then gathered some coins to make her change. Susan happily took her change and exited the shop.
“Okay, Ritchie, Duchess, let’s get going. Being late isn’t an option.”
She put the meat in one of the bags and tossed it back on the sled. Ritchie and Duchess were hooked up to the sled and they were off.
They traveled through the lush pine forests and icy plains for days, only taking short breaks to rest, but on the third night they decided to rest the whole night and leave in the morning. They decided to stop in a clearing in one of the many forests. It was way past sunset and Susan was cooking some of the beef she had bought on a skillet she had brought with her. She had built a roaring fire using some of the twigs, needles, and branches she had found in the forest and matches from one of her two bags. Although the branches had been wet, she found a way to dry them off. Her heavy, blue coat with white fluff kept her warm, but the fire helped immensely.
Susan smiled to the fire. “I’ll let that beef cook while I set up camp.”
She trotted over to her sled where Duchess and Ritchie were sleeping. She went to bend down to grab her folded up tent when she heard a noise behind her. It sounded like the rustling of bushes. She turned to see a little puppy staring at her.
“Oooh. Aren’t you a cutie.” she cooed. “You must be hungry.”
Susan opened up her bag that had her supplies and checked her meat. While she was doing that, Duchess had woken up to see the pup. She sniffed the air.
“Wolf.” she said quietly and then she nudged Ritchie.
Ritchie didn’t wake up and started mumbling. “But Grandma Bob scares me. And so does her seafood surprise.”
Duchess was just about to speak, “… Never mind.”
She then flicked some snow in his face. He jumped up and shook off the snow.
“What was that for!?”
“Well. You were having such a wonderful dream about Grandma Bob that I woke you up the best way I thought possible.” Duchess simply replied. “And on another note, we have a slight problem.” she said pointing to the pup. “I don’t think that it is going to attract friendly company.”
“Then we should get it out of here, and fast.”
“Too late.”
Susan then pulled out some beef jerky. “Here you go little guy. And don’t worry, we still have enough to make the journey.” said Susan.
She handed the meat to the pup and he started to gnaw on it vigorously. The pup took his sweet time on the meat. After he finished he sat down and started to howl.
“Aww. Isn’t that just precious?” sighed Susan.
“Maybe for you.” complained both Ritchie and Duchess as they covered their ears.
While Susan continued to admire the little pup, pairs of eyes started to appear around the edge of the clearing. Ritchie and Duchess noticed them but Susan was completely oblivious.
“We gotta do something.” said Duchess.
Duchess ran over to Susan and gave her a slight push. Susan looked up from the pup and saw the glowing eyes.
“Oh-oh no.” she stammered.
She ran over to the fire and put it out. She picked up the matches and the skillet, dumping the meat to the ground by accident. She threw the skillet into one bag and called Duchess and Ritchie to her. After she hooked them up, she saw that more eyes had come and surrounded them. She then realized that the puppy was gone.
“That thing led them straight to us. And I was stupid enough to fall for it. But it’s a good thing I didn’t get anything but the fire set up.” said Susan, fear heard clearly in her voice.
Then it happened, the eyes came from there hiding places to show that they were what Susan had feared them to be, wolves. The wolves started closing in on them and Susan desperately tried to find an opening between them. After what seemed like hours one such space opened up. She yelled to Ritchie and Duchess to run. They took off and the wolves jumped to where she had dropped the meat. The gobbled it up and smelled more food from the escaping animals. Their next target was them.
“We go to sleep for ten minutes and this happens!” yelled Duchess to Ritchie.
“Well I’m sorry!” Ritchie yelled back. “I ain’t a watchdog!”
The three raced through the forest, avoiding brush and downed trees, just trying to keep ahead of their pursuers.
“Oh my lucky day!” barked Susan in a sarcastic voice.
They had reached a part of the forest with many thick, low-hanging branches. She dodged multiple branches and then there was one where she just narrowly avoided it. She looked back and then looked back forward to meet another branch. The branch was not too kind and threw her from the sled and the sled raced away. The impact knocked the breath out of her and she could only manage a weak “stop.” to her dogs.
“Did you just hear something?” asked Ritchie.
“Probably just you’re imagination. Now focus on escaping before we become Kibble!”
Ritchie turned around to find no Susan.
“Stop!” he yelled.
He put his paws out to try to stop them.
“What are you thinking!?”
“I’m thinking Susan’s still back there!”
Susan had only a few moments to catch her breath before she heard animals pounding through the snow behind her. She glanced back to see the wolves had caught up with her. She jumped to her feet and thought of what to do. Then it hit her. She frantically searched through her pockets and pulled out the matches. She looked around her and found what she needed. She ran over to the long stick and grabbed it up.
“Now what? Now what? Something to burn on this. Wait.”
She ripped off the fluff from her sleeves and draped it over the stick. She struck a match and it went out. She cursed and lit another. This one stayed lit and she quickly set the fluff ablaze. The wolves were now on top of her. She turned around with the flaming stick and waved in front of her. The wolves backed away from the fire like it meant their death.
“That’s right! You stay away!” she yelled in a strong voice.
Then, out of nowhere came the sled with the dogs attached. She gave a thank you to no one in particular and jumped on the sled. She threw the flaming stick at the wolves and before she could speak, they were on the run again.
They made sure that they were well out of wolf territory before they set up camp once again.
“I guess we should thank those beasts. They hurried us up towards
She finished up the tent and brought in Duchess and Ritchie to sleep with her in the bedroll.
Chapter Four:
Two Days Later:
It was finally Thanksgiving Day and Susan had finally gotten done un-packing after she had arrived the night before.
“Plump roast goose, just coundn’ get loose. Fresh smashed ‘taters ‘n sweet gravy, gonna put in my belly.” she cheerfully sang.
The delicious smells of the feast drifted from one end of the house to the other.
“Good morning… Mmm. Something smells divine.” Ritchie said to Duchess.
Duchess sniffed the air. “I second that… Wait, where’s Jenna?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she went out to get some air.”
“Well then let’s find her.” said Duchess, standing up and walking to the doggie door.
