Toby Part Three:

 Doom or Destiny

Toby crouched at the starting line as the murmurs of the crowd died down and gave way to total silence. On either side of him there were other dogs, all racing for a place on the team.

The starter’s pistol fired, and Toby was off faster than the bullet fired from it (okay, so it was a blank, but Toby wasn’t in the mood to be picky). He passed Pete, laughing as he heard his half-brother’s outraged shouts behind him. Then he passed Ralph, Dusty, Kirby, and Kodi. Finally it was just him and Balto, neck and neck, racing for the finish line. At the last moment Toby inched ahead and won the race! The crowd gathered around him as he found himself lifted into the air. “Ladies and gentlemen,” announced the musher, “The new lead dog for the mail team, Toby!”

The crowd cheered. Dogs barked, people clapped, and hats were thrown into the air like confetti at a parade. Toby was set down as dogs ran up to congratulate him.

“Toby, you did it!” barked Luna.

“My son, the lead dog,” said Terry.

“Good job, son,” Rex added.

Kodi and the other dogs trotted up. “Nice work, Toby,” Kodi congratulated him.

“You did a good job,” agreed Balto. “You truly are an amazing runner.”

Then, wonder of wonders, Pete came up and said, “Toby, I was wrong about you. You don’t have to be a purebred to be somebody.”

‘Finally, an end to Pete’s teasing about being a mutt,’ thought Toby.

“Toby! Toby! Toby!” chanted the crowd.

“TOBY!” yelled an impatient voice. It was Alicia, Terry’s owner. “Come on, Toby, you’re gonna miss the race!”

Awakened from his sleep, Toby looked around in a daze. ‘Miss the race? But I won!’ With a start, he realized it had all been a dream. ‘Oh, shoot!’ he thought. ‘I gotta move!’ He dashed past Terry, who was still eating breakfast, with a quick, “Hi, mom,” and was out the pet flap before she could even look up.

Terry ran after him and stuck her head out the door. “Toby, you get back here and eat your breakfast!”

Frustrated, Toby turned and hollered back, “I can’t mom! Kodi said never to run on a full stomach. I might get cramps!”

“The race isn’t for another forty-five minutes! What’s your hurry?”

“Kodi says a good mail dog always tries to be where he’s going on time, if not sooner. Besides, it takes an hour to digest a meal and I’ll need to catch my breath before the race!”

“Tobias, you get back here right now!”

“Sorry, mom! See ya later!” And Toby disappeared.

Toby arrived at the racetrack panting briskly. Nobody else was there, but the banner was already up marking the start/finish line. The dogs would race all the way around the block and back to that spot. He scanned the track for any trouble spots. There was a slippery part that would go unnoticed to someone who didn’t know what to look for, but luckily Toby did. For the past month Kodi had been teaching him everything there was to know about dogsled racing. Toby knew how to spot a slick patch, what to do to avoid falling over when he hit it, and how to pace himself so he wouldn’t wear out on a long run. Kodi had taught him all the tricks.

“Hey, hotshot,” came a voice behind him, startling Toby so that he jumped three feet in the air. He looked to see Luna standing behind him, giggling. “Maybe I should do that at the starting line to give you a boost,” she teased.

“Very funny,” grumbled Toby, struggling not to laugh. After a brief effort he gave in and let out a chuckle. “How’s it going?”

“Great, thanks.” She sat beside him and scanned the track. “Well, today’s the day,” she said.

Toby nodded. “That icy patch looks like trouble, but it shouldn’t be too hard.”

Luna squinted. “What icy patch?”

“Right there, where the snow is just a little bit shinier.”

Luna studied the snow, then shook her head in mild disbelief. “Boy, Uncle Kodi taught you everything.”

“Yep. Thanks for setting me up with those lessons.”

Luna shrugged. “Hey, what are friends for?” she asked.

Alicia walked up right at that moment. “Well, Toby,” she said, “I guess you were in a hurry to get here, huh?”

Terry was with Alicia, and she had one of those looks on her face. You know, the kind mothers get when they’re right about to bust you bigtime. Toby knew from years of experience that his mother was thinking something along the lines of, ‘As soon as she’s done petting you, you’re gonna get it.’

Alicia ruffled the fur on top of Toby’s head right where he just loved to be scratched. “You ready for the race, boy?”

Toby barked in reply and wagged his tail.

A boy about eight years old hobbled up on crutches. “Can I pet him?” he asked.

Alicia smiled and said he could, and the boy dropped his crutches and knelt down to pet Toby. “What’s his name?” he asked, letting the dog sniff his hand.

“Toby,” said Alicia, smiling as the boy scratched Toby just where she had. “He seems to like you,” she noticed.

Luna, never one to be left out of the action, stepped up next to Toby and wagged her tail. The boy laughed and petted her with his other hand. “I love dogs,” he said. “I want to get one, but we’re having a hard time finding the right one. The doctor says it’d be too hard for me to play with a puppy, so it’s gotta be a grown-up.”

Luna looked from the boy to Toby and back again speculatively. Toby furrowed his brow at her. “Don’t start,” he muttered.

“Charlie? Where are…Oh, there you are.” A man with a mustache walked up. “I should have guessed,” he chuckled, seeing Charlie petting the dogs.

“Hi, dad,” said Charlie.

Charlie’s father laughed. “Come on,” he said, picking up the crutches in one hand and holding out the other to help the boy up. “The race is about to start.”

Alicia patted Toby. “We’d better get ready too. You ready to run, Toby?”

Toby barked and wagged his tail.

“Toby’s in the race?” asked Charlie with his eyes wide.

“Yeah,” said Alicia. “Just wait till you see him run.”

Charlie’s father tipped his hat. “Nolan Winters,” he introduced himself.

“Alicia Day,” Alicia replied. “Hey, Charlie said you’re looking for a dog?”

Toby rolled his eyes. “Oh, brother,” he muttered. “Here we go again with the old ‘Grown-Up Puppy To A Good Home’ routine.”

“Yes we are,” said Nolan. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, Toby is Terry’s puppy…” she patted Terry on the head so they would know who she was talking about, “…And he’s the only one I never found a home for. Maybe he’d be right for Charlie?”

Nolan and Charlie exchanged glances, and Charlie shook his head. “No, I don’t want a sled-dog,” he said. “I want to have a dog who’ll be around.”

Nolan nodded. “Sorry, Alicia. The doctor said a dog would be good for Charlie, but…” he trailed off. “Thanks anyway,” he said.

“That’s okay,” said Alicia. “Maybe Toby won’t win.” Toby growled, and she shrugged. “But I doubt it.”

“That’s too bad,” said Nolan. He and Charlie turned and walked away.

“The poor boy,” said Luna softly.

“Why wouldn’t he want a sled dog anyway?” wondered Toby. “Not that I want a home with humans,” he added, trying not to admit to himself that he half-wished Charlie had wanted him.

Luna looked hard at him. “Because he wants a friend who’ll be there when he really needs one. Like when I broke my legs. I asked you to promise you’d come by and visit often. Just try to think how hard it must be for Charlie not to be able to play with other kids. And he’ll probably always be that way.”

Toby nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But right now, I’ve got a race to run.” And he trotted off to the starting line.

Luna just shook her head. Toby was a good friend, but he just couldn’t seem to see beyond being a sled dog sometimes. ‘Maybe that’ll change after the race,’ she thought as she watched him join the other dogs.

As he lined up with the other sled dogs, Toby glanced right and left to size up the competition. The current mail team was there…minus Dusty? ‘Where is she?’ he wondered. ‘Normally she’d be right by Kodi.’ He shook his head. Never mind dogs who weren’t there, this was a time for focusing on the ones who were.

