The Best-laid Plans . . .

The next morning, Balto rose early and stole quietly out of the house. He hadn't bothered to wake Jenna, since he'd discussed his plan with her the night before. Though she'd initially been hesitant, she'd agreed in the end, and now he needed help from someone else for his plan to work. He walked quickly down the street to the edge of town and then hurried to the wrecked trawler. As he walked up the gangplank, he heard Boris' quiet snoring, and chuckled silently. He silently pulled the blanket off the sleeping goose and then carried a bucket of water into the cabin. Breaking the film of ice on top, he nudged the bucket with one paw.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaa!" Boris yelled, leaping up and shaking the icy water from his feathers. "Who did that?! I . . . Balto! What are you doing here?"

"Mornin' Boris! I'm here to ask a favor of you."

"You think you can just waltz right in here, throw a bucket of ice on me and then ask me for a favor?!" the goose sputtered. "What?!"

"Now, Boris. It's not like you've never woke me up like that. Anyway, I'm going out with Tricksy this morning to follow a human." At Boris' questioning expression, Balto held up a paw. "Wolf business."

"Forget I thought of asking."

Balto arched an eyebrow. "Anyway, I want you to come with us."

"Why? I'm just one old goose, Boitshick. What can I do that two half-wolves can't? Two halves make a whole after all."

Balto sat down. "Well, Aleu and I had an argument, and I was going to take her out with us to . . . you know. Show her some of the stuff I've learned. Wolf stuff."

Boris held his wings to his head as though he had a headache. "But I thought you and Jenna were not going to tell puppies about being part wolf . . . though Aleu is more wolf than others."

Balto shook his head. Boris never had agreed with his and Jenna's decision regarding the puppies' wolf heritage, and he brought up the subject whenever he could. "Let's not go into that this early in the morning. I'm not going to tell her that it's wolf stuff. It'll sort of be a father/daughter type thing. I figure it'll smooth things over between us."

"Yes, but you still haven't told me where I come in. Oi! You canines always beat around the bush!"

"There is going to be a time when Tricksy and I need to go on ahead, but can't afford to have an inexperienced pup tagging along with us. Things might get . . . sticky. That's where we'd need a responsible, intelligent someone like you."

"Okay, okay. When you put it that way, how can I refuse?" Boris asked, shrugging dramatically.


"You mean it, Papa? Really?" Aleu asked, bouncing in anticipation.

"Shh." Balto glanced at his other pups who were still asleep. "That's right. Just you, me, Tricksy, and Boris today."

"Wow! Wait til the others hear!"

"Whoa, there Tiger. I don't want you to tell anyone else about this yet. It'll just be our little secret for now, okay?" Balto whispered conspiratorially. Eyes wide with excitement, Aleu nodded quickly. "All right, then. There are a couple of things I want you to remember. Tricksy and me are going to have to leave you with Boris for a bit, and I don't want you to try following us. Agreed?" Aleu nodded again. "Good girl. Let's go meet Tricksy."

They walked outside and found Tricksy waiting for them at the gate. "What took you so long?" Tricksy asked. Then she noticed Aleu. Without hesitation, she drew him to one side. "Have you lost your mind?" she hissed.

"Take it easy, Trix."

"Take it easy? You could've warned me you'd do something this insane!"

"So you could tell me I'm crazy that much sooner?" Balto asked wryly. "I just thought that we could show her some stuff. You know, stuff like Kemo and I taught you."

"Huh? Oh, you mean w . . ."

Balto cut her off. "Yeah, that. But whatever you do, don't refer to anything we do with the word 'wolf,' all right?"

"But this is insane. What if someone sees her? She looks like a . . ."

"Don't worry. Aleu won't be following us during the business part of our trip. She'll be hanging back with Boris."

"Well if that's the case, okay then." She walked over to Aleu and tousled the fur on her head. "So you want to see me show up your father, huh?" Aleu giggled and Tricksy turned to walk past Balto. In passing, she whispered just loud enough for him to here, "I hope you know what you're doing."


"So where're we going Papa? What do we do first?"

Aleu's questions had flown in rapid succession since they'd left, and Tricksy's ears were beginning to ring. She stopped and stayed Aleu with one paw. "Okay, Kiddo. First thing to learn about traveling in the woods is you have to be quiet. You can talk, but just not loud. You're here to hear, not to be heard, got it? You've got to see with your ears and nose as much as your eyes."

"Oh," Aleu said, her face betraying her chagrin.

Balto chuckled. "Don't worry, this is just your first time. I remember the first time I took Tricksy out here. She was trying so hard to move quietly. Let's just say she didn't and leave it at that."

Aleu smiled again, but still began to make a concerted effort to glide along as her father and Tricksy did. Just then, a loud cry was heard from above them and Boris came hurtling down through the pine boughs and crashed into a snowbank. Aleu dashed over to the fallen goose. "Uncle Boris! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Boris pulled his head out of the snow and began smoothing out his feathers. "Now I remember why I don't like flying anymore. When you make crash landing, everyone always ask if you're hurt. Why not, 'Nice to see you,' or 'Do you need our assistance?'?"

Aleu giggled. "Nice to see you, Uncle Boris."

"Do you need our assistance?" Balto asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"Hmm, I wonder which side of family that comes from?" He stared accusingly at Balto.

