Half an hour later, Steele walked up to the boat, with the majority of the sausages still intact and uneaten. He went over to Balto, and dropped the meat before him.
“I’m sorry, Balto,” he sighed.
“It’s my fault for going into town anyway,” Balto said. Steele looked at him.
“Listen, they’re holding a race tomorrow to choose the fastest dogs for the sled team to deliver the anti-toxin from Nenana. You should do it. Maybe Jenna will realise you’re the better male, then,” he said. Balto looked up at him. “If you are, then eat the meat. You need your strength,” Steele said, before he walked off.
Balto watched him go, before he silently ate the food.
The next day, Balto, taking up Steele’s offer, decided to join in the race to select the dogs for the team.
When the race started, Balto was clearly faster than the others, except Nikki, whether accidently or on purpose, tripped the wolf-dog up and sent him sliding on the frozen lake nearby. With impressive thinking, Balto managed to get back into the race by first jumping along several wooden poles, then along three boats, jumping down before the dogs and running around the corner to the finish line.
As the crowd cheered, Balto panted, looking over at Jenna, who had watched with a smile.
Steele walked up to Balto.
“Guess you get to love one of your dreams now,” he said.
“Does this mean you’ll stop boasting about it?” Balto asked.
“Hey, when we get back, I’m going to have you mate at least one bitch, and then I’ll stop boasting,” Steele said, completely serious.
“Steele!”
Steele barked softly, turning around to his musher. The man patted him on his head, before he went to Balto.
“Now, let’s take a look at our winner, here,” he said.
As Steele stepped back, he accidently trod on Balto’s paw, making him growl in pain. Unfortunately, the musher noticed his sharp teeth.
“We can’t trust this one. He’s part-wolf,” he said. “He might turn on me,” he added as he walked away.
Balto’s ears lowered in depression. Steele looked at Balto, but, unable to say anything, simply followed his musher upon being called.
Jenna made to go to Balto.
“Balto, I…” she began.
“Better not talk to me, Jenna. I might turn on you,” Balto said savagely, before he walked off, head lowered in shame.
Later, at night, Steele and his team were ready to start running.
Balto watched from his boat, ears flat.
Except Steele, on the way back with the serum, was struggling against a blizzard.
“Steele! Maybe we should go back! We’re lost!” Star said.
“I am not lost!” Steele said, turning to glare at Star. The smaller husky just gave a nervous chuckle and tried to make up an excuse, but Steele ignored him, and ran to his left.
It was his biggest mistake.
Instead of being the way home, it led to a large cliff. Steele tried to stop, but the ice was too slippery, and the team, sled, and musher fell down, the musher hitting his head and getting knocked unconscious.
Back in Nome, after the few days of the sled team’s departure, Balto realised something was wrong. Upon seeing Rosy dying, and the carpenter creating child sized coffins, the wolf-dog knew what he had to do.
With Boris, Muk, and Luk in tow, the wolf-dog made his way into the wilderness, following Steele’s trail, as faint as it was, while at the same time marking his own.
But when a grizzly tried to attack the group, Balto, close to dying, discovered that Jenna had followed him.
With the grizzly now in the ice, Balto had Muk, Luk, and Boris take Jenna back to Nome. Before leaving, Boris left Balto with a few words of advice.
“A dog cannot make this journey alone. But maybe a wolf can.”
With these words, and Jenna’s bandanna, Balto continued on his voyage to find Steele.
Upon finding the malamute, Balto was met with both surprise and relief.
Steele, knowing that Balto’s appearance meant that there was a way home, went over to his friend.
“You never cease to amaze,” he said, before giving him a friendly nuzzle.
“No time for this, Steele. We need to get back to Nome,” Balto said.
“How?” Nikki asked.
“I marked a trail – we can use it to guide us,” Balto said, demonstrating how he marked the trail on a dead tree.
“But we only have seven harnesses,” one husky said.
“Then someone has to ride in the sled with the musher and the medicine,” Steele said.
“I’ll do it. That way you can still lead,” Balto said. Steele shook his head.
“No. You should lead – it’s been your dream,” he said. Balto looked at him, before agreeing.
So, quickly, the sled dogs managed to get the musher onto the sled, along with the crate of medicine, before Steele hopped on to keep the musher warm, and Balto, after a brief pause of hesitation, put on Steele’s harness. With that, the dog troop set off, following Balto’s claw marks.
Except now the blizzard was obscuring both the pathway, and the claw marks. Balto looked worried.
“Which way, Balto? Which way? Which way?” Star kept yapping.
“Er…this way!” Balto said, running to his left.
Only five minutes later they ended up back where they started.
