Chapter 4
It was already late in the afternoon when they set out to meet kodi. The streets were pitch black. Usually the moon or northern lights would shine, but with the storm to the north, it was dark. The temperature still hadn't reached anything over thirty below. In the mountains the temperature had dropped to forty five below, with a wind-chill factor of seventy below.
Balto had worried about the storm; kodi would be running back through this weather. But, Balto tried not to worry, kodi was a big dog and could handle himself, he knew his limits. It was just the fathering instinct that made him worry.
Balto walked with his head held high, his tail straight out and his feet rising high above the snow with each step. It wasn't his idea to walk this way it had been the idea of clover and Jenna. The entire morning clover and Jenna had thought of all the different ways to tell kodi. They had thought to make kodi come find them, but that was to mean so they instead decided to meet kodi. But for the rest of the morning and early afternoon they had used Balto as their stooge. He walked the way they told him. He played kodi and when clover told him he was going to be a father, he would over exaggerate his reaction. Clover and Jenna would almost fall over from laughter each time he did it.
But now the day of rehearsing was over and Balto could get on with the real thing. Even though he hated to walk this way he did it for their amusement. The plan was simple, but yet Balto knew that it wasn't going to be how clover and Jenna thought it would be. But Balto would make sure it would go as best it could. Balto would walk up in a happy go lucky manner he was walking in now. Then when kodi noticed how his father was walking and ask what he was so proud of he would congratulate kodi on being a father.
Balto could hardly wait to see the look on kodi's face. He thought back to when Jenna told him he was going to be a father. He had wished so bad that he could have seen his face. But now he was going to see his sons face. Balto turned his head to see Jenna walking next to clover.
Clover had spent the better part of an hour licking her fur until it was just the way she wanted it. Clover kept glancing over at Jenna, searching for a reassuring smile to let her know that everything was ok. She walked carefully, keeping track of her steps. It wasn't a thing to make sure she was walking correctly but it was more to keep her mind off of it. Clover looked so often at Jenna that Jenna stopped looking where she was walking. Every few seconds clover would look over, and Jenna would smile, in the one block that they had traveled clover had looked over at Jenna numerous times.
Balto rounded the corner of the fading yellow building, and could see the team standing out in the darkness. He picked up the pace, then suddenly slowed. There was something wrong, something was out of place. Balto quickly picked it out.
The first thing Balto noticed was the lantern, the lantern was always kept lit when a team was out on the trail. Balto could see the yellow lantern that hung on the building just outside the door. Several musher's stood under it talking, they wouldn't have just left the team hooked up, they would have been unhooking dogs. The dogs, the dogs were faced the wrong way, and it wasn't Kodi's team. Balto could see the faces of dogs he knew didn't run with kodi.
Balto picked up the pace. Clover and Jenna watched Balto pick up the pace. Jenna watched his movements and could tell that something was wrong. It was the way he walked; he no longer walked with the happy go lucky charm.
Balto slowed once he got to the back of the team. He looked at the humans under the lantern light. One of them was dressed in the large mushing coat, it was long enough to hang down to the mushers ankles. Around his face was a wool scarf, with the beaver skin trappers' hat.
Balto then looked at the gear in the sled. Balto recognized the symbol on a large tin metal box; it was the same symbol that he had seen in the doctors' office. It was uncommon for a sled driver to carry such a large tin box full of medical supplies. There was also a large rubber blanket; Balto looked at it with half shock. He had seen one when an old man died in his home, and they carried him out in the same looking blanket. Balto knew this was not a rescue mission; this was a search and recovery mission.
Balto moved up the sled, searching for a dog he could recognize. At the front of the sled Balto found Nikke and Kaltag. Kaltag jumped when Balto pulled up next to him.
"What's going on? Where's kodi?" Balto said in a very serious tone.
"Balto, I, um, Balto there's something I half to tell you." Kaltag looked away; he did it to work up the courage to tell Balto the truth.
"What?" Balto waited impatiently. In his mind he knew what was going to come just by Kaltag's tone. But yet he hoped it wouldn't be that bad.
"Balto, kodi's dead."
"What!" Balto stepped back as a loud cry went up behind him. He turned to see clover running back the way they came with Jenna quickly in tow. Balto hadn't expected it to hurt him so much. He stepped back in shock at the words and there meaning. "How? How?"
"Balto, last night one of the dogs on Kodi's team came back. He was ripped up pretty bad, his skin was ripped off his back, and, and it was just horrible."
"Where is he?"
"Balto," Kaltag began. "He's dead. He died shortly after arriving but not before telling me his story."
Balto's ears perked up "story? What kind of story? How did he know kodi was dead? Tell me." Balto growled.
"Well, he said after the attackā¦"
"Attack?" Balto's voice jumped.
"Yes attack, he said that he walked nearly three miles. Then he got caught by the wolves. They told him that any dog pulling for a human will die with their human. They said they are sick and tired of competing for food, and will fight to the death."
Balto realized that a war had been started. He knew that they were going to half to fight in order to live with freedom. But that was not his main concern right now kodi was.
"But how did he know kodi was dead?"
Kaltag turned away again, to get the courage up to tell Balto how he knew. "Balto he said he found his frozen foot."
"What!" Balto nearly fainted. The shock had been more then he thought, he tried to get his stamina back but that was already a lost battle. "He found just his foot?"
"Balto, I don't know."
Balto stepped back, his eyes were watering up, and sobbing began to come up to the surface. But then something changed. Balto's legs no longer shook, and his eyes no longer watered. He now stood strong with his chest puffed out, and legs strongly seated below him. He was no longer in a state of remorse, but instead he was in a state of action. "Kaltag I'm coming with you."
"What? No you can't come."
"You're telling me that I can't come? Who give you the right?" Balto growled getting up into Kaltags face.
"No, its not that I won't let you go, its that Sam's mushing. You know about him and you."
Balto looked back at the mushers. Sam stood in between the other two mushers, carefully eyeing Balto. Sam and Balto had gone back a long time. Sam had a hatred for wolves that was unmatched by any in town, and Balto, well he looked like a wolf. It just wasn't a match that worked.
"Your right," Balto agreed still staring at Sam. "But I am going to fallow you. I'll be off in the trees to your right and behind. "
"No Balto you can't."
But it was too late, Balto was already running off to find Jenna and tell her what he was going to do. Balto walked back around the fading yellow building that they had previously come around. Balto peaked around the corner. Jenna stood in the shadows with her back up against the building. Clover sobbed, and wept into Jenna's chest. Jenna had tears running down her fur, but kept her sobs to a minimum.
"I don't want to know." she said looking straight ahead. Balto moved to "I don't want to know how or why."
Balto walked around the front of her, and with the calmest tone he could conger up.
"Jenna I'm going to bring our son home."
