Chapter 7: The Gold in the Rough
The night, that was supposed to go on and on, so Steele and the others would be on their paws by dawn, seemed to be never-ending. Going that early to bed and the fact that the night dragged on, with the other fact that he could not fall asleep, was just frustrating him. What if he would end up remaining awake most of the night, then fall asleep just out of blue - only to wake up way too late - with the rescuers already on their way. Why out of all the nights out there, this one had to be the one that'd not let him fall asleep that easy?!
Thinking and thinking, whether his younger son was doing well on the journey or not, that was the thought that kept Steele wondering about his son's safety. Moving his sight at the right, he felt some odd sensation - the bed he was resting in was no longer warm, nor the blanket below him felt like a blanket. Looking below - it was not the beige blanket he was laying on, but something white and cold - snow. But how? How could the snow in his bed be there? Looking around the house slowly - the furniture was no longer there, it was replaced by the forests and the snowflakes falling around.
"What... what is this?!" Steele just had to ask himself, seeing that he was no longer in the house of his master, but in the wild of the Alaska. Looking a bit to his left, it looked like a snowed road, and there was some perfectly straight line passing nearby. Getting on all of his fours, Steele started following that line, not taking him too long to realize that it was a sled trail. Feeling some kind of energy flowing throughout his body, he had that feeling that he could run painlessly. Pacing faster and faster with every step he was making, he could have spotted a tall shadow in front of him, tall enough to be a human. Moreover, there were more energetic barking in front of that human - could it be...?
Suddenly, some kind of hissing was heard, with Steele actually stopping dead on his tracks. That hissing seemed rather piercing and a bit threatening as he was listening to it. Who was hissing at him and where it was coming from? With the shadow disappearing in the distance, Steele had perked with his ears in the distance to listen at the source of hissing. But that hissing was actually something else - someone was calling him. That voice, repeating... "Steele... Steele."
"STEELE!" The chanting was heard, this one being the loudest. That one startled Steele so much that he jumped a bit from the spot and blinked. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was back in his bed, in his house. It was just a dream, because he knew that he couldn't have been at the two different places at once. Perking with his ears in the distance, Steele was wondering, who was calling him in this hour... unless?
"Steele! Get up already!" That voice, that had been trying to call him for a while, belonged to Taiga, no doubts. Not objecting her command, Steele got on his front paws and noticed Taiga peeking through the dog doors. Looking at the nearest window, he had noticed that the sky on the east was shifting colors - from the pitch black to the violet and eventually brighter - it was dawning. That meant one thing - it was time to go. But, since Mr. Hedison was still sleeping, not knowing that his dog was going to be missing for a few days, he whispered to his oldest pup: "Gimme a minute or two, please."
"Okay, just hurry!" Taiga whispered once again, trying to have her father moving. Getting on all of his fours and out of his bed, Steele looked towards the bedroom, the same bedroom Mr. Hedison was sleeping. Feeling bad if he was going to the journey without feeling his touch, Steele just trotted to his room and noticing that Mr. Hedison was sleeping, with his hand being on the edge of the bed, Steele got there and snuggled his head against his master's hand. Stirring for a moment, Mr. Hedison used his hand to pat Steele's head few times before muttering: "Okay... Steele, go back to bed. It's still nighttime..."
"Master, I'm going to miss you..." Steele said, knowing that Mr. Hedison couldn't hear that, as he was human and the fact that humans could not talk with dogs. Feeling a bit relieved, Steele turned around and left his room. Instead of listening to his master, Steele did not return to his bed, but picked a piece of the dinner from the last night and headed towards the dog doors, chewing the leftover meat. Once he was outside, he saw that his daughter Taiga was awaiting him to follow him. She had just let him know: "Follow me, everyone's waiting on the beach."
"I'm after you." Steele agreed, following his daughter to the exact location. Even if it was dawning, the sight for Steele was actually very good to traverse through the dark. As soon as they had reached the outskirts of the town, right onto the beach, Taiga was not lying. The amount of the dogs there astonished Steele - there were so many of them! Yet, for the reason they were going. Families... Balto and Jenna, who were the main ones behind this expedition - were in front of everyone there.
"Well, if I'm not wrong, this means that we are all ready now." Balto spoke in the name of the entire team out there, with some of them resting down in the snow while being tired from getting up that early. No one objected getting up on their paws. Most of the companions out there were dogs, with the occasional wolf-dog, and even the wolves, such as Kenai, and his pups with Aleu - Tundra, Akiak, Denahi and Naia, were there. However, the smile on Balto's face could have indicated something good. Turning to Steele, he just let him know the following: "Steele, I have good news and bad news."
"Is it about the sled team?!" Steele immediately rushed with his question, willing to know what was happening to the team out there. Much to his delight, the others around were nodding, which just made Steele exhale in relief. Letting to someone else to talk about it, Balto had allowed to his grandson Dakotah, the son of Saba and Josh, red husky with patched up face and brown bandanna around his neck, to say: "Good news is that the telegraph had arrived from Tanana, with the team itself reaching it!"
These news literally made Steele exhale in relief even deeper, knowing that the team had reached their destination out there, out of the 1/4 of the journey to Nome. Still, the bad news were present and wondering what these could have been, he was about to ask, but was interrupted by Dakotah once again, saying: "But the bad news is... the team is a bit banged up from the journey home. They are having the problems on the way home."
"Which is pretty much the big reason why we have to rescue them." Alaska, the younger sister of Dakotah and the daughter of Saba and Josh, joined her brother by her side and patted him by his back, who just smiled delightfully at her. The two siblings were close to each other as they only had each other in the terms of the siblings. Feeling some kind of sad feeling, looking at the two young huskies, who were admired by their father from behind... if only he was a good father to his own pups.
