It had been almost a month after Steele won the final race of 1923 and that boosted his reputation because he got to wear the golden collar and show it off to everyone. His closest ones proudly told everyone who was the boss of the town. Most dogs of the town supported Steele in many ways possible. Only a few of them defied him.
Balto, Max and Molly were among them, so was Jenna. While she didn't see herself openly hostile towards Steele like her friends, she still had her reasons why she didn't like him that much, even if she didn't show that to him. A surprise, and a relief, came when Doc, the middle-aged St. Bernard, and the 'mayor' dog, showed no support either.
One evening in early January, Balto got to enjoy the dinner Rosy had given to him. He was wondering to see Jenna after the sunset so no one would have to notice him in the town. Not only that, he was just fortunate to see Rosy on the porch, ready to dispose of the remaining bones Jenna had no intention to finish, but once seeing a certain wolf-dog nearby, she changed her mind.
"There you go, Balto! I'm sure that you haven't had this good dinner in a while!" Rosy happily gave him the remaining bones from the dinner and Balto gracefully accepted it from the little girl before she had to go back in, but not before patting him by his head and letting him know: "I know that my parents don't really like you, but you'd be a really cute pet with Jenna!"
A pet life… something that Balto never knew of, but he could imagine how warm and cozy it would have been for him. A human who would love him, take care of him, clean after him, feed him, take him for walks, play with him… it was just a dream Balto could have. Even if Rosy was leaving, Jenna decided to fill in the void before Balto was going to leave.
"How is your dinner, Balto?" Jenna asked him from the porch, seeing how her wolf-dog friend rarely had this kind of pleasure. He glanced at her, knowing that she wouldn't take it away from him. He answered: "It's pretty tasty! Rosy surely knows how I feel and she even mentioned the idea of me being a cute pet! But it is only a dream for me now, Jenna."
"Balto, why are you so gloomy about your future? Maybe Rosy is right, you might be someone's pet one day. If you do become one day, you'll be thankful to Rosy for proving you right." Jenna let him know what his hopes and wishes could lead to, with a warm smile on her face. What if she was right? Balto thought to himself.
"I may wonder how it is for Max and Molly then. I mean, they're pets, but they are in a mail service… So what if I were a pet to a musher?" Balto asked her, thinking that Jenna's life as a pet wasn't the same as his sled friends'. Jenna looked at her side, showing some kind of insurance in her eyes when she heard him mentioning them.
"Jenna?" Balto asked her, noticing in the last second that Jenna was feeling insecure. She looked back at him and she knew that there was no way of hiding that feel anymore. Sighing, she revealed him some bad news: "I was with Molly earlier this morning. Max didn't want to come, he was pretty mad last night and this morning."
"Oh no, why?" Balto was afraid something would happen that'd push Max's buttons' again. While Max wasn't really known for short-temper, him being mad was never a good sign. Balto carried on: "Don't tell me that Steele did something to him! I am starting to worry that Max will be expelled from the sled service!"
"What if I were to tell you it's all because of Audrey?" Jenna let him know what the problem was and for a moment, Balto calmed down, but then he started: "Audrey? Don't tell me that she…" Jenna continued it anyhow: "...is still faltering for Steele again? Yes, I am afraid it is just that. She's never going to learn!"
"After what Steele had done to her team last month, it looked like a final straw! Or else we were fooled by her acting!" Balto could only feel the anger growing stronger, thinking how Audrey would have a change of heart on Steele and stop blindly listening to his dishonest words, but there he was proven wrong.
"Well, she was going to give him her piece of mind and she was mad at him, but the next day, her antics continued, only that it wasn't until last night that Max figured out. Then it just got really, and I mean it, REALLY bad!" Jenna stated out loudly this second-to-last word, thinking what kind of ruckus Max had to go through with his sister again.
"I don't believe this… I was hoping that with the change of heart, she'd also change her view about me just a little bit, but that isn't happening." Balto looked down in a sorrow disappointment, thinking how Audrey was beyond hot-headed. Before he left, Jenna told him something valuable: "Balto, as much as it pains you to see all this, you just remember who your friends are and who'll never let you down."