Kodi gave Toby a nod in greeting. Normally they would have chatted a bit, but this was serious business. The other dogs included Pete-Toby’s half-brother-as well as Kodi’s three-legged sister Chase. Toby had seen them both run, and he knew that Chase would never be on the mail team even if she won. She didn’t want to be on the team, and that was that. She just ran because she loved to run. And as for Pete…’He’ll never win anything until he gets over that case of showdog-neck,’ Toby thought, seeing the way Pete held his head up straight so the female dogs could see him. ‘Too much drag.’

The musher took his place beside the starting line. “On your marks…” he called out.

“Good luck, Kodi!” called Balto and Jenna from the starting line.

“I’m surprised your dad’s not running,” Toby whispered.

“He says he’d rather let somebody else have a turn in the spotlight,” explained Kodi. With a grin he added, “Plus, mom won’t let him since he broke his leg that time.”

“Go, Kodi!” yelled a black husky from the sideline.

“Friend of yours?” asked Toby.

Kodi seemed to think for a moment, then nodded. “You might say that.”

“Get set…!” the musher called out.

All the dogs hunched down at the starting line. “Good luck,” whispered Kodi.

“You too,” said Toby, and then emptied his mind of everything but the track ahead.

The starter’s pistol went off, and the dogs shot forward like rockets. Toby’s legs pumped madly. Kodi had taught him to pace himself, but all that mattered in this race was speed. He mentally counted down the seconds until he hit the ice and adjusted his gait. As several of the other dogs slipped, Toby just kept on running. As he passed the edge of the patch, he switched back to his normal gait and picked up speed.

He ran like mad all the way to the finish line. He wasn’t in first place, but he counted the dogs ahead of him as they crossed the finish line. Kodi was first, then Kirby, and then Toby crossed the line with a triumphant howl.

The musher read off the list of winning dogs. “Kodi, Kirby, Toby, Ralph, Rocky, Colt, and Norik.”

The crowd clapped as dogs gathered around the winners. Terry ran up and nuzzled Toby. “Good job,” she said.

Rex emerged from the crowd and nodded. “Congratulations,” he said.

Luna was all smiles. “Toby, you did it! You made the team!”

Balto and Jenna arrived too. “Good job, Kodi,” said Jenna.

“And you too, Toby,” added Balto.

For Toby, it was like the dream all over again.

Just then Kodi seemed to spot something and quickly excused himself. “Sorry to run, but I have to…be somewhere.” And with that he dashed off.

Toby noticed the same black husky who had called to Kodi right before the race. Kodi was heading right in her direction. ‘That’s funny,’ he thought to himself. ‘I thought Kodi was hooked up with Dusty. Speaking of which…’ he looked around in confusion. ‘Where is she, anyway?’

A while later, after the crowd had dissipated, Toby and Luna were strolling along talking about the race. “I can’t believe you’re on the team!” Luna kept repeating.

“And why not?” asked Toby, doing an almost perfect impression of the no-nonsense tone his father adopted when discussing police work. “You think I’m a slowpoke or something? Is that it?”

Luna laughed. “No, silly. I just mean-hey, look over there!” she pointed down the street.

Toby looked and saw Kodi talking to Dusty. Dusty looked tired, as if she hadn’t been sleeping well. “Huh,” was all he said. “I wonder what’s up?”

Luna trotted in their direction. “I don’t know, but there’s one way to find out.”

As they approached, Kodi pricked his ears in their direction and the conversation abruptly ceased. “Hi, Kodi,” said Toby.

“Hey, Toby,” greeted Kodi. “How’s my number one student?”

“He’s your only student,” Luna pointed out.

Everyone laughed, and then Dusty said, “I was just congratulating Kodi on coming in first place.”

Toby tilted his head. “How come you weren’t at the race?”

“Oh, she was there,” explained Kodi. “You saw her, as a matter of fact.” Laughing at the confused look on his pupil’s face, he asked, “Remember the black dog who shouted, “Go Kodi”? Toby nodded, not sure where this was going. “Well,” grinned Kodi, “Take a look behind those trash cans.”

Toby looked and saw a patch of snow stained black by…he sniffed. “Soot?”

“I didn’t want my owners to see me,” explained Dusty, “So I decided to use a little makeup.”

“Why would you want to hide from them?” asked Luna.

“And why weren’t you in the race?” added Toby.

Dusty and Kodi exchanged a secretive glance and smiled. “Well…” Dusty seemed to be searching her brain for the right words.

“Let’s just say she’s not in condition for running right now.” Kodi finished for her.

Luna was immediately concerned. “Are you hurt?” she asked.

Dusty shook her head and smiled secretively. “No,” was all she said.

Toby laid his ears back, thinking. “Are you sick?”

Dusty’s smile broadened and she shook her head again. “Nope.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

Kodi laid his paw gently on top of Dusty’s and smiled. “If you must know, Dusty’s taking a break for family reasons.”

Toby and Luna leaned their ears forward, their interest piqued by the flush that was creeping into Dusty’s cheeks. “What kind of ‘family reasons’ are we talking about here?” Toby asked, curious as all get-out.

Kodi grinned. “Well, don’t tell Boris, but his worst nightmare is about to happen all over again.”

“What’s that?” asked Toby.

Kodi grinned, clearly enjoying the suspense. “Well, here’s a hint: what scares Boris more than anything?”

Luna considered. “Well, he hates being used as a chew toy,” she recalled. “I remember that from when I was a…” she trailed off and stared blankly for a moment at Kodi and Dusty. “You’re kidding.”

Dusty laughed. “You could put it that way,” she joked.

Luna squealed. “Congratulations! When are they due?” she asked.

Kodi was all smiles. “About seven weeks from now,” he said.

Toby was confused. “What are you talking about?”

Luna shoved him. “Puppies, genius!”

“Oh.” Toby tilted his head uncertainly. “But what about the team?” he asked.

“Well, I won’t be running for a while, obviously,” answered Dusty. She smiled and rubbed her nose against Kodi’s. “But we decided it was time. And some things are bigger than pulling a sled all day. Anyway, I’ll be back on the job once the pups grow up.”

“In the meantime,” said Kodi with a laugh, “It’ll probably double my speed on the return trips to Nome.”

“What?” asked Dusty, pretending to be deeply hurt. “Only double? I would have hoped for at least triple.”

Everyone laughed except for Toby, who was shaking his head and trying to figure out how anything could be more important than pulling a sled. “If I ever get lovey-dovey like that, just throw me off a roof,” he muttered to Luna.

Luna scowled and made a mental note to bite Toby later when nobody was looking.

“Dusty!” came a voice. All eyes turned to see one of Dusty’s humans coming up the road. The expression on the woman’s face made it clear that she was not amused. She came up and took Dusty by the collar. “Dusty!” she scolded, her tone containing a hint of worry. “Where have you been? You know you’re not supposed to be running around right now.”

Dusty looked at the others. “Sorry, guys,” she said. “I guess I’d better go home now. I’ll try to slip out and see you tomorrow before you leave, Kodi.”

Kodi nodded goodbye to Toby and Luna. Then he ran after Dusty and her owner, intent on walking his mate home.

That night Toby heard a howl in the distance. There was a wolf out there, calling to the night and the stars. As Toby listened, it began to sing in a clear tenor voice. It was a dry voice, if you can understand what I mean, somewhat like a medieval court minstrel, and the song had a melody like that of an old ballad.

