Chapter 12
Balto and Jenna had spent the night together in the small shed out behind her master's house. Balto usually slept out on the boat by himself, but Jenna was very teary eyed and wanted someone to stay with her.
The night was spent half sleeping half worrying. Jenna would lay awake thinking about Kodi then after a few hours of laying awake she would fall asleep and wake Balto with a nudge of her side. Then Balto would wake up and spend the next few hours worrying about Kodi.
In the early morning they both awoke and sat in the silence of the small room thinking about Kodi. They would pass each other passing glances, but neither dared talk to the other to confirm the others thoughts.
Early in the morning they both went over to the doctor's to see how Kodi was doing. But Kodi was still inside and they couldn't see him. Later in the morning Kodi was put outside in the small shed behind the doctors with clover. A bowl of warm water and some boiled meat were laid out there as well. Kodi was unconscious on top of a pile of blankets in the corner of the shed and hadn't changed since the evening before, this was confirmed by clover.
Balto and Jenna showed up every half hour to see if Kodi was awake. But every time they were disappointed to find that nothing else had happened. This continued throughout the day past sunrise and sunset and late into the evening.
Balto and Jenna walked slowly through the dark dimly lit streets. The buildings towered high above them. They seemed to be glaring down atop Balto and Jenna. Their windows staring like the cold eyes of a dead man. The shadows from lantern lights that were hung on the front street and were always kept burning, cast shadows in a thousand different ways across the walls of the buildings.
Balto and Jenna walked side by side through these dark alleys. There shoulders were touching in a loving comforting manner as Balto rubbed his head against Jenna's shoulder. Neither of them talked as they walked but Balto kept glancing over at Jenna to see if she was ok.
Balto had been over to the doctor's only one other time before. It was shortly after the serum run when Rosy's parents went to thank the doctor for all he had done. Balto remembered the house had a very distinct smell of flowers. And this flower smell seemed to be there all winter. There was the smell of the small delicate blue flowers which grew all around Balto's boat; he would spend his early mornings during the summer smelling them from the bow of his boat.
Balto and Jenna rounded the corner of a large old building. The doctor's brown house seemed set out away from all the others in a loner fashion. The house was short, only a story tall with a loft area at the roof where the doctor and his wife would sleep. On the opposite side of the building there was a grey stone chimney which belched a thick white smoke. There was a window on this side of the house in the loft area that was covered with grey frost from the extreme cold which still covered the land. On this side of the house there was a small ten by twelve porch with a stairway leading up one corner. There was a trail carved in the deep snow that led from one corner of the porch to the other where the door was. Buried in the snow just up from the porch was a dog sled that had been converted into a flower box for the summer months.
Balto and Jenna moved around the front of the building to the shed which lay hidden behind the house. Balto and Jenna had carved a trail into the snow from there previous visits to the house. They walked around the front of the doctor's house and to the back shed.
The shed was covered with a light fluffy powdery snow that flowed off the extended roof of the house onto the shed. Snow was built up between the shed and the doctor's house to the heights of the roof of the shed. Along the other side the snow was rippled in a large pile that had been pushed up against the shed by the prevailing winds. The shed had the same brown vertical siding as the house did. There was a single door with a tattered rope hanging off of the door handle. The shed opened in with rusty metal hinges on the outside.
Balto and Jenna stopped at the corner of the house to stare at the shed. Neither of them wanted to go into the shed for the fear that Kodi still wouldn't be awake. They both stared at the door of the shed, which was glowing orange from the distant glow of a lantern, waiting for something to happen.
Then they heard it. It was a whispering talk coming from within the shed.
Jenna bolted forward with excitement. She jumped up and pushed her paws onto the wooden door to throw it open. The door flew open and she came down on her feet just inside the door. She stared in towards the corner where Kodi had been and was exuberant to see that Kodi had his head up with clover laying behind him.
Jenna ran across the hardwood floor of the shed to greet Kodi who was lying down on a pile of old blankets in the corner. She nuzzled up against him as Tears began to run down her muzzle and drop off the sides of her jaws. She began to weep, taking in large gasping breaths between her weepings.
"Oh Kodi I was so worried that you had gone over a deep end."
"Oh don't worry mom, I would never think of leaving without saying good by." Kodi said with a smile as Jenna stopped nuzzling him and stepped back to examine her son.
"So how are you feeling Kodi?" Balto said stepping up next to Jenna. Jenna glanced over at Balto.
"Well dad, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm nice and warm thanks to a little help." Kodi glanced over at clover.
"What about your foot." Jenna said abruptly, almost rudely.
"We'll, my foots messed up I'm pretty sure. It hurts a lot when I put any weight on it, and I can't bring it up to my body so I can walk on my other three legs. So I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be stuck lying down for a while." Kodi smiled. "So what are you two doing here? Did you just come to see if I was ok, like I've heard you have been doing all morning?"
"Well." Jenna said nudging Balto with her side. Balto glanced over wondering what she wanted but when he saw the look in her eyes he knew what to say.
"Well." Balto picked up. "We just came by to congratulate the father to be."
Kodi at first thought that they were talking about themselves, but then why did Balto say it about himself. Then it hit him, he knew who they were talking about. He turned and looked at clover who had turned her head the other way in embarrassment. Kodi glanced back at his parents, then back at clover.
"You mean…you … and me…pups?"
Balto and Jenna put the sides of their heads together to watch there sons reaction to a new family.
Kodi stared at his mate with a slightly shocked yet dumbfound look of excitement.
"Well I suppose we better go so these two love birds can get talking about there future family." Balto gave Jenna a light nudge with his shoulder trying to get her to move. Jenna took the hint.
"Yes I suppose we better get moving. These two must have a lot to talk about." she turned and walked back out of the shed where she turned to look back at both of them. Balto fallowed behind her.
They stood in the doorway of the shed for a moment watching the two of them stare at each other in silence. Balto grabbed hold of the rope that hung from the handle of the door with his teeth and pulled the shed door closed.
Balto and Jenna turned with a smile on each of there faces.
"Don't worry Jenna. I bet tomorrow they will be more than willing to talk to us. They just need some time alone."
"I know, I know, that's why I was so willing to leave."
They both walked out in front of the doctor's house then back around the front of the old building. Then Jenna turned to Balto.
"This is one proudest moments of my life."
"Me to Jenna. Me to."
