While Balto's sled career was seemingly out of question, for Max, Molly, Audrey and any other dog, that also included Steele, Nikki, Kaltag and Star, was rising significantly. In their prime age, all of them, they were all going for the greatest race of the year to come - the final annual race. That race determined who was going to earn the famed golden collar.
"You know what I think of that golden collar? It does sound good like an ornament, but to wear it around the neck? I really don't think I would like to wear that." Molly commented in the company of Max and Audrey when they were walking around the town. "It seems like humans found a random dog collar and dipped it in a molten pot of gold."
"I don't know for both of you, but I think that if I were to wear something fancy like this, I'd show those girls what the class really means!" Of course, Audrey's comment always had to be something that wasn't in favor of her brother and friend's talk. They refrained themselves from any harsh commentary by asking: "You'd wear it and show them off to Sylvie and Dixie, hoping Steele would fall for you?"
"I don't see why not!" The mention of Steele to Audrey always brought the reason to her to be happy, even if this was something her brother and her friend did not really appreciate. Audrey already gazed herself in the mirror that was just behind the window in the store nearby. Molly also got to stand next to her so she could see her own reflection.
"Well, don't count me in here. I don't think I want to wear that collar anyhow." Max told them so he didn't have to look at himself in the mirror. Both of them were gazing in their reflections and each one of them had their vision. Audrey's one was fancy and tainted with fake promises, Molly's was pretty humble.
Audrey could vision herself with that golden collar around her neck, passing next to Steele and rubbing his chin with her tail, who then followed her lovestruck and left Sylvie, Dixie and Jenna behind. Molly, on the other paw, just let the collar rest on its pillow as she had other important things to do, one of them was hopefully finding that right male for her.
"Well, when you're done both looking at yourself in the mirror, I want to have a talk about that future race with you. It's pretty important for me to tell you that!" Max let them know a very important topic left to be discussed. It didn't seem like this was going to be any easy due to Max and Audrey's relationship being in shambles, but he had to try.
"So, what is that so important you have to tell us, big brother?" Audrey teasingly asked him, always starting their talks with some kind of teasing. Max decided to let her go with this and when Molly joined in, he both told them: "Alright, now that we're preparing for a major race soon, I want to make sure that we're in all this together and that we'll put our disputes aside for once!"
After all, he was the lead dog of his team, as decided by their owner, the famous Leonhard Seppala. Audrey rolled her eyes when Max mentioned "disputes", but being outmatched two by one here, she decided to listen. Even Max offered her a paw of reason: "Audrey, I know that as much as I dislike Steele and there's nothing I can do about your choice, but will you at least put those feelings aside for the sake of our team?"
While it seemed at first that things would embroil into another heated debate, with Molly to be a peacekeeper among them, Audrey sighed, swallowing her pride to let her older brother know: "Alright, I'll do it this one time for you… but don't expect me to be excited about it!" A risk worth taking and then again, if she were to collaborate with their rival, this'd mean a treason.
"Good!" Max didn't mind how Audrey was going to take this so he looked at Molly and asked her: "Molly, whatever happens in the race, stay focused in front of yourself! Don't pay attention to their taunts and provocations. I will also stay firm with whatever they have to throw at us!" He had to point out his potential flaw regarding the animosity between him, Steele and his gang.
"Good thing that you will, Max. You just have to stop falling for their tricks, alright? All they are capable of is to make someone mad, but when you get back on them, they lose their ground!" Molly noticed how easy it would be to crack Steele's ego like an egg and as well as the exploiting the weak points of his team in the process.
"You're right, they're just like a hot air balloon, one big nothing with the face of someone great!" Max joked on this. Clearly Audrey wasn't going to take this lightly, but knowing that she was under Max's responsibility, be it in the name of their parents' decision or as a team leader, it was another bullet she had to take.
To think about it, as much as they all enjoyed being sled dogs, both Molly and Max felt how unfair it was to their wolf-dog friend to be excluded from the team just because he was a half-wolf. Their friend could only dream of being a part of the team and having that dream being just a dream showed how crushed Balto was to be segregated for his looks.
Truth to be said, their final race was only months ahead and even summer hadn't begun yet. To be precise, it was around early spring, yet Max looked like he'd taken this role as a sled leader very seriously. Molly, while not being really fond of being that serious, decided not to question her friends' motifs. Audrey even privately mocked him for that decision.
