Chapter 4.

This is the fourth chapter. Forgot to add at the end of last chapter: Thievery was a shooting offense in WW1. Hope you understand the part written in Morse code: The use of the word "Stop" meant a full-stop. Also, I'll make a few changes to the race bit. Hope you enjoy it.

In the radio operators hut, the regimental colonel was sitting beside the radio operator, watching him sent the message he had given him in Morse code. The message was going to the town of Bad Kreuznach, German military headquarters, and the emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm 2nd. "Bad Kreuznach. Stop. Urgent, request diphtheria antitoxin. Stop. Nome in grave danger. Advise quarantine. Stop." When the message was sent, the colonel went back to his temporary quarters, a small house. A few hours of sleep later, he was awakened by the radio operator, who handed him the paper he had written the reply on: "Snow storm closing in. Stop. Cannot drop antitoxin by air. Stop. Many Regrets. Stop." After reading that message, the colonel simple thank the man with a nod, sent him off, just went back to sleep. A few hours before dawn, he was awoken again and received another call, more official this time: "From the office of Field Marshall Hindenburg. Quarantine granted. Trench duty cancelled. Stop. Shipping antitoxin by rail. Stop. Train line ends at town of Lille. Stop. Select fastest horsemen for wagon team to carry antitoxin from Liege to Nome. Stop. God willing, train will make it through. Stop. This was the perfect wake up call for the colonel, (a message personally from "Feldmarshall" or Field Marshall Hindenburg, the supreme commander of the army, was a very big honour) and indeed the regiment. It meant there was hope.

By morning, the whole regiment had been told of the news (while standing together at attention). Also announced was the decision to hold a race of the fastest horsemen in the regiment to see who would be part of the team sent to carry the medicine. A few hours later, and everything was ready. The racers would race around the town, and come along the main road to the finish. Those men who were not on duty were gathering along both sides of the road to watch the race. The racers began to gather by the white flag which marked the start/finish line. There were 11 in total, each with a horse, Steele's guys included. The horses were more used to pulling wagons than having saddled men on them, so they weren't exactly calm, keeping whinnying and rearing up. The men tried their best to keep them calm, but Star (the last on the left) let go of the reins when his horse reared up, fell down and landed on his back into the snow. Then suddenly, the other men then stood at attention, Star rushing to his feet and coming to attention as Steele walked down the line, as if it were an inspection. Since he was best officer who could ride, he'd been chosen to command the team. By the side of the road, Jenna, Dixie, and Sylvie could see what was happening. "Look at him. He's going to save us all." Dixie said, staring in the direction of Steele atop his horse. "Dixie, it's not exactly a one-man show. Their racing to see who's going to be on the team to bring the medicine." Jenna explained. "What's with you, Jenna? Steele's a real gentleman. Why don't you see that?" Dixie asked, staring at her. "That's because Jenna is running with some average Private. The one they say is half English." Sylvie said besides them, making Dixie give Jenna a half shock, half angry look. "She was seen with that Private by the graveyard the other night with him. They were also seen by the church. I heard it all from a very reliable source. And don't deny it." Sylvie explained. "I won't." Jenna said back at her, making both of them open their mouth and eyes wide in shock. "I'm speechless." Sylvie muttered.

