Chapter 18 Hunting Trip
Swartz Auto Junkyard April 9, 1929
The morning sun peeked over the far off mountains and pierced through the trees. One tiny sliver managed to land on Balto's eyes. The gentle light brought him around and at first he thought he was home and had just survived a terrible nightmare. Jenna would he coming in any minute, then they would resume their daily routine and go off to see their grandchildren. If only all dreams were true. His eyes adjusted to the light and the dirty and littered junkyard came into focus. Balto stood up and felt stiff from sleeping on the flat mattress in a metal crate. The cool and dank night spent in the junkyard was not a vacation, it was still a hundred times better than the iron bars of his previous accommodations. Boris and Stella made a roost in one of the trees above and judging from the rhythmic honks, they were both still out. The junkyard was just the same as he had left it just a few hours before. The other dogs were busy getting ready to go on their little hunting trip. Bismarck already appeared to have been awake for some time and poked his head in.
"Guten morgen. Are you ready to head on out?"
"Absolutely, it has been a long time since I have been able to just go out in the wild for fun. My daughter and I used to all the time." He and Aleu spent months out in the forests surrounding Nome once upon a time, it is what likely prepared her for the challenge of pack leader. Steele as already half-way out the gate and heading to the tree line.
"Let's get a move on ladies, the sooner we hunt, the sooner we have breakfast."
"Amen to that." Balto responded and followed. Bismarck and a half a dozen others ranging in breed from shepherds to retrievers to collies followed their every move and mimicked their practices. Ever since Balto dropped the W word, every dog paid very close attention to him; whether or not this was to glean as much of what he had to give or to size him up as a threat was anyone's guess. One of the dogs came up from behind Balto.
"So you're going to teach us how to hunt?" It was Lucas, Bismarck's son.
"That is the general idea." Balto answered and continued walking. Lucas made a sour face and looked over his shoulder; most of the others were with Steele, far enough away not to hear.
"I thank you for helping us, but my father and I differ on how we should handle this."
"This what?" Balto saw a short flash of anger in the dog's eyes and then a regular demeanor return.
"This business with Claudius and his dirty rats, you saw what happened when we showed up, they all turned tail and ran away. Even you and your friend fought them off for a good deal of time, and there were just two of you."
"What is your point?" Balto felt a bit of deja'vu coming on.
"My point is, that instead of running around here looking for rabbits and chasing squirrels, we should take the fight to Claudius and end this once and for all, we have been beaten back every time because we never finish them off." Balto thought of an answer and remembered a lesson he had learned the hard way.
"Believe it or not, you are not the first that has said something like that to me. Years ago in Alaska, my daughter and I ran across a wolf clan, the clan was running low on food and had to abandon its home to stay alive. One of the wolves broke off and nearly destroyed the clan all together."
"What happened?" Lucas felt the anecdote was a bit too accurate.
"They decided to leave their home and survive elsewhere; only their alpha was too old to lead. Aleu however was a prime candidate; I had to choose between my daughter and the lives of dozens, it was not easy. In the end, we did what was right. They survived and then returned later on, stronger and greater than when they left." Lukas seemed disappointed when Balto finished.
"So you agree with my father then, that we should run from our battles?"
"No, I'm saying to choose your battles, defeating Claudius and his followers would allow the Pack to go into town, but you can't ignore the immediate needs of the others, that means food, clean water, shelter. It is the burden of leadership."
"He is right Lucas," Bismarck said from behind, his large shepherd ears picked up the entire conversation. "I would like to do nothing more than wipe Claudius from the face of the planet and create a lasting peace for us, but that peace will be meaningless if we all die of starvation in the interim." Lucas's eyes had the same flash of anger again.
"But we can find some food in the city if the rats would stop taking it!"
"True, but the city is dangerous enough as is. We have already lost too many to its cars and citizens."
"And Claudius, you forgot that rat bastard." Lukas spat out.