One day, or rather dusk, however, things had turned out in a rather strange way. The team was resting in their home, anticipating their next run either tomorrow or in two days. The dogs were resting around the living room, Max in front of the fireplace, Molly near the kitchen doors and Audrey below the window on the opposite side of the room.
Then, someone was heard knocking on the doors. Everyone was put on this, wondering who'd be visiting now as it was snowing out there and it was pretty dark. The master of the house, Leonhard Seppala, came from the kitchen, speaking: "I'm coming!" Judging by the tone of his voice, he didn't seem like he invited anyone to his place.
Once he'd opened the doors, another musher was standing, partially covered in snow - Gunnar Kaasan, which other dogs noticed and even Molly pointed out: "Is that Steele's musher? What is he doing here?" While they were trying to figure out, Gunnar spoke: "Good evening, Leonhard. May I come in?"
"Gunnar? Why, of course!" Leonhard generously let him inside. Since he and Gunnar had known each other for a while, they treated each other amicably and as equals, unlike their dogs with one another. Gunnar sat down on the sofa nearby, watched by Leonhard's dogs. Leonhard returned with a warm drink in his mug.
"What brings you to my place, Gunnar?" Leonhard wondered when he sat on the sofa opposite of Gunnar. Gunnar observed the dogs around him and spoke in a Scandinavian accent: "Leonhard, I usually am not the person to ask favors like these, but you know well that I have my own sled team, right? Well, one of my dogs recently suffered an injury at service and I'm seeking another one, just for a short time!"
"You say? Well, if you ask me, I don't see anything wrong with that. Why don't you take a look here and choose… one?" Leonhard asked him, getting his answer with Gunnar's nod just so he knew how many he needed. The entire team was now sitting in front of Gunnar and only one was going to be a temporal replacement…
Speaking of the team, they were all giving mixed signals about being a temporary replacement in Steele's team, or Gunnar's team in his eyes. Molly clearly didn't want to be that one, knowing into what kind of mockingbird she'd turn. Max was hoping he wasn't going to be the chosen one either, not especially if he'd to endure Steele's torment. However, Audrey was hoping she'd be the chosen one and that way, be closer to Steele himself!
"I choose… this one!" Gunnar finally made his choice and he was pointing at the dark brown furred, ocean blue eyed male Siberian husky… Max! His pupils shrunk in awe and disappointment when he heard that Kaasan had chosen him! He wasn't the only one, especially Audrey, when she'd heard that she wasn't going to be any closer to Steele!
"Max, you say? Okay, Max, you're now a dog of both teams!" Leonhard laughed at this joke when he patted his lead dog, but Max didn't return the joy and kindness to his master, thinking what nightmare was going to be for Max to go through now that he'd to be in the same team as his hated and heated rival…
"Good! Our mail delivery will be in three days! I hope your boy will be fit when I come to pick him up, Leonhard." Gunnar concluded this meeting with a handshake before returning home. Leonhard replied to him: "I will make sure that Max gets enough food and rest until that time, Gunnar. Good luck!" Then Kaasan left Seppala's residence.
The rest of the evening was a murmur for the team. To Seppala, this didn't look like anything terrible, but the team felt like their master threw their dignities in the air and let them be incinerated. Audrey was disappointed that she didn't get to be in the team of the malamute she adored and Max was even more disappointed that he had to be in that team.
Yet no one asked what Molly was thinking about this situation. Staring through the window in the snowy night, in her green eyes there were disgust, anger and grief combined. How could their master let her friend be with someone like Steele? Why didn't Max do anything to express his problem with that decision? What was going to be with Max once Gunnar no longer needed him?
This was something very difficult for Molly to think about. Her good friend, who'd been steering far from Steele's clutches for a good while, was now landing in them. Was Max going to be the same old one she'd known all her life? Was he going to be different when this was all over? Was he going to make sure that their wolf-dog friend wasn't going to be even more hurt than he already was?
Two days later, Max was on his mail delivery with his team. He thought how the next day he was going to be doing another one but in the name of Steele's team. He wasn't worried that he was going to be running the following day again, but the fact that he had to be with someone he could not stand for hours felt even more painful than he could imagine.
Molly didn't spend a lot of time with Max during this time. She did her best to remain his friend, although blinded by the fear that once Max would return from his first mail delivery in Steele's team, he'd be different. It'd be foolish to think that he'd succumb to Steele's influence and turn on her and Balto.