Moreover, trying to focus on the rescue, Steele looked at the dogs around, scattered on the beach. Knowing that if he was going to ask the following, that'd have been the dumbest question he had ever asked. But the urge to ask was rather strong, with him turning his look at Balto. Trying to stay cool, he just asked him the following: "Sooo... are you leading us to find the missing team, Balto?"
"I am only leading us to the town of White Mountain." Balto had revealed him, which quite surprised Steele. If they were going on this long kind of the journey to find and rescue the missing team, with Balto being the best leader out there, then why he was doing the small chunk of the journey. Who was going to do the rest then? Kenai? He was the only pure wolf of them all - and not to forget that he had the most advanced senses and him going in the bitter cold of the Alaska was just a walk in the park. He just asked: "But who is leading us the rest?"
"That honor is going to the young one named Pierce." Jenna let him, know turning around to beckon the young husky to come. Observing the husky, he recognized him - the interesting mix of brown and cream fur and the wit coming from Pierce, he may have recalled why he had known him. While his attention was not the best that day, he had heard from Josh that Pierce moved from the town that was on the river Yukon, in the middle of Alaska to here. His first friends were Alaska, whom he had crush on, and her brother Dakotah, the reason why Dakotah had that bandanna in the first place. He hadn't seen him with it before.
"Well, you must be Steele if I'm right." Pierce, the young cream-brown husky spoke to the older malamute, who was delightfully amused by the appearance of this strange young fellow who was obviously not from Nome. Not that Pierce minded, but he had heard the story of Steele being explained to him when he had moved to Nome. Without wasting to much time, he looked at the others around him and let out of himself the decisive question, that being: "Are we ready for this?!"
"READY!" The simultaneous yell, coming from everyone possible out there, indicated the start of the journey and the rescue itself. Without many words being said, the dogs around Steele and everywhere else formed behind Balto, Jenna and Pierce, with Steele heading close to the front, while his pups were behind with their friends - Taiga being with Koda and his siblings, along with their maternal grandparents Max and Molly; Rodney being with Kiana and her siblings, along with their father and uncle Yang, being Rodney's stepfather; Sarah being with Phoenix and his siblings and parents. Looking at Galena, she was accompanied by her brothers, Kassan and Harath. Knowing that this was the journey of the life, Steele just spoke to Balto and Jenna: "I hope that even the sacrifice of mine is going to count... even if the town is going to be saved."
"As long as if it has to be done, then there is no doubt you're going to be remembered." Some of the others spoke, even Balto and Jenna. However, that was not the tone as if the others were trying to get rid of him, but were actually trusting him that he wanted to find the team, rescue them and save the town, showing he was actually caring and compassionate dog. Getting through the forest to get on the trail that was leading to the town of White Mountain, at least Steele could have smiled in delight that he was being given some support.
The journey to the town of White Mountain was just piece of cake, without any obstacles - in the form of the weather, nature or animals, on their way. Even if the town was few hours away from Nome, the time they spent to get there, as if it was quicker than they could possibly imagine. Furthermore, on their way there, upon passing the town of White Mountain, Steele could have seen his pups heading to the nearest cemetery, just near the church.
"Why the cemetery?" Steele, being surprised that three of his pups, who were on this journey, were heading to the cemetery, with the other obviously waiting there. Feeling intrigued, Steele had decided to follow them there and once he had reached the wall of the cemetery, there he could have see Taiga, Rodney and Sarah standing in front of the tombstone. With the small gap in-between the pups, there were the words that were saying the following: "In A Loving Memory of Sean - 1920-1928"
Sean... that name... that name was the name of Shira's first owner... Sean was resting underneath that tombstone... being only eight years old... that feel just made Steele feel the chills deep inside his spine... the kid that could have been living had the medicine arrived... Soon enough, after thinking and thinking, his pups had finally turned around and seeing Steele, they hadn't said much, just Sarah commenting: "If only mom got to see this, Steele..."
"What if...?" Steele wondered in his mind, knowing how much Shira was affectionate towards her owner Sean. No longer being there... that was the pain that would never heal in Shira's soul. With him following the pups towards the group of the rescuers, he had seen that there were some other canines joining the group... these canines... at least three of them, were rather familiar... a white Alaskan Malamute, the black wolf and the white-scarred canine... with the three scars on his eye... the old scars evoked.
When approaching the group, with Pierce assuming the leadership, Steele recognized who these were: Forrest, the Alaskan malamute, who was once a teammate of Dingo's, but got himself roasted by Dingo and Dana after they had beaten Dusty in the final race of the season 1928/29 in the act of retaliation. He ran away, only to work for Niju, for a short time, before the plan was foiled due to Forrest's change of heart. Now he was the mate of the black wolf named Angel, with a rather mysterious background, having pups with them. H was standing as far as he could... from Max and Molly, fearing their wrath...
Then there was this white-scarred canine, Winter being his name. A wolf-dog, the wolf being his father and the dog being his mother, who had followed his father's pawsteps into the wolf heritage, always rejected by the other wolves due to being a wolf-dog. Once, when he saw him for the first time, he had comforted him, Steele fighting Winter. The face-off was tough and was going in Winter's favor, but with Steele scarring him in the eye... just because he was a half-breed... now that was paining Steele a lot... knowing that scarring someone for a such reason was the crime... that couldn't have been let go that easily...