"The greatest adventure

Is what lies ahead

Today and tomorrow

Are yet to be said

The chances, the changes

Are all yours to make

The mold of your life

Is in your hands to break.”

“The greatest adventure

Is there in your home.

Let go of the mold

That life makes you hold

To measure the meaning

Can make you delay

It’s time you stop thinking

And wasting the day.”

The wolf’s voice grew louder and clearer as he soared into what might have been the chorus if there had been more than one singer.

"The man who's a dreamer,

And never takes leave,

Who thinks of a world

That is just make believe,

Will never know passion,

Will never know pain,

Who sits by the window

Will one day see rain.”

His voice grew quieter again as he entered what sounded like the beginning of a new verse.

“The greatest adventure

Is what lies ahead

Today and tomorrow

Are yet to be said

The chances, the changes,

Are all yours to make

The mold of your life

Is in your hands to break.”

“The greatest adventure…is what…lies aheaaaddd…”

Toby smiled, feeling as if the song were meant especially for him. ‘Yes indeed,’ he thought, ‘Tomorrow begins my greatest adventure.’

As his eyelids closed, Toby had no idea just how true that was.

Toby was up bright and early the next morning to start his new job. He ran around to each mail dog’s house and barked outside like a maniac. At each destination he succeeded in awakening the dog in question, along with every occupant of every home within a three-block radius. Such a wakeup call had not happened since Paul Revere’s ride in Boston. The dogs were not amused. A few of the more polite comments included a complaint from Kodi that Toby had learned the “Early to bed, early to rise” part of his training all too well. One of the new dogs put it more bluntly, saying that Toby had “Lungs too big and a brain too small.” As for how the people took it, well, there were a lot of barefoot people in the streets later retrieving their shoes.

Toby finished his morning exercises with a one-dog concert on the musher’s front porch. “All right, all right,” came an irritable voice from inside.

Toby frisked about as the other dogs were strapped into their harnesses, and it was all the musher could do to buckle him in without tangling both of them. “Save your energy,” advised Kodi. “You’ll need it for the run.”

“I can’t,” said Toby. “I’m too excited.”

“I’ll say,” muttered Ralph. Toby’s tail was whipping back and forth, slapping Ralph in the face with every wag. “It’s bad enough to get up this early in the morning, but this is just crazy.”

Toby firmly willed his tail to stop. ‘Come on, come on,” he said impatiently as the mail was loaded onto the sled.

“Kodi!” came Dusty’s voice. She came running up the street panting. “You weren’t going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?” she asked.

Kodi smiled. “Never,” he promised, nuzzling her. Then his voice got concerned. “You shouldn’t be running around with puppies on the way.”

“Oh, let me have some fun!” she protested. “I’ve still got time.”

Toby glanced toward the back of the sled. “Yeah, but we don’t.”

The musher stepped onto the back and cracked his whip. “Mush!” he cried.

“Bye, Dusty!” called Kodi. “I’ll be back soon!” And the team took off like a shot.

At first, Toby pulled like a dog possessed. But after a warning from Kodi, he slowed his pace and matched with the rest of the team. ‘Right,’ he thought. ‘Remember your training.’ Focusing on the other dogs, he settled his paws into a smooth, even rhythm. Unable to see past Kirby and look out for changes of terrain on his own, he remembered Kodi’s lessons and focused on the ropes connecting him to the dogs in front of him. By judging the changes in traction from the shifts in the way the rope tugged and vibrated, he managed to avoid slipping on slick patches and stubbing his feet on rocks. It was not something he’d had the opportunity to practice, but he learned quickly.

‘I miss him already,’ thought Luna as she stared at the tracks the sled had left in the snow. She hadn’t realized until now just how much fun Toby was to have around…or how boring it would without him. ‘For crying out loud, Luna,’ she thought to herself. ‘He’s only been gone for an hour…plus however long he was gone before you woke up.’ That was what really bothered her. She lived in one of the few areas that hadn’t been awakened by the morning’s rampage. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to see him off.

“You miss him, don’t you?” asked Terry as if reading Luna’s mind. The two of them had come to the post office only to find Toby already gone.

Luna nodded. “Yeah,” she admitted. “Kinda silly this soon, isn’t it?”

Terry smiled. “Not at all. I miss him too.”

Luna snorted. Not a contemptuous snort, just a snort. “Yeah, but you’re his mom. Of course you miss him.”

Terry smiled. “And you’re his best friend. So of course you miss him.”

Luna shrugged. “I guess I should be happy. I mean, he’s living his dream, right? So why do I feel like suddenly everything’s gone?”

Terry tilted her head. “Well, don’t you have any other friends?”

Luna shrugged. “Yeah, but…well, there are some things Toby…understands about me that I can’t tell anyone else.”

Terry seemed to guess what Luna meant. “You mean like…” and she tapped a pipe lying in the road. A steel pipe. Luna nodded. “Do you two talk about that a lot?” asked Terry.

Luna shook her head. “Almost never. It’s just…nice to be able to, you know?”

Terry shrugged. “I guess that does make it hard. But don’t worry, you’ll find other friends. And then there’s Dusty to consider. I’m sure she’d getting pretty bored right now.”

Luna cheered up a little with that thought. “You know, you’re right. I guess I’ll go see how she’s doing,” she said, trotting off.

Terry smiled. ‘I’m glad Toby has such a good friend. I wonder if…no, it couldn’t be. Could it?’

Luna was hoping a visit to Dusty would take her mind off of Toby’s absence. ‘Besides,’ she thought, ‘Now that she’s part of the family, I should get to know her a little better.’ She went to Dusty’s house and slipped inside, creeping along stealthily past the lady of the house, who was busy washing dishes. Luna had a gift for charming her way into places, but she liked sneaking better.

She found Dusty lying in a basket in the living room, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace. Dusty lifted her head and smiled when she saw it was Luna. “Hi,” she greeted.

“Morning, Aunt Dusty,” smiled Luna.

Dusty laughed. “That sounds so weird. ’Aunt’ Dusty.”

“Oh. Would it be better if I just called you Dusty?”

She shrugged. “I can handle either one.”

Luna nodded. “Okay, Aunt Dusty.”

Dusty smiled, then suddenly made a face and shook. “Ugh,” she uttered under her breath.

“Are you okay?” asked Luna.

“Yeah. I just get sick to my stomach sometimes. It’s part of the…you know.” She looked out the window and sighed. “I’m glad you came here. It’s good to have someone to talk to.”

“Are you by yourself most of the time?” asked Luna.

“Nah. My owners haven’t left me alone in the house for the past week.” Suddenly she let out a prodigious yawn. “Sorry, I get really tired lately.” True to her words, a few more minutes of conversation saw her fast asleep. Luna picked up the blanket in her teeth and draped it over her sleeping aunt. Then she quietly slipped away.

Coming out the door, she bumped smack into two other dogs. “Oof!”

“Luna, is that you?”

Luna shook her head and realized that the two dogs she had run into were her sisters, Phoebe and Haley. Both of them had been adopted by the same family, and even though they were almost complete opposites, they were practically Siamese twins. They were also a flawless gossip machine. Haley listened to the latest dirt, and Phoebe spread it around like a puppy shaking a vacuum cleaner bag. “Hi,” said Luna. “What are you doing here?”

Phoebe giggled. “We’re checking up on Dusty, silly.”

“Well, sorry,” said Luna. “She’s sleeping right now.”

“Okay,” said Haley. “Come on, Phoebe, let’s go.”

Phoebe nodded, flipping her head up and down so fast that her nose resembled a diving board. “You wanna come with us, Luna?”