“Balto, why are you taking us in circles?” Kaltag asked.
“I’m not! It’s the blizzard!” Balto said.
“Maybe we was better off with Steele there,” Nikki said.
“Hey! It’s his first time leading a sled! Cut him some slack!” Steele said.
Before anyone could say anything else, Balto ran off, dragging the sled dogs behind him, despite their protests for him to slow down.
But as they kept running, Balto’s eyes opened wide in panic. They had run right onto a cliff! Balto stopped, and everyone else tried to stop as well. Steele and the musher were thrown out the sled, but fortunately stayed on the cliff. The sled itself skidded to a stop just next to the edge. But the medicine was starting to slip.
Thinking quickly, Balto leapt out his harness, and grabbed the crate before it fell. As the huskies congratulated Balto, the snow suddenly gave way, and Balto and the crate fell into the abyss below.
Back in Nome, Jenna, worried sick, dragged a lit lantern to the outskirts, before placing bottles before it, using Balto’s own technique to create a pattern similar to the Northern Lights. She turned to look in the distance.
“Balto…” she whispered…
***
Vast, emptiness in the chasm – not a sign of life – it was as if time had slowed or stopped completely, save for the forces of nature. Snow billowed about in the blizzard as it raged on. Everything seemed still and silent. Nothing was moving or making a sound, save for the flying snowflakes, and the howling wind. A blanket of white encased the ground, fresh, with no disturbances. At the side of the chasm stood a tall mountain cliff, half covered in snow - the grey rocks that were visible cast an ominous aura around the area, seemingly too treacherous to climb.
Something poked up out of the snow, but ducked back in almost as quickly. It emerged again, this time for a longer period of time. It looked to be a nose – a muzzle.
With a loud grunt, Balto managed to haul himself out of the snow; first his head, then his body, before finally his hind legs and tail. He stumbled for a second, then collapsed on his front. The hybrid stared forwards, his face showing his depression. His shaggy, brown-grey fur ruffled around in the wind, golden-yellow eyes half-closed in melancholy. Ears lay flat against his head, as an outward – and universal – sign of despair.
“Rosy…” he whispered, before he fell short, sniffing. Placing his paw over his eyes, crying silently, the wolf-dog reflected on what had just happened. Steele was wrong – he had put so much faith in Balto, and Balto was desperate to prove him right. That was how Balto ended up in the chasm he was now in. He had failed. And now the children in Nome had to pay the price…
After a few seconds, Balto lowered his paw, just staring blankly ahead of him. His eyes widened and he looked up.
Standing before him, with no explanation of how she got there, was a beautiful looking white wolf. Her majestic fur was white as snow; her eyes – yellow and black – were looking down at the amalgamation of wolf and dog in front of her; her face was solemn. Towering over the wolf-dog, she leaned her head back and howled.
Balto, ashamed, looked away, resting his head on his forelegs.
The white wolf stared at him, moving a bit closer, before she turned, and slinked away, disappearing into the blizzard.
During this, Balto noticed something. He opened his eyes wider, raising his head to get a better view.
Sticking out of a snow drift, jostled but not damaged, was the crate of medicine he needed to bring back to Nome.
Lifting his gaze, Balto looked up at the mountain. To Balto, it appeared to be extremely high, and almost impossible to climb.
“Let me tell you something, Balto. A dog cannot make this journey alone. But…maybe, a wolf can.” Boris’s voice said in Balto’s mind, repeating what the old Russian snow goose had told him earlier.
Reflecting on one of his oldest friend’s statements, Balto, with newfound determination in his face, glared ahead of him. He turned his head to glare at where the white wolf had been. Looking down, the hybrid noticed a set of paw prints leading away from him.
Balto narrowed his eyes, before he started to stand up. He struggled for a second, until he was standing on all fours. He placed a forepaw before him on one of the wolf prints, then lifted it. To the wolf-dog’s surprise, his pads fit the print perfectly.
Balto pressed his foot firmly on the imprint, determination brimming in his eyes, before looking up at the sky. He pulled back for a second, before he leaned forward, pointed his head up at the sky, and howled, exactly like a wolf. Stopping for a second to catch his breath, Balto continued to howl, signifying he had chosen to accept who he was – accepting the one half of him he tried to bury: the wolf.
Before him, the white wolf appeared again, staring to her side at the half-breed. Slowly, she walked to Balto, before she stood before him. Lifting her own head up, the white wolf howled with Balto, face-to-face.
The twin howls rang out around the entire chasm, even reaching the top of the cliff, where the other sled dogs were shivering in the cold, still attached to the sled in their harnesses.