In fact, Molly was well aware that Max was as hard as rock to break through. Not to mention, if he was going to be any different, it wasn't going to result in Max becoming one of Steele's… but rather him being cranky, prone to anger issues and feeling isolated. All she could hope for that he was not going to fall for their taunts the next day.
Once the next day had come, Max was waiting at home with his team. Gunnar was going to pick him up to run in his team for a short period of time. Molly decided to go after her friend, hoping that her worst fears never surface. Audrey didn't want to join her, mainly because she still couldn't accept that Steele's musher didn't choose her.
"What's the matter, Audrey? Are you still being gloomy that Steele's master chose your brother over you?" Molly tried to remain friendly here although Audrey's look wasn't reflecting her kindness. She just crankily replied:"Don't you see, Molly?! He chose my brother even though there's no chance of them getting along! Why didn't he choose me?! At least I'd be of help!"
"Well, mainly because how your brother happens to be a lead dog, that was the reason he was chosen in the first place!" Molly almost started raising her voice, but she decided not to raise any tensions among them. Besides, Audrey replied to her: "If you want the company, why don't you ask your wolf-dog Balto to join you instead, uh?"
Molly was now seriously losing her patience on her friend's sister and as she was about to bolt straight into her face and spit out her anger and disgust, there was knocking on those dark brown doors. Seppala opened them, speaking: "Welcome, Gunnar! Just in time, Max is ready to join you!"
"Thank you, Leonhard. Max, come on, boy!" Gunnar gratefully replied, beckoning Max to follow him. Max hesitated to go, but being ordered by his master: "Now, Max!", it was obvious Max had no other choice but to go. While following the other musher, he only hoped that there was a way for dogs to talk to humans.
Molly followed her friend to the post office. Even if she didn't talk to Max that much over the last few days ever since that decision, she still couldn't let him go without getting rid of her insecure feeling. She kept her distance when she saw Steele's team in front of the post office, awaiting for their replacement to come at last.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Maxie Boy who will be joining us in a mail delivery for some time?" Steele's gleeful and cold voice spoke when he saw his rival's team leader joining them. He was to be placed behind Steele on the right, Kaltag next to him who spoke: "If you try anything funny with us, Maxie, we will know that before you realize it!"
Other dogs laughed deviously, but not as cold as Steele was, all while Max was pretending that they were not here with him. Nikki, who was just behind him, spoke: "Heyyyy, someone's being silent today, huh? Maybe it is still because he's still speechless that he's our replacement for some time!" More chuckling and snickering came along, while Max looked down in the ground, avoiding any contact with them, verbal or visual.
"I say that he's the most silent, most mysterious, most unpredictable, most stealthy…!" Kaltag started stacking up the adjectives over the top related to Max, who didn't want to acknowledge their presence right now. He was interrupted when Star yelled mockingly: "He is like a stalking predator! Hah hah hah!... OOF!"
Kaltag was the one who had a pleasure smacking him in his chin with his rear paw, making Star lose his balance and land on his back. Still, Max pretended that he didn't care what just happened there, although he was pretty close to breaking into a silent laugh when he saw what just happened. Nikki observed his fallen teammate and answered: "I don't think he's got a good hit, Kaltag!"
"Alright, team! Prepare yourselves! We have Max from Seppala's team as a temporary replacement and I hope that all of you will get along with him! Star, on your paws, now!" Gunnar spoke when he had placed the bag in the sled and commanded his purple male husky to get up, even if he staggered to stay still before the delivery, thanks to that blow.
"Heh heh, good luck to you, Maxie boy, if you get through with us in this mail delivery!" Steele let him know what they were going to give him during the mail delivery, followed by Max baring his teeth over here, but he couldn't finish it when Gunnar got aboard and yelled: "Hike!" That yell had Star finally on all his fours and concentrated, albeit a bit too late until he started running on his own!
Molly was observing this mail delivery from the distance, showing how crushed she felt to see her best friend being among the dogs who were no good in her eyes. She didn't pay attention to the canine coming from her behind until it was revealed to be Balto, asking: "Molly? I heard that Max is now in Steele's team… is that even true?"
To hear about his close friend being in his enemy's team, Balto was terrified of what the income was going to be. Was his and Max's friendship going to suffer as an outcome of him being in the team of someone they could not possibly stand? Molly said something that was some sort of relief: "Balto, he's going to be in their team only like two or three times, not forever!"