Luna shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.” After all, it had been a while since she had seen them.

“Great!” yipped Phoebe.

Haley rolled her eyes. “Whoopdee-doo,” she muttered. And with that, the three dogs headed down the street.

Phoebe tolerated the silence for about five seconds before she started talking again. “So, Luna, how’ve you been?”

Luna shrugged. “Oh, it’s been okay. Kind of boring without Toby.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” griped Phoebe. “You two caused more disasters every week than any three dogs in Nome. What are we supposed to spread around now?”

“Ever try not gossiping?”

They looked at her as if she had completely flipped her lid. “What else are we supposed to do?” asked Haley.

Luna didn’t know what to think about that question. “You could go for a walk, chase some birds…”

From the looks on their faces anyone would have thought she had just uttered a string of bad words. “We’d get dirty!” protested Phoebe.

Luna laughed. “How can you get dirty when it’s all snow?”

“We’d get cold and wet,” Haley said. “And our fur would get messed up.”

‘Not a bad idea,’ thought Luna.

“Or worse,” Phoebe put in, sounding as if she might scream in terror or burst into tears at the mere thought, “Break a nail!”

Luna rolled her eyes. ‘Sissies.’ She was beginning to remember why she had been so eager to explore outside when she was a puppy, and it wasn’t just the wolf in her.

At the end of the day the musher pulled the team to a halt and set up camp. The other dogs, much to Toby’s confusion, started digging in snowdrifts. “What are you doing?” he asked.

Kodi looked at him in surprise for a moment, then slapped himself. “Oh, that’s right, I forgot to tell you. When we stop in the middle of the woods, we dig little dens to spend the night in.”

“In the snow?” asked Toby. “Don’t you freeze?”

“You’d be surprised.”

Toby shrugged and started digging. When Kodi finished his he walked over and inspected Toby’s work. “Very good,” he said. “The ceiling is a bit thin and the entrance should be smaller, but it’ll do.”

Toby nodded. “Thanks.”

“Here,” said Kodi. “Look at how I did mine.”

Toby trotted over to Kodi’s den and looked inside. The entrance was smaller and the den was barely any bigger than Kodi himself was. “The idea,” Kodi explained, “Is to have as little airspace as possible to keep it nice and snug. Kirby taught me that when I was a beginner.”

“But if there’s no airspace,” asked Toby, “How do you breathe?”

“Well, some dogs make their dens bigger so there is airspace, and some just sleep with their heads near the entrance.”

Toby nodded. “I wish my den were like this.”

Kodi laughed. “Well, my first den didn’t go so well either. The ceiling was so thin it caved in when a bird happened to land on it. At least, Dusty said it was a bird.”

“I take it you don’t believe her?” asked Toby.

“Well, if you ask me it felt more like a bunch of snow had landed on it. And since the branch right over my den-the same branch Dusty was hanging from by her teeth-didn’t have any snow on it…” he trailed off and grinned. “Yeah, you could say I’m a bit skeptical.” His chuckles died away as he stared in the direction of Nome. He let out a deep sigh and murmured, “I miss her already.”

“Supper!” called the musher, taking parcels of dried meat out of his pack. The dogs raced up to him, each taking their share and running off to eat it in the privacy of their dens. He patted Toby on the head as he gave him his share. “Good boy,” he said. “You worked real hard today.” Then he turned to stop Ralph from stealing an extra ration out of the pack. Toby turned and went back to his den. After he ate his food he curled up into a ball. Tired from running, he was soon asleep. Strangely, his last thoughts were of the boy he met yesterday. Toby had human friends, but there was something different about him…

'The greatest adventure

Luna found herself dreaming about Toby that night. All the fun times they’d had, the secrets they shared, everything. First the day they met, with him crashing into her like a runaway train. Then the games they had played, including the one that put her in the hospital. She dreamt of Toby finding out that she was related to Steele, wincing as she remembered the stab of guilt and shame. But they hadn’t let that stop them from being friends, and they had gone on to beat Steele the next time he came into town.

Then she saw herself, sleeping while he and the team disappeared into the white wilderness without so much as a goodbye.

“Toby, wait!” she called in her dream. “Come back!”

And there he was, standing before her. He didn’t look like himself, though. He looked cold and hard, as if something inside him had turned to granite. “No way, Luna,” he told her. “I’ve got a job to do. It’s my destiny.”

“More like your DENSITY!” she snapped. She didn’t know why she felt so angy all of the sudden, but she went on. “You’re letting your job mess up our friendship!”

Toby looked hurt, then angry. “You should be happy for me!” he snapped. “This is everything I’ve ever wanted! My dream!”

“Toby, I AM happy for you. But you didn’t even say goodbye to your best friend!”

Toby shook his head. “Sorry, Luna,” he said coldly. An image of the mail team materialized behind him. “But I’ve got new friends now.” Luna tried to speak, but Toby cut her off. You wanted me to say goodbye, and I will. So long, Luna.”

“Toby, wait!” Luna yelled. But Toby and the mail team disappeared, leaving Luna alone in shadow.

Then she saw her sisters, gabbing away like always. But there was a third dog with them, gossiping as badly as both of them put together. To her horror, she saw that the third dog was herself. “Noooooooo!!!” she screamed.

Luna awoke, panting. She stared wildly around. “Just a dream,” she sighed with relief. She shuddered as she remembered it all. Herself becoming like her sisters, losing Toby’s friendship…she couldn’t help herself, she whimpered.

‘Get a hold of yourself, Luna,’ a part of her brain ordered her. ‘It was just a dream. Toby’s your best friend. He’d never run out on you.’

Luna nodded, relieved by these thoughts. “And no way am I ever gonna be like my sisters,” she added aloud.

Toby awoke the next morning, bitterly cold. One of the dogs-Norik, he thought it was-was pawing at his face. “Hey, kid, wake up.”

“Huh?” Toby asked. “What’s up?”

“You’re sleeping in, that’s what’s up,” said Norik tersely. “C’mon, we’re hitching up. You missed breakfast.”

Toby shivered as he stepped out of his den. “Jeeze,” he couldn’t help complaining, “Why’s it so c-cold?”

Norik looked at Toby, then at the den he had come out of. “Bad digging,” he answered. “Come on.” Then he allowed a moment of concern to show through his grim mask. “You’d better warm up quick, kid. You’re looking a little bit blue.”

Toby ran to the sled and got in his place. Norik went to the end of the line, the wheel dog position. Toby felt sorry for him, running in the back. But right now he had to worry about getting warmed up.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Toby tried his hardest, but the problem was that during training he had never slept outdoors. He had always been warm when Kodi woke him up for practice. But now he was starting cold, and no matter how hard he ran, he couldn’t seem to get warm. He realized he was barely managing to keep the same pace as the others, or so he thought.

“I don’t get it,” grumbled the musher as he set up camp that night. “We should have gone almost twice this far today.”

Kirby turned to the dogs who had been behind him. “Alright, who slowed us down?” he asked. “I know I felt one of you guys dragging.”

“I was just going as fast as Colt went,” answered Norik.

“Well, I was just sticking to the same pace as Rocky,” Colt defended himself.

“And I was matching Ralph’s pace,” Rocky said firmly.

“It wasn’t me,” Ralph protested. “It was Toby. He was going slow.”

All eyes turned to Toby. “Well, Toby?” asked Kodi.

Toby shrugged. “Sorry,” he said meekly. “I was cold this morning and couldn’t seem to get going.”

Kodi tilted his head. “Sleeping problem?”

