Chapter 4

On a corner on main street there sat an off grey wolf-dog and his beautiful crème red mate. In between the two sat a wooden crate with this simple sign nailed to the front: FREE PUPS TO GOOD HOMES. Inside said crate there were five pups frolicking about and tackling each other to the bottom. They were all excited; adoption day had finally arrived. They had heard their mother tell them stories about how great to was to have a human to love and to protect; and now they were going to get to try it out for themselves.

It didn't take but a few minutes for the first human t approach the crate. She was a small native girl of about eight years old. The five pups all scrambled over to the side and placed their forepaws up on the lip. The little girl giggled and reached inside. The first pup chosen was the second oldest named Dingo. The little girl lifted Dingo into her arms and carried him merrily away. The next human was a little boy of about ten. For months now he had been begging his mother for a pup and today his please finally broke through. He dragged his mother by the hand across the street to the crate. He smiled and dipped his hand into the crate and petted the remaining pups one at a time. How he wished he could take them all. After a hard thought, he scooped up the first born Saba and carried her away to her new home.

There were now only three of them left, Kodiak, Alue, and Juneau; and they sat impatiently waiting their turn to have a human chose them for their own. Balto and Jenna still sat and watched their pups inside of the little crate knowing that they would have to watch them grow up from afar. This was too much for Jenna and she started to weep. Balto gave her a comforting nuzzle and for a long moment, she sat there with her face buried into his shoulder. This moment was broken when two more humans came by and took a look inside the crate. The pups broke away from their folly and scampered over to the side of the crate. The two gazed down upon them until one took up Juneau and the other young native man took up Kodiak.

Balto watched the two carry off their children, but focused most of his attention on Kodiak. A fine pup yes, but unlike his siblings, he was the only one of the liter having trouble with his mind. How was he supposed to monitor him now? He would just have to hope that his son could hold on. He turned his attention back down to the only pup that remained. Sadly from day one she was destined to be an orphan; unwanted by the general public due to her wolfish appearance. She would never know the joys and sorrows of human companionship like her brothers and sisters.

- The door swung open and the young native man stepped inside his small home with Kodiak held loosely in his arm. The door shut behind them and Kodiak was placed on the floor. Kodiak's immediate action was to investigate his surroundings. He put his nose to the floor and went to smelling any place he could reach. All the while the man stood and gazed thoughtfully down at his most recent pick. This young pup didn't look like much being the runt of the litter, but the man could see the potential that this young dog had in toiling.

Kodiak had by now made his way into the kitchen. There the native man scooped Kodiak back into his arm and opened up the door that led to the back yard. There wasn't much to see back there except for a shed big enough that it could have been used for ice fishing. The native man carried Kodiak across the yard to the shed. There could be heard tiny signs of life inside, tiny yips or the scurry of claws and pads. The native man opened the shed door and six pups of different size and color bounded over to his feet. Here the man placed Kodiak on the ground once again, petted all seven of his dogs, and then left, shutting the door behind him. The six pups all gathered around Kodiak, making him shrink back in a nervous cower. The first voice to reach his ears was that of a male.

"Hey kid, you okay?"

"He sure doesn't look like much," came another.

"Hey don't say that. I'm sure he's probably a lot faster and smarter than your fat carcass," came a feminine voice to his defense.

This drew a loud laugh from the first speaker and the other pups in the shed. The second speaker fell silent. Kodiak opened his eyes and saw the six gathered around him. Slowly he rose to his feet. The grey female that came to his aid moved over in front of him.

"I'm sorry about that," she said apologetically. She gestured to a fat brown husky and continued, "Ralph doesn't always think before he does things."

The fat dog named Ralph shot her a glare and sat.

"Hey, I always think before I do stuff," Ralph replied in rebuff.

"Like right now," said a darker grey male in a mocking tone.

"Ya, like now."

"So, why did you just sit in that puddle of water," the one named Kirby asked in the same sneering tone.

Ralph felt a steady drip on his head and looked up to the leak in the ceiling. He then looked down and sure enough, there he was in a puddle big enough for him to lie down in. Five of the pups, Kodiak amongst them, burst into laughter. Ralph laid his ears flat against his head and dropped his eyes in embarrassment. He stood up with haste and slinked out to dry ground, where he stood and faced the others. He shook himself off and sat. five pups, Kodiak included rolled to the floor laughing. Ralph looked on confused.

"What now," he pressed.

Kodiak no longer felt uncomfortable with the dogs in the shed. He was the first to regain control of his laughter and pushed himself up onto his haunches.

"Take a look and find out for yourself," Kodiak said nearly breaking into laughter once again.

Ralph scowled and slowly approached the puddle where he stopped and gazed down at his reflection. On the top of his head where the water had dripped there was a Mohawk that started at the front of his head and grew into a single spike in the middle and proceeded in the same fashion as that on the front all the way to the very back of his head. The entire room burst out into laughter again. Ralph lowered his eyes again, but as he looked at himself he found a small grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He finally broke and joined the others in their laughter.

After a long moment consumed by hysterical laughter the six of them finally calmed. There was a long moment of awkward silence as everyone regained their breath. At last the grey female broke the silence by offering her paw to Kodiak.

"I'm Dusty by the way," she said as Kodiak placed his paw on top of hers in a way of greeting.

She placed her paw back on the floor and shoved the dog next to her with her shoulder.

"As I'm sure you've already figured out, this is Kirby and Mohawk over there is Ralph."

Ralph gave her a glare. Dusty used her paw to point out a tan pup with a grey stripe across his shoulders.

"That over there is Koe, he came here all the way from a breeder in Anchorage."

She pointed to a tan pup with a white chest.

"That is Soqin," she was born here in Nome."

The next husky to be named was a dark grey female with white socks by the name of Homma. She was local as well.

"And finally, we have Scholla," Dusty said referring to the all-black male.

From the jump he had struck Kodiak as a shady character.

"No one knows where he came from, Dusty continued, "He hasn't said a single word since he got here, won't even crack a smile."

Kodiak simply smiled and raised his voice so that he could be heard by everyone present.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all, my name Kodiak, but everyone just calls me Kodi."

The six others nodded their heads. Kodiak had a lot of questions swimming through his mind. He didn't even know his new human's name.

"So, why does this human own seven dogs," Kodiak asked hoping to answer two of the questions he had at the same time.

"His name is Mr. Simpson," Koe said matter-of-factly.

"And we're all gonna be on a sled team," Kirby said with his chest puffed up proudly.

"And where will I be put," Kodiak asked.

"No one has a spot yet," Dusty stated in answer to the question asked.

"Yeah, now that we have a full team we'll probably start training in a few days."

Kodiak smiled.

"So, wh… id… ho… elon… o b…re?"

Kodiak shook his head.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"I just asked who you belonged to previously," Dusty said slightly irritated.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I used to belong to a little girl named Rosy. My mother Jenna belonged to her, but my father Balto lived out on a trawler out of town."

"No way; you're one of Balto's kids?" Ralph asked astounded.

Kodiak nodded.

"Th… o ool. I ish…"

The room around him started to spin and Kodiak began to feel dizzy.

"Kodi, are you okay," Soqin asked.

Kodiak's knees buckled and he was unconscious before he hit the floor.

A/N I'd like to thank Mike101 and TheFunniestAlpha for their reviews, and Kodi101 and Writermonkey0626 for being new reviewers. The next chapter will be along soon hopefully.