Anyways, with Pierce's leadership towards the cold heart of Alaska, where the team could have possibly been, they were making their progress towards the town of Koyuk, where they were going to sleep over and then, in the dawn, were on to set off towards the town of Galena, their second destination. If only the team was going to be there when they were going to arrive... Arriving to the town of Koyuk, which, funnily enough, bore the name of Jenna's father Koyuk, was a hospitable town for the dogs, finding the old shack in the outskirts to sleep over in...
He had that same dream again... running and running for the tall human-like shadow, that was being on hold of something, something that was panting and barking, in more than one of them. Sled dogs... it just had to be the chosen sled team... it had to be Mr. Simpson, yet the face remained unseen and the dogs were shrouded in the thick darkness. Even if he was running as fast as he could, seeing the light in the shadowy figures, he was starting to slow down... with him panting in despair: "Please, just some more! I want to see some more!"
"STEELE! STEELE!" The voice yelled from the distance and shuddering upon the mention of his name, Steele finally opened his eyes and came to realize he was in the town of Koyuk. It was none other else than his son Rodney, waking him up. Since it was dawning out there, all of the rescuers out there, consisting mostly of canines, with the addition of two polar bears, Muk and Luk being their names, and two snow geese, Boris and Stella being their names, were ready for the journey. Nodding automatically, Steele had gotten on all of his four, got out of the shack - and was ready to move on.
The journey towards the town of Galena was possibly going to be much easier... since they were nearing the river Yukon, which was very familiar to their lead dog Pierce. If only he was following the river Yukon during his journey during the Serum Run of 1925, things would have been much more different... now it was as if it was... nothing could have changed that. Suddenly, the silence, stirred up with the howling of the wind, was broken by the yelling behind.
Turning around, there he could have spotted the source of the ones who were yelling - Koda and his sister Tenana. The two were in some kind of heated argument with each other, with Allina looking at them quite upset and Ryan quite unsure. Taiga, who was a good friend of Koda and her siblings, was looking at them in shock and awe. Suddenly, out of blue, Allina, who was known for her peaceful personality, snapped at both of her older siblings. Then, she broke into the tears, with her younger brother Ryan comforting her. In process, Ryan scolded both of his older siblings, whereas Taiga just shook her head, full of the utter disappointment.
"Steele, excuse me." Jenna, who was in front of the rescue team, asked Steele to let her through, to get to her grandpups, hearing the heated argument between the two. Comforting her granddaughter Allina as soon as she was able to arrive there, he could have spotted Taiga coming towards the front, with each of the siblings going forward separately. Having the urge to ask, showing that he was rather caring, Steele looked at Taiga, asking her: "Taiga... what was that yelling behind? I hope you haven't got hurt..."
"Koda and Tenana had an argument... because of Kodi's bandanna. Now they had got Allina upset and Ryan being mad at them." Taiga let her father know, seeming to be rather distressed by her friends. Being good with each other, only to mess the things up over the bandanna. The yellow bandanna, given to Kodi by Dusty as the gift, the accessory Kodi didn't like, yet didn't want to hurt Dusty's feelings. Now that they were on the medicine delivery, Koda had brought it with himself to help his father feel warmer and better as soon as they were going to arrive... "For the sake of the cold hell, their parents are out there, battling the cold of Alaska, and they argue over a petty accessory?!" These thoughts utterly disgusted Steele... their parents, losing the battle against the wild... he just hoped they were all going to be alright.
By the evening, they had arrived to the town of Galena, thanks to Pierce's leadership. Finding the old abandoned house in the middle of the place, that was the ideal place for them all to sleep over. Even that there were numerous dogs out there to help the missing team, some of them were too exhausted to carry on going there, so they decided to remain in the town og Galena. Seeing Galena with her brothers, Steele felt some kind of the remorse towards the young female dog, knowing that her parents and her friend were still out there... he wanted to comfort her, but he had to keep up with his life mission first... Once that was going to be finished, he was going to hang out with whoever he wanted to and when. Then he could comfort her, but for now...
It happened again... that blasted dream, Steele chasing the human figure - Mr. Simpson, mushing the chosen sled team. He couldn't have seen musher's face due to the shadow covering it just like that. Even that he could hear the dogs panting and barking in front of himself, they were all shrouded by the darkness. Even if he was feeling little to no pain in his own body, he was still inferior in speed compared to the entire team together. With them mushing, Steele could have heard the familiar hissing and yelling... chanting his name.
"Steele! Wake up at once!" The nudge of his shoulder approved that theory of his, with that coming at his shoulder. Upon waking up in the old abandoned house of Galena, Steele realized that it was Sarah who had waken him up this time. Without much struggle, Steele had gotten on all of his fours. Then, Sarah just let him know: "Some of the rescuers here are going to stay in this town, the others will go find the team. Are you coming?"
"Of course I am coming!" Steele immediately agreed, knowing that in this new town, he was much closer to his son. But wait, hadn't Sarah just said that the team wasn't found yet, which would mean that the team hadn't passed through the town of Galena. He just had to ask her: "The team... they haven't been in this town yet?!"
"Not yet, the telegraph would have let us known they were here." Pierce, the lead rescue dog of them all and the dog who was originally from this town, let Steele know. The fact that the team hadn't reached this town made Steele feel the chills down his spine, but then again... if they were still out there... then the chance for the rescue was unavoidable this time. With the dogs that agreed to go - such as Balto, Jenna, Pierce, his own pups, Kodi's pups, Dusty's father Max, Dingo's pups, Josh and Dakotah, whereas Alaska was going to stay in the town, and Yang, Steele followed them outside, with the way leading to the east, where the team could have been on the tracks. The ones who were providing the better view were Aleu, Kenai and their pups, along with Forrest and Angel's pups. The journey was possibly the roughest one for these canines.