“Yeah, sorta,” Toby agreed. “My den was freezing.”

“Poorly dug,” said Norik.

“I’ll help you out this time,” Kodi promised. When he was done with his own den, he showed Toby exactly what to do step by step. Toby’s den was a lot better than the night before, but when he crawled in he was still cold. “Kodi,” he called, “I’m still cold.”

“Well, maybe you’ll warm up. It takes time to build up heat inside the den.”

Toby sighed and curled himself tighter. The opening to his den was so small he had to slither like a snake to get in and out, the roof was only an inch or two above his back, and the whole thing slanted uphill towards the back to trap more warm air. ‘If anything keeps me warm, this will,’ he thought. With a slight shiver, he fell asleep.

But as well-designed as it was, the den was still not enough to keep Toby warm. The next morning he was, if not as cold as the first morning, still too cold to run effectively regardless. The musher noticed as they ran along the trail. Mile by mile, space by space, he stopped several times and moved Toby back along the line in hopes of increasing their speed. Toby’s half-bloodhound fur just wasn’t thick enough for the job, and he lost body heat faster than he could restore it. Finally the musher called the team to a halt for the fourth time.

‘Now what?’ wondered Toby, mad at the musher and sick of himself. ‘There’s nowhere farther back for him to move me.’

Unfortunately he was wrong. One problem many people have discovered is that nine times out of ten, when you think you’re at the bottom of a hole you only discover a trapdoor leading further down. This case was no different. The musher unfastened Toby’s harness from the rest of the team and put him on the sled. Toby tried to get off, but the musher took a leather strap and used it to make a leash, tying him to the sled. “Let me go!” Toby protested, struggling as the musher wrapped blankets around him. But of course his protests were about as effective as talking to a brick wall.

It wasn’t being tied to the sled that bothered Toby. What really made him mad-mostly at himself-was the fact that that with him off the team, they really did go faster.

Back in Nome, Luna was going ballistic. Without Toby around to talk to, the town seemed deader than dead. No wild wrestling matches, no madcap practical jokes…she was even beginning to miss his annoying sense of humor. It was almost more than a dog could stand.

Dusty was around to talk to, of course, but her irregular sleeping patterns made it difficult to pick a good time to stop by and chat. And when Luna did manage to luck out, Dusty was still prone to nod off at any time.

Even that would have been bearable if she had had some other way to get away from Haley and Phoebe. The Gossip Twins could talk their way into or out of anything, including talking her into hanging out with them. It didn’t matter how bored she was or how uninterested she was in discussing crushes or gossip or dog salons. If Dusty wasn’t awake and they were, there was no point in arguing. Whenever she tried to suggest actually doing something, her sisters would respond with unified horror and list the usual terrors of muddy fur, wet fur, and broken toenails. Luna fought away the dream of herself becoming like them, trying to distract herself from the nonstop talking by thinking of Toby. ‘I wonder what he’s doing right now?’ she wondered. ‘Whatever it is, it’s bound to be more fun than this.’

But Toby wasn’t having fun. His nose was stuffed up, an early sign of a cold setting in. He made an effort not to show it, but the musher could tell quite easily that he was sick and wouldn’t let him run again.

When they got to the next town late one evening about five days after they started, they were a full day behind schedule. Toby was grateful that Kodi didn’t blame him, and glad for the chance to sleep in warmer quarters. However, he found himself resigned to sleeping in a cage at the vet’s office so he wouldn’t get the other dogs sick. ‘First I fail, now I’m quarantined!’ he thought with frustration. ‘How can it get any worse?!’

He found out the next morning. When it was time to go, the musher approached him with a strange bundle of what smelled like wool. “Looks like you got lucky,” he said. “Some lady gave this to me and said that she made it for her own dog, but she wanted you to have it since you’re sick.” He unfolded the object.

Toby took a moment to realize what he was looking at, then stepped back in speechless horror. But there was nothing he could do.

The other sled dogs stared, then burst out laughing as Toby emerged from the office. It wasn’t very kind, but they certainly had reason to laugh. Toby was wearing a purple dog sweater with little red flowers embroidered all over it. Several of the town dogs stopped to see what the racket was, and in moments they were rolling on the ground in hysterics. Soon only three dogs weren’t laughing: Kodi, Norik, and Toby.

“That’s enough!” snapped Kodi, glaring at the dogs hitched up behind him. “All of you, stop it right now!”

“Oh, come on, Kodi!” laughed Kirby. “Just look at the kid!”

“I am,” the lead dog answered sternly. “But there’s nothing funny about it.”

“Lighten up, man!” chortled Ralph between laughs. “He looks so ridiculous.”

“Dis frob a guy who whides aboud brogen toenails!” snapped Toby, but his nasal speech only made them laugh harder.

Then a growl from the back of the sled team silenced the other dogs. They turned to see Norik with his hackles up, teeth bared, and eyes sparking. “I believe Kodi said quiet,” he snarled. The other dogs stared at him. Even Kodi was amazed. “Now look,” Norik went on. “That kid may not have much talent, but he’s got a heck of a lot more guts than some of you.  I’m guessing Kodi and myself are the only ones on this team besides that kid who would try to get out of a free ride, and I’m not even sure about myself. So any dog who makes fun of that kid is messing with me from now on. And for those who don’t know,” he added, pulling his lips back just a little bit farther, “I fight a lot better than I run.”

Stunned, Toby allowed himself to be placed on the sled and roped in place, with the new bag of mail right where he could use it as a pillow. “Thags,” he called forward to Norik. “I owe you one.”

Norik shrugged. “Eh,” he muttered, “You’ve got pluck, kid. Besides, I’ve been laughed at, back before I moved to Nome.”

“Whad did you do dere?” asked Toby as the musher gave the command and the sled pulled out.

Norik called back over his shoulder, “Simple. I proved that I had what it took.” After a pause he added, “And I learned not to bite off more than I could chew.”

‘I guess I haven’t been doing so well there,’ thought Toby.

The man who's a dreamer

And never takes leave

Who thinks of a world

That is just make believe...

Three days later…

“C’mon, boys,” the musher called. “We’re almost there.”

Suddenly Kodi stopped cold. The other dogs screeched to a halt, tumbling over one another in the process. But Kodi didn’t notice. He just stared around, his eyes wide and ears erect.

“What is it, Kodi?” asked the musher.

Toby felt a sense of foreboding come over him. Cautiously, he sniffed the air. Even stuffed up as it was, his nose caught the slightest hint of a scent and set off an alarm in his brain. ‘Oh, no…’

And a moment later it was upon them. With a deafening roar, a massive grizzly lumbered out of the woods and charged the team. “Mush!” the musher yelled. The dogs tried to get away, but they were too uncoordinated as the bear drew near. Kodi’s sudden halt had left several of them tangled up in one another. And by the time they untangled themselves, it would be too late.

Toby didn’t even think. He just jumped from the sled, almost seeming to fly as he ran at the bear. His sickness was momentarily forgotten; all that mattered was making sure the others would survive. The bear saw him coming and turned to meet his challenge. It swung a paw about the size of his own head, but he ducked the blow and then jumped aside, narrowly avoiding the next strike. As soon as he was close enough, he darted between the bear’s legs and turned, jumping up to latch onto the back of its neck. ‘You can’t get me back here,’ he thought as the bear tried to reach him.

The dogs gaped in amazement until Norik yelled, “Come on, guys! Get unstuck!”

Unfortunately, the bear wasn’t too happy about having a rider. It shook, whipping Toby back and forth like a rag doll. Only by impossibly good luck did he manage to avoid being gouged when it tried to paw him free, just barely swinging out of the way of each clumsy maneuver. In the meantime he was getting some heavy bruises as he crashed again and again on the bear's’ sides and back.

