Apology Accepted
The next morning, Aleu awoke early. She lay in bed for a few moments longer, wondering what she should do first. Finally, her growling stomach decided for her, and she nudged Jenner and Rush. "Hey, wake up!"
"Huh?" Rush asked. "What d'ya want?"
Jenner tried to bury his head beneath his paws. "Go away Aleu! I'm tryin' to sleep!"
"What's the matter with you? Aren't you hungry?"
"Yeah, thanks to you," Rush growled.
Kala yawned and stretched. "If you watched where you were running, we wouldn't be in trouble."
"Maybe Papa's forgotten about it," she said weakly.
Kodi snorted. "Papa never forgets anything," he said glumly. "Remember what he said about discussing it more? We're not out of this by a long shot."
All the pups frowned. That was not a pleasant thought for any concerned.
"It was an accident," Aleu muttered. "It's not like it's my fault." The other pups stared at her. "Well it's not!"
"Yeah right!" Rush scoffed.
"Jenner dared me to race you!" Aleu argued.
Jenner snorted. "If I dared you to jump in the harbor, would you do that too?"
"Depends if it's frozen or not," Aleu shot back. "Besides, you all were running too."
"Yeah," Rush said. "But who's fat head hit the table."
"Yeah," Kodi and Dingo agreed.
"What do ya want me to say? That this is my fault?"
"YES!" the other five exclaimed.
"Okay then. It's my fault. All right? MY FAULT! Ya happy now?"
"It's a start," Rush said.
With a growl, Aleu pushed him out of the basket. "Ow!" Rush sat up, rubbing his head with one paw. "What was that for?"
"For blaming everything on me, that's what."
"You're dead meat!" Rush cried as he pounced on his sister.
Jenner and Kodi immediately brightened. "Dog pile!" they exclaimed, jumping into the fray.
"Come on, guys, grow up," Kala said, trying to pull them apart.
Dingo began pulling on the other side. "Yeah, what if you break something else?"
Chipper arrived just in time to see the two pups literally absorbed into the battle. "You all cut it out. You're going to wake everyone up!" he hissed. "Don't make me come over there!" Still no effect. So much for trying to be nice. He hurried over and tried to intervene, but like Kala and Dingo, he got tangled up in the whole mess.
Before he could disengage, a voice spoke from behind them. "What's going on?"
The pups froze where they were; Rush with Track's forepaw in his mouth, Kodi sitting on Kala's head, Kala laying half-way on Dingo, Dingo on top of Jenner, Chipper in the middle, and Aleu sitting on top of the whole bunch. Chipper turned his head and saw Balto and Jenna standing in the doorway. Had it happened to anyone other than himself, he would have found this predicament vastly amusing. With a sigh, he disentangled himself. Great going Chipper. You've really done it this time.
"Uh . . . just trying to break up a little scuffle. Did we wake you up?" Stupid question.
"No, but we heard the commotion half a block away."
"I'd believe it," Dash yawned, walking into the room.
Chip winced. "Sorry. Pups will be pups, you know."
"Indeed." Balto looked at his pups who had quickly untangled themselves and were trying hard to be inconspicuous. They all looked more than a bit nervous. Probably worried I'm still angry with them. Well, now's as good of time as any to apologize. "Now about last night . . ."
"I guess that was my fault," Aleu interrupted.
"It wasn't just Aleu," Jenner said. "I dared her to race Rush."
"We're sorry, though," Rush said.
"Really sorry," Kodi added.
"Can you stop being mad at us now?" Kala asked.
Balto's mouth dropped. No excuses, no shifting the blame, just an apology. After his hasty actions last night, that was the last thing he'd expected. He lay down eye-level with them. "I'm sorry too. I've had a lot on my mind, but it was wrong for me to snap at you like I did. So here's the plan. You guys try to be more careful, and I'll try not to keep my frustrations to myself. Let bygones be bygones. Agreed?" The pups nuzzled him in reply, though Aleu was more hesitant than the others. They must've given her a hard time about the vase incident, and she probably linked that to me. I'll try to make that up to her somehow.
Jenna walked over and laid down beside Balto and her puppies. "It's good to see you back to your old self. You've still got to give our guests the grand tour of the town."
"Maybe tomorrow we can take them down to the Old Mill," Balto suggested.
"What's so special about an old mill?" Chipper asked.
"That's the meeting place for all the dogs in Nome," Balto patiently explained. "It's probably the best place to meet everyone at once and not freeze while doing it."
"That sounds like a good plan," Dash agreed.
"Can we come too?" Jenner burst out. The other puppies looked up hopefully.
Balto smiled and looked at his mate. "Jenna?"
Jenna smiled back. "I don't know, it'll be awfully cold." The pups' ears drooped in disappointment. "I don't see why not."
The pups cheered and Balto beamed. "I'll make sled dogs out of 'em yet."