With them proceeding to the east, following the river Yukon, Steele was watching the ones that he was accompanying. He had to ask himself - to let the others know about the dream he was having... or not? If they were close enough to find the team, as the town of Tanana was laying in front of them as the next checkpoint for the sled team, then they had to be on their way. Looking anyone around, there he spotted Balto and Jenna on their way. The urge was too strong, making him ask: "Balto... Jenna... I have had a dream of the team..."
"What about them?!" Jenna, who was very concerned for both of her sons and the others in that team for days, suddenly yelled out that question. Any mention of the team, good or bad, would have easily triggered Jenna with the panic in her soul. She meant to bad intentions, but was rather frightened for the safeties of the team. She calmed down and asked the same question once again: "Sorry, what about them?"
"I keep running after the tall shadowy human... the musher... whose face I cannot see at all! I hear dogs barking and panting and as they move on... I lose them... I had that same dream for three days!" Steele went on to confess his entire team to them all, wanting to see what they were trying to say. If it was true, having the same dream for three days, with the others believing him, their hopes would be growing by now. Balto, intrigued by that dream, just went on to say: "If your dreams were showing one the same... then that means that the team is holding on well!"
"Grandpa Balto! Grandpa Balto, I see the town in the distance!" Naia, the youngest pup of Aleu and Kenai, the female white wolf, yelled to her grandfather to let him know what she was seeing. Seeing the white wolf... Steele did wince a bit... ever since that encounter with Balto's mother few months ago... but now he was the entirely different dog. The fear was no more... With the others asking what town was it, Pierce broke their talk with his sentence: "It's the town of Ruby!"
"Ruby?! That is where my sister Audrey and my son Katmai live!" Max, who had heard what town they were heading in, yelled that out, being entirely surprised and delighted. But for Steele... Audrey, Max's sister, dark brown as him, with the dark brown patch on her nose... she had a crush on him before leaving the children of Nome to die... now that she was there, she was definitely going to hurt him, out of the retaliation and everything... "May I suggest that you others go wait us on the other end of the town before I get these two?!"
"Alright, but keep it quick, Max!" Pierce, who was leading the team of the rescuers, allowed Max to get his sister in the town, and his son Katmai, who was also Dusty's older brother. Even that they were going across the town to the eastern end of it, the encounter between Steele and Audrey was going to be unavoidable and if she was still mad at him... the bad consequences were going to await him... unless... With these thoughts circulating in his head, the rescue team headed to the eastern end of the town, whereas Max headed into the town.
This waiting, which was minutes long, were as quick as the seconds were. Max indeed returned to the town very fast, with the two dogs following him joyfully. The younger one, the gray male, was Katmai, Max's oldest pup and Dusty's older brother. The older one, dark brown with the dark brown patch on her nose, was Audrey, once a dog who had a crush on him... now the story was entirely different to talk about.
"If I'm not wrong, I can see some of the familiar faces!" Audrey, who had known Balto and Jenna for a while, even though she was rather mean at Balto and had no pristine relationship with Jenna until Balto had saved the town. With her meeting her great-nephews and great-nieces there, who were still looking roughly from the argument yesterday, she had finally spotted Steele. However, her delighted and joyful face was changed with the mad and shocked face... seeing that she once had a crush on that malamute.
"MAX?! What is *HE* doing here?!" Audrey growled in anger, seeing that the ex-crush of her life was a fraud and the monster, with her not knowing that Steele indeed had changed. Feeling the menace from that female, Steele was about to start backing up. In the last second, Max and Balto put both of their paws on her shoulders, preventing her to attack Steele. She was about to object for being prevented to attack him, with Max saying: "AUDREY! Take it easy! Steele is no longer that heartless egoistical monster! I am telling you, he has changed!"
"Still, I need to teach him a lesson for being a filthy cheater!" Audrey resisted while she was being held down by both her brother and her brother-in-law. She kept saying some words, such as "Glory hound" and "arrogant mutt". With her spitting these words out, without making any progress to the east, Steele couldn't stand it anymore, yet he was going to work on this easy way, by telling Audrey: "Audrey, listen to your brother, we must go!"
"I am not going anywhere with you! If you weren't here, I'd gladly save my niece now!" Audrey snapped at him once again, showing the great detest at that malamute. Now that she was not ready to cooperate, yet wanted to help her niece Dusty... Steele said something, something that Audrey would have never believed coming from his mouth: "If you still want to snap at me for the crimes I have done, go ahead. I am going to find the team, because I AM NOT GOING TO LET MY SON FREEZE TO DEATH! I AM NOT GOING TO LEAVE BALTO'S SONS TO FREEZE TO DEATH! I AM NOT GOING TO LET YOUR NIECE AND THEIR FRIENDS FREEZE TO DEATH! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?! THEY NEED US, *RIGHT* NOW!"
With these words ranted straight into her face, Audrey was not expecting that her ex-crush was going to say these words, but seeing that there were no other options for the rescuers out there and that the precious time was burning, she kept watching him in surprise until when she was able to speak once again, with her tone being serious and determined, saying: "If you are meaning all these words you have just told me - I shall keep you for the word. Make sure you are going to do that!" With these said, she and Katmai were ready to join the team.
Suddenly, Akiak, son of Aleu and Kenai, known for the exact same looks as his own father, was seen sprinting towards the rescuers after he went on to scout ahead on their path. With some indistinguishable words coming from his mouth, Kenai was looking at his quite confused, him muttering some words out of blue. Placing his paw at his shoulder, Kenai had shaken his son in order to be able to hear his words better, with Kenai shouting in the wind: "Aki! Calm DOWN! What have you seen there?!"