“Sure thing sweetheart.” and he followed her out the door.
There was a gentle snowfall as they went to the streets to ask around if anyone knew where she was. It was difficult at first because everyone was either busy or just didn’t want to talk but hey were finally able to talk to someone. It was a black and white malamute who was rather large.
“Could you help us sir?” asked Duchess.
“Okay. May I ask who you are?”
“We’re Ritchie and Duchess, Jenna’s parents.” answered Ritchie.
The stranger smiled. “Sure, anything to help.”
“Could you maybe tell us where our daughter is?” questioned Duchess again. “Ritchie’s not the best at directions. He couldn’t find his way from the front lawn to the doggie door.”
“I love you too.” said Ritchie.
“Certainly. I’d be happy to help.” said the stranger.
The three talked for a half-hour. Jenna’s parents went back to the house in a state of silence, the stranger walked away, smiling.
Ritchie was the first to speak once they had gotten in the house. “I can’t believe-”
“that someone like him would be like that.” finished Duchess. “Maybe that dog could be-”
“lying? Why would he lie to us Duchess? We just met him and he seemed to know a lot.”
“I don’t know. But it does seem a bit suspicious that he knew that much.”
“Hey. Never look a gift horse in the mouth as I always say.”
“You’ve never said that.” chuckled Duchess.
“That’s besides the point.” Ritchie laughed.
Just then they felt a sudden chill as the doggie door opened and Jenna stepped inside.
“And where have you been young lady?” asked Duchess.
“Yes Jenna, we’ve been worried.” added in Ritchie.
“Well, I was just out.” Jenna calmly replied.
“Out with that Balto character again?” Duchess questioned, a hint of suspicion in her voice.
‘How did they find out about Balto? I haven’t had the chance to tell them yet.’ Jenna thought. ‘I think it will be best to cover it up until he gets here.’
“Nope. I was just checking around town.” she stated.
“Well good,” Ritchie said, “because we’re going to keep a good eye on you.”
“Remember Jenna,” chimed in Duchess, “it’s just to make sure that you’re safe.”
“I know. I know.” complained Jenna as if she had heard it a hundred times.
“But let’s forget about that and just enjoy our Thanksgiving!” happily shouted Ritchie, “Thanksgiving equals leftovers, and leftovers equals food for us!”
Jenna and Duchess’s ears perked. “Now that’s the reason why I love this holiday!” smiled Jenna.
At Sunset:
“Dinner is served!”
She ripped off a table cloth that covered the food. And as she did, a beautiful bouquet of smells was released. There was mashed potatoes and gravy, freshly baked bread, steamed carrots, and even cooked ham!
“Oh wait! I forgot the main course.”
Right when she went to get it, a hybrid and a goose appeared close to the side of the house and both climbed onto the fence near the window with the table so they could look inside.
“Hmm… I smell… Goose.” said the hybrid. “I bet you love that idea Boris.”
Boris the goose spluttered. “Ack! That could be cousin! Or long lost sister! What is it with geese for this holiday I ask you? To me it is just excuse to go killing our kind. Why don’t they ship turkeys? Besides, turkeys are so dumb that there is no point for their existence except for them to get eaten.”
“Well thanks for risking your life to come here and meet Jen’s parents.” chuckled Balto.
“Okay everyone, enjoy! I didn’t slave over a hot stove all day for everyone to look at it!”
With that the meal began with the passing around of the food, and dinner talk. They all started to exchange stories about life or past Thanksgivings. And the three dogs eagerly awaited the dropping of any food.
“Oh I think we got a nibble!” cheered Ritchie.
Rosie dropped a good chunk of ham by accident.
“Ladies first.” Duchess said snootily.
She calmly walked over to it and ate it right there.
“Mmm...
After ten minutes, the main course was finished and the family set down their dishes so the dogs could have a shot. Ritchie and Duchess both went after Rosie’s and Susan’s plate while Jenna went for Nancy’s and Tom’s. She took the food off of
Ritchie started talking with his mouth full. “Wha ah ooh dowin’?”
Duchess looked up from her plate of near finished scraps. “Dear. It’s not polite to talk with your mouth full.”
“Soweh.” Ritchie swallowed his food and cleared his throat. “Ahem. Jenna, what are you settin’ that food aside for?”
“Oh, ya know. Just saving it for later.” Jenna gave a cheesy smile.
Boris by this time had tried to sit down and started to drum his wings on the planks. “Sure. Humans get to stuff faces while we watch.”
Boris felt something cold and wet drop onto his head.
“Hey! What was that!?” He looked up.
“Sorry there Boris.” Balto guiltily replied.
“Were you drooling?”
“Well, that goose does look kinda good.” Balto said hungrily with a hint of sarcasm. “Oh come on Boris. I was just joking.” He said when Boris gave him an appalling stare.
Balto could see through the window as Rosie finished off the second plate and
Balto saw Rosie lick her chops like a dog when she saw the pies. “Ohh thank you mom! Thank you, thank you! You made my favorite!”
“Just give ‘em at least ten more minutes Boris.”
“Fine Balto. But not a second longer!”
And after the eleven minutes, the doggie door opened and Jenna came out with her parents and her bowl in tow.
Jenna set her bowl onto the ground casually. “Balto?” she asked aloud. “Are you here?”
“That’s our queue Boris.” smiled Balto.
“Eh. I could wait ‘till next Thursday personally.”
“Well, C’mon. We don’t want to be late.”
“Oh fine, fine.”
Balto gracefully jumped off the fence.
“Ahhh!” yelled Boris as he tripped and landed beak first.
Balto slid around the corner of the house and came face to face with Jenna and her folks.
“Hi… I’m Balto. Nice to meet -”
Crash! Bang! Boom! Ritchie and Duchess both jumped backward as Boris came hurdling from around the corner with two trash cans following him.
“I-I’m alright.” Boris said in a daze. “Just thought I’d make myself known, heh.”
“Well I think you did that and also gave me a heart attack pretty well.” Duchess said and tried to put a fake laugh into it.
There was a long pause. The tension was so thick that you could have cut the air with a knife.
