Chapter 10

"Just hold on a minute Jenna." Rosy said from the heart of the living-room with a tone of mixed anger and boredom. She set the doll she had been combing endlessly on the floor, laggard to her feet, and walked into the kitchen.

Jenna stood at the door in the kitchen scratching the paint from the inside of the door and yipping quietly so as not to anger her master, or her masters parents. Emotions inside the house had grown tense, and Jenna didn't want any part of them since she had her own problems with her family.

Rosy's demeanor seemed to improve drastically at the sight of Jenna in the kitchen, and she even let a smile cross her face. "You know girl, I wish I had fur like you. Then I could go outside whenever I wanted." She walked up behind Jenna and gave her a scratch on the back of the head. "You know what I mean girl?"

Jenna yipped louder and hopped up onto the door slashing her nails against the wood.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Rosy's voice turned back into her mixed anger and boredom. She grabbed a woolen mitten off the nearby counter and placed it over her right hand, then grabbed the frosty brass doorknob. "Now don't have to much fun, because I won't." Rosy opened the door just a crack, a gust of snow and cold blew in as Jenna curved her body around the door and slipped out. The door closed with a rather rude slam just after Jenna's tail cleared its edge.

Jenna moved into the grey light of the day without hesitating in the least. The cold air rushed around Jenna, bringing her fur once again straight and stiff so she looked puffy and fat. Her paws instantly grew cold and stung like needles piercing the soft flesh of her underfoot.

She moved through the streets quickly, passing by large stockpiles of wood and under golden windows casting bands of light into the skinny alleys. As Jenna passed under the windows the light from lanterns inside the homes titillated the frost in her fur until a golden halo surrounded her before she continued on into the darkness, and the light subsided.

Reaching the edge of the town, Jenna didn't pause to second think or examine the trail out to Balto's boat. She plunged in full force out onto the arctic tundra with blowing snow, darkness, and cold. The boat she aimed for came clearly through, big and hulking like a tomb silhouetted against a grey sky and flat solid Arctic Ocean.

Jenna pumped her skinny feet along as fast as she could muster them to go. Yet it didn't seem to be moving her any closer or any faster. It took several minutes for her to cross the great span to her mate's boat, and she didn't hesitate to yell out as she passed under the bow. "Balto?"

Not even waiting for an answer, Jenna continued on around under the bow of the boat and to the bent plank on the side. "Balto?"

An answer didn't follow, and Jenna continued up the plank and onto the deck. "Balto?" She asked in a softer tone, then made a beeline for the wheelhouse. There she found Balto tucked back against one of the corners in as small a space as he could fit; his entire body secluded under the warmth of his wool blanket except for the very tip of his bushy wolfish tail which jettisoned out from one corner.

Jenna opened her mouth wide like she was about to drop hell on Balto; but she snapped her jaw shut before she could speak, a flash of malevolent cunning crossed her face. Then, quite slowly and carefully, she crept forwards, inching and pacing her way towards Balto with the utmost care until she stood over the tip of his exposed tail.

Raising her left paw up until it matched the height of her chest; she slammed it down hard on the fluffy tip of Balto's tail.

"YEEOW!!!" Balto sputtered to life and began throwing his paws out from under his body as hard and fast as he could, trying with all desperation to stand up and get away from the terrible pain running like cold water up his back. The blanket flew to the side as Balto bounced up and locked his eyes on Jenna. "What did you do that for?!?!" He hardly cared for the answer as he bent around examined the tip of his tail, nothing appeared to be broken or out of place, but the pain still lingered and made him shiver. Or was it the sudden burst of cold air that had done it?

Jenna couldn't help but start laughing as she backed out of the wheelhouse onto the deck. Balto followed her out with a wary look, letting his tail swish back and forth with the thought that maybe the motion might ease it.

Balto examined it one more time before sitting down in front of Jenna, being sure to not sit on his tail or put any weight on the end of it. "You know you could have broken it. Wouldn't you have felt bad if you did that?"

Her laughter began to subside. "Yeah, I would have." Jenna confessed with a very sincere tone. She stepped forward and nuzzled Balto tenderly. "But if I broke it I'd be sure to let you break mine, because I love you." She continued rubbing the side of her face against his.

Balto's heart fell and all bitterness he had vanished with an equally loving nuzzle. "You know how to push my buttons just right. You know that?"

Jenna pulled her head back and winked. "Of course I do." She paused, then stepped back and twirled around to recompose herself in a more business like fashion. She set herself down onto the deck and took up a stately pose "So … what did you learn about Kodi and what happened?"

"Sure." Balto smiled. "First you torture me, then you pump me for information." He stood quarter of the way up and moved his tail to the other side of his body before sitting down again.

"Of course I would. Now why don't tell me what Kodi told you?" Jenna said with an annoyed tone.

Balto thought on how he could word this well, but nothing seemed like it would be something that would keep Jenna from blasting off in some way. "Well … Kodi didn't really … say anything."

"What?!" Jenna snapped to her feet and barked outright. "What do you mean he didn't really say anything?" She snapped at Balto who almost looked to be trembling under her threatening posture.

"Wait wait. I mean he did speak to me, and he did tell me what happened." Balto shot back.

Jenna calmed and returned to her sitting position with ease. Yet her eyes held a deep apprehension to what the outcome of the conversation with Kodi had actually been.

Balto continued. "Well, Kodi told me that after they finished up at the post office that Dusty had to be left behind to get some medicine put on her paws. So Kirby, Ralph, and Kodi all went to the boiler room to warm up. Kirby and Ralph both began making fun of Kodi's, supposed, crush on Dusty, and he freaked on them."

The story sounded really scrambled together for Jenna – possibly a lie. "That doesn't explain why he started talking about Dusty the way he did. I mean she didn't do anything wrong. Why did she get yelled at?" Jenna said flatly.

Balto bowed his head and scratched his paw against the deck in a sidetracked way. "The conversation moved away from that when Dakota showed up. Kodi did admit to yelling those things about Dusty, but we never went into detail about it." Balto confessed with a deep-seated tone of failure.

"So what did you tell Kodi after this?" Jenna asked in a rather perturbed kind of way.

"I told him what I thought I should. I told him I understood that he had just lost his cool and done something stupid. I told him I was shocked and disappointed in him because of it, and so were you. And that was about it. I didn't really see any reason to tell him anything else; he would only be angry if I tried to give him advice. He's a grown dog."

Jenna sighed with a loud groan and moved to her feet. She pointed her thin muzzle at Balto with one of the saddest looks she had ever given. "Balto, I figured you'd have more insight into this. This doesn't answer any of the questions I came out here with. I knew that Kodi blew up behind Dusty's back, and Dusty had heard him. I know this. I wanted to know if something's wrong with Kodi in his personal life that we might be able to help him with. Do you know what I mean Balto?" She sat back down and tears began to form around her eyes as she looked away towards the ocean. "I'm just worried about our son. I want him to … succeed, to … you know."

Balto stood and moved up next to Jenna until their sides touched and began to talk quietly into her ear, pressing as much of his body against hers. "I don't think there's much Kodi would want us to do, or we could do. He has his problems with talking to girls as we know, and he doesn't want any help with it. It'd embarrass him. I think he's just going to have to do this on his own. It would be best if we just stay as clear as we possibly can."

A heavy sigh - almost a breath of a huffed cry - escaped Jenna. She turned her head away to hide her weakness from her mate.

"It's okay." Balto reassured Jenna, pressing his body closer to hers and letting his head slide over her shoulder. "Everything will be just fine. You'll see."

And there, as Balto held Jenna close, their heat moving into each other, Balto wondered idly if everything would be fine.