"Dad... mom... everyone! I saw someone in the distance! Tall and long!" Aki finally finished with his words, being able to mutter out something that was understood by the others. Upon hearing these words "tall" and "long", knowing it might be belonging to none other else than to the lost team, Steele was out of himself as he was shouting: "It has to be the team! Come on!"
"Hang on, Steele!" Balto, surprised by his immediate reaction, tried to hold him off for a while before the others were able to move, but it was too late. If the team was really out there, then there was no time to waste, he had to save his son at once! Following the snowy path that was leading towards east, Steele was just ignoring the shouting behind himself as he was ready to come across the team... and if possible, trying to save someone... Seeing the tall and long shadowy figure in front of himself... it was matching the description from the dream he had been having for days.
"It's the team, COME ON!" Steele yelled to the others to let them know that they were indeed seeing the chosen team in front of them. Running there to see if that was really the team they'd been looking for... but something was not right out there... upon coming closer to have a better view, that WAS a sled team sent from Nome to Nenana and back, but out of the seven dogs, three of them were not in their harnesses. That was something that made Steele's eyes widen in shock and awe.
"It IS the team!" Aleu, who was serving as the scout-ahead, like her mate and the pups, along with Angel and her pups, was now sure that the shadow they had been seeing was indeed the sled team. But the joy was quickly flushed by the shock as the others, who had managed to get there real quick, noticed that three of the seven dogs were not in their harnesses. Trying to remember the formation the team had before leaving one week ago, Balto had realized something - the harnesses that had Kodi, Tayer and Ralph, were empty.
"No! KODI!" Balto yelled out of the shock, fearing that Kodi was in fact, a goner... but as soon as he was close enough to the sled team, he had seen some bumps on the sled itself. Just in front of the medical box, there was a copper-red husky laying in it - without moving. His eyes were shut and his mouth was open, barely enough for the air to come in and out. Just as the dread was flowing through his body, Balto could have heard the yelling from Dusty, who was still in her harness, yet the frost was depositing around her face: "BALTO! Kodi is not dead, just merely unconscious!"
"Dusty! I can't believe it!" The other male voice was heard yelling, that one belonging to Max. He rushed as quick as flash to embrace his beloved daughter, assuring her that she was going to be alright soon. Moreover, Katmai and Audrey rushed in to her embrace, but the looks on her face were saying that she was having no clue about the dogs embracing her. The terrifying silence was broken with Josh's yell in the distance, being followed by his son Dakotah: "Ralph! OH MY GOODNESS! RALPH! Talk to me!"
Spotting the fat gray Alaskan malamute next to Kodi, he was unconscious, but was moaning painfully - the reason was that his wound was freshly opened on his front left leg, with the tears that were coming out of his eyes to turn into the ice. With Steele watching that scene, he was panicking to find Tayer - the most vulnerable member of the entire team - with Tayer's siblings, Galena, Kassan and Harath searching for him nearby. They couldn't just have gotten rid of him... Tayer was enjoying the high reputation...
"Dad, take this, now!" Dakotah, who was carrying the brown bandanna around his neck, the gift from both his sister Alaska and her friend Pierce, untied it from himself. Knowing that they were out of the proper medical resources, Josh had taken the bandanna from Dakotah's mouth and used it as the improvised bandage to cover the nasty wound that was slowly infecting Ralph's paw. Ralph had stopped with his moaning, yet was whimpering inside himself, knowing that the pain combined with the cruel cold of the Alaska was just salting his wound.
"TAYER!" The scream of female, coming from no one else than Galena, could have been heard, with Steele immediately feeling triggered upon that scream. Seeing some of the rescuers on his way, he just shouted in panic: "Out of my way! It's MY SON!" with the others making path for Steele immediately. Noticing that Galena's eyes were watering in shock and sadness, Steele had turned his head towards the place she was looking at - and gasped in shock upon the sight.
It was indeed Tayer, but like Kodi, was being intact. His eyes were tightly shut and the mouth was opened enough for the air to enter and come out. Now that the frost was depositing on his scar, with the pain in Steele's claw increasing slowly, the pictures flashing in his head... it all resulted in the terrifying scream coming from the malamute himself. Putting his paw on the back of Tayer's, with the intention of rubbing in as hard as he could, the despair was heard in Steele's sound as he was saying: "Tayer! TAYER! I know you are still there! I know you are not away, don't do this to us! Not to your father, not to your mother, not to your siblings and NOT TO YOUR FRIENDS!"
"Steele! We must get them to the town of Galena now!" Yang, who was also present there, was very desperate. Back in the town of Nome, he had promised to his mate Shira - he was going to make sure her youngest son was going to return to Nome alive and well. But Steele did not want to let his youngest son go - he also had the intention to bring him home safely and alive. Rubbing his back as hard as he could, breathing every second to assure himself that his son, who saw Steele as the stranger, was going to be alive and well, started yelling: "COME ON, TAYER! I! SAID! COME! ON!"
With the despair and rubbing his hard as hard as he could, he had felt the stirring below his paws. The stirring was followed by the cough and Tayer's eyes opened barely, only to be shut again, but the breathing was felt. Backing up for a moment to see the income - he was alive! Steele was breathing triumphantly, making sure that he managed to make Tayer come to his senses a bit. Looking to his right, he had spotted that Ralph was peacefully resting on the sled. Even Kodi, who was knocked unconscious, was also breathing, like Tayer, with Jenna making sure her youngest son was still active.