Looking up to Jenna, who was just spot on in front of the bright moon in the sky, and a slight breeze stirring her fur, Balto could only gaze at her in admiration when he answered: "I hope I never lose any of you, Jenna. Especially you, because you are my first friend and…" Before he had a chance to finish it, Rosy called: "Jenna, come on! It's getting late!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Balto, I have to go! But know one thing, letting you down is the last thing I'd ever do in my life! I hope you return safely to your boat!" Jenna told him, showing her true intentions. They smiled at one another before Jenna left as Rosy was calling for her. Then Balto had to return to the boat, making sure he would leave no traces behind.
One chilly winter morning, Balto was just hunting fish near his old boat. Over the time, he'd got used to eating the flesh in the town rather than hunt it down in the forest. However, his fishing skills were impressive for a canine. Felines were more of fish eaters, but a wolf dog like Balto could make no mistake in fishing! It was all thanks to the certain polar bear cubs!
Making his way out of the water, he could clearly notice Boris waiting for him, but it also seemed like someone was nearby. Noticing a gray furred husky, he didn't have to guess twice who that was. Even Boris came closer to let him know: "As you were fishing like a cat in that sea, devushka Molly was looking for you, mal'chik! I told her to wait."
"Thanks, Boris! I guess this meal can wait for now." Balto thanked him and as a gratitude, he landed a fish in Boris' wings to keep an eye on it, which Boris struggled to do, but thankfully he didn't let it slip out of his wings. Balto shook the water off his fur and making sure he looked decent in front of his friend, he greeted her: "Molly! What gives?"
"Hi, Balto. I was wondering if you have become a shark with your fishing attitude! I'm just kidding, of course." Molly pointed out Balto's unusual habit, albeit the humor she used felt thin and transparent, he could notice that. Balto found it a bit unusual whenever she was on her own or even Max, but he didn't want to bring that up.
"Well, you can thank my polar bear friends who taught me how to fish! I won't lie, it is pretty delicious!" Balto let her know why he liked hunting fish that much. Before Molly was going to bring up what bothered her right at the moment, she used a little bit of humor here to think: "Oh, if only Max's dad were to hear this… he is not going to like it!"
"So, tell me, what brings you here? Is it something you want to tell me?" Balto asked her, trying not to sound like he didn't want any company, although he'd been wishing to be alone, ever since Steele's bullying started to take some more toll. Molly looked down on the ground and lowered her ears, revealing: "Well, Max has been talking about something in our team and it isn't very promising."
"Oh no… don't tell me that he's going to retire yet!" Balto was fearing that Max at this point was seeing no hope as a sled dog. He knew that Max would not bow down to his emotions easily! Well, it was better than he expected, but it didn't say much: "No, he's staying in a team. The thing is, he doesn't intend to have us be in the final race of this year!"
"Wait, it's because of Steele, isn't it?" Balto didn't have to solve an equation to figure this out. Well, he was more or less correct: "He is the reason why! Max told us that instead, he'll let someone else's team race against Steele in the final race this year! I still think that Max was not doing a right and an honorable thing or am I wrong?"
"Well, I won't call Max a coward, Molly. Steele is openly hostile to you and him, but it seems that Audrey mended ties with him again?" Balto had to risk mentioning this and for a moment, he swore that he could see the fires of rage in Molly's green eyes and so he backed off a bit, but Molly extinguished her answer, speaking somberly: "Sadly… yes."
"I'm so sorry to hear that. But what I wanted to add is that… what if Max lets someone else's team race against Steele's, would Steele dare to attack them? I mean, is he hostile towards any other team in this town?" Balto was wondering if Max was going to pass the torch of abuse to someone else's team or his team was forced to carry it.
"I have never seen any other team being abused by Steele frankly. Well, he mocked some other teams' dogs, but he never got as vicious as he had to us in that race!" Molly was connecting the dots, thinking that her friend was actually doing a not-cowardly deed. If that was the case, this gave Molly no reason to destabilize her opinion towards Max she'd been having by then, without anyone else knowing!