"Oh!" Balto felt that the burden was coming off his chest now that he knew Max wasn't going to be in that team for too long. Though, he noticed her look: "Molly, what's wrong? I mean, you just told me that he was going to be there only a few times." She opened up to him: "But what if he changes for worse? I mean, when he no longer will be a part of their team, will he remain the same old Max we know or not? I fear that, Balto!"
"Look, Molly!" Balto prevented her from breaking into tears. The upset female green eyed husky looked at her friend who then let her know: "I am also afraid of that happening, but what if his kindness prevails? What if no matter what Steele attempts to do, Max will never give in? He defends me from him, I just hope he keeps up to that word!"
Molly could think how even an ostracized canine of this down could reason with her and burst the bubble of worries her head was in. She only mentioned this: "I hope I'll recognize him again when this is all over…" Her voice sounded hoarse when she said this, but as a good friend, she knew it was not going to be wise to break down emotionally in front of her after hearing those words from him. Balto stayed with her for a little bit to calm herself down, hidden in the shadows.
Thankfully for Max, the mail delivery in Steele's team was just to White Mountain, the nearest town to Nome on the east. Max already felt on his fur that he was the odd one out in the entire team, not the arrogant lead dog that was malamute, not the chow-chow behind him, not the clumsy husky next to the chow-chow, not the chinook next to him.
The last two teammates, behind Nikki and Star, were somehow oddly silent. Were they by any chances submitted into silence or they just had no ill wishes towards Max? He couldn't know that yet, having one goal in his mind - do this mail delivery and return home, not to talk to anyone but to his team and maybe Balto, should he come across him later today.
"Not now, boys, after all, we do have standards when we deliver mail!" Steele cackled about something. Max didn't hear what he said, but he heard the laughter from his cronies, namely Star's higher-pitched laugh. They were up to something! He had to figure out what kind of salty joke they were going to pull on him before they made their stop in White Mountain.
There it was, the small town of White Mountain on the river of Niukluk. Ever since that town had been established in 1920, the mail deliveries had been shortened to this one being the very first stop! The post office was very easy to spot and only after two hours of mail delivery, Max was hoping that the next two hours were going to be as quick as flash!
Gunnar yelled: "HALT!"when they made it in front of the post office, giving him like five to ten minutes to exchange the mail and return to Nome. The weather conditions were promising, with only a few clouds on the south. Just as Max could take it easy, Steele turned around him and with his icy gaze, spoke: "Well, well, well, Maxie boy, do you enjoy the new team?"
"Mind your own business, Steele." Max coldly replied to his rival in front of him, making Nikki, Kaltag and Star say: "Oooooooooooohhhh!" and even Nikki dared to speak: "Watch out, Steele, looks like Max is up to something!" Of course, it was a pure sarcasm because the way Nikki spoke, he was cracking up at the same time.
Max glared at him without any amusement, only for Steele to let his comrade know: "Now, now, Nikki, let's be generous to the rival's team leader!" This made Star burst in laughter so hard, followed with: "Only whose team is he leading now?!" At first, Kaltag had that wish to smack him again, but hearing what he just said, Kaltag added… "Oh, that's right, he left them behind in Nome!"
They were all laughing hard, thus heating up Max's anger, who from outside seemed like he couldn't care any less. Though Steele started to expose his anger when he told him: "Oh, how is your wolf-dog friend Bingo doing lately? Me and the boys surely had fun the other day framing him for the sausages we initially had in mind to share!"
Did they really lead Balto to the humans and had him exposed to the humans?! Max's teeth were bared, but he backed away, knowing he should stay calm. Steele circled around him and with his voice being gleefully cold, let him know: "Though, Lobo has been around a girl I like and that's not making me happy. Only someone disgraceful would not mind that… if you know what I mean?"
What girl? Steele had been enjoying a pretty high reputation among females in the town of Nome and one of them could be none other else than: "Oh, is that so? If you think that Balto has something to do with my sister, you are dead wrong! She can't even stand him like any of you could! She's still upset I got the place instead of her!"
He was hoping that Steele would let it go now that Max exposed the possible female he was talking about. Nikki let him know: "Oof, looks like Max is trying to be really dangerous this time!" Though, Max had no clue if this was genuine or sarcasm this time along and he asked himself if he really pushed Steele's buttons? If so, it'd be satisfying to have him get that comeuppance at once!