"Steele! I cannot believe it!" The two voices, from his left and his right, were heard coming to him. Before he could see who were the ones who said that, he was being patted by both Balto and Yang, with both being out of themselves that Steele had something no one would have ever believed - he actually cared for his son and his own safety - now he needed some hospitality, but what town it was going to be given to him.
"Move, we have to get to the town of GALENA!" The scream, sounding like someone commanding to the others - being very familiar to him, Taiga. Since she was the oldest, the others were rather used to her commanding, but seeing that the town to Ruby was closer, Steele just yelled to her: "TAIGA! YOU GOTTA TAKE THE TEAM TO THE TOWN OF RUBY! THESE DOGS NEED TO BE TAKEN UNDER CARE!"
"We can't settle up in the town of Ruby! We must move to the town of Galena!" Kirby, who was being behind, standing next to Ralph, was knowing that once they were going to be in the town of Galena, they were going to be settled in there. The town Ruby was not awaiting the team to settle them in the shelter - instead, they had to head to the town of Galena and make sure the dogs who were injured, were going to be settled in.
"Please, run as fast as you can! Kodi, Ralph and Tayer need the help and hospitality!" Steele yelled to the team as they were going there. His eyes were watering in dread, wondering whether not only his son was going to make it, but Balto's son and his friend... or not. With Taiga, Rodney and Sarah assuming the places in the team and mushing the team, with Mr. Simpson, who had been holding himself in the crouching position, was surprised that they were mushing faster and faster. It was a miracle, a miracle that the rescue dogs were awaiting to happen, following the sled team.
The run to the town of Galena, which might have been one hour long and might have been giving the impression of taking longer than it should be... but thankfully, it went as quick as the flash. Looking at the injured dogs, the three of them - Steele, Josh and Balto - were making sure that the patients were remaining alive, checking on their pulse and breathing conditions. Thankfully, Kodi and Tayer, despite not being awake, were breathing, but Tayer's breathing was weaker than Kodi's. Ralph, while whimpering, was now feeling much more comfortable.
"Look! IT'S THE SLED TEAM OF NOME!" The shouting was heard from the distance, over-sounding the wind howl from around there. Looking in front of them, the others had spotted that they were there - in the town of Galena at last! The humans, one yielding a lantern, was beckoning to Mr. Simpson in the distance to pull over, with the another one running to the nearest house - revealing to be a telegraph office in the town of Galena. The other humans, noticing the team, gasped upon seeing the condition of the sled dogs.
The injured ones on the sled were the ones that shocked them the most, but at the same time, seeing Rodney, Sarah and Taiga being just fine in their harnesses had them confused, with Mr. Simpson explaining to them that these dogs had just showed out of nowhere and were aiding them all the way to here. Seeing that these dogs needed some aid, the human that was yielding a lantern waved with his free hand - letting the others know that his house could be a shelter for the entire team.
"Dingo, Dana, Dusty, Kirby, follow me!" Mr. Simpson, after having a tough time releasing the dogs from the harnesses, noticing how much frost had deposited on their furs, led them to the house of the man with the lantern, being the exactly the same one that was the nearest. But, the injured dogs, who couldn't move, weren't left behind. One of the humans managed to get hold of Kodi and embrace him tightly to provide some warmth as he was carrying the poor copper red husky to the house. Then, the other one held and embraced Tayer, noticing that his breathing was slower than Kodi's. Two humans had to carefully carry Ralph due to his weight and the wound on his paw.
Watching the dogs going inside, with the other human helping Mr. Simpson to treat him medically, the rescue dogs had spotted that and wanted to do one thing - go inside and check how these dogs were doing. However, as they were approaching the doors of that house - the lantern man shut the doors and seeing the dogs that were trying to come in, he just had let them know: "Not now. These dogs need some treatment and rest."
"But... but..." Steele, after reviving his son from the ice cold of the winter and making sure his son was living... could not do anything but to watch at the doors that were standing shut in front of him. Now that they were going to be safe... Steele had just raised on his back legs and used his claws to scratch the doors - he had to go in, he had to see his son! But the pain in his claw was not letting go, with him quitting after the third attempt. The owner of the house had just said: "There's nothing you can do here, boy... not until we see what's going to be with them."
With Balto, Jenna, Steele, Max, Molly, Audrey, Katmai, Josh, Pierce and many others sitting there, wondering what was going to happen, the panic was intensifying rapidly... these dogs were in need for the treatment, but where in the world would be the vet?! This was the town that was fifteen times smaller in the amount of the population... But the hope didn't fade away immediately as soon as they could have heard someone yelling: "Where could they be? Let me through!"
It had to be a vet, but with the regular clothes like anyone else wearing these, especially typical for the Alaskan territory, no one was going for it that human would be the vet. But the bag that he was carrying, with the green cross engraved on the bag, then it was entirely different idea to talk about. With the house owner letting the vet in, the dogs were trying to follow them in, but with the doors being quickly shut, that just had to leave the bitter taste of the disappointment of them all.
"Now that we had all gone throughout this rough journey... I wonder if we're going to have a chance to see them closely..." Yang, who had made a promise to Shira few days ago, did not want to fret yet - he had to make sure that her youngest pup Tayer was going to come alive and well - the sole idea of Tayer not making it out would devastate the poor husky, as well as the others would be devastated and much to the surprise of the others... even Steele was feeling the uncontrollable sense of dread on that sole thought.
Then, Mr. Simpson, who had received the proper treatment from the local doctor, had been given a word of his sled dogs taking the rest in the house. It had taken some time for his to be given a treatment, but as he was knocking on the doors of the house, the voice was heard from the inside, with the vet saying: "We shall be done in a few minutes, hang on!"
