"Almost there..." Balto thought with determination, rushing as fast as he could towards the exit to the massive ice cave. The sooner they were out of there, the better; the still falling ice stalactites crashing down around the sled were a clear danger. The near catastrophe moments ago when they had nearly smashed the antitoxin crate open had made that more than clear. Only a few more yards to go-but he saw one final set of large stalactites over the exit now breaking loose as well. If they didn't hurry, the ice daggers would come down right on the sled, he realized. He poured on as much speed as he could, despite the cries of the rest of the team, who weren't used to going this fast regularly. The exit loomed in front of him; with one desperate final leap he jumped through the threshold. And not a moment too soon, as the descending final stalactites smashed off the back of the sled before clattering to the ground, followed by countless others falling from the roof behind them. Balto breathed in relief; just a few feet the other way, and they would have gone right into the crate...
"That was close," Nikki also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yeah, let's hope we don't have to go through that again," Kaltag added, shooting Star a stern look. "Well I didn't cause this one!" Star protested.
"You almost did-again...!"
"Enough," Balto cut off the argument. "Is the medicine all right?" he rushed back to examine the crate.
"Looks like we lost one vial, but the rest of them stayed in there. Good thinking there when it was breaking open," Jet commended him.
"Glad we didn't lose more," Balto was relieved. While he hated to lose any of the critical medicine, it could have been much worse. "We've got to be close to the end of the portage now," he turned back to the west. The storm was blowing hard, and visibility was limited, but he could hear the crashing of waves and cracking of sea ice in the distance, "Probably one more hill, and we'll start the downhill run to the beach."
"Be careful; I remember this was a pretty steep hill on the way to Nenana," Blackie cautioned him, "One wrong step and we'll all be going off a cliff-and with this storm blowing, that's going to make it that much harder."
"I know. OK, let's all watch our step here," Balto took a deep breath and started up the incline in front of them. He sniffed the air for the scent of previous dogs on the trail. It came to him, straight ahead, thus eliminating the trails Steele had marked to the sides as false. The smell of saltwater also guided the way for him. Slowly but surely, he led the team up the steep slope to the summit through near whiteout conditions...
...although the closer to they got to the top, the more the wind picked up, coming straight off the sea, and Balto could feel it pushing the sleigh sideways behind him. "Hold tight back there!" he called to the rest of the team, "It's going to get a little rough till we get over the top!"
"I've never felt a wind this strong before!" Kaltag complained, trying to keep his footing in the gale, or at least as best Balto could see through the blizzard, "I don't know if we can hold it...!"
"I'm losing it!" Jet cried, stumbling off his feet, as did several of the other trailing dogs. Moments later, a particularly strong gust tumbled Balto over himself and pushed him sideways with the rest of the team towards, he noted just in time with horror, a steep drop down to the beach. He desperately stumbled back upright and grabbed hold of a low-hanging branch of a tree near the end. He held on with all his might against the wind as the sled and the rest of the team lurched to a stop, the sled and its medicine teetering dangerously on the edge. Keeping his mouth on the branch, Balto wrapped his paws around the trunk and strained to pull the sled forward. "All of you together, pull!" he called to the other dogs, "I'll need all of you for this!"
"Everyone pull like your life depends on it-because it does!" Nikki barked out a command to the rest of the team. With furious growls, they lurched forward away from the abyss. Balto pulled forward himself, fighting against the almost hurricane force wind. "Everyone all...?"he turned to ask, but gasped in horror again to see the serum box did not appear to be on the back on the sled. "Anyone see the medicine!?" he demanded, his blood freezing cold.
"Uh..." Blackie's eyes also widened to see their cargo was gone. "Oh boy, I hope it didn't go over...!"
Balto rushed to the edge and glanced down. There was no telltale light at the bottom, so at least the serum had not fallen off-but it was still lost in the snow on the ridge top. "Everyone dig, quick!" he told the other dogs, frantically scraping away at the nearest snow, "Or it may be buried for good!"
"Dig in, everybody!" came the call among the dogs as they tossed snow in every direction. "I don't see it, it's not here!" Star whimpered desperately, accidentally tossing a large batch of snow into Kaltag's face, and getting furiously pushed face-first into the snow by the latter in turn.
"It's got to be!" Balto sniffed the air, "Come on, give me something...!"
And then he smelled it: smoke escaping from the box's lantern, about a hundred feet behind them. "Over here!" he called to the others, rushing towards the large pile of snow there. Sure enough, the lantern's glow could be seen faintly underneath it. He and the other dogs quickly shoveled the snow aside to reveal the box. "Thank goodness," Balto breathed a deep sigh of relief. He seized the front of the box and dragged it back to the sled, where he and the dogs grabbed the ropes in their jaws and lashed it back into place. "OK," Balto resumed his position at the lead, "Let's get down to the beach and out of the wind. Mush."
He started forward again and turned down the trail towards the beach-only to find the pathway icy. He stumbled, trying to maintain his balance as the sled and other dogs started picking up speed behind him. "We're going too fast; we're going to crash!" Jet complained, trying to slow his progress, to no avail.
"We're not going to crash," Balto tried to assure him, although he was getting worried himself. Then he was struck with another idea. "Bear, can you reach the sled brake!?" he called back to the wheel dog, "See if you can slow us down!"