“Great. Things are not bad enough – now we’ve got wolves,” Nikki said.
“Wolves?!” the other said, scared. Kaltag looked over the cliff edge.
“Hey, over here!” he said.
“What? What is it?” Steele asked.
Everyone looked over the edge, to see Balto dragging the medicine up the cliff.
“Is that…”
“Balto!”
“And he’s got the medicine!”
Everyone looked suitable impressed.
“Come on, Balto. Keep trying, baby!” Nikki said.
Kaltag started to stammer out several compliments, only for Star to interrupt. Glaring, Kaltag just sat on his head.
Nikki and Steele noticed Balto’s paw prints.
“Hey, he’s got the feet of a wolf, dere,” Nikki said.
With all the dogs’ encouragement, Balto managed to haul the medicine up to the cliff edge. Everyone helped him the last few inches, before they put the crate on the sled, along with the musher, and set off.
Balto stopped when he reached an area with claw marks. He sniffed the air, and grinned, before running along.
Now on the right path, the group moved along swiftly towards Nome. The only hiccups coming from an ice bridge breaking, and Star sneezing, causing an avalanche. Balto resorted to going through an ice cave.
Large shards of ice hung from the ceiling. Balto, sensing that even the slightest of noise would cause them to fall, motioned for the others to stay silent. They complied, Nikki having to push his paw against Star’s nose to stop him sneezing again.
Except even with everyone absolutely silent, the sound of the sled thudding against the floor was enough.
A large shard fell from the ceiling, and smashed where the musher would be standing. The ceiling started to shake.
Abandoning staying silent, Balto ordered everyone to run. They kept dodging falling ice shards, even as one caused part of the crate to split. Steele noticed and tried to push it back. Balto jumped on an ice shard that had embedded in the ground, propelling himself forwards with enough force to push the crate back together.
Running towards the exit, Balto noticed six large shards starting to fall. Fortunately, everyone managed to out run them, and they exited the cave safely.
***
Nome was getting quieter. Most of the citizens were in the hospital, watching the children. Rosy’s parents were sitting beside Rosy’s bed. Jenna was resting her head on it.
On the boat in the outskirts, Boris, Muk, and Luk were hugging each other, all fearing the worst.
That is, until a howl sounded.
Boris looked up, recognising the voice.
“Balto,” he whispered. He turned his head.
Balto and the sled team burst out of a snow bank, heading directly to Nome.
“Balto’s back!” Boris exclaimed happily.
Balto kept running, and saw Jenna’s Northern Lights. He smiled.
“Jenna,” he said. He jumped and howled happily, before he continued to run.
In the hospital, Jenna heard his howl, and, upon recognising his voice, started to bark happily. Rosy’s parents woke up.
“The team!” the man said.
“They made it!” his wife added. They ran to a window and looked out.
All around the town, lights were coming on as more and more woke up.
Inside the Old Mill, the dogs inside ran out, as the whole town gathered around the hospital.
Balto ran along the path, feeling slightly scared. But as he and the team pulled up outside the hospital, the humans seemed more concerned with the musher and the medicine than they did him.
As the doctors and nurses started to distribute the anti-toxin to the children, Balto found himself surrounded by several people, all praising and petting him. Even Boris and the polar bears ran to him and hugged him.
When Balto managed to squeeze free, he found Rosy’s father waiting expectantly for him.
“Come on, boy. There’s someone who wants to see you,” he said. He started to lead Balto into the hospital. Balto looked back at Boris, who nodded encouragingly. Balto smiled as he trotted inside.
Rosy slowly woke up.
“Mommy?” she asked.
“Rosy, darling,” her mother said, hugging her in relief.
“I feel asleep,” Rosy said.
“Rosy,” her father said.
Balto looked around the room, watching as more families reunited, all happy, before his eyes fell on Rosy’s musher hat. He went over and picked it up, being careful not to shred it with his teeth, and carried it over to Rosy.
“Balto,” Rosy said, taking her hat. She hugged Balto. “I’d be lost without you,” she whispered.
The sound of someone clearing her throat caught Balto’s attention. He turned to the door.
Jenna was standing there, smiling.
“Jenna,” Balto said. He ran over to Jenna, and the two started playing about like two hyperactive puppies, until they ended up with their noses together. Before either of them could say anything, Jenna leaned forwards, and nuzzled Balto. He looked at her in slight shock. Jenna looked back at him with what could only be describe as ‘bedroom eyes’. Balto grinned, until he became aware of the crowd outside again.
As Star and Kaltag finally agreed on something, Steele smiled up at Balto as the crowd cheered for the wolf-dog. Balto smiled back, glad that he had finally found his place.
