Chapter 3: Happy Days
Nome April 7, 1929
The thawing snow may as have been clay on Kodi's feet, he had now taken the position of lead dog for the mail team and had trained with his father intensely beforehand. He took a look over his shoulder to check on Dusty, of whom, had just gotten back into the mail team now that the pups had been weaned.
"What are you looking at? Keep your eyes on the road." Kodi snapped his head forward and thankfully so as he barely missed a log. "I told you so."
"I'm not going to hear the end of that for the rest of the day." Kodi mumbled to himself, backseat driver. The quaint town of Nome once again came into view over the hill and they made the last turn into the Post Office. Sampson, the musher, dismounted the sled and heaved the heavy mailbags over his shoulder. After he came back out, he unhooked each of the dogs. Kodi and Dusty trotted home to see Balto and Jenna passed out on the rug with six small pups scattered about them. Suki had even made a bed out of Balto as she was on his back. Boris and Stella flapped in from behind and looked around the room; Boris looked up at Kodi.
"You know, you and your brothers and sisters were never this well behaved." Boris said as he remembered the day he agreed to watch them as they were teething, he let out a shutter. Balto was awoken by all of the new activity but didn't move and hoped to fall back asleep.
"They take after their mom." Kodi said, winking to Dusty.
"Uh huh, you better believe it buster." Dusty said as she gave Kodi a whipping on the side with her tail.
"They are so cute," Stella began "Boris, why can't we have something cute?"
"Oh boy, um we talk about this later, ya?" Boris was hoping to avoid talking about that in front of Balto and Kodi.
"If I have anything to say about it, we will be doing more than talking." By now, Balto had given up hope that they would let them sleep and stood up.
"Okay, that is enough of that." Balto said, dropping a hint. Just like him, Jenna gave up the charade of sleep and tried not to wake up the pups.
"Good to see you guys back." Jenna whispered to them.
"Good to be back." Kodi returned.
"We had best let them sleep son." Balto quietly said to Kodi.
"Good idea." Kodi saw Suki still on Balto, fast asleep. "But how will we get her off of you?"
"I'll think of something." As Balto thought of a way to get Suki down without waking her, Kodi accidentally stepped on Boris's flipper.
"Yeow!" Boris jumped up so fast he hit his head on a shelf. Between the shout and the loud thud of a goose bouncing off the walls, all of the pups were now wide awake and making their high-pitched barks that announced it to anyone unfortunate enough to be in the neighborhood.
"Oops, my fault." Kodi guiltily said, with a sheepish look.
"Hey Jenna, remember that thing we needed to do?" Balto decided now was the best time to bail out.
"Oh, yes that thing! Sorry guys we gotta go." Both of them quickly walked out the doorway.
"Hey, Balto, how about I give you helping wing?" Boris didn't wait for an answer, he just ran out after them, Stella came in close pursuit, chastising all of them, but still beating a hasty retreat. Now all that were left were Kodi, Dusty, and a few very vocal pups.
"Thanks guys!" Dusty called after them. "We had best get to work." She said with a happy smirk. The rest of their day was filled with barking, biting and the occasional puppy mistake. Even though it was not the easiest thing in the world, both of them thrived on a challenge. Balto's day however was much more relaxed. He and Jenna walked back to the boat and curled up in the large dog bed in the corner to the living room. Above the bed were all of Balto's heroics, each one captured in time by photos, newspaper articles and mementos. His favorite was the large medal that hung in the center of the newspapers. The medal he had won for reaching the North Pole, given to him by a famous explorer and a symbol of his bond to his friends. This corner also housed the trophy that Duke won which fit well next to his silver star from the army. Balto took one last quick look at the wall then curled up next to Jenna. Sleep found him astoundingly swiftly and before he knew it, hours had passed. The all too familiar sound of an airplane engine pierced his dreamland and he heard the door open and close. He lifted his head and saw Duke, who was holding a large fish over his shoulder. Duke knelt down and rubbed Balto's ears.
"Hey boy, did you miss me?" He looked over to the bed and saw Jenna. "I guess you had plenty to do while I was gone, didn't you?" Balto just smiled and wagged his tail as to say yes. He got up and followed Duke into the kitchen, silently hoping for him to accidentally drop the fish and give away some free sushi.
"Hey Duke, you home buddy?" yelled a voice from outside. Duke opened a window and saw Jake Everett standing outside. The scruffy Canadian waved up at the porthole and Duke waved back. Jake was Duke's closest human friend and Jake was always around for a good time.
"Hiya pal." Duke yelled out.
"Permission to come aboard?"
"Granted." Jake strolled in.
"Good to see you bud, still see you have the ferret on your face." Duke jibbed, referencing the rough beard that Jake maintained year long.
"What can I say; I like to keep my face warm." All of the noise had also brought Jenna back to planet Earth; she walked up next to Balto and sat down next to him. Jake noticed the salmon on the counter. "I see the fishing trip went well." Jake said. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come to a barbecue, Simpsons throwin' it."
"As long as Simpson is doing the grilling, I'm game. I remember the last time you handed me a steak turned hockey puck." Duke chuckled.
"One mistake and you are shunned for life, I'm heart-broken. But you're right, my cooking would kill us." He began to leave and his typical impatience surfaced. "Let's go, grab Balto and Jenna, free food for those guys too."
"So Jenna what do you say to free food?" Balto asked.