In an alley, seeing the racers assembled, Balto was could not stop looking at them. Boris was on his right, sitting on a box, and holding a few biscuits in his hands. "You know, Balto, racing is a great thing to watch. It takes little preparation. Find a seat and find refreshments. You want biscuit?" He asked, before putting one in his mouth. "I'm not watching the race, I'm running it." Balto said, going behind Bris and bringing forward a horse with a saddle. "YOU WHAT?!" Boris cried, after spitting out the biscuit he was chewing. "I wanna help the sick get better. I can help get the medicine through." Balto explained as he mounted the horse. Boris got on his feet and walked right in front of the horse. He had learned to ride a horse when he was younger. "First of all, get it through your head that they wouldn't let you on a wagon team even if you won, and even if you did, it wouldn't matter." Boris said sternly. "Boris, did you raise me to be a man who always gives up?" Balto asked. "No." Boris mumbled, as Balto moved the horse past him and headed towards the start line. "Wish me luck!" He cried. "I don't wish you luck, but sense! Good luck though, kiddo." Boris said, mumbling the last sentence. Just before the race was about to start, Balto rode the horse he was on in between Kaltag and Nikki. Seeing him made the whole group look at him in shock. "Balto, what are you doing? If the Captain see's you here, he'll turn you into a Sausage." Kaltag said. "Let him run. It'll be fun seeing him eat his defeat." Nikki whispered to Kaltag. Moments later, the Colonel shot his pistol in the air, and the race began! And with that, the horses trotted (ran) forward, Balto very close to the lead. As he rode past Jenna and Dixie, they were both looking at him with surprise, Dixie looking very confused also. "What's he doing?" She asked, while Jenna just stared at him. Balto the rode between Nikki and Kaltag (who were second and first), but then then turned his horse to Nikki's right, then accelerated and came up beside him, into second place. As they came to a turn, Nikki then brought his right foot out of its stirrups and kicked Balto off the horse, smirking as he and the others continued. Balto's horse came to a complete stop. "Hey, that's a foul! Who wrote the rules of this race?" Boris asked himself, as he had actually been enjoying the race. Balto got up onto his feet looked at the horse that was standing still before him, seeing the others racers trot ahead of him. He then noticed that thy were approaching a small hill up the road, and knew they'd have to slow down to go up it. Seeing his chance, he ran to the horse and remounted it. Feet in the stirrups, he kicked the horse into a trot again and race down the road again. However, just as he came to the road, he turned to the right, around the hill which everyone else was on. He reached the end of the hill and turned left back onto the path. He got back on the trail just as the other racers got down the slope. Seeing Balto now in front of him made Nikki almost stop his horse, s his mouth opened as wide as it would, and his eyes completely opened. The racers, now lead by Balto, continued down the trail until they turned to the left and came down the main road again, and Balto was the first across the line. The men watching then cheered as the rest of the racers came across the line. "Ha, ha, ha! Didn't I teach or what? Oh, I could kiss that boy." Boris laughed to himself, a huge smile on his face because of what he had seen.

Balto dismounted (got off) his horse, panted slightly, then turned to see Jenna looking proud at him, which along the actually winning something like that, made him form a big smile on his face. He then tuned his head right to face Steele, who was walking towards him, but acted as if he wasn't there, not looking at him. "Ok, first 6 that crossed the line, get ready. We're moving out tonight." He said as he walked past Balto, whose smile faded, his eyes narrowed and turned to Steele's back. "Hey, hold on a minute, Steele. I was the first across the line." He said, which made Steele stop right in his tracks. He then turned around and moved very close to Balto, doing another one of his murderous looks again. "You were first? What? Do you honestly think anyone would trust to be on their team? You're even more English then I thought." Steele said as Jenna came up to them. "Steele, it doesn't matter who's on the team or not. What matters is that the medicine gets through. Stop being such a glory hound! Glory isn't what wins you medals! And a good officer cares for his men." She said sternly. Seeing that Jenna had her back made Balto smile. "You're right, Jenna. I wasn't thinking about those poor men." Steele said, putting on a sad face. They then saw the same Major from the previous night coming towards them. "Now, lets have a look at our winner here." He said as he headed towards Balto. Steele then came to the Major's side. "Um, sir. I think you should know something." He said before moving his head closer to the Majors head and whispered something in his ear. Whatever he said made the Majors face turn to one of anger and mistrust as he faced Balto. "Yeah, I recognise him, all right. We can't trust him. He's a dirty, good for nothing thief. He might even turn on us." The major said before turning his head to face Steele again. "Captain, get your men ready for tonight." He said. "Yes, sir." Steele said, giving a sharp salute, which the Major did back, before walking away from them. "I'm gonna get the Iron cross for this." Steele muttered back to Balto before walking away towards the Major. Seeing this happen made Balto open his mouth and eyes in a sad way. He then saw Jenna a few feet away, also looking sad. "Balto, I'm sorry…" "Stay away from me, Jenna. I might turn on you." Balto said sadly, before walking away from her.

And that's the fourth chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. For those who don't know their history, Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg and Kaiser or "Emperor" Wilhelm were both essentially rulers of Germany during the later years of the war. The Iron Cross was Germany's highest military honour (medal). And lille was a town by the Germans in WW1, used because of its close proximity to the front line (20KM) Found out on the Internet. Next chapter will be out soon.