Meanwhile the musher had managed to pull out a gun and was trying to figure out what to do. With the way the bear was moving he couldn’t risk a shot to the head for fear of hitting Toby. “Blast it,” he hissed, wishing he could. As the bear reared up in an attempt to throw Toby off, the musher saw his chance and fired, shooting the bear in the hip. The bear lurched.

Unfortunately there was an unexpected side effect of the hit. The bear had been taking another swipe at Toby as the bullet struck, and its reflexive lurch jerked the dog right into the path of the attack. Toby went flying toward the sled, aware of a searing pain in his right side. He landed with a thud and heard a crack as his left hind leg struck a rock. ‘This is it,’ he thought.

But it wasn’t over. The bullet must have hit a nerve or something, because it had crippled the bear, at least for a short time. The musher tried to fire again, but the gun jammed. Throwing down the weapon, he ran forward and put Toby on the sled, then jumped onto the back and cried to the team, “Mush! MUSH!” The dogs, now untangled, readily obeyed, and the bear let out one last furious roar as its prey escaped.

Toby desperately clung to consciousness as the sled jerked and bounced along the path, shaking his fractured leg. Every jolt brought pain so intense he almost passed out. It felt like forever before the sled pulled to a stop. “Come on, Toby,” said the musher, jumping off and coming to take a look at the damage. Toby’s leg was at an unnatural angle, and the bear’s claws had ripped through the sweater and torn into his skin, leaving five wicked gashes that ran about ten inches each down his side. “Don’t you go dying, boy. Not after you saved our lives.”

The team looked on in concern as the musher stripped off the dog sweater, applied salve to the wounds, and bandaged Toby’s side. Kodi snatched two branches and trotted back, trailing the team behind him. He dropped the branches at the musher’s feet. “Good boy,” said the musher, patting Kodi on the head. “Just right for splints.” He took some of the bandages and wrapped the leg between the two sticks. Toby whimpered as the bones shifted back into position. “Good dog, Toby,” said the musher, patting him on the head. His voice sounded weak. “You may not be a sled dog, but you’re a real hero.”

Toby’s mind struggled to focus through the pain and make sense of his situation. All he had wanted was to be a hero like Balto, but now here he was dying in the wilderness. ‘Why?’ he wondered.

Then the song of the wolf returned to him:

'To measure the meaning

Can make you delay

It’s time you stop thinking

And wasting the day...'

Toby tried to make sense of it, but he was too tired to concentrate.

Kodi whispered in his ear, “Hang in there, pal. You’ll make it.”

As the musher moved Toby into a more secure position on the sled and wrapped him in whatever he could find to keep him warm, every dog was hoping that somehow Kodi’s words would prove true.

The journey to Nome was a hard one for Toby. The others did everything they could to keep him warm and comfortable. The dogs huddled around him whenever they weren’t on the trail, and the musher brought him into the tent at night to keep him as warm as possible. Whenever a fire was built the first thing anyone did was to move Toby close to it. And on the sled, every bit of soft material was either his blanket or his mattress. Even so, the disease and injuries took a heavy toll on him. He was so weak his food had to be cut up and fed to him, one little piece at a time. Every night as the musher wrapped him in the blankets, Toby could hear him praying, “Please, God. Let this dog live. Let Toby survive.”

“Here they come,” said Jenna, watching the sled approach. Dusty, who had managed to slip outside, wagged her tail at the thought of seeing Kodi again.

Luna squinted. “That’s funny,” she noted. “There are only six dogs.” She studied the team. “Oh no,” she gasped. “Toby!” she yelled as she ran towards the sled.

“Toby?” asked Terry, dashing after Luna. Balto and Jenna were fast on Terry’s heels.

“Uncle Kodi!” called Luna, desperately hoping there was an explanation. “Where’s Toby?”

“In trouble!” answered Kodi. “We’ve gotta get into town right now!”

“Where is Toby?” Terry echoed Luna’s question.

“He’s on the sled,” called Kirby, “And in bad shape. He needs a vet on the double.”

The sled sped into town and didn’t stop until it reached the clinic. “Doctor!” called the musher, hopping off the sled and gently lifting Toby. “Doctor!”

“What happened?” Terry demanded.

“Well, first he got sick, and then he just about killed himself saving us from a bear,” answered Norik. “If it’s any comfort, your boy’ll go down a hero.”

“WHAT?!” Clearly Norik’s efforts did not comfort Terry at all. For that matter, Balto, Jenna, and Luna didn’t look so happy either.

The vet came out wondering what the commotion was. The sight of Toby answered his question. Toby didn’t look like a dog who had won a race less than two weeks ago. He barely even looked like a dog. His nose was stuffed up and running, his eyes were glassy and barely open, and his frame was practically skin and bone. “Bring him inside, quickly,” ordered the doctor.

While Balto and Jenna assured themselves that everyone else-especially Kodi-was unharmed, Terry and Luna followed Toby inside the clinic. They would have followed him into the office itself if they hadn’t been shooed back out into the waiting room. “Toby!” called Luna. Terry scratched at the door, but to no avail. Greatly dejected, they sat down to wait.

“Toby…” she said Terry softly, as if she couldn’t believe this was happening. She hadn’t felt like this in years, and it had not been long enough at all. Toby, her son, was in there dying while she sat outside the door, powerless to do anything.

Luna patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said. “Toby’s tough. He’ll pull through.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” asked Terry.

Luna wanted to say that it was silly to think that Toby would die, and she would have if it had been true. “Let’s listen in and see what we can hear,” she suggested, flattening an ear against the door. After a moment, Terry did the same.

They were only able to catch snatches of conversation. The musher explained about the bear, and the vet answered something about infection. They heard him say something that sounded like “doesn’t look good,” followed by something neither of them could decipher.

The musher slammed a fist on the table in reply. “No, doc,” he said harshly. “This dog was placed in my care, and he risked his life to save me and my team. I am not going to let him be put down.”

Both Terry and Luna gasped, and tears started to well in their eyes.

They heard the musher sigh. “Please, you’ve gotta do whatever you can.”

“That’s up to his owner.”

“Well until she gets here, I’m saying you’ve gotta do anything you can! I’ll cover the bills, but do whatever it takes. Just make sure he lives.”

“I’ll do all I can,” promised the vet, “Although from everything you’ve said he should have died yesterday, if not sooner.”

After an hour that seemed like a year to Terry and Luna, the door opened and the vet and musher came out. “I’ll go get…” the musher was saying, but he suddenly found his feet swept out from under him as if they’d been hit with a club. Terry and Luna bounded into the room, dashing to the bed where Toby lay. They put their paws up on the table to get a look at him. The bandages had been removed and replaced with fresh ones, but his leg was still in a splint, not a cast, and Toby looked even worse than some dogs Terry had seen that were already dead. It was only because of how thin he was that they could even tell he was breathing.

“Toby?” asked Luna, nuzzling his cheek. Toby didn’t respond. “Toby, if you die on me I’ll kill you,” she threatened.

Terry took her turn. “Toby?” she tried, almost begging. “Wake up.”

Toby stirred slightly and opened an eye. “Mom? Luna?” he asked. His voice sounded like the voice of a frog that hadn’t seen water for a month.