“So, tell them where you live Balto.” Jenna said.
“Well, I live in an abandoned fishing boat.”
“Yes. And he thinks I am maid.” rang in Boris.
“That’s nice.” said Duchess.
“Yeah... Interesting.” commented Ritchie. “Umm, Jenna, could we have a word with you?”
Jenna was just about to answer when…
“Papa!.. Papa!.. Where are you!?”
Chapter Five:
Just then Alue came running up to Balto. “Daddy, I didn’t want to stay at the boat alone. It’s scary.” she cried meekly.
“It’s alright honey. Nothing would have hurt you.” comforted Balto. “I’m here.”
“And who,” started Duchess with a raised brow, “is this?”
There was another long pause.
“I’m waiting.” Duchess huffed impatiently.
Jenna moved towards Balto and gave him a concerned look while Ritchie sidled up to Duchess and whispered something. Duchess gave a sigh and a nod and followed Ritchie a couple yards away from the four. Ritchie and Duchess started whispering back and forth so quietly that not even Balto and Jenna could hear them.
“Daddy,” asked Alue. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No you didn’t dear.” said Jenna. “They’re just going to talk.”
“About what?” Alue asked again.
“We don’t know. And you shouldn’t be so nosy all the time.” added in Boris.
Ritchie and Duchess finished there conversation and Duchess went inside but Ritchie came back to the four.
“Jenna, could you go help your mother with something? She needs some help.” Ritchie told her.
Jenna was just going to protest when Ritchie gave her a “Do-it-or-you’re-in-trouble-look.” So, she went inside anyways. Ritchie then turned his attention to Boris. “Bernard is it?”
“Boris” Boris corrected.
“Yeah, Bernard, can you take little… what’s her name back home. I’ve got to talk Balto.”
“Sure. Want me fetch your fuzzy slippers next?” grumbled Boris, as he led Alue back to the boat and mumbled on about how Ritchie had messed up his name.
“Now Balto, I’d like to speak to you in person. Ya know, almost like a father-son talk.”
“Uhh.” Balto hesitated.
“What? Haven’t you ever had one of them with your own father?”
“Not exactly. See, when I was young, I had no father to look up to. It was only my mother and me. But then, we were accidentally separated. Soon, Boris found me stumbling around the woods and decided to take me in. He’s the closest thing I have to a father.”
“Oh. I didn’t know. I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, but-”
“As I was saying,” Ritchie interrupted, “I would like to have a talk with you. How about tomorrow, at the boiler room? And please come alone, I don’t want others to hear our conversation.”
“Okay. But what time of day?”
“Mmm, after sunset.”
“Sure thing. See you there.” Balto replied kindly. “But I better get back home. No telling how Boris handled Alue by himself.”
Ritchie chuckled and said nothing more as he entered back through the doggie door.
Half-Past Midnight that same evening:
The town had been asleep for hours. Not even the dogs were roaming around town. Every light was shut off and every curtain closed. The gently snow that had been falling earlier still kept up its slow pattern for a harsh winter was fast approaching. But inside Jenna’s house, all were not sleeping.
“Duchess. Duchess. Wake up, it’s time.” whispered Ritchie.
“Really? It seems too early.” Duchess whispered back with a silent yawn.
Ritchie stood up slowly trying to make as least noise as possible. “Well, I checked, and we should get up.”
He slowly tipped-toed past Jenna as she silently slept and headed towards the door. The floorboards creaked and groaned, as if saying to them to not go. Ritchie slipped out the doggie door and Duchess soon followed. The two crept around the house to a partially fenced in backyard. There they saw a larger figure which they recognized as the stranger, waiting for them.
“I see you came. I was worried that you wouldn’t show.” he said.
“Well, we did. And, I’m sorry, but I forgot your name.” Ritchie said back.
He thought for a second, “It’s Gregory. But you can call me Greg.”
“Why are we here again, er, Greg?” asked Duchess.
“Because I didn’t get to finish what I told you earlier.” Greg replied, “Trust me, you need to hear this. But if you don’t want to-”
“Oh but we do.” Duchess said swiftly. “But why so late at night?”
“Because,” he started, “the dog I’m about to tell you about, has it in for me. I can’t really go out in public much because he’s waiting for the chance to get me.”
“Well who is this dog?” asked Ritchie.
“I’ll tell you right now. Okay, here goes.”
Greg started his story, a long winded tale if you will. He took forty-five minutes just to get from the begging to the end. By this time more snow had fallen and covered up their coats.
“I can’t believe it.” Duchess sighed in disbelief.
“That’s just sickening. How could a dog do that? I mean, the whole fate of this town was on his shoulders and all he thinks about is fame?” Ritchie snorted, “Disgusting.”
“And how could he have done that to the dog that was just trying to help? No way he could be called “man’s best friend… I’ve never like a canine like his type.”
“And worst of all. He forced himself on Jenna like that!”
“I’ll show him what happens when he does that to our daughter!”
“Just wait Duchess. We don’t want to get carried away.”
“Well,” said Greg, “I feel like I better get going. Want to get back before I’m found missing.”
“I may need some help from you soon if you’d be willing.” said Ritchie.
“Well, sure thing. Just try to find me in the back-alleys, can’t really go onto the main streets without him finding me. But I really need to go.”
“Okay, well, bye Greg. Thank you for telling us about all that. We appreciate it.” smiled Duchess.
Greg smiled back and disappeared between two of the planks of the fence.
When he was out of earshot he said quietly to himself, “Yes, it was really…. nice helping you two.”
“Welp, time for bed.” said Ritchie after a couple of minutes.
“I agree. This whole thing has made me…. very sleeping.” Duchess yawned.
The two walked back inside and silently crept passed Jenna again. Soon Duchess was asleep but Ritchie had more trouble drifting off. He stayed awake for hours just thinking of what Greg had said.
Chapter Six:
The sun had risen and the town was back to its normal hustle and bustle. Kaltag was on his way to Star’s house to see if he was going to come out.
“He may be a pain. But he’s my pain.” he chuckled softly to himself.
Kaltag stopped at the entrance of an alleyway.
