Unfortunately, not everyone in Toby's family agreed with Rex. The next day Toby had a run-in with his older half-brother, Pete. Pete's father Yukon was a husky, like Terry, had been the lead dog of one of Nome's top sled teams and was the running champion after Steele fell from favor. But he had died when he tripped pulling a sled in a race. Since then, Pete had grown very bitter and stayed away from forming relationships, which in turn prevented anyone from wanting to be around him. And when Terry met Rex, it had only gotten worse. He'd accused her of disrespecting his father's memory for wanting to hook up with Rex, even going so far as to threaten Rex directly if he didn't discontinue his relationship with Terry. And that had only been the beginning.

As Terry and Rex spent more and more time together, Pete had come to think that she'd completely lost touch with him and how he felt. He thought that her relationship with Rex was a slap in the face to his father's memory and her way of saying, "You're not worth my time. I'm done with you."

But Pete was determined to remember his father in what he thought was the right way. He hadn't realized, and still didn't realize, that instead he'd become distant and bitter and had denied himself the satisfaction that comes from forming relationships with others. Also, he hadn't truly accepted the fact that his father was dead and gone, and so had been unable to move on with his life. But it all came to a head when his half-siblings arrived.

Pete had been scornful of them all, but bore a particular resentment toward Toby, who he hated most out of the lot. While all of them resembled Rex to some extent, Pete had made Toby the target for his ire because he most resembled the object of his disdain. Though Toby's overall form was slightly more husky than bloodhound, his face was noticeably more bloodhound than husky: To a much lesser extent, it bore the baggy wrinkles and sagging jowls that so defined his father's lineage, and it was this heritage that Pete hated most about him.

And today was no exception. "What's up, runt?" he asked in greeting. "Did you get a home yesterday?"

"Nope," said Toby cheerfully.

"Aww, that's too bad," Pete said in a voice generally used for talking to infants. "But I guess nobody wants a runty mutt like you."

"I escaped," said the pup proudly. "I've decided that I want to grow up just like Balto."

"Ha," sneered Pete. "That old half-breed? Why don't you start by sticking your head in a garbage can?"

"Then I'd have to room with you," Toby blanched. Pete's jaw dropped, caught completely off guard by the quick, witty comeback. "Just wait. Someday you'll see that it doesn't take a purebred to be somebody."

"Ha! We'll see," Pete said as he walked away.

Later while he was playing in the lot, Toby heard a sound on the other side of the boxes. It sounded like a cat, but he imagined that it was Steele, Balto's arch enemy. He crept up to the corner and listened, not wanting to give away his presence by sticking his nose into view. Then he shot around the corner, barreling straight toward his prey. But instead of catching it and knocking it to the ground, he and it smacked heads.

"Ow!" protested his victim. "What do you think I am, a goat?"

Toby realized that he hadn't been stalking a cat. Instead, he had crashed straight into a girl pup about his age. She looked like a mix of malamute, chow, and husky. "Sorry," Toby said, shaking his head to get rid of the ringing in his ears. "I thought you were Steele."

The girl looked at him as if he had completely lost his mind. "Steele? What would give you a crazy idea like that?"

Toby shrugged, feeling a bit awkward. "My imagination runs away with me sometimes," he admitted.

"Somehow I guessed," the girl retorted, rubbing the top of her head. She stared at him. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Toby," he answered. "What's yours?"

"Luna."

"Wanna play with me, Luna?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Promise not to practice your mountain goat impression on me?"

Toby rolled his eyes and promised. "You wanna play Balto?" he asked.

"Is that what you were playing when you whacked me on the head?" she asked.

"Will you drop that already?" Toby was getting frustrated. "You don't have to be a bad guy―er, girl. You could play―"

Oh, great, thought Luna. Anything but Jenna. "Could I be Aleu?" she asked quickly. "You know, the daughter Balto had who looked even more like a wolf―"

"Yeah, I know about her. Okay, you run off and hide like you've run away, and I'll try to find you."