Balto laughed and shook his head. "Come on, Boris. Stop playing in the snow and let's go."

"You call this playing?!" the goose sputtered. "Oi! Canines are all alike; always running mouth . . ."


As they traveled, Tricksy and Balto showed Aleu some of what they knew about the forest. She quickly picked up everything they showed her and was soon moving almost as silently as the two adults.

Balto began to grow uneasy as they moved deeper into the woods. He couldn't seem to shake the feeling that he was being watched. He thought he'd picked up Kemo's scent a few times, but he couldn't be sure. He heard a twig snap on his left and he quickly stopped and looked in that direction.

Aleu picked up on his rigid stance and crouched down. "What was that, Papa?" Aleu whispered.

Balto sniffed the air and caught Tricksy's eye. "He's playing tricks on us," he whispered in her ear.

Tricksy looked warily at the path ahead. "I'll bet he's having a good laugh right now," Tricksy snorted. "Wait til I get my paws on that Kemo . . ."

"Kemo?" Aleu asked. "You mean Uncle Kemo is here? Can I meet him?"

"Quiet, Aleu," Balto said. "We don't know that for sure. Let's move on."

Humbled by her father's criticism, fell in step behind him and remained silent until they came to the edge of a large clearing. Looking upon the scene, she was awestruck. "Wow!"

Below them lay a large encampment of humans, busily surveying and discussing with animated gestures. Elsewhere, other men were chopping wood and using dogsleds to haul it back to the camp. This chaotic scene so captivated Aleu that she began to walk toward it. She found her trip cut short when she was lifted from the ground.

"Oh, no you don't," Balto said when he set her down. "This is where Tricksy and I leave you for a bit. You stay here and do what your Uncle Boris tells you."

"Awww!" Aleu protested. "Why can't I come too?"

"Remember our agreement?"

"But . . ."

"It might be dangerous down there."

"But . . ."

"And I'm your father, you'll do as I say. End of argument."

"Oh . . ." Her father's tone left no room for dispute. Frustrated, she sat down.

When he was sure he'd made his point, Balto turned to the goose. "Take her back past the treeline. Make sure you stay hidden until we get back."

Boris rolled his eyes. "Of course we stay hidden. What you think I am? Dodo?"

"I don't think you want an answer to that," Balto said, walking away with Tricksy following him.

Once they were out of sight, Aleu growled angrily. "It's not fair! Papa never lets me do anything."

Boris looked at her questioningly. "What not fair about keeping his baby safe?" he asked, poking his wingtip at her nose for emphasis.

Aleu brushed his wing down with a paw. "I'm not a baby."

"Then you are the smallest grownup I ever seen," Boris countered, herding her back farther into the woods. "Anyway, we do as Balto says, eh?"


Balto and Tricksy stopped a short distance away from the camp and laid down in the snow. Balto raised is head and gave the camp a once-over. Just then, he caught a glimpse of the visiting human walking into the camp from one of the dog sleds. He then turned his head toward Tricksy. "Let's move in close and see what we can find out. I'll head left, you go right," he said, nodding toward the less crowded side of camp.

Tricksy shook her head. "No, I'll go left and you go right."

"Give me one reason why you always argue with everything I say."

"I only argue with you when you're chauvinistic, arrogant, overprotective, insensitive, or any combination of the above."

"I said one, not five." Balto shook his head in defeat. "All right, you go one way, I'll go the other."

They split up and headed in their separate directions. Balto hadn't gone very far when his feeling of uneasiness returned. He sighed audibly and glanced back. "All right, Kemo, you've made your point. You can stop fooling around now."

Laughter shattered the silence, and Balto snapped his head around. Kemo was lying on a log to the side of the trail, convulsing with laughter. Balto rolled his eyes and shoved the white wolf off the log and into a snowbank. "I thought you were supposed to be the mature one."

Kemo, still laughing, climbed to his feet and shook the snow out of his fur. "It's nice to see my humor so easily appreciated by a receptive audience."

"Very funny. I'm here because of you, ya know."

The wolf became serious. "I know, and I appreciate it." As they began moving, he glanced at Balto hesitantly. "I saw someone new with you and Trix. Very young. Very . . . lupine. What pack is she from?"

"Mine. I brought Aleu with me today."

Kemo looked sharply at his half-brother. "Is your brain frostbit?! What were you thinking?"

"I brought her as a way to sort of make up with her."

"But bringing a wolf puppy . . ."

"Puppy. Just plain old puppy. Aleu is all dog."

Kemo squeezed his eyes shut. "I won't debate that with you again, at least not here, but she looks like a wolf regardless. What happens if a human sees her?"

"Don't worry, she's perfectly safe. I've got Boris watching her right now, and he's going to keep her out of sight."

Still uncertain, Kemo shrugged. "Well, as long as she's here, I guess I can drop by and say hello."

Balto grimaced, regretting what he was about to say. "I wish you wouldn't do that just yet. She's not exactly accustomed to strangers."

"You mean you've never told her about me?"

"It's not that, it's just . . . I never told her you were a wolf."

Kemo hesitated. "Oh."

He was hurt; Balto could discern that from his voice. "Maybe some other time," he suggested.

Kemo nodded tersely. "You'd better go and tell the camp dogs not to sound an alarm if they see or smell me. I'll wait here."