The two started crying with relief that he was alright. Terry asked him what had happened, but he coughed and asked if he could tell them later. The two agreed quickly, which Toby was glad for. It wasn’t that he had faked the cough or anything, because he hadn’t. But he would rather face that bear again than explain to his mother why he had kept pushing himself when he was so sick. ‘If nothing else kills me,’ he thought, grateful to find he could still joke, ‘She will.’

After they left, Kodi slipped in through the door. “I just wanted to tell you that the other guys said they were sorry for making fun of you.”

Toby nodded. “Apology accepted.”

“If there’s anything you want, we’ll do it,” Kodi promised.

Toby remembered something he had been thinking of on the trail. “See if you can get Pete to fill in for me.”

Kodi’s eyes widened in amazement. “Pete? But I thought you hated each other.”

“He hates me,” Toby corrected. “But I don’t hate him. He’s still family, even if he is a jerk. Besides, his dad was a racer, so I figure he ought to have a shot.”

Kodi considered. “Okay, I’ll do it,” he agreed. “But it sounds crazy to me.”

Toby smiled weakly. “He’s a purebred, so you can probably skip intermediate training. Go straight to, say, level ten.” Training level ten on the system they had used meant getting up before sunrise five days a week, running all day on each of those days, and not stopping until after sundown. If it were done more than five days a week, or for that matter if it were done without buildup training, it would probably put the trainee-and possibly the trainer-in the hospital. Toby wasn’t worried, though. If Pete quit by noon on day one, it would be all he could do and more than Toby expected of him. Pete’s health was well-protected by his hatred of a challenge.

Kodi nodded. “Will do. And Toby…” he added, as sad and as worried as a dog can be, “Get better soon. We really need you.” Then he left the room.

Toby dropped his head. “Yeah, right,” he muttered. “Like a thorn in the paw.”

Toby recovered slowly, but his spirits didn’t seem to recover at all. Every time someone came in, they would find him with his head hanging dejectedly off the table. When Luna asked him what was wrong, he let out a miserable sigh. “I heard the musher tell Alicia this morning that I can’t run anymore. My biggest dream, and it’s gone.”

Luna couldn’t believe her ears. Toby had lived through a series of events that would have killed most dogs, and he was feeling sorry for himself because he wouldn’t be a sled dog? “Is that what you’re upset about?” she asked. “Toby, you should be glad you’re alive.”

“Why?” asked Toby. “I can’t pull a sled anymore. That’s all I wanted. To prove I could do something I wasn’t bred for.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “You mean you wanted to be like Balto. For crying out loud, Toby, you’re more determined to be like my grandpa than Uncle Kodi was. So what if you’re not like Balto? Lots of dogs aren’t on the team. My parents aren’t on there, and neither are most of my aunts or uncles. Aside from Uncle Kodi, nobody in my family is. And they are bred for it! Your parents aren’t on the team either, but they’re wonderful anyway.”

“Yeah, but none of them are heroes. That’s all I wanted to be.”

“You want heroes?” asked Luna in disbelief. “YOU WANT HEROES?! Your dad’s the guy they go to when they need to track down thieves and murderers. He’s the one they call when kids are lost in the woods and freezing to death! Your own father is a hero and you barely talk to him!”

Toby scoffed. “So you’ve joined everyone else now, telling me I should be just like my dad. Is that it?”

Luna laid her ears back and glared at him. “There is nothing wrong with being like you’re dad, but anyway I never said you had to. You’re already a hero.”

Toby lifted his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“You helped us find my mom when grandp-Steele, I mean-chased her out of town. You talked us into going back to save the other dogs in Carson’s clutches when we were all set to leave them there. You took on Carson with nothing but your teeth when he had a gun in his hand! And refresh my memory. Who came up with the plan to take down Steele?”

“I did,” Toby admitted. “But when I helped out I didn’t know Carson was involved. When I stood my ground and we went back in to free the other dogs, I didn’t know he’d be back so soon. And my plan to get rid of Steele didn’t work.”

“And who saved us when that happened? You did. And now you’ve taken on a grizzly when you were too sick to pull a sled. Not one of the other dogs has ever done even one of those things. Even when Grandpa Balto took one on he was perfectly healthy, and he would’ve been killed anyway if Grandma Jenna hadn’t distracted it. You already are a hero. But you know, those things aren’t what make you one.” Her frown softened and turned into a smile. “You’re a hero because when you knew that Steele, the archenemy of your hero, the dog who had so recently tried to rip you to shreds, was my grandpa…” she stopped, letting her words hang for a moment, “…You were my friend anyway. You stayed my friend, and you kept my secret. You’ve been a hero since you were barely old enough for a home. You’ve always been a hero, Toby. Just by being yourself.”

Toby nodded. “I guess when you put it that way I am a hero,” he agreed. “But I don’t feel like one.”

Much to his surprise, Luna laughed. “That’s what makes you one. Grandpa Balto saved the entire town, and that’s why everybody in town loves him. But it’s not why his family loves him, including me. I love him because he’s my grandpa. My dad and my uncles and aunts love him because he’s their dad. And grandma loves him because she knows he cares about her.” She paused to let her point sink in. “You said that the dogs in my family aren’t heroes aside from Balto. Well, that’s not true. Most of them have been to the brink of death and back again more than once, and nobody worth thinking about loved them any more or less because of it. My mom and dad survived the worst place on earth, but that’s not why I love them. I love them because they’re my parents. The heroes in my family don’t go around acting like heroes all the time. They’re just regular dogs-well, wolf-dogs mostly-who did what they had to do when someone needed them. Steele went around acting like he was a bigshot, and look how he ended up.”

Toby smiled. “Thanks, Luna. I guess I’ve been pretty stupid lately, huh?”

Luna grinned. “No more so than usual.”

“HEY!”

Luna laughed, and then Toby started laughing too. “Do me a favor and get well soon, will you?” Luna asked him. “I can’t tell you how boring it’s been without someone to hang out with.”

Toby was skeptical. “You? Bored?”

“Let me put it this way- if I have to listen to one more word from my sisters about crushes and salons, I’ll go crazy!”

Toby laughed. “Maybe I should take my time about recovering,” he suggested.

Luna narrowed her eyes. “Don’t make me come up there and break your other leg,” she growled playfully.

Toby laughed. “Okay,” he agreed, “I’ll hurry it up if you’ll tell me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You’ve been in a cast before, right?”

Luna nodded.

“Well would you mind telling me why you didn’t warn me how much this thing would ITCH?!”

Luna laughed, but was interrupted by a whistle from outside. “Gotta go,” she said, heading for the door. “By the way,” she added in parting, “When you’re on your feet again, somebody’s got a surprise for you.”

“What surprise?” Toby asked, but she was already gone. ‘Great,’ he thought, dropping his head back down. ‘If this itch doesn’t drive me crazy, she will.’

After several weeks Toby was finally out of the cast and on his feet again. The day the cast came off Alicia took him to a house he’d never seen before. From what he had managed to pester Luna into telling him, Toby guessed that this had something to do with the surprise she had mentioned. ‘Are we moving?’ he wondered.

Alicia waved to someone sitting in the window, and a minute later a young boy came barreling out the door, moving as fast as his crutches could carry him. It was Charlie, of course. He ran up to Toby and started petting him. “Hi, Toby,” he smiled. “I heard about the bear and everything. I can’t believe you’re alive!”

Toby woofed politely and sniffed Charlie’s hand, but he was wary. Was Alicia trying to give him away now that she knew he knew he couldn’t handle the outdoors?

“Do you have the sled?” asked Alicia.

“Yep!” answered Charlie. “It’s right under the tarp on the porch.”

‘Sled?’ wondered Toby. ‘What sled?’