"I'll try," Bear glanced backwards towards the sled, his eyes zeroing in on the brake. He took a deep breath and leaped backwards, his hind legs tapping down on the brake. It squealed, but caught, and Balto felt their speed temporary slow down. "OK, keep hitting it every now and then until we're down," he instructed Bear.
"I may end up joining the circus jumping like this!" Bear mumbled to himself, but nonetheless jumped back on the brake repeatedly. The sled slowed again and again, still faster than Balto was comfortable with, but at least no longer out of control. And even better, both the snow and the wind were starting to ease up now at a lower altitude, and he could see the Bering Sea more clearly. Within five minutes, the team hit the beach. "Made it," he breathed a sigh of relief.
"This settles it: if we make it back in one piece, I'm not leaving my kennel for a month, because I've had enough excitement on this trip for a lifetime!" Jet complained out loud, "Be glad you're still out cold and didn't have to worry about any of this, boss," he turned back to the still unconscious Kaasen in the sled's basket.
"Yeah, we've got to get him in to get some help too," Balto agreed worriedly; while the man hadn't shown any decline since he'd joined the team, the fact he hadn't yet woken up wasn't encouraging, "All right, we're almost there," he told the rest of the team, "Just one more big obstacle to go..."
Three hours and thirty miles later, he stood on the edge of Norton Sound in the light of the setting sun, watching the ice below creaking in the stiff wind and blowing snow. "How does it look?" Star leaned over his shoulder.
"Might be solid, I think," Balto sniffed the air, "The wind's OK for now-as long as it's blowing ashore. OK, everyone," he turned to the other dogs, "We've got a decision here. We can either cut straight across the sound and save several hours' worth of time. There's a big risk, though. The ice could break up at any point, and if the wind shifts while we're out there, it means we get blown out to sea, and then we're never seen again. There's also the trail along the coast; it's definitely safer, but it's a lot longer, and with this storm going on," he gestured with his nose at the blizzard around them, "It might well be impassable by now. I'll leave it up to you guys, which way? Majority rules."
The other dogs conversed among themselves for a minute or two. "We'll try the sound," Nikki told Balto, trust and respect in his eyes, "You got us this far, we trust you can get us through this. Besides, the town's counting on us; the faster we get back, the better."
"All right," Balto took a deep breath, "I just hope everything holds up for us."
"See, Steele would have just charged straight ahead onto the ice without thinking," Nikki gave a firm look back to Bear, "He wouldn't have cared what we thought about it."
"Well..." Bear looked conflicted now about his loyalties.
"Ready?" Balto asked the team. They nodded. He gave a glance across the sound to the opposite shore, out of sight in the blizzard for now. "Please hold..." he begged the ice under his breath, "OK, mush!"
He raced down the hill towards the sound, and soon the team was on the ice. "How long to the other side if we go this way?" Kaltag called up to him.
"Assuming no problems, about an hour, I'm guessing," Balto told him, "Just keep an eye out for open water or breaking ice..." he frowned and sniffed the air. To his dread, the wind was already starting to shift around from the sea to the land. "And we'd better hurry; the wind might be working against us soon!" he cautioned the team.
"You hear that!?" Blackie spoke up, worried himself. And Balto heard it too: wolf howls in the twilight air, and they sounded militant. "Oh no...!" he mumbled softly, knowing what this meant. The hunt was on, and they were the prey...
...and then he saw them through the snow: dark canid forms racing from the shoreline towards the sled, snarling and barking. He could make out at least twelve of them, meaning they were definitely outnumbered. His gaze shot to the left, hearing another disturbing sound: ice breaking up. The edge of the ice about a mile away was cracking and starting to drift out to sea with the wind shifting. They had nowhere to escape to. And now, the leading wolf leaped for the medicine box with a furious growl. Balto quickly turned the sled hard to the left at the last moment, making the wolf miss the box and hydroplane across the ice. "Give us that medicine, wolf dog!" it was Umaak, lunging head-on towards him with a murderous expression.
"It's not yours!" Balto jumped high over the wolf when he was a few feet away. The rest of the team leaped to avoid Umaak as best they could, stumbling over each other, but ultimately getting back to their feet. "Did you lead us out here to be attacked like this!?" Bear accusingly barked at Balto, "If this was just a setup the whole time...!"
"Oh shut up!" Jet kicked him. "Balto, what do we do now!?" he begged the team leader.
"I'm thinking! Try and beat them to the other shore, I...!" Balto came to a screeching stop at the last minute, seeing a large open polynya directly in front of them. More wolves were racing towards the other side of the watery opening, trying to cut them off. He looked left again. The ice breakup was intensifying and getting closer. "Hurry!" he instructed the team, racing around the edge of the polynya, desperately trying to beat the wolves to the other side...
...but it was to no avail, for seven of them cut them off halfway around the polynya. "It's over, wolf dog," Amarok stepped through the wolves, a dark triumphant grin on his face. Balto frantically looked backwards for an escape, but the rest of the pack had circled behind the sled and cut them off that way as well. There was nowhere left to run. "Your so-called mission of mercy for the humans ends now," Amarok snickered to Balto, "Destroy the medicine, now," he ordered the other wolves.