Chapter 3

Evening slowly came around like it did in the north where the sun couldn't be used as a practical gauge for a day. The sun set in the ocean and the cold from the day became encased under the blanket of stars appearing out of nowhere. The wind died down to nothing more than a slow breath moving through the streets like an empty ghost. Lamps came on in the houses and shined out through the windows without any order as to where they landed. All across town dogs and cats were put out for the night and they moseyed off into the night for their own reasons.

Balto hunkered down and waited for Jenna across the alley from the back door to her house in the shadows. Next to him sat an upturned garbage can which smelled of meat. Below Balto was a thin piece of cardboard which kept him off the cold snow. Here was his usual waiting place when he had to wait for Jenna to come out at night.

Inside the house he could hear Rosy talking to her mother and father. Someone moved around in the kitchen. Balto presumed it to be Rosy's mother by her silhouette in the window above the sink.

After a short time Balto heard Jenna scratch on the inside of the door. Balto guessed Rosy must have answered Jenna's call by the way her footsteps skipped across the kitchen and opened the door. "There you go girl. Now don't stay out to late."

Jenna stepped out onto the cement porch and let her eyes adjust. "Balto?"

Balto stepped forward off the cardboard and walked up and nuzzled her soothingly, then stepped back. "So do you have your plan all worked out?"

"Yes. We need to first go talk to Kodi, then we'll go to the boiler-room and get Dakota in on it."

They walked across town in the alleys. This happened to be Balto's choice because he didn't like being out on the front streets where he could be seen by people who might mistake him for something dangerous, – also Balto knew his way around the alley's better than the brightly lit streets. They walked side by side and close enough together to feel each others warmth. The alleys were dark and full of eyes. Rats, cat's, and mice watched Balto and Jenna move from their hiding places.

"So do you know when the steamer gets here?" Balto asked at ease.

"It's going to be some time tomorrow afternoon." Jenna looked at Balto. "At least that's what I figured. I'm not sure if he's going to be on that one or the one coming in two days. I'm sure I'll know tomorrow."

Balto and Jenna walked on side by side.

When they got to Mr. Simpsons house Kodi jumped up from his doghouse and walked to meet Balto and Jenna. Dusty, Ralph, and Kirby looked at Balto and Jenna and sluggishly rose from their houses to greet them.

Mr. Simpson's house looked busy. Lots of lamps burned in the windows and lots of talking went back and forth in a jovial way. Through one window they could see people walking around with cups and presents. Someone swung a cake down onto the table.

"What's going on?" Balto said as they came up to Kodi.

Kodi looked nonchalantly over his shoulder at the little square house with the smoking chimney and blue siding. Behind the house the Nome River babbled almost out of audible range. A couple poplar trees stood in the low light of the evening behind the house "It's Mr. Simpson's birthday."

Dusty stepped to Kodi's side, followed by Kirby and Ralph next to her. All of them looked fat and tired at the end of their off season. In a few more week's they would get back to pulling the mail sled their fat would be burned off and they would look fit again. But for now they looked like cancerous overweight soars plagued with listlessness and uncomprehending boredom.

"Hello Jenna, Balto. It's been a long time since you two have been around." Dusty said with enthusiasm. Her tale wagged back and forth and she looked expectantly at Balto and Jenna.

"Hello Dusty. It has been a while. I'm sorry I haven't been around, but you know how it goes with children. Besides you never come and see me so..." Jenna responded.

"I guess I just never find the time or the energy in the summer to go anywhere either. I just kind of want to sleep all the time."

"I know that." Balto smiled. "It's hard to do anything in the sun when you're constantly wearing a fur coat." everyone giggled

When everyone stopped laughing Jenna began. "Now we came here to do more than just visit. We have a little problem and we were wondering if we could get Kodi's help with it. You all can come and help if you want to."

Kirby and Ralph looked at each other and gave a bored facial expression. Both of them looked as if they had no interest in doing anything.

"I'll help." Dusty said right away.

"Why not." Kodi replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"It depends." Kirby said.

Balto looked squarely at him. "What would it have to depend on?"

"On what we're going to be fed." Ralph shot back before Kirby could open his mouth.

"No!' Kirby said pushing Ralph with his paw. Ralph fell sideways, but caught himself with an outstretched paw. "I mean it depends on what you want our help with."

"Yeah, what do you need us to help with mom?" Kodi asked.

Jenna began to tell the tale from the very beginning. She told about her father and his job and how his master and he were coming to Nome tomorrow. Jenna then expressed her concerns on what he might do when he met Balto.

"Well why don't you just tell him Balto's out of town for a few days?" Kirby suddenly cut in on Jenna.

Jenna told them how she and her father had a special bond where they wouldn't lie to one another. At this Kirby rolled his eyes, but remained silent while Jenna continued. When Jenna had finished telling them about this she paused for a breath when Dusty suddenly spoke.

"So what do you want us to help you with Jenna? It sounds like you haven't really given yourself a choice. He's got to meet Balto and that's that."

