Balto: How the Mighty Rise Again(part 6)
Balto awoke the next morning to a wonderful smell. The family was cooking bacon in the kitchen. He padded inside. Jenna was already awake. He had slept in. His body ached from the night before.
"Hi boy! You hungry?" Rosy asked.
Balto barked happily. Rosy gave him some bacon. Balto wolfed it down. It was the most food he had eaten in a month.
"Eat much?" Jenna asked.
"When I can." Balto chuckled. "Which means never."
"They've been buried.""Pardon?"Jenna sighed. "They buried the cats."
Balto nodded sadly. "They were nice guys. Can I see the graves?"
Jenna nodded. The two padded outside. Their were three rocks to signify the dead.
"He suddenly paused. He heard a soft whispering. "Time to turn up the heat." the voice said. Then there was a low sniggering.
Then it faded away.
"That's him. Son of a bitch!" Balto searched around the house for large paw prints. He found them.
"He's heading for town! Stay here!" Balto commanded. With that he ran off towards the glowing lights of Nome.
The mayor had just dismissed a meeting with his advisors. He put his feet up on his desk. He was ready to take a nap when he heard the door to his office open.
"Who's there?" He asked nervously. The door slammed shut. He shrugged. "Probably just the wind."
Suddenly he heard a low growl. He got up and look around. He gasped.
There was a brown wolf dog in the middle of his office. He had one ear and a terribly damaged jaw.
"B-balto?"
The wolf dog seemed to shake his head. Then he jumped on the mayor. He let out a scream of terror.
Suddenly the wolf dog yelped in pain. Another wolf dog had latched onto his tail. He flung the first into a bookcase. That wolf dog turned and ran out the door. The mayor looked at his rescuer.
"Are you Balto?" The dog nodded in response.
The mayor rubbed his eyes. "Must be seeing things. A dog nodding? I am crazy."
Three men entered the room. Balto's heart sank. They were wearing AHA jackets. They raised their rifles to his head.
"Don't worry Mr. Mayor. This will be quick." The lead hunter said.
"Hey! Put those down! He saved my life!" The hunters did as they were told. "What do you mean sir?"
"He saved my life!" He shook his head. "I want a pardon."
The hunter frowned. "A pardon sir?"
"Yes. Pardon. Ever heard of one?"
The hunter sighed. "Okay."
The old mill was packed that night. The dogs were glad the curfew had been lifted. Dogs partied like mad. They danced and chased their tails and had fun. Balto sat in the corner. Jenna padded over to him. "C'mon, have some fun."
Balto shook his head. "Nah. Not much of a partier.""You were." Jenna said. "How does it feel to be free?"
Balto grinned. "Almost as good as when I brought the medicine back."Jenna frowned. Balto seemed deep in thought. "What are you thinking about?"
Balto snapped out of his thoughts. "What? Oh. Just Chiffre. He's still out there." He looked up at Jenna. "That, and how beautiful you look."
Jenna blushed. "Balto! Now you sound like your old self."
Balto chuckled. "Well I hope…" He trailed off. He had caught a scent.
"Oh no!"
Jenna frowned. "What is it?"
"Chiffre. He's here. I've got to go." He nuzzled her quickly. Then he took off out the door.
Balto followed the trail for about ten minutes. It led him to the old warehouse. He gasped. The warehouse was ablaze. It was slowly collapsing. He shuddered. He didn't particularly like the warehouse. But he felt a sort of sadness as it burned to the ground.
He caught the scent again. He followed it.
As he was running through the snow he noticed the paw prints. He immediately knew they were his brother's. He stopped and put his paw into the print. It didn't fit. Chiffre's was smaller than his. He smiled.
"We are different." He ran off following the trail.