"But what are the news coming of them!?" Molly yelled in despair, seeing in what condition the entire team was, or at least Kodi's teammates in general. Even though that Dusty was her original family, being her biological daughter, she had treated Kodi, Ralph and Kirby as her own sons, Kodi especially. The reason for being the most motherly-like to Kodi was because of the friendship between her, Jenna and Balto since the puppy days of theirs. Soon enough, with these minutes passing on, the doors opened, with the vet coming out. But the doors weren't fully shut. Instead, these were barely opened.
"Well, sir, what are the news?!" Mr. Simpson asked the vet in the matter of the moments, wanting to know whether his journey home was going to be slowed down by the injuries of his dogs or not. The light smile on the vet's face was, thankfully, indicating that the news were rather good coming from the vet. That light smile coming from the vet actually made the dogs feeling a bit relieved. "How are my dogs? How are Kodi, Ralph and Tayer?!"
"I am not sure which one is which, but the news are good, or at least they seem so." The vet said quite encouragingly. Looking at the dogs that had headed off from the town of Nome towards there to find and help the lost sled team. Then he started moving on: "The dogs that had been in the harnesses, despite the frost, are going to recover quickly - though I recommend using the ones that had come out of nowhere, and now... the injured ones."
"Jenna, listen!" Balto, who had been awaiting to hear the news coming from the vet, whispered to Jenna. Now that the news were coming, he was going to know how the youngest son of his was doing. The vet started: "The copper red husky, despite him passing out of the exhaustion, or at least it seems like so, is going to be fine. Though I recommend not using him for the mushing. The fat gray malamute is definitely not going to mush back home - the injury on his paw proves that. But he is doing well now."
"But what about Tayer?!" The dogs, such as Taiga, Sarah, Steele and Rodney, who were anticipating to hear the news of the youngest member of their family to be spoken about... the impatience was just growing high in-between them. The vet, after exhaling and inhaling the air, just said: "But the young black dog... it's like with the red one, but he's showing less of the vital signals... I cannot be sure about him, for now. He must have hit his head somewhere..." With these words said, the vet waved with his hand lightly and walked off home.
"Alright, if you dogs out there are somewhat related to each other, then I may let you in, one by one." The owner of the house spoke to the dogs, leaving the doors to be slightly open. With the opportunity being given to the one, anyone could have gone in there and have the opportunity to be with their friends and families inside who were injured. As Balto and Jenna were about to go in there first, they were surprised as soon as Steele made few steps ahead. Realizing that he had taken away the advantage to the ones who deserved to go in first, he backed up, feeling remorsefully for his unintentional action.
"You want to see Tayer, don't you?" Rodney asked immediately upon seeing his father's actions. His voice was not strict or mean in any way, but it was a rather supportive and a compassionate one, witnessing Steele's actions from one hour ago. With him looking at his older son, who was looking at his sisters, Balto, Jenna and the others that were around, they nodded in a some kind of approval. Looking at his father again, he just let him know: "Alright, you may go inside, but we'll be watching you just cause."
"Alright... alright... just let me go in..." Steele whispered with the tone consisting the bunch of the emotions and panic. Was his son going to make it, or it was all in vain...? How was he even doing? The doors in front of him, opened slightly, gave him the opportunity to come it and without thinking twice, he had taken that opportunity. He had shown no care that his first three pups were running to the windows that were giving the good view on the room. Let it be, he thought in his head, his son was in need for life...
Spotting the large room, with the baskets mostly filling in the room, giving the impression that the owner of his house was a mere carpenter, especially that the wooden material that could have been seen inside were nicely created and even better decorated. All of the seven dogs were sleeping, or at least it seemed like so. Dana, Dingo, Dusty, Kirby... were fast asleep in their baskets. The moan coming from the nearest basket indicated that Ralph was sleeping in there. Kodi was just on the other side of the room, sleeping peacefully and his breathing was accurate enough.
Then, he had spotted his son, laying in the nearest basket, near the fireplace. His breathing was much slower than it was supposed to be. His baby boy, the one he had never liked before, being at the gates of death, without knowing that his own father, as estranged as they were with each other, was standing near him. What was going to happen to Tayer... was he going to make it, was his back-rubbing strong enough to make him breathe? What if he was not going to make it... what if Shira was going to find out that her youngest baby... was no longer with them?
Suddenly, feeling the strong wave of the emotions in his body, flowing as fast they could. Using the paw, the one that had the scar that had pierced Tayer's cheek almost the year ago, he put it on his son's chest. The heart was beating weakly, much weaker then it was supposed to. Now that his son was having little to no chance of waking up the next morning, he had done something that made the shadows seen on the window gasp in an astonishment - he laid his head on his son's neck, and embraced him carefully, as careful as he could.
With the embrace, the tears in the eyes of malamute, that seemed like as if they were the first ones who actually come from the malamute's eyes, formed and with the trembling that was just uncontrollable for him. Being choked on his own tears, holding his baby son in the embrace, the cries coming out of him were quite heartbreaking to listen, followed by the barely distinguishable words, such as: "Tayer... Tayer... I don't know if you can hear me... it is me, your father..."
Saying these words, finally looking at Tayer as his own son, who was not able to hear his words. With the flows of the emotions being faster and fiercer, the next words that was Steele saying were a bit muttered off, but were audible enough to be heard from the outside: "I am so... I am so sorry, TAYER! I am so sorry for giving you the undeserved pain, for scarring you for the life! I am sorry for every pain that I had caused to you and the entire family! I am sorry for everyone to whom I had given my pain! I am so sorry if you don't wake up!"