"Yes Claudius also, but I don't want you risking your life over this. I refuse to talk about this any further until we return home." Lucas shook his head and stared back what looked like tears.
"I'll scout ahead; see if I can't find anything." With that he charged off into the trees. Balto heard Bismarck let out a sigh.
"How long has he been this way?"
"Two months ago." Bismarck's face lost all emotion. "He and his friend, Jo, took off to go into town, against my wishes. They were ambushed by Claudius and Lukas fought them of and escaped. Jo however, was overrun and by the time I could make it there with a rescue party, we were too late. We searched for days but could not find hide or hair of her."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Balto regretted opening his mouth.
"He is still in pain, they grew up together. After that, Claudius and I came to an agreement, the Pact. It cordoned off the Loop and Mad Mile to them, and we took everything else. To keep tabs on that dirty rat, I employed certain rodents sympathetical to us, like Martin. He was the one that found me and saved your lives."
"What did Lukas think about the 'Pact'?"
"He was no fan of it. Ever since he lost his friend he has not come close to town, but still wanted to get revenge. The whole ordeal tore him apart, used to be so happy; I haven't seen him so much as simile since. I miss my son." Balto knew the difficulty of raising spirited children and knew how he would feel if he lost his best friend, he had.
"Bismarck, I'd hate to say it, but I think your son is right to a point. Claudius attacked us on sight without even talking to us, he would have killed us had you not shown up."
"I know, but I also know that we are running out of food fast; we barely made it through the last winter. And I know that we will have many more mouths to feed soon. Claudius is on the back-burner until I can get the Pack some way to survive the next."
"Which is why we are here." Balto reassured. As if on cue, Lukas came bounding out of the woods and stopped just in front of them.
"I think I found something! A bunch of rabbits over the next hill."Balto knew rabbits were fast and hard to catch when on the run, but knew how to get them.
"Alright, time for our first lesson. Grab the others and lead the way." Lucas went over to Steele and the other three dogs that had come along. Soon, all of them were stalking through the woods; the scent of the rabbits was getting stronger. Balto peeked around a tree and saw them. Eight clustered around, eating in the grass. Balto turned around.
"Here is what we'll do. Rabbits are good for food but are hard to catch. Steele you take two dogs with you and go around to the other side of the clearing we'll chase 'em to you."
"What makes you think they will come to us?" someone asked, it was Katja, Lucas's sister.
"Because, you and your brother will be funneling them towards the others. Just do what comes naturally. Oh and Bis ol' boy, that leaves you and me on chasing duty." Balto joked in Bismarck's direction.
"I'm not that old, and I could teach you a thing or two wolf dog." Bismarck returned with equal humor.
"Alright that settles it. Everyone else, just watch and take notes. Next time it will be you on the hunt." Balto finished. It was time to put their instincts to good use and sate their stomachs. Just as planned, Steele and his two volunteers were in place in some tall grass. Steele let loose a short howl that stirred up the rabbits. Like clockwork, Lucas and Katja jumped out of their hiding places to the rabbit's flanks. The rabbits bounded away in the direction of Bismarck and Balto, who jumped out at them and scared them into changing course. Now they were running right into the trap. Steele sprung it as the rabbits neared. Each dog lashed out and each caught a single furry morsel in their mouths and summarily wrestled them down. The three stood, each with a fat, limp, source of food.
"Nice work." Bismarck said, proud of the precision.
"Now that you know how, you guys can single handedly control the rabbit population here, which I must say shouldn't be hurting. You know what they say about rabbits and multiplying." Balto smirked.
"This is all well and good." Katja spoke up. "But how are we supposed to live off of rabbits alone? They're tasty, but they won't feed us all."
"What about deer?" Lukas said in reply "While I was looking for these rabbits, I saw tracks and deer droppings on my way. It shouldn't be too hard to find them." Balto knew a single deer would feed the whole Pack for a couple of days, but they are much harder to catch than rabbits, not to mention dangerous.
"That depends kid, how well do you know this forest?" he asked.
