Duke woke up early the next morning and stumbled into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. He opened and slammed cabinets shut as he dug out everything that he would need and finally pulled his desired cold goods from the ice box. He placed a cast iron pan on the hot top of the wood stove and cracked an egg, the sizzle of it starting to cook making his mouth water. He then went out to his well and dipped out a pot full of water, bringing it inside and placing that on the stove to boil. He then picked up a bag of java and dumped the desired amount inside, stirring the grains around with a spoon.

The smell of food aroused Balto who rolled out of bed and padded stiffly into the kitchen, joining up with his master a few seconds later. Duke mixed up his eggs with a spatula and moved the pan to a cooler part of the stove so as to not burn his breakfast while he fed his dog. Duke moved over to the pantry and dipped a cup into the large brown bag, the cup coming out full of kibbles, and walked it over to Balto's bowl, dumping it in. Balto followed and dipped his mouth down into his bowl and Duke went back to his eggs. They took just a minute or two to finish cooking then he dumped them out on a plate, and removed the now finished java off of the stove and poured it into a can. He then sliced some bread and carried all of his food over to the table. The two ate in silence, save the crunch of kibbles and the dry bread until they both had their fill.

Duke sat back in his chair and finished his java then rose and put all of his dirty dishes in the sink. Once that was taken care of he whistled for Balto to follow him as he made his way over to the door. Balto's ears flicked to attention hearing this whistle and raised his head from his bowl. A sudden feeling of dread flooded over Balto, almost as if some sixth sense kicked in, warning him of an impending doom.

"Oh no, not today," Balto thought, realizing what was going to happen.

Duke was just a few feet away from the door when Balto appeared in front of him and sat, blocking his way.

"I know you don't me to go, but I have to get to work," Duke said as he stepped around him and opened up the door.

Balto whipped around and caught Duke by the sleeve of his flight jacket, stopping him half way across the porch.

"What is it bud? You sure are acting funny today," Duke observed, "You ain't got worms now do you?"

Balto whined and tugged slightly back toward the house.

"I can't stay bud, I gotta go to work. Mr. Conner'll have my ass if I miss today."

Duke got his sleeve free from Balto's teeth and stepped down off of the porch, making his way over to the plane. Balto was desperate now; he had to get the message across, but how? He took off down the porch and across the yard, flying past duke and stopping in front of the plane.

"Changed,your mind have you," Duke teased with a smile and continued walking toward the plane.

Duke got within six feet of the plane and Balto began to bark madly, not permitting him any closer. Duke was slightly scared at first, but he eventually began to see a picture starting to form.

"You know something don't you," Duke asked easily.

Balto ceased his barking and sat, thumping his tail.

Duke looked down at Balto then at the plane, and started to slowly walk over. Balto knew that he had succeeded and let Duke pass. Duke went around to the front of the plane and lifted the hood, jumping up and hanging the front half of his body inside to check the engine. After only a few moments of rummaging around he found something very unnerving. The auxiliary power cable on the engine was severed slightly, but not enough to keep the plane from staring. If Duke hadn't have known about it and started the plane it would have shaken apart mid flight and the plane would have gone down.

Duke flipped the hair out of his face and dropped down, turning to Balto with a broad smile.

"You really are a true hero, bud, you probably just saved my life," Duke said as he squatted down and took Balto's head into his hands.

Balto yipped happily in response, beating his tail quickly back and forth.

Duke removed a hand from Balto's head and ran it into his jacket pocket, pulling out a large piece of moose jerky and extending it out toward Balto. Balto took his reward with a great sense of humility, holding it in his mouth for a moment and then chewing it slowly.

Duke patted Balto on the head once more and straightened up, dusting the dirt off of his jacket that had clung to him from the plane.

"Well, I guess I'd better get down to the post office," Duke mused.

He rubbed a hand between Balto's ears then turned and began to walk, arriving at the post office a few minutes later.

He stepped inside the small building and approached the man behind the counter.

"Ah, Duke," Mr. Conner began with a toothy grin.

He turned and began to pick up a large bag of mail, but was stopped by Duke.

"Actually Mr. Conner, I won't be able to run today," Duke said slowly.

Mr. Conner frowned and turned around.

"Why not? Those people up in White Mountain are gonna start rioting if we don't get them their mail," Mr. Conner said half serious.

"Well, sir, my plane has a mechanical problem that could've ended me today if Balto hadn't warned me."

"So Balto's a mechanic," Mr. Conner teased with a laugh.

"No," Duke replied with a chuckle, "he just...knew some how."

Mr. Conner shook his head.

"Well, how long until you can be up and ready?" he asked , scratching some stubble on the side of his face.

"I need to go and see if I can find me a new auxiliary wire," Duke began, "If I can find one around here I can be ready to go by tomorrow, but if I can't we'd have to have one mailed here."

Mr. Conner laughed at the irony and shook his head.

"Alright, well I guess you'd better get on it," Mr. Conner stated and outstretched his hand.

Duke shook it firmly then turned to go, hoping that he would get lucky.

As it turned out, nowhere he went had exactly what he needed, but he knew what he needed was composed of and scrounged all of his materials together.

He arrived back at his house a few minutes later and saw that Balto was gone, more than likely to go see Dusk.

Duke laughed under his breath and moved over to the plane.

It was late in the afternoon when he finished toying and finagling with his engine, checked over his work, and dropped down to the ground once he was satisfied that his job was done.

Duke wiped the oil from his hands into an old rag made out of worn out trouser material and turned, walking tiredly into his house. He shut the door behind him then walked over to the icebox, opening it and reaching inside. He straightened up with a bottle of beer in his hand and closed the door to the icebox. He pressed the bottle to his lips and pried the top off with his teeth, then spit the lid out onto the counter. He took a quick refreshing sip and walked over to his chair, siting heavily with an exhausted groan. He spent the next few minutes sipping on his drink until it was gone then placed the empty bottle down by his feet. He laid his head back and closed his eyes, thinking briefly bout how Balto had saved his lie then passed on into the black abyss.

A/N Hey guys, sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but I haven't had much time to write. Anyway, I know that there are a few of you who I have already talked to, but for the rest of you out there I'd like you guys to check out a fic called Heritage of the Wolf, Salvation Part 1. It is a very good read, and if you do decide to view it, leave him a good review. His story hasn't gotten very much of the attention it deserves.

Thanks,

Mojo.