“Hmm. Which way to take today.” He looked down the lane and saw it was packed with people and animals. He then checked the alley to only see some huge crates stacked close to a house to his left.
“Should I take the way where I have to maneuver around everyone, or the way with no obstacles…? Alley it is!”
Kaltag trotted down the Alley and past the crates. He then heard a crunch of snow from behind him. He thought it was just from the street but then he saw some tracks by his. The tracks led to the crates but didn’t come back out.
“I take it that I’m not alone.”
He walked towards the crates and then he could hear hushed breathing.
“Hello? Are you friendly?”
Kaltag stared into a space between two crates and only saw black. He squinted and then a dog ran right from the black and ran into Kaltag. Kaltag knew this dog.
“St-Steele!! Wha-”
Kaltag was cut off mid-sentence as a heavy paw came down and collided with his skull, knocking Kaltag out.
“Loud mouth. You nearly blew my cover.” Steele whispered. “Now. What to do with him. Got to find out where to put him so word doesn’t get out… Got it.”
He started to drag Kaltag to the far side of town. He had to stop multiple times to avoid being detected by other dogs and humans but he finally made it to a semi-new abandoned house.
“Home sweet home.” he muttered distastefully. “Now…”
Steele pulled Kaltag to the back of the house to a small shed. He looked at a wooden block that was propped between the shed doors and a rock that was lower. The purpose of this block was to keep people from getting in if they didn’t see the block, or it could keep someone in. He pushed it out of the way so that the shed doors would open.
“Ugh… Ow… My aching head.” grumbled Kaltag as he started to regain consciousness. “Now I know how Star feels… What the!?”
Steele growled and threw Kaltag the rest of the way into the shed before Kaltag could get any other words out or fight back. Steele then quickly slammed the door shut and pushed the wooden block back in front of the door.
“That otta hold ya.” Steele smiled smugly.
He then started to hear a series of loud bangs and barks coming from inside the shed.
“Keep it down in there! Nobody can hear you anyway... Be back later, I’m after someone who’s afraid of my presence.” said Steele as he walked back into the heart of town.
“Whatever. Might as well get comfortable. That door won’t budge and I’ve already got a splitting headache.” sighed Kaltag.
Kaltag then started to run out the time by trying to count the grains of sand on the dirt floor.
The sun was starting to set on the horizon and dark purple and bluish clouds were creeping across the evening sky. Balto was at his boat pacing back and forth while Boris was trying not to get devoured by Alue.
“You know… it would be so nice if I could get some help over here!” cried Boris.
“Alue, leave Boris alone. If you chew him up now you won’t have a chew-toy for later.” Balto smiled.
“Okay Daddy.” Alue returned the smile.
“Nervous?” asked Boris.
“I’m not lying to you Boris, I actually am. I mean, I could fight through the elements and Steele to bring back the medicine, but this is like a new level. I feel like I have to be perfect for Jenna’s dad so that I can still be with her.”
“Do not worry about it. Just be yourself.” advised Boris.
“What are you talking about papa?” piped in Alue.
Boris gave Alue a look. “Again with the nosiness! That reminds me,” said Boris now focusing on Balto, “when does Jenna look after her next? I am almost at wits end from being left along with her.”
Balto laughed, “After her parents leave Boris. They didn’t look too thrilled when she snuck over and introduced herself.”
Boris sighed, “I guess I’ll try to survive for that long.”
During their conversation Balto had noticed that the sun had set and that he should be going.
“Okay Boris, time for me to go.” said Balto.
Balto started to walk down the plank from his boat to the ground and Boris started to follow.
Balto turned around and said, “Alone, Boris. You have to look after Alue so she doesn’t get herself in trouble.”
“Fine. But I won’t like.”
“I know you won’t. That’s why you’re the one staying behind… Wish me luck.”
Balto continued towards town, making it to the boiler room in fie minutes. When he arrived, he already saw Ritchie waiting.
“You’re late.” said Ritchie coolly as Balto entered.
Balto shrugged, “Sorry, I was slowed down by my nag.”
“Ahh, I see.”
“Sooo… What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Well, I mainly wanted to talk about my daughter, Jenna.”
“What about Jenna?”
“Well, for one, we all saw that pup. Did you two take that pup in, or is that one of yours?”
“Well of course Alue was one of ours. She takes after me.”
“I saw.”
At Jenna’s house:
Jenna and Duchess were roving around the house just talking with each other to waste time.
“So, do you think Balto and Dad’s talk will go well?” Jenna asked Duchess.
“I hope so. I just don’t want Dad to…”
“To what?”
“Oh nothing. I just hope Dad doesn’t get himself hurt.” right after this, Duchess quickly realized that she had said too much and put her paw over her mouth.
“What did you say?” asked Jenna.
“Umm.” Duchess paused. “I meant to say that… Ugh… That I hope that it doesn’t go sour.”
“Okay… Maybe I should go over and check up on them.”
“Oh that’s not necessary!” Duchess blurted out. “I mean it would be so rude to barge in on them when they need this time to talk about some important issues.”
“But I still want to check on them.”
“Fine, but later. They’re probably discussing something right now.”
“Will five minutes do for you?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Back at the boiler room:
“So do you understand Balto?” asked Ritchie after he had finished his speech on how important Jenna was to him.
“Yeah I understand.” answered Balto.
Ritchie walked from the middle of the boiler room to the side farthest from the door and Balto followed.
“Why’d we come over here?” questioned Balto.
“Oh, no reason.” Ritchie then slightly nodded and scratched underneath his chin. “Balto?”
“Yes?”
“Do you like to sleep?”
“Yeah I guess, why?”
“Oh, you’ll see.” smiled Ritchie.
Chapter Seven:
“Huh?” Balto gave a puzzled face. “I’m afraid that I don’t quite follow you.”
“Well, I have a present from me and the Mrs. that I would like to convey.” said Ritchie with another smile.
Balto could only think of what he meant, all he knew was that it was going to be a surprise.
Then Balto realized something, “Where is this present?” he asked.
“Right here.” came a voice masculine voice from behind him.