Toby and Luna soon became friends, and they met to play every chance they got. One day they were playing in the lot. Luna was pretending to be in a canyon cornered by bears, and Toby was Balto, ready to jump in and save the day. But when he tried to jump, he accidentally dislodged the pile of crates he'd been standing on. He fell helplessly through the air, followed by about twenty boxes and crates. He landed with a thud, and the entire pile came crashing down around him. Luna had just enough time to scream before she too was buried under the falling cargo.

Toby was lucky. Most of the boxes missed him and the ones that didn't were empty. He crawled out from under the pile and shook himself. "Luna?" he called out. There was no reply. "Luna!" Silence. Oh, man. Please don't tell me I smashed you, he thought. He ran around and around the pile, calling Luna's name over and over. Please, please be okay.

He put his nose to the ground and started sniffing. Maybe she'd been clear of the avalanche and simply hadn't heard him for some reason. His tail started to wag when he picked up her scent, but his hope died instantly when he realized that the trail didn't lead away from the pile, but into it. I have to do something, he thought. Finding an opening in the pile, he wriggled through, working his way in deeper and deeper, wherever he could squeeze through a gap.

"Ow," came a quiet whimper.

"Luna?" Toby hurried towards the sound as fast as the limited space would allow. Sure enough, there was Luna, half-buried under a crate. "Hang on!" he told her. "I'm getting you out of here!" He grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and pulled. Nothing happened except that Luna started to groan with pain.

"Stop," she said, sounding as if she were barely conscious. "It hurts."

"I'm getting you out of here," he said. He pulled harder and managed to move her an inch. But as soon as he moved her, the boxes began to shift. Oh no, he thought. If I keep this up, I'll bring the whole pile down on top of us again. There was only one thing left to do. "I'll be back," he promised. "Just hang in there."

Following his nose to fresh air, he ran out of the lot and into the street, yelling his head off. "Help please!" he barked. "My friend's in trouble! Hurry!" His calls produced instant results. About a dozen dogs sitting or walking around came running. "This way!" Toby yelled, leading them back to the pile. "She's under here!" He sniffed around the pile, trying to find where he'd come out. "Here!" he said, pointing to the opening.

At once the other dogs started in on the pile, gabbing at the boxes and pulling them away. Soon they uncovered Luna, and Toby's stomach tied itself in a knot. She looked even worse than before. Her back legs were caught under a heavy crate. "Ouch," commented one of the dogs. "That can't be very comfortable."

"Come on," said another. "Let's get her out of there."

"How'd this happen?" asked someone else.

Toby guessed what was coming next and ducked inside what remained of the pile. Right now, questions were the last thing he wanted to face. If everyone knows this is my fault, he thought miserably, I don't know what I'll do.

Luna had to go to the vet's office. The vet identified her by the tags on her collar and sent his assistant to get her owners. Toby, who had snuck in under the building and was hiding under the floorboards, listened anxiously.

"Is this your dog?" asked the vet.

"Yes, she's ours," a man's voice replied, "but what on Earth happened to her?"

"I don't know," said the vet. "Some dog came here and wouldn't stop barking, then led us to that empty lot by the harbor. That's where she was, half-buried under a crate."

"How is she?"

"Both back legs are broken, I'm afraid. And there's some damage to her spine."

Toby drew in his breath sharply. It's all my fault, he thought.

"Is she gonna be okay?" asked a woman.

"Yes, she should be fine. But she'll have to stay here for a few weeks until she recovers."

"Weeks?" cried a girl's voice.

Through the grate in the floor, Toby watched as the vet knelt to look the girl in the eye. "Sweetheart," he said softly, "I have no wish to keep your dog from you, but if I send her home with you, she may have a harder time recovering. So she's got to stay here until then, and I promise I'll send her home as soon as she's better, okay?"

The girl watched him intently, then extended her little finger. "Pinky promise?"

The vet smiled kindly, and curled his own pinky around hers. "Pinky promise and cross my heart." Then he hugged her gently.