"Yes," Jenna replied with an idealistic smile. "But we're going to introduce my dad to Balto with as much ease as we can. We're going to slowly bring out the truth with your help."

"I think I see what's going to happen." Kodi shook his head. "You're going to bring your dad around and we're going to drop little clues about what dad is."

"Exactly!" Jenna barked. She looked sidelong at Balto He gave a smile at her. "So tomorrow when I bring my dad around give him little clues about what Balto is. Don't outright say it, but just … you know, finesse it."

Ralph twisted his head sideway. "Do you mean, 'fitness it?'"

"No, finesse, it means to do it elegantly." Dusty said.

Ralph looked at her even more befuddled. "So what's this got to do about geese?"

Kirby rolled his eyes and put his paw over his face in embarrassment. "Oh boy," He whispered quietly as he set his paw down. "Listen, just don't tell Jenna's dad Balto looks like a wolf."

"Okay, I think I got that." Ralph replied with a smile. Everyone else internally put a paw to their face in embarrassment.

Balto and Jenna moved back through town, once again using the dark alleys. They made their way to the boiler room by the ocean which lapped with unending repetition against the shore. By now the late night had begun to move on and turn the cold even colder and the dark even darker. Balto and Jenna walked with their shoulders touching. Their breath blew up over their heads in thick white clouds which blotted tiny ice crystals to their fur.

"It's cold." Jenna said.

"Yes. Winters coming soon." Balto looked at the stars above the building as if reading something from them. "It's probably going to snow in two days."

Jenna looked at him. "I thought it felt more like tonight."

"No." Balto said smiling at her. "It's to cold to snow. Even when it does snow it's not going to snow much down here. In the mountains it will snow quiet a bit. It will probably be mostly wind and cold down here. Maybe some drifts of one or two feet might build up here and there, but for the most part there won't be anything but cold."

Jenna looked cross at Balto. "How do you know that much about it!?!"

Balto smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and looked the other way as if saying she would never know how he knew. "It's a wolf thing."

Jenna scowled at him in a friendly way and they continued on around the corner.

When they got to the door of the boiler room they could hear voices and a bunch of girls intoxicated with their own giggling. Then they heard the voice of a boy telling a story and laughing along with the girls.

Balto raised his paw up in front of Jenna before she reached the door and tried to push her way in. She looked at him in wonderment and he whispered in a very quiet voice. "Hold on, let's listen in."

They stood in front of the door and pressed their ears close to the cold wood.

"Okay," The boy's voice resounded. Jenna and Balto both knew it to be Dakota's right away. "So I'm just walking along next to this river when this huge polar bear comes tearing out of the woods at me."

The girls gasped.

"So you know what I did?"

"No, what?" One of the girls said.

"Well, first off I just stood my ground. And believe me this bear was terrifying. If anyone other than me had been there they would have high-tailed it before the bear even hit the water and been run down and eaten before they knew what hit them, but not me. I just looked that bear in the eyes and stared at him without any fear.

"That must have been what did the trick though. I think this bear could sense I wasn't afraid of him. I think it was my rock-hard nerves that did it, because as soon as that bear and I locked eyes he just stopped. He stood and looked at me, almost testing to see if I would run, but I didn't.

"So then the bear turns as if he's had enough fun with me, and I think, 'you know what, I'm going to play a little game with this bear since he wants to play games.' So as soon as the bear turned I ran up behind him, jumped up on his back and ran right over his head."

The girls in the room giggled and jumped and laughed and moaned with excitement. As soon as it quieted down again Dakota started up.

"Now I didn't know how fast a polar bear was. He looked far too big to run very fast, so I figured I could outrun him no problem. But the bear was quick with his paws and he knocked me down with one quick swipe."

"So then what happened?" Another girl insisted.

"So now I'm lying on my back with my front paws stuck back in this bears jaws when all of the sudden I get this idea that I should-"

Balto looked at Jenna and rolled his eyes. "Let's end this before it gets out of hand."

Jenna giggled. "I think it might have already gone to far."

Balto smiled at her. "Stay here and watch this."

Balto pushed the door open. Dakota's story stopped in mid-sentence as they looked to see who entered the room.

Suddenly the three girls jumped to their feet and backed into the corner behind Dakota. "Help it's a wolf!"

"What's he doing here!?!"

"Dakota get him!"

The three girls looked young, maybe a year younger than Dakota. Their brownish fur and similar markings told Balto they must have been sisters. Balto had never seen them around town so they obviously had never seen him before.

Dakota looked behind him at the girls cowering and waiting for their shining hero to rip the intruding wolf limb from limb before their eyes.

"What are you waiting for?" One of the girls said. "Chase him out of here. Do something."

Dakota looked at Balto and cocked his head sideways while giving a pleading face. It was a face Balto clearly recognized when Dakota had been a pup and gave the same face when he wanted to have a pretend brawl with his dad. He then mouthed the words clearly. 'Come on, help me.' He then cocked his head, indicating towards the three girls.