"You find me one dog on the planet that will say no to a steak." She was already halfway out the door. The walk to Simpson's house wasn't far. Simpson's abode was a large wooden cabin just outside of town. Behind it, a trail of smoke and the smell of hickory signaled the barbecue was just getting started. As they approached the place, the smell of cooking meat permeated the atmosphere and made Balto want to drool. A bonfire was in back and a few hot dogs already sat on skewers over it. The barbecue itself was an open invitation for a good time, but the company was none too bad. All of the mushers in town had come for Simpson's little shindig. Jake spied a few ladies around and elbowed Duke, winking and gesturing out an hourglass with his hands. Duke just shook his head and laughed. Jake pulled up a pair of chairs to a table and Jake pulled out a deck of cards.
"You a fan of poker Duke?" Jake asked holding up the cards.
"Are you kidding? How do you think we passed the time in the army?" Jake smiled and began to shuffle
"Hey toss me a hand." Simpson pulled up another chair and sat down. Jake finished shuffling and cut the cards. Then a crunch of snow was heard behind him.
"You know son that is technically illegal." It was Sheriff O'Neal, a living, breathing throwback to a western lawman.
"Um, well uh." Jake was scrabbling for an answer. The Sheriff reached into his jacket and Duke was expecting a pair of handcuffs, what he presented was a glass bottle full of amber liquid and placed in on the table.
"Then again, so is this, deal me in fellas." the good sheriff was always one for jokes. He sat down and removed his Stetson and placed it on the table.
Ahh, come on O'Neal, you practically gave him a heart attack." Duke said as he laughed.
"What, it's a time-honored tradition of me scaring the pants off the new guy." The sheriff burst out laughing and he nearly fell backwards. "Besides, I don't think Kodiak would forgive me."
"Yeah, hey Rob, how are those pups doing?" Jake asked.
"Pretty well considering the cold summer. My son and Dusty's girl worked out a deal for taking care of 'em. How about yours?"
"About the same, but I would wish Loki would stop eating my shoes. Daisy and her folks are taking off on a vacation down to Vancouver tomorrow morning so I get to look after them for a bit." Now at ease, Jake cut and dealt the cards. Balto watched the four play and Steele came in next to him.
"Thinking of joining in?"
"Sorry, I only gamble with my life." Balto said, even though they had been back in town for months, it still felt somewhat strange talking to Steele without bearing teeth.
"I hear you; just don't say that around the girls, I swear, Jenna and Daisy have super-sonic hearing."
"No kidding." both got up and walked to the fire, where many other dogs had gathered. Balto saw many of his friends, and a few of his detractors. He laid down with Jenna and his family, along with Steele and Daisy. Balto even saw Muk and Luk with Boris. The two wayward and haphazard bears had been adopted by the town and had become some kind of mascots for the townsfolk. Which meant that they spent more time around their Uncle Boris, who was well on his way to getting turned into an accordion by Muk. As they shared more stories about the race and what had happened since, some growling began further away. Balto saw the source of the growling, it was Victor, the friendly neighborhood Rottweiler.
"Hey, Vic, what's got your motor running?" Steele asked, oblivious to the icy relationship between Victor and Balto.
"Shut up Steele, you have no right to be here either. You, going around with that half-breed." Victor snarled in Daisy's direction.
"That half-breed is right here." Daisy spat out, stifling the urge to put Victor in his place.
"Was I talking to you? I didn't think so." Victor was apparently in one of his moods.
"Victor, we don't need to hate each other." Balto was hoping to calm him down before things became heated. "There was a time when Steele and I could not be near each other either, we forgave and made up for it. Is this necessary?"
"Without a doubt. Wild animals like you don't belong here."
"Where is here?" Balto asked incredulously, Victor was getting on his nerves.
"Near people, you are a danger to everyone here and I am the only one here who sees it!" Victor seemed as if he could explode with fury at this point.
"Whoa, take it easy Vic." Steele tagged in. "Balto might not be perfect, but I know this. He saved this town, he loves his family and he deserves the right to be here as anyone else. I figured that out the hard way."
"You see Steele that is what I mean, you are soft and weak. I liked you better when you had some bite."
"I'm sorry Victor; you are wrong, dead wrong." Steele just turned and laid back down next to Daisy.
"You are blind in your faith to these two things, they will turn one day. When that day comes, don't come crying to me." Victor turned and left them. The black dog disappeared around a corner and was gone. Behind Balto, Muk made a series of noises and Luk interpreted.
"Yes you are right, not very sociable chap is he?"
"Not by a long shot." Daisy snapped.
"He does know that all dogs are descendents of wolves right?" Jenna asked.
"Sometimes I wonder." Steele said "It's kind of hard to believe that I used to agree with that guy."
"Well, you came around, maybe he will too." Saba said.
"Maybe." Steele said flatly. The rest of the evening passed without much outburst except for a few from the poker table when a player came up with a winning hand on a large bet. After the food was all eaten by both man and dog and the moon shown high in the night sky did the merriment finally end. Duke and Balto found their way home and the door to the boat opened. The first thing they noticed upon entering was the air was stale inside, one of the negatives of having a home made entirely of oak. Duke opened a window to let in the cool night air. After that he walked into his room. Boris flew through the window and sat down in the basket he called his nest.
"Hey boychik, is something wrong? You look like someone tied weight to your nose."
"I'm fine, maybe just a little tired from watching the pups."
"Really." Boris knew Balto better than anybody in Nome, and he knew Balto was a terrible liar.
"Really." Balto collapsed onto his bed and fell fast asleep.
"Sleep tight kiddo." Boris quietly said.