He felt a tap on his back and when he turned around he met a fist that contacted hard with the side of his face. And as if to add insult to injury, he felt another fist land hard on top of his head.
As blackness invaded his sight he could here, “I always hated wolves and he’s no exception. Thank you Greg…” and then he was out like a light.
“What should we do with him now?” asked Greg.
“Know anyplace where we can hide him for a couple days?”
“Yeah, behind my owners house, I have just the thing.”
“Oh, and Greg,” began Ritchie as Greg began to take Balto out the door, “drop by our house tomorrow around noon okay?”
“Sure thing.” Greg said as he proceeded to take Balto away.
Not a minute after Greg had left the boiler room, Jenna came waltzing in. She quickly noticed that Balto was not with her dad.
“Um, Dad? Where’s Balto.”
“Ugh… Hmm. We just finished talking and so he decided to go back to his hole, I mean home.”
“Okay, well I wanted to say goodnight but it looks like I missed him. But what has me worried is that Mom said-”
“Let’s not talk right here. I’m tired and I want to get home.” Ritchie quickly interrupted.
“Whatever you say.” Jenna reluctantly replied. ‘What is with them today? I just have this nagging feeling that something is wrong.’ she thought to herself.
“
It was early in the morning. At such an hour that almost everyone was asleep, including
Susan gave a concerned look. “Deary, it’s practically seven o’ clock. You should have been up way earlier than this. But nevertheless, I will be taking a look around town so I didn’t want you to worry about me while I was absent.”
“No problem. Just don’t catch cold.”
“Toodles!” said Susan as she slammed the door behind her.
After she had left
“He should be here by now.” muttered Duchess. “He said noon and it’s five minutes past.” she said nervously looking at the clock in the den.
“Just calm down Sweetums.” Ritchie said.
Duchess looked at Ritchie and fluttered her eyelashes. “You calm me that again, and I may make an attempt to snap both your paws.”
“Sorry I opened my mouth.” retaliated Ritchie.
“You should be.” she said.
Just then they heard a knock come from the door.
“Oh that must be him!” Duchess exclaimed. “Hurry, go get Jenna!”
While Ritchie rushed out from the room to fetch Jenna, Duchess walked over to the doggie door and checked herself in a mirror nearby to see if she was presentable. She casually opened the flap and let the one waiting in.
“Oh I’m so glad that you came, Greg. I’m so anxious for you to meet Jenna in person. She really is a nice girl once you get past her stubbornness.”
“I’d be obliged to see her. I hope she approves.”
“Here she is!” Ritchie announced proudly as he led Jenna into the room.
And she was almost breathless right there, and she said, “Oh my.”
“I’m serious! I heard it all from Star!” yelled
“And where did Star hear this hmm?” asked Sylvia.
“Well, he said he heard it from a fence, but you know how he is, so uncensored. It was probably so juicy that the dog wanted to stay unknown.”
“Yeah. Guess your right for once.” Sylvia said. “But I gotta tell everyone what Balto did. So doesn’t seem like him.”
And word spread like wildfire. From inside the telegraph office, Morris could make out certain phrases of this rumor as a group of passerby’s exchanged words. He immediately started to bark out in Morse code towards the boiler room.
When Doc heard this news barked to him from the telegraph office he couldn’t believe it. He turned to the other dogs in the boiler room that had gathered there to chat.
“I have some sad news to tell you all. Our hero, our beloved Balto, has had a change of heart. And for the worst I’m afraid. From what I have heard, you do all know that Jenna’s parents are here right?” he asked. Many dogs shook their heads yes. “But anyways,” he continued, “I have heard that last night, while Ritchie was having a heart-to-heart conversation, Ritchie accidentally said something that must have offended Balto somehow and Balto turned against him. Ritchie wasn’t hurt, but only because of a good Samaritan who came to his aid to help calm down Balto. It sounds like that right after, Balto stormed out. Some say he’s gone to the woods. For what reason? I cannot tell you.”
After he had finished, Doc looked around. Many of the dogs before him had looks of pure aw. Some even had anger and enraged faces.
“I knew it!” shouted one gray female husky. “He was a good-for-nothing liar from the very beginning!”
“Yeah!” commented another, “It was all just an act! He probably found Steele’s team and took him down so he could get the glory!”
“Please calm down.” said Doc almost shouting. “We’re letting our imaginations take over.”
Before Doc could say more, they started to leave, telling anyone and everyone they could find about how they had been deceived. Within the time span of fifteen minutes, Balto was now public enemy number one. Doc’s words had been twisted into a horrific tale and not even Balto’s friends were thrilled with what they heard.
“Ah. What hit me?” asked a confused Balto. “I feel like a sack of hammers fell on my head.”
His eyes took a while to adjust to the darkness where only a few holes of light broke through. He could tell that he was in an enclosed structure with what appeared to be no exit.
And from behind him, he could here a voice. “So happy you could join
Chapter Eight:
“Who, who’s there?” Balto asked shakily. “I don’t want to fight.”
“Balto! It’s me! Kaltag!” Kaltag said.
“Oh, phew.” Balto sighed with relief. “I was starting to get nervous there for a second.”
“Yeah,” said Kaltag, “you were shaking like a leaf! You’d a great one to scare on Halloween!”
“What are you doing here?” asked Balto, “An even better question would be, where are we?”
“If only I knew. You could say we’re lost, out of place, not found, just plain stuck!” Kaltag looked around in the dark. “Oh that’s right, I don’t have Star to interrupt me. And I don’t have someone who I can take my frustrations out on. Unless you want to sub Balto.” Kaltag smiled.
“Eh… I’ll pass.” Balto smiled back. “But first things first. We have to find a way out.”
Balto looked towards a crack of light coming from a door.
Kaltag also looked in the direction. “Don’t even try it. It won’t budge.”
Balto felt the dirt crumble between his paws when something clicked.
“Kaltag, I think I have an idea.” he grinned. “But I’ll need your help.”
A fire burned freshly in the hearth of the fireplace, warming up the temperature and the atmosphere in Jenna’s house.
“So… what do you think?” asked Ritchie anxiously to Jenna.