The shadows out there, looking through the window in the house inside, were absolutely out of the words upon these words coming from his mouth. That emotional embrace, these tears coming from his eyes, that confession, full of remorse and compassion, was piercing through the heads of the witnesses. They were knowing one thing - Steele was fully redeeming himself in there. More words were coming from his mouth, with the combination of the tears flowing down his cheeks, saying: "If you never wake up... and if that medicine does return home... but without you... I am never going to forgive myself... I am always going to be haunted by this if it happens... It won't be the same..."
Suddenly, with these words being said, there was some kind of odd sensation flowing throughout his body - but a really good kind of odd sensation. The claw, that had been piercing him for his ethical mistakes, was starting to give up on the pain gradually. Was it happening at last? The pain, that was dragging his soul towards the bottom for clawing his son in the cheek, was fading - it was happening at last! He had known that the ones who were outside, and heard him muttering these remorseful words, they had heard him that all these words he had been saying - he was meaning it.
Holding Tayer in a tight fatherly embrace, he was letting the tears of the remorse and redemption go down, right on Tayer's scar. However, with these tears touching his scar... something miraculously was happening. Tayer's pulse and the breathing - these were gradually raising, with Tayer finally being able to breath normally. All in all, he was still fast asleep, but there was something that was looking like the biggest life victory - Tayer was going to make it!
"It's a miracle! A MIRACLE!" The words that were coming out of his mouth were no longer hiding euphoria, with Tayer miraculously recovering. Still, with his voice raised, Steele had immediately backed up with his words, knowing that there were dogs inside who were resting. Thankfully, after looking at the dogs in the beds who were resting, none of them had waken up at all. That made him exhale in relief after making a frankly dumb mistake. Not to mention that the shadows on the window had left - to let the others know.
After a few minutes of cradling his baby son on his chest, with Steele humming in order to provide some relief in this atmosphere. He was now feeling the pleasure - but not the twisted pleasure he had been enjoying previously in his life - but the ethically good pleasure. Knowing that his son was needing to sleep now, he carefully broke off the embrace and gently put him down to sleep in the bed. After that, he had gotten on all of his fours and headed towards the doors - knowing that there were the others who wanted to see how the other dogs were doing too. After all, they were a family.
With him exiting the house, the crowd that was standing in front of the house was more or less the same in quantity, but there was something different. Sure, the worries for the dogs inside was still present, but the fact that what he had said inside was now spread to the others. The looks on their faces - these were oozing the happiness and pride towards Steele, who was quite surprised to see it, urging him to ask: "Guys... what the...?"
"We've heard absolutely everything!" Taiga, who had returned with her brother and sister to the crowd, exclaimed cheerfully. Before her father could do anything, he was taken off the guard as soon as Taiga and Sarah rushed to embrace him, something that no one would have ever expected to happen. After all this time, he was finally being given the attention from his family, in the form of the back patting when Rodney came to his side. The others around were cheering pretty much.
"You were meaning every single letter you were saying to him, haven't you?" Yang was the one who just had to ask him that question. And he was right, because Steele wasn't just pretending to care for Tayer, but was feeling rather odd, yet satisfied for his actions. Now that was all on the others to speak... were they finally going to cut off the chains from his soul, reminding him that half of his crimes weren't forgiven yet.
"Showing to us all that for your compassion and the fact you were willing to sacrifice yourself to ensure your son was living..." Balto stood out of the crowd, watching at the malamute in front of himself. The same one who used to bully him from the puppy days, left the children to die, used his own family against him, brought the problems once he was back in Nome... and eventually realizing he was dragging the past with himself... that just let Balto say: "...Steele, you have proved yourself a lot. For a such thing - all of your crimes are forgiven!"
"Wait... really?!" Steele, who was expecting that to happen, was still a bit genuinely surprised by that coming. In order to fully redeem himself, he had to save the town of Nome or to save someone's life - and that was none other else than Tayer. Leaving it be, he was receiving some of more cheers and with that happening, all that could he thought of was to get some private time for himself and fall asleep at once. As if he was not sleeping for days...
"Now get some rest where we all slept." Jenna beckoned him to go sleep into the same house they had settled in to continue their search. Realizing that they were going to see the sled dogs resting inside, he just smiled in a very friendly manner and accepted Jenna's offer. While Balto and Jenna had decided to head inside, just to make sure how they were doing, Steele had pushed the doors of the house and once he was inside, he had found himself a quite comfortable spot to sleep at.
As he was feeling like as if he hadn't been sleeping for days, it didn't take him too long to fall asleep. In fact, as soon as his head had touched the worn-out pillow on the floor, he had fallen asleep. The better, he was thinking, as he was doing something great in his life - making the first steps to his new life entirely. He had been forgiven for his crimes, he had changed a lot - he felt like as if he was the greatest dog in the world... yet he couldn't exaggerate that much...
Moreover, his dream was no longer that chase dream where he was going after the sled team that was shrouded in the shadows. Instead, it was just the snow terrain in front of him, with even more snow falling. Making few steps ahead, there was a white figure, the canine to be specific. Looking closely, it was the white wolf and judging by the size of that wolf - it was a large one and while it had been a while since he'd seen that wolf, she just spoke: "You have used your chance well, Steele. You have done it."
"I know... I know it that I could do it... Aniu..." Steele spoke with his soft voice, being quite satisfied that he had abandoned his wretched and arrogant life behind himself. He had learned fully to abandon his past life and walk straight into the present life, with the good views for him in the future life. With Aniu placing her paw on his back, he was feeling even better sensation flowing throughout his body. He was now fully redeemed dog, cleared off his crimes... now all that mattered to him was to have Tayer be awaken tomorrow...