"Look, I know that even if we're having bad times and how our pride was taken away, but one way or another, it will come to him, Balto!" Molly strongly suppressed her troubles just so she could see Steele stripped away from his pride after everything he'd done. Just then, Boris walked to them, with the fish being motionless by now.
"Balto, do take care of your meal over here, I almost dropped it back in the sea! Maybe you should have hunted one for your friend over here." Boris joked when he brought him a meal, with Molly rolling her eyes on what the Russian snow goose spoke here, letting him know: "No thank you, Boris. I just have eaten my dried food for breakfast."
"Alright, but he ought to hunt one for Jenna instead!" Boris moved on, chuckling on this statement, making Balto say: "Oh, classic Boris! Always looking after me until he decides I'm ready to be on my own!" This made Molly break out of her somber demeanor when they had a laugh or two in here, clearly not to goose's amusement. But then, Balto noticed something on the hills behind Molly.
"Oh look, I keep seeing them more and more frequently lately!" Balto let her know what was going on and she even turned around to notice three different canines on the top. Judging by their messy furs, sharp looking ears and faces and no accessories on their necks, she whispered: "Are those… the wolves?"
"Yes. Sometimes I wonder if they casually pass by here or they come to remind me that I should not disregard my wolf blood?" Balto let her know how he saw the sights of the wolves near his residence. They left soon enough, but Molly knew, before she returned to the town, this kind of life struggle to her wolf-dog friend seemed harder than he thought. Was Balto embracing his dog side too much and left his wolf side to fade away?
The year 1924 passed by as quick as flash. Steele's newly acquired collar made him a privileged "alpha" male in the town, having females who were easily wooed by his looks, save for Jenna. She seemed rather immune to his "charm" and to sum it up, she always had her tricks to reject his offers, even if he didn't seem like he'd take it any lightly.
He had a pleasure tormenting Balto and Max to no end, albeit the latter one would easily strike back even if he'd been easily outnumbered. Molly got fairly easy out of this, showing that even if Steele showed no sympathy towards her, he knew his standards. Still, he had his three cronies around to help him up in these situations.
Even Balto was starting to question himself whether he could see the future as a dog in this town, even if he kept giving Boris hopes that one day he was going to be a sled dog. He saw wolves, each time different ones, passing near his old boat. They could have been there just migrating, but what if they were there… because they wanted to release Balto's wolf side on the surface?
He felt like he just couldn't leave the town. Humans shunned him and even few of them threw sticks and stones at him, but never they used weapons. He was the most disliked canine in the entire town, as seen by other canines. Only canines that appreciated were just Jenna, Max, Molly and Doc. Rosy was the only human in the town who liked this wolf-dog. Other children were more or less not being told by their parents about his existence.
As the year of 1924 was at its end, Max kept up his word that he was not going to have his team race against Steele's in the final annual race. He let the opponent team win in the last bits of the race, hoping that Steele was going to at least respect these opponents. Yet, a rather fortunate, or unfortunate event, occurred.
On that same second Saturday the final annual race was to be held, a very strong snowstorm hit Nome, lasting all the way to the early hours of Monday. There was a debate whether to hold the final annual race or not. It was decided that the final annual race would be held on the third Saturday of January 1925.
However, another unfortunate event had occurred. This time it had nothing to do with weather. It came silently in the town and once it struck, it started grabbing the "victims", one by one, mainly the young ones. Respiratory problems had occurred, swollen throat, higher body temperature and tonsil infection - diphtheria.
Thankfully, the cases were barely relevant to the citizens of Nome due to its very low number. Little did they know that being incautious was a terrible mistake and it was something that the citizens of this remote town had failed to acknowledge. They were busy for the final annual race, sometimes dubbed as "the final first annual race".
Steele's team was still baffled how they had someone else race against them, rather than have Max's team race against them in the final race. Still, to humans that didn't matter and they had been told that this race had been shortened to the town of Golovin. It was presumed that the path to Elim had been blocked due to recent snowstorms.
"Just look at him. I can clearly see in his eyes that he'd have a pleasure pulling dirty tricks on us again!" Max let Balto know from the distance as for his own safety, Balto had to stay behind and not be seen by humans or canines for that matter. He commented: "Do you really think he'd let this team go free if they were in the final bits of the race?"
