Where The Heart Takes You
Chapter one: Lost and Found
It was a chilly morning in Nome. Balto stood near the post office where the musher was putting the sled dogs in their place. In the front were Kirby and Kodi, right after them Ralph and Dusty. Last were Curly and Sandy. The musher grabbed the post and tied it on the sled. Balto wished his son Kodi good luck and then the musher gave the order to run. The sled dogs all started to run out of Nome to White Mountain. Balto looked after them until they were out of sight. He decided to go back to his boat.
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The sled team was making quick progress and were almost at half of the distance between Nome and White Mountain. Kodi loved running, but now he was distracted. He was looking to his right where there was nothing but snow. The sled team was turning left up a hill.
'He Kodi, watch where you're going, we're turning'!: Kirby yelled above the noise of the sled and the barks of the team.
'Oh sorry!': Kodi said. Quickly Kodi paid attention to where they were going and forgot about the feeling he just had.
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Balto was bored and left the boat again. Boris was away with Muk and Luk. Balto went to Jenna. He walked pass the post office knowing the team wouldn't be back yet. Surprisingly he saw Jenna walking outside. He walked towards her.
'Hey Jenna': He said.
'Hello Balto': She responded. They snuggled each other and walked together to the beach. Even though the water was frozen it was beautiful. They stayed there for a while before going to the outline of town to wait for the sled team.
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The sled team had arrived in White Mountain. The musher delivered the post and came back with a new bag for Nome. He tied it firmly. 'Mush!': He said out loud and the sled dogs sped away from White Mountain. A small snowstorm awakened. They had to be careful. They went off the hill they came up earlier. All the dogs put their claws in the ground, because the hill was slippery from the ice that appeared during the snowstorm. They went so fast they couldn't avoid the rock down at the hill. Kirby looked at Kodi and together they lead the other dogs to the right. The swing dogs, that were Ralph and Dusty, swung hard to make the turn and Curly and Sandy pushed off hard. The musher hold the sled tightly and by just an inch they escaped from a collision with the rock. 'Whoa!': the musher yelled above the storm. He checked the dogs. They were fine and so the team continued their way to Nome.
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Balto and Jenna were standing just outside of Nome waiting for Kodi and the others. Balto felt a sudden wave of fear coming over him. Jenna looked worried at him. Balto saw her and said it was fine. He looked out over the snowy horizon and said in a worried tone: 'Kodi'.
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The sled team was making quick progress. They had now only a white plain to cross. Kodi felt that strange feeling from earlier again. He looked left passed Kirby. Kodi could see a small shadow. It was very small. Kodi was so distracted that he tripped over his own paws and with a smack he lay flat on the snow. The other sled dogs stopped and the musher walked over to Kodi, who was strangled in his harness. The musher freed him and put the harness the way it should. Kodi was still looking at the strange shadow. The musher noticed and slowly walked over there. The sled dogs looked worried. The musher came closer and noticed it was an animal. It looked like a dog. Quickly he lifted it out of the snow. It was very cold and almost frozen. It couldn't be more than 4 weeks old. The musher walked to the sled and rapped her in a blanket, it was a girl. He carefully tied her firmly on the sled. He then noticed she wasn't a dog. She was a wolf. At the moment he didn't care. 'Mush!': he yelled and the sled dogs sped away to Nome.
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Balto and Jenna were still waiting on the outline of town. Balto felt a little better now.
'There!' :Jenna yelled.
The could see shadows in the distance. It was the sled team. It came closer and closer. Balto and Jenna ran with them into town. Someone was coming outside to take the mail. The musher gave the bag away and then quickly released the sled dogs and took the pup inside. He put her under some more blankets in a basket. He then made some warm milk for her. While it was warming up he gave the sled dogs some food. Kodi didn't have an appetite. Balto and Jenna looked worried as the other sled dogs were eating and Kodi wasn't. Kodi was just walking circles in front of the house of the musher.
'Kodi, what's wrong?' :Balto asked.
'I need to know if she's alright': Kodi responded.
'Who are you talking about?': Jenna asked.
'The pup we found on our way back': Kodi said. Kirby walked over to them.
'Take it easy Kodi. Our musher will take care of her': kirby spoke.
'I know, but I'm still worried': Kodi said softly. All three of them looked at the window, hoping to find out more.
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In the meantime the musher was holding the pup and trying to feed the milk to her. He put the bottle of milk in front of her, but she looked away. 'Come on now, you need this': the musher said. He tried again, but she refused. He tried something different. He poured some of the milk in a bowl and carefully put her down. She walked unstable towards the bowl and sniffed at it. After a few minutes she gave it a sip. It tasted different, but it was nice. Within a few more minutes the bowl was empty. The pup felt a little stronger, but was very sleepy. The musher put her in the dog basket again and immediately she fell asleep. He then went outside to put the sled away and check the sled dogs.
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The musher came outside and Kodi jumped against him, barking. 'Easy boy': the musher said. Kodi stepped back and watched the musher put away the sled. All the sled dogs and Balto and Jenna were watching him. The musher turned around and saw them all looking at him. He checked all the sled dogs for wounds. They were fine. The musher was about to go inside again, but Kodi blocked his way to the door and barked. The musher understood, they were worried about the pup. The musher patted kodi on his head and walked inside leaving the door open. Kodi slowly walked in followed by Balto, Jenna, Kirby and Dusty. Ralph was still distracted with licking clean the bowls of food. Kodi looked around and saw the pup in a small basket. He went closer with the others behind him. They all surrounded the basket looking at the little brown ball of fur. After a few minutes the musher gently asked them to go outside. Kirby and Ralph who stood by the door walked away to their shack. Dusty said goodbye to Balto and Jenna and went after Kirby and Ralph. Balto and Jenna were about to go home too when they noticed Kodi still standing near the door.
'Are you alright?': Jenna asked him.
'Yeah I'm fine': Kodi said and then he went after the others.
Balto and Jenna snuggled each other and then Jenna left for home and Balto went to his boat. Boris would probably be back by now. Balto looked around and saw lights going out everywhere. Night had begun in Nome and Balto walked away from the streets and to his boat.
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Ralph and Dusty were fast asleep in the shack. Kirby was organising his cushion. Kodi sat in a corner thinking why he felt so strongly pulled to this pup. He felt some connection with her. He couldn't explain it. Kirby noticed when he finally lay down that Kodi was staring into nothing.
'He Kodi, are you with us?': Kirby said. Kodi looked startled at Kirby.
'Oh yeah sorry. I was thinking about something': kodi responded.
'And what were you thinking about? Not that pup were you?': Kirby asked. Kodi didn't feel like getting into an argument about the pup, so he came up with an excuse.
'No I was thinking about our near accident down the hill. We should have handled it better. Don't you think?': Kodi said, knowing Kirby wouldn't be suspicious of him anymore.
'Yes you are absolutely right! We were close to slamming into a rock. Tomorrow we will train sharp turns and slippery surfaces': Kirby said firmly. Kodi laughed inside and laid down on his cushion. Kirby did the same and they all went to sleep.
This was the first chapter. Please review!
Next chapter: Feeling Unwanted