Balto looked over his shoulder at Jenna who stood behind him outside the door and out of sight of the girls. She shook her head at the whole prospect.

Without another thought to it Balto flattened his ears against his head and turned back to Dakota and lowered his head in a vicious growl. Dakota jumped to his feet. "Stay back girls. I'll handle this."

"You think you can take me dog, then let's do this." With a snarl Balto charged ahead into the room. Dakota ran straight at his dad. And just as they should have leapt at each other, snarling and barking, and then fall to the floor and begin tussling like they had in years past, Balto leapt to the side and turned back and lightly bit hold of Dakota's back paw. Dakota fell to the floor with a weighty thud and at once Balto jumped on his back with his full weight pressing Dakota into the floor. Balto bit the scruff of Dakota's neck like he did when he had been a pup and declared himself victorious. "Hey dad, just pretend, just pretend. Uncle, uncle, now get off, stop it. I'm not a pup anymore. Stop it!!!" Dakota then began to giggle as Balto poked his soft sides with his paw. "Stop it!!!" Dakota yelled again and again and again.

At this Jenna appeared in the room and paced past Balto to the three girls. "I hope our son hasn't been telling you too many tall tales. But Balto and I need to talk to him alone now if that would be alright?"

The girls suddenly understood it had all been a ploy and their faces turned to venom. The three girls stood and departed for the door with their tails held high. The last girl in line stopped next to Balto who still sat on top of Dakota. Dakota looked feebly up at her with a look of great loss on his face. "You should stop telling so many lies Dakota. It's bad for you"

Balto smiled at her. "We tried to teach him. But he doesn't learn fast so I got to set him straight every now and then."

The girl smiled warily at Balto, still unsure about him. She then departed after her friends and they were gone.

"Why do you always have to ruin my good time?" Dakota said looking up at his mother who stood in front of him now. "I had something great going on there, and look what you did. No wait; I know who the brain behind this is Dad." Dakota curled his head sideways and looked at Balto out of the corner of his eyes.

Balto looked at Jenna. "Do you think I should let him up with that kind of attitude?"

Jenna grinned. "No, tickle him some more and see how he behaves."

"No!! Don't you dare tickle me. I'll behave. Now just please … get off me."

"That's more like it." Balto stepped off Dakota and sat down on the floor next to him. Dakota pulled himself to a sitting position and looked at his mother and father with a less than cheerful look.

"What do you want from me anyways? I don't have anything for you."

"We need your help with something." Balto said.

Dakota looked at him and stared into his eyes. "Yeah? Well I wanted your help with those triplets there and look what you did. I'll be lucky if they ever talk to me again. So no, I'm not going to help you two with whatever menial task you have set aside for me."

"Dakota don't be this way." Jenna said rolling her eyes. "You know if you kept going on with that stupid story they would have walked out on you eventually when they realized none of it was true."

Dakota looked at his mother a little softer, as if he just camee to realize something he hadn't though of. "Yeah, I guess so. But I wasn't thinking that far ahead."

"I know." Jenna said simply. She looked at her son and felt a deep compassion for how much he had yet the learn. "Tell you what Dakota. I know a girl who knows a girl with a daughter about your age. She's a very nice girl and would love to meet you. But you can't tell her any stories or pump yourself up, just tell her the truth."

Dakota looked at his mother a little angrier. "What makes you think I need your help? And what makes you think I'll like your friends, friends daughter anyways?"

"I don't know. I just have a mother's intuition about these things. But if you want to meet her you've got to help us. If you don't want to help us and just want to keep telling stories go right ahead."

Dakota looked as though he were thinking about it. Then he began reluctantly "Okay, I guess I'll help you two in exchange for meeting this girl. What's her name?"

"Quin."

"Not a very beautiful sounding name."

"Don't let her name fool you."

"So what do you need help with?"

Jenna and Balto told Dakota exactly what they wanted him to do, and Dakota listened and agreed to help and not be too much of a show off. When everything had been agreed upon Balto and Jenna moved to leave and they apologized for ruining his evening.

"So when do you think I'll be able to meet Quin?" Dakota asked as Balto and Jenna stepped outside the door.

"Tomorrow afternoon sometime. Just be here in the afternoon and I'll bring her around" Jenna said and they left.

When they were far enough away from the boiler room Balto turned to Jenna. "What was that all about?"

"What was what about?" Jenna replied.

"That. With Quin and Dakota and all that helping him." Balto said.

"Oh that." Jenna giggled. "I've known Quin's mother for some time, and Quin has had the biggest crush on Dakota for as long as I can remember. So when I saw an opportunity for Dakota to meet her and do something for us, I took it. I had been planning on sitting down with Dakota for some time and setting up a date for them to meet, but I just haven't had the chance until now."

Balto looked blankly at her. "I don't understand."

Jenna giggled, looked away as if she knew he would never understand. "It's a dog thing."

Balto smiled and laughed and they continued off into the night laughing together.