Chapter 7

It was at night with the moon seemingly frowning down upon Balto and his team as they plodded through the vacant forest like restless spirits searching forever for something that is always out of reach. The dark silhouettes of the trees reached out to them as if trying to lure them into their grasp and then strain the very life from their bodies. Why this eerie feeling hung over Balto he had not the foggiest; maybe it was because they were stooping down to the level of desperation. A scent pulled Balto down from the clouds and he came to an abrupt halt.

"What is it," Lartia asked from the third slot.

"Dogs," Balto relied plainly. He took in a long draw through his nose. "About twenty strong."

Ralph shifted uneasily in his traces and bit the inside of his lip. If something went wrong, which was the epithet of this whole trip, they would be completely powerless against such a staggering number.

Balto looked back over his shoulder.

"Stay here; I'm gonna go check it out."

Balto slipped from his traces and crept low and slow over to a fallen log covered with a layer of snow that had not been disturbed since it fell and peeked over. Nineteen dogs slept huddled together to ward off the persistent cold. Balto ran his eyes all the way behind them and his heart all but stopped. There not ten yards away from the farthest dog, towered a pile of food that must have stood as tall as a house. Balto glanced back behind him and twitched his ears. The team pulled the sled over and wiggled free from their leather and then took a look over the log. As Balto ran his eyes over the vast number of dogs he began to have second thoughts; but his team needed him to pull through.

"This way," Balto whispered and turned to his left.

The team followed him in a circle to the back of the pile where he stopped them to check for any threats. Slowly he crept around the side of the pile and peeked his head around to the front of it. As soon as his head rounded the corner, he quickly jerked it back. He was sure that the dog sitting before the large mass of food had seen him. For more than twenty seconds Balto stood pressed against the pile with his breath held in tight. He finally let his breath go in a silent cloud of mist and peeked around the corner again.

Yes there was a dog sitting out in front, but something was off. His head and shoulders were slumped forward as if e would fall to the ground at any moment, and rhythmic breaths rose from his down turned muzzle. He was asleep on the job. Balto signaled for the team to bring the sled close to the pile with a move of his paw. The sled grinded to a halt and Balto instantly put a paw over his mouth in the silent signal that they needed to be as quiet as possible.

"Take half," Balto began in a whisper that was barely audible, "and for the love of God, be quiet.

The dogs nodded and let their traces drop slowly to the ground then padded over to the base of the mountain that stood before them. They seized bags of jerky, bacon, kibbles, and even moose into their mouths and piled them delicately onto the sled, resisting the urge to bury their heads to their ears into the pile. Kodiak lightly grabbed a bag of kibbles and turned to make for the sled. His grip slipped and the bag fell to the snow with a crinkling thud. The entire team froze and held their breaths, praying silently that their presence was still unknown. The sleeping dogs, not even the would be guard, so much as budged. The team released their breath in a silent unison and continued carefully with their work. They grabbed up twenty gallons worth of contained water that was stacked near the far edge of the pile then quickly vacated, like ghosts into the forest. Balto had a black and white husky with brown eyes by the name of Comet follow behind the sled with a branch to sweep away their tracks the last thing they wanted was twenty pissed off dogs on their trail.

- Dakota and the others had help on the way. They had bunked down a short ten miles from where the group had split; in the backs of their restless minds, they hoped and prayed that all had worked out with the plan.

- Balto and his team toiled the heavy sled non-stop through the late hours of the night growing ever closer to the remainder of his team. He crested a small hill and there, clearly visible in the vast open that stretched beneath him, he saw them. With a long howl, he and his group of raiders began down the hill in a full sprint. When the distance was nearly closed, he howled again, and the downed group shot their heads up and rose to their feet. Through one final snow bank, Balto exploded into their sight with the sled groaning behind him from the mountain of food that lay on top. Dakota and the others let off excited cheers and barks as the food came into view and circled around the winded team as they came to a stop, never once letting back on their cheers. Balto raised his head and looked out with a smile spread from ear to ear across his face.

"Dive in," was Balto's simple order to the anxious team.

They didn't need to be told twice. The dogs in the traces all but jumped out of them and dove in with the females and Dakota not far behind them. The food spilled to the ground and Balto couldn't help but smile proudly. This was just the blessing they needed to spike morality. Balto laughed and let all of his dignity go as he let off a high pitched "YEEEEOOOOOH" and dove into the pile along with his team. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Balto and his team stuffed their groaning bellies to the point that they felt like they would pop.