"Please, I grew up here; I know this place like the back of my paw."
"Alright, Katja can you and some of the others go back to the junkyard with the rabbits, they must be hungry back there." Katja left with two others, rabbits in tow and did as Balto instructed. He nodded to Lukas, who took off in the opposite direction at a quick pace. Lukas led the group around trees and over a hill, following the deer tracks. They were clear and fresh on the ground, meaning the deer were not too far away. The scent of their stinking bodies permeated the air and there was no mistaking them. They crested over the next hill and saw four in front of them, amidst the trees and shrubs.
"There they are." Balto said quietly "Deer are big and powerful, all that muscle makes for good food but be careful; males have the largest antlers and can spear you with them. Better to go after a female, if at all possible find one that is sick or injured, they'll be slower and weaker. The good news is that they are as skittish as the rabbits and are easy to direct. The bad news is they are as skittish as the rabbits; they will turn and run at any sound. Any questions?" No one asked a single quandary. Just as Balto said the deer were on high alert, but because they were upwind of the dogs, they could not smell their hunters. This time, everyone was hunting and stuck to the plan well. Luckily they were downwind of the deer and well concealed in the brush. It was more or less simple to repeat the same formation that they used on the rabbits. All was going according to plan when Lucas stepped on a twig, the snap gave them away too early and the deer began to run; one broke away and sprinted in the direction of Steele. He sprung up out of the path of the spooked deer but the deer kicked him in his side with his back leg, sending him tumbling over into the dirt.
"Steele!" Balto called out, his friend remained still as a statue. The others began to chase another wounded deer, Bismarck leapt on to it and bit it in the neck, the other dogs bit into its legs and sides wherever they could, the large beast slowed and eventually stopped, quickly submitting to the pack of dogs. Once satisfied it was dispatched, Bismarck ran back to Balto, who was attempting to get Steele moving. Steele was getting on his feet but looked like he was in pain, which he most certainly was.
"Steele, are you hurt?" Balto looked him over and saw that he had a distinctive limp on his front leg.
"I'm fine, just a sprain." Steele put the pain to the side and focused on just walking. Balto was amazed he could walk after taking a hit like that, Bismarck just gave a nod of approval.
"Good dog, let's get this back to the rest of the Pack, we can take a closer look at you there." The hunters dragged the deer behind them, with their tails high in the air; a good meal was assured tonight. When they returned, the other members of the pack stared in awe of the seven hundred pounds of meat in front of them and slowly licked their chops. Balto dug in and had a bit of the catch. The fresh venison would have cost a fortune in a restaurant but they had a nearly infinite supply in front of them. Steele went to work on a leg and made out like it was his last meal. Loki and Suki, who had spent the day helping the others in the junkyard were just as hungry and sated their own stomachs. After the meal of rabbits and deer, Balto returned to the metal crate for what he hoped was the last time and saw Steele walk pass him.
"Hey Steele, are you alright?"
"I'm fine; I'll be good to go tomorrow, really." Steele would be a good poker player if he had opposable thumbs; Balto couldn't tell if he was lying or not.
"Hmm, alright. Make sure you rest it though, no acrobatics for now."
"I don't know if I can restrain myself." Steele smiled through the pain and curled up to sleep. Balto felt the tiredness of the day sweep over him and he noticed he had not been really out in the wild for a good deal of time. Balto laid down next to Suki, but before Balto could close his eyes; Bismarck came up to him.
"You have done us a good turn Balto. Tomorrow, I can lead you back into town and hopefully help you find your humans."
"Thank you, nothing against you all, but I hate that city of yours." Balto returned.
"You have no dog here that will disagree with that, the only reason that we even used to go into the city anymore is for food, now with our new hunting grounds, it think we can put that place behind us."
"Good to hear, I hope you can make this a good home for the others."
"That is my dream, goodnight Balto. I will get all of you home tomorrow, I promise." Bismarck turned and made for the house and Balto eyes closed tight.