"But only that he doesn't understand that he's wrong!" Steele's surprise shifted into his cold glee when he was talking to his friends before darting into Max once again, revealing: "I really don't like how he's not letting Jenna go when he's in town! Maybe you can be his friend and send him my message before things… escalate."
Was that so?! Max's rage was reaching the boiling point when he heard how Steele desired that Balto and Jenna were never hanging out together!? Jenna, Balto's first and best canine friend in the entire town?! He growled furiously when he heard that, but before unleashing his rage, he told him: "Why don't you tell him yourself if you're that brave?!"
Now Steele's cold glee shifted into anger himself as the icy blue eyes were showing that. Others just gathered around, with Kaltag giving his commentary: "This is going to be the most brutal, the most vicious, the coldest and the most…". He wanted to finish his line with: "the most merciless fight out there now!"
But of course, Star's lack of attention made him yell in front: "They're on fire!" His laughter didn't last long when Kaltag finally delivered his blow on the top of his head, making Star stumble down and land on his back. Kaltag commented: "Every single time, Nikki. Every single time!"
"What's going on, you two?! Break it up! We're going back to Nome and I need you all on your paws! Star, get up, NOW!" Gunnar returned with the new bag of mail and grabbed both Max and Steele by their neck scruffs just before the brawl could ensue. He had to get Star on his paws and he made sure he was alright.
"We are not done here… yet!" Steele coldly let Max know that their clash was going to happen at some point in the near future, with Max's response being: "Yeah? Well, bring it on!" Though, there was nothing either of them could do when Gunnar yelled: "HIKE!" Now it was on them the two hours of their journey home.
The journey went surprisingly smooth, even with the laughter of Steele's team echoing among them. Star still had to get his mind right when they were running back. All in all, they already saw Nome in front of them and all that required them was to pull over in front of the post office and it was going to be a fight between two rival dogs.
Only there wasn't. Max was fortunate that his master, Seppala, was passing by with groceries on his way home and seeing that his dog was free at that moment, he ordered him to heel. Max did it with all pleasure, leaving Steele fuming how he had missed the fight with his heated rival. In Steele's cold blue eyes, he figured out that one day Max wasn't going to be rescued by his owner just like he was a minute ago.
Still, the next mail delivery for Max was in two days, in Steele's team for that matter. Molly and Audrey were asking Max how that went. Audrey was looking at the positive aspects, knowing that there was something good in Steele's team. Molly, however, was rather pessimistic related to her questions.
Then again, Max didn't mention anything of Steele's request to have Balto stop hanging around Jenna. Maybe it was for the best never to bring it up, thinking that Steele's "threat" was merely a hoax and that he'd not dare to do something like that. Molly, however, remained suspicious about him not mentioning anything secret.
The morning for the mail delivery in Steele's team had come. Max waited for Gunnar to get him here at home and without looking at his best friend and his sister, Max followed his rival's team musher to the post office, hoping to have another day bygone. Steele's team taunting him was going to be clearly inevitable.
"Would you look at that, boys? Maxie boy dares to return to the team with us, even after we haven't had a dispute settled!" Steele spoke in his cold gleeful tone when they saw their guest in the team. While Gunnar headed to the post office to fetch the mail for White Mountain, Steele asked him: "Maxie boy, have you talked to your lobo friend about my request?"
"That's none of your business, Steele!" Max coldly lashed on him, making Star squeal: "Steele, looks like Max has turned dangerous for real!" Kaltag even commented: "Chief, something tells me he fell deaf on your request!" He was starting to believe what he just said: "You make a point here, Kaltag. Is it true that lobo didn't get what I said?"
"And then, why should he? There's nothing you can do about it, Steele!" Max furiously spat in his face, taking Steele by surprise and seemingly getting the upper paw in here. In that moment, all three of them were taken by surprise, somehow adding salt to the wound when Nikki suggested: "Boys, why don't we make a bet in here? Winner takes the bones!"
Back to Seppala's residence…
"I really don't know how long I can take Max being in Steele's team. There's something he won't tell us! I hardly think it has anything to do with Steele threatening him! I mean, both can pull off into a fight with equal power!" Molly talked about her problem with Max being in the team of the dog he could clearly not stand.