Jenna looked over Greg. He was a sturdy malamute with a slightly ruffled hairdo. He had jet black fur and a snow white stripe from his head to his tail. And the thing that got Jenna was his icy blue eyes.
“Umm. Dad? Mom? Could you leave me and… Greg is it? Alone?” Jenna asked.
“Oh, sure thing honey.” said Duchess as she proceeded out of the room, motioning for Ritchie to follow.
After the two were alone, Jenna walked over towards her bed by the fireplace and Greg followed her. She turned back around and stared into his eyes. Greg gave her a warm smile.
“Is it hot in here or is it just you?” he asked cleverly.
Jenna just smiled back. “Nice pick-up line. But you didn’t need it.”
She slowly leaned her head in and closed her eyes and when Greg got the hint, he did too. The whole time, Ritchie and Duchess were watching from around a corner.
“Told you that he’d be perfect for her.” said Duchess quietly.
“And best part is-” said Ritchie.
“He’s not any part wolf.”
“But- But Balto. I tried this as a puppy and it didn’t work. The fence was too deep.” said Kaltag.
“Well…. We’ll just have to try.” replied Balto as he dug his claws farther into the earth. “I doubt that this shed is as deep down as a wire kennel fence… But I could use some help.”
“It’s worth a shot. I want to stay in here about as much as I want to have fleas.”
Kaltag walked over by Balto and started to dig down. The two continued this for awhile, gaining ground, but little at that.
“Balto! We’re not getting anything done. The dirt just keeps filling back up!” Kaltag groaned.
Balto stopped for a second. “You’re right… Wait…. I’ll dig down, and you get the dirt out of the way so it doesn’t do that.”
So they started again. With what they had worked out, they actually got more done. Soon, outside the shed, the snow rose and fell until suddenly Balto burst from underneath it and shortly after followed Kaltag.
“Now let’s find who did this.” Balto said.
“All I know is He’s back. He’s the one who knocked me out and threw me in there.”
“You mean Steele?” asked Balto.
“The very one.” replied Kaltag gravely.
“Then we better go and find him. But before we do, Kaltag, do you mind if we make a slight detour?”
“No problem Balto.”
“Where do you think Susan’s going all the time?”
“Eh, who knows? Anywhere I suppose.” answered Tom with little concern as he stared at the fireplace that was across the room.
“I’m serious,” she said frowning. “It’s getting close to the anniversary, well second, since Robert had passed.”
“Maybe she’s visiting that old vessel outta town?”
“Well, it makes sense. That was his old ship. I guess that storm was too much for him. I mean, how could it have been grounded that far up on shore with a huge gaping hole like that?”
“You never know dear. Ya just never know.”
“Ah, here we are.” said Susan as she stepped up to a building with a small sign that read, ‘Carter Selling inc.’ with smaller letters reading, ‘If it can be sold, you can buy.’
Susan casually walked inside and a bell by the door made a casual jingle. She stepped up to the unoccupied front desk and rang a golden bell that echoed through the small shop.
“Be with you in a second!” called a high-pitched voice from a backroom.
Shortly after, a small man with a mustache and obvious toupee came in. He was just tall enough to see over the three-and-a-half-foot counter.
“Welcome to Carter Selling inc. If it can be sold, you can buy. We own every house, ship and automobile that’s not in use. Including the papers.” he smiled warmly.
“You certainly can.” replied Susan.
She reached into her purse and pulled out a map she had previously bought. She pointed to a point on the map.
“I wish to buy this.” she declared.
The man stood on his tip-toes to see where she was pointing.
“But miss… That hasn’t had a soul in it for two years, and last time I checked it was in deplorable condition. I could sell you one that is in a better condition if you like.”
“No thank you. I want it. It’s a fixer-upper but so what? I can live.”
“Okay.” sighed the man shaking his head. “Sure thing ma’am.”
He then turned around and went to the back room. He returned shortly with the documents and told her the price.
“It’s a good cause.” Susan said as she handed him the sum of money owed.
The man counted it up.
“You check out.” he said. “But what’s a lady doing with so much money?”
“Well, I’d rather not go into detail.” she said.
Chapter Nine:
Jenna was just about the kiss Greg when she held a doll in front of her face. Greg kissed the doll and it made a high-pitched “Mom-ma” cry. Jenna smiled smugly. Greg, realizing that he had kissed a doll, quickly turned away and spat while running his paw over his mouth.
“What was that!?” he spluttered angrily.
“Oh nothing.” said Jenna, “But for your information, I’m spoken for. And you should know that by now Greg, I-”
“Jenna!” scolded Duchess as she and Ritchie came back out from around the corner. “That is no way to treat a friend of the family!”
“Can’t you tell that that’s-? Jenna started, but was quickly interrupted by Ritchie.
“Young lady! You do not talk back to your mother like that!”
“But-” tried Jenna again but she failed.
“No.” said Duchess. “Apologize to Greg and I don’t want to hear anything from you.”
“Sorry Greg.” Jenna said with as much sincerity as she could muster.
“I hope you can forgive out daughter for her… rude behavior.” Duchess said.
“It’s no problem.” said Greg. “Maybe after she calms down we could try again.” He then looked a Jenna slyly.
‘I’ve just got to tell Balto about this as soon as I can. This isn’t going to be good.’ Jenna thought.
Within minutes, Duchess, Ritchie and Greg, exited the house. Jenna took this chance to head to Balto’s boat. She made sure to take the back streets to avoid her parents seeing her. She walked briskly the outskirts of town. She walked up the plank to the deck of Balto’s boat and saw Alue and Boris, but no Balto.
“Ah Jenna. You are sight for sore eyes. Are you going to take this ball of energy back home with you yet?” Boris asked. Alue then latched onto his leg. “Please!” he yelled out in surprise.
“Not quite.” said Jenna, trying to suppress a giggle. “I wanted to ask, have you seen Balto at all today? I have to find him and quick.”
“Balto? I thought he was with you. He left last night, and poof, he was gone… This can’t be good.”
“You’re telling
Kaltag and Balto had just gotten out of the shed and were headed to their next destination.