Alicia strode to the porch and lifted a snow-covered tarp to reveal a small dogsled exactly right for someone Charlie’s size. Charlie smiled and pulled a bunch of leather straps out of his coat. It was a harness!

“How did you get this again?” asked Alicia, sounding as if she were just curious.

Charlie shook his head. “It was really weird. It just showed up on the porch one morning with the harness. There was a note that said, ‘To Charlie, From a friend,’ and that was it.”

Alicia winked at Toby, giving him a sneaking suspicion who the “friend” was. “Gee,” she said, “It’s too bad you don’t have a dog to pull it.” Then with a meaningful look at Toby she added, “You could borrow Toby, but the musher says he’s no good for pulling a sled anymore.”

Toby’s eyes flashed. ‘No good, huh?’ he thought. Forcibly he pushed his head into the harness. In the back of his mind he knew he was playing into Alicia’s scheme, but who cared? ‘Useless, am I? Let’s just see about that,’ he thought.

Charlie laughed. “Maybe we could just try the harness on Toby to see how it looks?” he suggested. Alicia nodded and bent down to help slip the harness on. As Toby suspected, it was a perfect fit. He wondered what Alicia’s scheme was, and whether or not Charlie was in on it.

“Can I take him for a run, please?” begged Charlie.

“I don’t know,” Alicia smiled. “He just got out of the hospital. He really should take it easy.”

Toby barked and pulled at the straps. Charlie got a look in his eyes you might see in movies like “Bambi.” “Pleeeaase?” he begged. “I won’t push him hard. And the doctor says I need fresh air. I’ll bet you anything it would do Toby some good too after all those smelly medicines.”

Alicia laughed. “Well,” she conceded, “I guess a quick run down the street and back wouldn’t hurt.”

Charlie cheered and hurried to the back of the sled. He slipped his crutches into a bag that had been tied upright to the side so they’d be easy to reach. Then he shakily stepped onto the back of the sled. It had little blocks fitted onto the runners to hold his feet in place. He gripped the handles and called out, “Mush!”

Toby needed no encouragement. He ran, making sure to keep the pace fairly slow. After all, he was only pulling a kid, and a cripple at that. But even at a reduced speed it felt wonderful to just be running again. He ran down the street, turned, and dashed back up again. Charlie was all smiles as they slowed to a stop. “Can we do it again?” he begged.

In the days that followed, Toby pulled Charlie more and more often. Sometimes it was just a quick run, other times Alicia would loan him to Charlie for the entire day. The boy’s parents, noticing how happy he was to be riding a dogsled, often sent him on little errands to the post office or the general store to give him an excuse to ride his sled. When they weren’t playing with the sled, Charlie sat on the porch and threw a ball for Toby to chase. And sometimes they would just sit for hours at a time-usually while they were warming up by the fire between runs-and Charlie would pat Toby and tell him what a good dog he was.

One day Alicia asked Charlie and Toby if she could have a talk with them. She took a deep breath and focused her attention on the boy. “You really like Toby, don’t you?”

Charlie nodded, patting Toby on the head. “He’s the greatest dog in the whole world,” he said. “Thanks for letting me play with him.”

Alicia smiled. “And how do you like it, Toby?”

Toby barked and wagged his tail, making Alicia and Charlie laugh.

“Tell me, Charlie,” said Alicia, “Are you still looking for a dog?”

Charlie shook his head. “No, not anymore. Toby’s better than any dog I could have imagined.”

Alicia nodded. “Then it sounds like you may already have a dog,” she smiled.

Boy and dog looked at each other, their faces showing matching expressions of surprise. “You mean…?” asked Charlie.

Alicia smiled. “I love Toby like anything, but let’s face it-he’s not gonna get along in my house. I just can’t handle him all the time, especially with my job. He needs a home where he’ll always have someone to play with.”

Charlie was stunned. “I’d…I’d have to ask my folks,” he said.

“I already talked to them. They said they think it’s wonderful how much Toby’s done for you. If you want him, he’s yours.”

Charlie looked at Toby. “Well, boy, what do you think?”

Toby looked back and forth between Charlie and Alicia. He loved playing with Charlie, but…well, he had never given up on his dream of being a sled dog. He'd even come to the conclusion that to wear a dog sweater-even the one the lady had given him-wouldn't be so bad if it meant he could run. What if living with Charlie…meant giving up that dream?

‘But I’m already running,’ he realized, looking at the harness he wore. ‘And I’m helping someone, just like the mail team.’ He looked at Charlie. First at his face, warm and hopeful. Then Toby’s eyes traveled down to the wooden crutches, endless reminders of the boy’s crippling disability.

'The chances, the changes

‘But it’s not just my life that’s in my paws to change now.’ Toby looked back up at Charlie’s face. ‘It’s his life too. And he needs me more than I need the team.’ He looked at Alicia and placed one paw on Charlie’s knee, signifying his choice. Charlie threw his arms around Toby’s neck, so happy that he was crying.

Alicia smiled. “Then you’ll need these,” she said, pulling out Toby’s food and water dishes, wrapped in a blanket she had made out of the dog sweater. Toby no longer despised it. This was partially because the vet had remarked that the thick wool had shielded him from part of the bear’s attack, but mostly it was the fact that he no longer had to wear it. “I’ll go get the rest of his things from my house.”

Charlie let go of Toby and eagerly hopped on the sled. “How about we all go get them?” he suggested.

It felt strange to be moving to a new home and a new master, but Toby found that it was a good strange. He’d had his adventure for now. And who knew what might still lie ahead?

The greatest adventure

Is there in your home…

‘Yes,’ thought Toby, looking at the house that was now his. ‘My home…’

A curious thing happened to Charlie, now that he had a dog. A few weeks after Toby came to live with him, Charlie took his first steps without crutches. Soon he was walking on his own entirely. His legs, strengthened by standing at the back of the sled and pressing his feet down to steer or brake, were finally working correctly. His parents were amazed, and his mother remarked on an old story about a man who had healed blindness using mud. “I guess if mud can cure blindness, a mutt can cure lameness,” she joked.

As for Toby, he never regretted his choice. When Charlie’s legs grew strong, and the boy began to walk on his own, Toby was happier than he had ever been. It wasn’t a big, heroic feeling of pride, but the love shared by dog and master, a love which he had fled for so long. He no longer babbles about wanting to be a wolf-dog. He no longer practices with Kodi, who soon had six new apprentices anyway. And even though Charlie now walks freely, he and Toby still enjoy a daily sled ride. Toby is, to this day, perfectly content to be a housedog.

But perhaps the story is not yet over. Toby may live in a house, but one, sometimes two nights a month he goes outside…and sleeps in a den.

Author’s Note: Since this is a Balto story, some readers may wonder why I didn’t use the song Reach for the Light. At first I thought I might, but I decided a change of pace would be interesting, so I chose instead to use a favorite song of mine taken from the animated movie The Hobbit, which was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. The song called “The Greatest Adventure” struck me as being very personal and direct to Toby, particularly in this instance. It was written by Jules Bass and is technically used here without permission.

Balto, Jenna, Kodi, Dusty, Ralph, Kirby © Universal Studios

Chase © redwolf03

Toby, Alicia Day, Terry, Luna, Charlie Winters, Nolan Winters, Pete, Rex, Rocky, Colt, Norik, Haley, Phoebe © Dragon Tamer

Next Time, in Toby Part 4:

Toby and Luna have been best friends forever. They've faced death, shared secrets, and passed test after test of their loyalty with flying colors. But now, they have a whole new problem on their paws. A problem that could crush their friendship forever.