"That's easy for you to say, because Max at least got to be in his team! I mean, why could not I be instead of him? At least it wouldn't be a nightmare for me!" Audrey clearly saw this problem in a different light, always trying to contradict Steele being a villain here, being blind to his words. Molly just unamusingly replied: "You really have to add more salt to the wound, Audrey?"
"Hey, that's no salt on the wound in my eyes, Molly! Geez, just please get over it!" Audrey hoped that others would at least stop telling her who to like and who not to like. She was a teenage dog and she could choose herself, but this was clearly a situation between a rock and a hard place. Molly's answer was: "Don't tell me I didn't warn you in the future, okay?"
Just as Audrey was to tell her something, knocking on the doors were heard and just then Seppala descended down the stairs, asking: "Yes? Who is it?" The answer was rather unexpected, at least in the eyes of Seppala, Molly and Audrey: "Leonhard, it's me, Gunnar! I've brought your dog Max back home!"
"Huh?" Seppala was dumbfounded by that answer. Didn't Gunnar come to pick up Max and set off to White Mountain as a substitute dog in the team. Opening the doors, one could clearly see that Max's fur was pretty messy here. Gunnar explained: "Here's your dog. He and my dog Steele have gotten themselves into a fight I had to break apart!"
"Wait, what?!" This was the reaction of all three from Seppala, Molly and Audrey, all while Max looked aside. Gunnar just remained firm: "Look, I don't know what has gotten into your dog, Leonhard, but I clearly can't stand someone attacking my dog without any reason! When I separated them, they almost lunged into another fight."
"I'll handle this, but for now, would you like me to give you another dog as a substitute?" Seppala suggested him, but Gunnar was about to leave, saying: "Thank you, but I'll pass. I have a bad feeling that because your other dogs have been with Max, there'd be another fight and I'm already late for the mail delivery. Goodbye, Leonhard!"
"Take care!" Seppala greeted him and as he shut the doors, he glared at his lead dog and with the disappointment present in his voice, he told him: "Max, there's nothing more frustrating to know that you attacked the other's team sled dog! Do you know how this could put our entire team on the risk?! I'm cutting you off the meal until after sunset today."
Max clearly didn't care if he was going to be punished or not when his owner returned to his room upstairs. Other sled dogs were just looking frighteningly at Max, yet Audrey dared to be the first one to talk to him, adding more salt to the wound: "Nice going, big brother! Because of you, Steele may not like me that much! I hope you're happy now!"
She rushed away as she sounded like she was at the brink of the tears. He growled: "Oh yeah, if you find him so precious, then why don't you rush to him instead?!" No response came from her and now Molly came. She seemed mad too, but the reason was present in her voice: "Max, how could you do that?! Why did you let him provoke you?!"
"Molly… I didn't do it out of spite! He had that one coming!" Max explained why he attacked Steele. Judging by him talking, there were no blood stains on his fangs or anywhere else on him, nor he was wounded, thus making it a relief there was no blood drawn. "It was because of something he said and it relates to Balto!"
"What did he say?" Molly's mood shifted from mad to something she could relate herself. Max looked at the green carpet down and thinking how she was going to take these news in, he revealed: "He demanded that I should tell Balto to stop hanging around Jenna, saying she is his girl!"
"Now that's a load of…!" Molly spoke, but didn't finish it. She didn't say that as if Max were saying nonsense, but because she found it utterly disgusting how Steele thought that Jenna was his girl. Max explained: "Then I told him to mind his own business and that I won't tell Balto what he demanded, he got mad and I won't have to explain to master that Steele was the first one to strike."
Truth to be said, neither could Gunnar see who attacked first, but assuming that Max was someone he didn't know well, he could assume that Max attacked without any reason. Molly, however, actually warmed up to Max, explaining: "Max, I find that… brave. If Balto were here to hear what you did for him, I think he'd appreciate it!"
He looked at his gray female friend, into her gray eyes and with the bitter humor in his eyes, spoke: "I am sure that he would, Molly. We outta see if he's going to be in town later on." She agreed, knowing that Max had to serve his detention for attacking the other team's dog. As she found out how Max took the matters in his own paws… she felt something.
Was it… the admiration? She knew him when they were little puppies and they were close friends, like their parents. All the time they saw one another as friends and nothing more than that, but seeing how courageous Max was earlier and how he bravely accepted his detention, Molly could swear that she was finally seeing… something in him from that day on.