“Is it just me, or are we getting glared at by these dogs?” asked Balto to Kaltag.
“It’s not just you. I feel it too. Did you do something?” Kaltag asked.
“No. But I think they think I did… Let’s just hurry up and get to Jenna’s.”
“Agreed.”
Balto and Kaltag continued towards Jenna’s. But the closer they got, the more intense some of the stares were getting. Some even started to follow them.
“Okay. This is weird.” murmured Balto.
“Hey guys!” Kaltag said loudly as he turned to the small crowd, “There are things such as common courtesy. I don’t think we liked getting followed and glared at.”
With Kaltag’s words the small group disbanded.
“That’s better.” smiled Kaltag triumphantly.
The two walked through town until they made it to Jenna’s home.
“I’ll go in.” said Balto when they got their. “Something’s really fishy in
Kaltag gave a simple nod and sat down. After all, Balto had gotten him out of that shed, the least he could do was to wait for him.
When Balto first walked through the small door he didn’t see anyone except for
“Must have just missed her.” he thought aloud.
Balto walked over to her bed and sat down.
“Might as well wait ‘till she gets back.”
Just then he noticed a red and white tail disappear behind a corner into another room.
“Jenna?” Balto called out.
A face came to look at Balto. But it wasn’t Jenna. It was Duchess.
“Oh… It’s… you.” she said trying to add a happier tone.
She turned back around the corner to where Ritchie was.
“We just get back to find no Jenna, and now Balto.” she quietly said with a little bit of anger. “I thought that you got rid of him for awhile.”
“So did I. Must have gotten out.” shrugged Ritchie.
“What do you think?!” she nearly barked.
She looked back around the corner to make sure Balto hadn’t heard them.
“Just a minute.” she said curtly to Balto when he noticed her and smiled.
“What are we going to do now?” she asked Ritchie silently.
“I guess we only have our last option.” he whispered.
“Thank goodness. It’s about time.” she grinned toothily.
Ritchie and Duchess both walked out into plain view of Balto.
“It’s so nice to see you again.” said Ritchie.
“Likewise.” replied Balto kindly.
“Well Balto,” started Duchess, “I believe that my little Ritchie already told you how important or angel is to us. Well, I think we forgot to mention one last thing. Do you mind if we tell you right now?”
After she had said this, Balto got a strange feeling. Almost like the tension when they first met, but this time if felt stronger. Like it was charged with static. He had the feeling that something was going to happen. But he nodded anyways.
“Good…” smiled Duchess.
Chapter Ten:
Duchess came towards Balto. Balto could feel a certain air about her. An air of dominance.
‘Now I know how Ritchie feels around her.’ Balto commented inside his head.
Duchess smiled. “My Balto. I’ve heard so much about you.” she then frowned, “And I’m not happy about any bit of it.”
Balto so in the background as Ritchie slipped out of view, probably getting out through the back.
‘What should I so?’ Balto asked himself.
“Are you looking at me?” Duchess snapped Balto out of his thinking, “Gosh. No etiquette. You’re supposed to look people in the eyes when they’re talking to you. What? Were you raised by a fowl?”
“Well, actually-”
“Never mind.” Duchess interrupted, “I have other things to worry about… I do believe that my dear told you about how important our sweet Jenna is to us, and how we would do anything to protect her. But if he didn’t, I could tell.”
Duchess then slowly lifted her paw almost as if to shake. Balto hesitated for a moment, still uncomfortable with the vibes he was getting from her, but he still lifted his paw up to shake. The Duchess turned her paw to the side and swiftly smacked Balto across the face. Balto, from the surprise attack, fell for a brief second. When he got back up he put his paw to his cheek and felt a drop of blood. But when he looked back didn’t just see Duchess, he saw Ritchie and another dog. Balto at once recognized the newcomer was a tad bit shocked.
Ritchie was the one to speak this time. “Hello Balto. I just went to fetch one of our friends. I believe you should remember him. Oh wait, that’s right, you blacked out before you to could meet. How sad.”
“Yes. Nice to meet you.” the malamute grinned.
Balto, not being an idiot, was not going to even try to tango with three dogs in a confined space like this. He didn’t want to fight and he was no coward, but he had a better chance of surviving outdoors then in. So, he quickly bolted out the doggy door.
“Hmph. Typical.” snorted Duchess, “A wolf that’s afraid when we have backup.”
The three quickly went outside in pursuit of Balto. They didn’t have to go far; he was right outside the door, on the street. When the three came towards Balto, he backed away to try to prevent a fight. Up and down the street, a few dogs saw what was about to go down. A small number came from all directions. But with in seconds the numbers had doubled until there was a large circle fencing all four of the dogs in. Many of the surrounding dogs started throwing out cat-calls towards Balto which Greg smiled at.
“Sorry that it’s going to end like this.” Duchess said with false concern. “But almost dooming the town to diphtheria and risking all those children’s lives, almost killing a dog to get fame for saving the town, and worst of forcing yourself upon our daughter and making her spawn pups, can not be forgiven.”
Balto then heard Kaltag calling from the outside ring of the crowd. “Balto! Balto where are you!?”
Kaltag fought his way through the other furs into the center. When he pushed through he ran right into Balto.
“Hey Balto, where… What the heck!?” Kaltag just noticed that they were not the only two in the circle. “It’s, it’s Steele!”
“Yeah, tell me something I don’t know.” said Balto. “He and Jen’s parents want to pick a fight with me. Her mom already swiped me across the face.”
“Who is this Steele?” asked Ritchie.
Steele piped up. “Greg was just a name that I had to use to hide from him. Can never be too careful.”
You would have expected multiple gasps to appear from the crowd, but there was no such thing. All they knew was that right now, Balto was the enemy and they didn’t care who got rid of him.
“Well, how’re we gonna solve this?”
“I don’t Kaltag. We’ll try diplomacy, but I don’t know what else to do after that but defend ourselves… You should just get out of here. I couldn’t live with myself knowing that I caused you to get hurt.”
“Non-sense. Would I do such a thing to a friend. Besides, three against one isn’t fair. ” smiled Kaltag.