"Thank you, Doctor," said the other man=s voice.

As the family left, Toby thought over and over again, It's my fault. She's hurt and it's all my fault!

Some dogs came in to see Luna as well. Toby heard them talking with her above his head. Her parents, an uncle, an aunt, and her grandparents all came by to see how she was doing. All of them wanted to know what had happened, but Luna was too tired to give much detail. All she told them was that she'd been playing and got into an accident. Oh, man, thought Toby as he listened. I can't let word get around that I did this. They'll be so mad at me. And why shouldn't they, after what I've done? Well, I'll at least get a chance to apologize to her. He listened as one of the dogs got chased out by the vet. I'll wait until it's dark, when the people are gone and the place is locked up, he decided.

That night, Toby put his plan into action. As soon as the lights were out and the place was silent, he pushed up one of the heating grates in the floor and crept into the room. "Luna?" he called into the darkness. There was no reply. She must be asleep, he thought. I hate to wake her, but I'll never forgive myself if I don't apologize now. He sniffed around and found his way to her cage. "Hey," he whispered. "Psst! Luna, wake up. It's me."

Luna stirred. Through the drowsiness, she couldn't quite distinguish the voice, but once she recognized it, she knew instantly who it was. "Toby! What are you doing here?"

"I snuck in. I had to apologize to you, and I couldn't risk being seen. I don't think I could face your family after what I did."

"Aw, come on, Toby," she said with a yawn. "It wasn't so bad. Heck, it doesn't even hurt that much."

Toby's eyes had started adjusting to the dim light, and he examined the damage. He saw that both of Luna's hind legs were bandaged so thickly they resembled bowling pins, and a brace was fastened to her back. "What kind of dimwit do you think I am?"

Luna giggled. "How many kinds are there?"

"Luna, this is serious! I could've killed you!"

"Yeah, but you didn't."

Toby dropped his head. "Well…I'm sorry anyway." He looked up. "Still friends?"

Luna considered. "I don't know…" Toby's eyes misted over and his ears began to droop. Luna shoved him playfully. "I'm kidding. Of course we're still friends. Besides, it was an accident. If you'd done that on purpose, our friendship would certainly be over."

The next day Toby came to the grate. He didn't go in because he could hear that someone was talking to Luna. "he's a big fan," Luna was saying. "Every time we play, it's always Balto, Balto, Balto." She giggled. "I still haven't clued him into my little secret."

Her visitor chuckled, a warm baritone sound. "What, you're embarrassed?"

"No, I'm just not ready to tell him yet."

"I know what you mean," said another voice. This one was female. "It's more fun to keep secrets, isn't it?"

"I hope you haven't been keeping any from me," said the other voice with a hint of a chuckle.

Then a noise was heard in the next room. "Go! I think someone's coming!" said Luna.

Toby heard a rush of paws, the scrape of a window opening, some muffled thuds, and then the window slamming shut. What was that all about? he wondered. He considered asking Luna that night, but he didn't want her to know he'd been listening, especially since he hadn't meant to. In the end he chose not to ask, but for the next several days the question played at the back of his mind.

It was two weeks before Luna was finally released from the vet. Although she was bored out of her mind and wanted to get outside again, she often found herself without the energy to do so. She was forced to settle for laying in front of the fireplace, enviously watching as her siblings frolicked about, playing puppyish games. The most physical exertion she could manage was to eat or drink, after which she was given a small spoon of some type of liquid that tasted terrible but made her go to sleep. She found solace in her dreams, most of which were about Toby and what she would do with him―or to him, rather―when she could move on her own again.

Finally, Luna's legs had healed enough that she could at last get out of the house and scratch that itch called restlessness. She and Toby took to playing their usual games, although they had to take it easy while her legs healed. Between taking care not to play too hard and making himself scarce whenever anyone walked by, Toby was too busy to wonder about the mysterious conversation. By the time the casts and brace came off, he'd forgotten all about it.