“Are you two girls done arguing yet!?” snickered Steele.
“Hello little puppy,” Ritchie called to Kaltag, “this doesn’t involve you. Why don’t you go join the crowd and just forget about this whole thing?”
“What? Are you afraid that you can’t handle both me and Balto?” countered Kaltag.
“Ooh. A lively one.” smirked Duchess. “This may be more fun then I thought. Not only will we get rid of a wolf, but a pest too.”
Balto looked at Kaltag. “That isn’t exactly diplomacy.”
“Well, I’m a bad negotiator.” chuckled Kaltag.
“Play time’s over boys. Time to get to business!” demanded Steele.
With that Duchess, Ritchie, and Steele started to growl fiercely. With the sense of being threatened, Balto and Kaltag had to growl back. It was natural. The scene was just about to explode into a frenzy of fur and teeth.
Chapter Eleven:
“STOP!” shouted a few voices.
Everyone turned to look at the source of the noise and saw
“Well Jenna. What do you think today’s mob is about?” asked Boris sarcastically.
“Not now Boris.” Jenna replied with a little irritation.
Everyone in the circle stayed silent.
“Well? What’s going on here?” asked Jenna.
“A fight!?” Jenna asked again in disbelief. “Over what?”
“Let’s see for ourselves.” said Boris, “Move out of way!”
Boris pushed through the crowd. Jenna’s disbelief was further fed when she saw both Balto and her parents in the middle.
“Mom? Dad? Balto?... Can someone tell me what the heck is happening?” then she saw Steele and frowned, “Never mind that last question.”
“Ah! He’s back!?” exclaimed Boris.
“Yeah Boris, he’s been back… Mom, Dad,” Jenna started now looking at her parents, “what has he told you?”
Duchess spoke, “You should know. All the terrible things this wolf has done. I thought we raised you to avoid his… type.”
“Well, for your information I like his…type. And nothing you can say can change that.”
“Excuse me Young Lady. What did I tell you about-” started Ritchie.
“Dad.” interrupted Jenna, “Normally you’re right, but this time you’re wrong. Whatever Steele, or Greg or whatever his name said to you is most likely untrue. He probably wants revenge on Balto for ‘stealing his fame and me’.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Ritchie.
“Oh. Didn’t he tell you?” when Jenna got a confused look from both her parents she half-smiled, “Thought so.”
Steele started to panic. ‘I can’t let them find out. But what can I do. Maybe I’ll just…’ he thought.
Jenna continued on, telling the actual truth of everything to her parents of how Steele was the dog who almost doomed the children. “And if you don’t believe me, ask any of the sled dogs who were there.” she finished.
“And what about the rumor?” asked a dog from the crowd.
Before Jenna could even ask Sylvia answered her, “Since you probably don’t know what it’s about because you’re always outta the loop, I’ll tell ya. See, our ‘hero’ supposedly attacked your dad one night in the boiler room when no one was around and if a good dog hadn’t come along, he probably would have been killed.”
“What?” questioned Ritchie, “No one was there to see what happened.”
“So what did happen then Dad? Something I should know about? You looked perfectly fine when I saw you.” Jenna said.
“I-uh. Honey?” stammered Ritchie. He hadn’t meant to give such a huge hint by accident.
Duchess sighed, “Well, it looks like the dog’s out of the knapsack…” she sighed again and turned to Jenna, “See, when Dad went to talk to Balto, we had Greg here, er, I mean Steele is it? Anyways, he went along with Dad to take care of Balto so that we could introduce him to you. We just wanted to get you away from the wolf. There wild and vicious creatures and we were afraid that he might do something to harm you.”
“Mom, he’s different then you may think. He’s brave and smart and would do anything for me. I love him and I always will.”
Balto grinned widely and some “Awws” could be heard from the crowd.
Then Kaltag interrupted the sweet moment, “I think we have bigger fish to fry.”
Kaltag nodded his head towards the direction of Steele lurking away. He turned around when he found full attention on him. Soon many of the dogs, including a ticked off couple of parents were growling at him.
“Well Steele, I would say-” started Duchess.
“we do not like to get tricked and used as pawns-” continued Ritchie.
“to feed some plot to get our daughter”
‘I can take that wolf-dog by myself, but I can’t take on a whole town.’ Steele thought.
Normally he would have tried a last ditch attempt, but he was outnumbered by an extreme amount, so he decided to save his skin and tried to run away with some dignity.
“Well Balto,” said Duchess with much more sincerity, “can we start over?”
“Hi, I’m Balto, nice to meet Jenna’s lovely mother.” Balto smiled with a twinkle in his eye.
“Careful Balto, she’ll think that you’re trying to hitch up with her if you’re not careful.” laughed Jenna.
Normally Duchess would have taken offence to this, but she decided to let it go and just laughed along with some of the other dogs.
Later that day, about sunset, at the dinner table Susan stood up to make an announcement.
“Attention. Attention. I would like to tell everyone something very important.”
“What is it?” ask Tom.
“Well,” said Susan, “I decided to do something I’ve been waiting to do, and I finally got around to doing it. I made up my mind to buy,-”
‘Oh no.’ thought Nancy and she shot a worried look to Tom who returned it. ‘I hope she doesn’t buy that old boat. It’ll just make it worse for her.’
“I know it seems odd but,-”
‘Here it comes.’ Tom thought.
“I’m buying an old house out of town. Sure it’s a fixer-upper but I don’t care. My things are already on a ship bound for here before the sea freezes up. This means that I’ll be able to see you everyday instead of barely at all! Come on, there’s still some light out, I’ll show you right now!”
Rosie finished her last bit of mashed potatoes and all the family members, including Ritchie, Duchess, Jenna, and Balto, who had come for a visit, rushed outside to the outskirts to see the house. Balto couldn’t believe it, it was the same house that Steele had trapped them in the shed behind!
And on a hill overlooking the town stood Steele.
“Don’t worry Balto. I’ll be back. But next time I’ll have better pawns.” he took one last look and slowly trudged back to
Fin.
~By, Walto Disney