"Unlikely, but he does seem to bear less hatred towards other teams but us." Max let him know before the announcer's voice boomed across the street: "The first team to deliver the mail to the town of Golovin and retrieve the new one back to Nome wins this annual race of 1924!" It was interesting how the announcer left out "final" in his sentence.
"I don't think you will be here when they return, right Max?" Balto asked him, seeing how his husky friend was wondering in the first place why was he here. Then again, Max would not have a reason to come to tell Balto: "No, but I was talking to Jenna last night. Guess what? Little Rosy is getting a surprise today! She's going to love it, I know that!"
"Oh really? If so, I'll come to see it today then!" Balto's mood was shining now, thinking that this was going to be one of rare days in his life when he had a new chance! Max smiled when he heard that coming from him, but he also let him know: "I just wish you safety around. Lately in Nome, something bad has been happening!"
"What do you mean by that?" Balto asked him. He was possibly unaware of the recent events happening in this town. Max looked around, front, left and right, just so he could make sure there was no eavesdropping: "Humans, namely young ones, have started falling ill to some kind of disease. I don't have any idea what it is, but it worries me alot."
"I see." Balto's shining mood was diminishing when he heard the word "disease" even if he was wondering what that meant. The gunfire was heard and both teams were bolting out of the town. Max was heading back home and as for Balto, he didn't want to miss a surprise Jenna had. In fact, he desired to see the end of this race, even if he knew that wasn't going to bring him anything.
Steele was leading his team to the town of Golovin. Their master, Kaasan, made sure they were all safely strapped in their harnesses. Though, Steele's golden collar had no ring for the harness attachment, but he couldn't care any less. All he could care for was to show to his opponents with whom they were dealing!
In fact, this race was a fair one to begin with. There were the moments when Steele and his team were in an advantage, then their opponents were in an advantage. They seemed bulkier, sturdier and more determined than Max and his team were. Unlike Max's team, these seemed like they were "sled dog veterans".
The town of Golovin was just ahead of them, after passing the town of White Mountain. Once they had their ten minute break for refreshing themselves before heading to their final stretch of this race, they were waiting for their masters to return to Nome. Kaltag was heard talking to Nikki and Star: "Do you think we stand a good chance against these?"
"Well, they do seem like they'd seen races before us, but I think we are at an advantage." Nikki observed his opponents, one by one. Star even pointed out, rather smartly: "We're more agile, more nimble and more reflexed! I think we'll pull out this victory much easier!" Even Kaltag was surprised by Star's observations, letting him know: "Sometimes you surprise me with what you say, Star."
"Are you ready, boys? Now we get to show them in the second part what we have to offer them!" Steele came closer to his cronies, not finding anything out of the place between these three. Nikki told him: "We're born ready, Steele! We'll show those opponents how we are taking a victory today!" Of course, Nikki was filled with optimism and made sure to himself that this was an easy victory.
But Steele had other plans in his mind. Sure, he also knew that they were going to be victorious, but he had a foul pleasure of giving that victory to his team the way he pleased. Gunnar was heard: "Steele, Kaltag, Nikki, Star! Get over here! We've got a race to finish! Oh, for the love of God, again, Star?!" A small purple gray husky had done it again when he was smiling like a goofball after entangling himself into harnesses for the who-knew-what time.
Once the teams were ready to go and the gunfire from Golovin signaled their start of the second part. Both teams were determined to take the victory for the year 1924, sort of compensating the delayed race from the past month. Steele already had the prize from the previous year, what was going to be this year?
It didn't matter now, as Steele was making sure his boys were cooperating. They had passed through the town of White Mountain, again. The weather conditions were just perfect - no wind, no snow falling, no clouds. The advantage shifted from time to time between the teams and by the time they were reaching the canyon that led to the "valley" where Nome was, the opponent's team was in an advantage.
"Now it's time to show them how it's done!" Steele thought to himself, realizing it was about time to pull his strategy of winning the race. "MUSH!" One of the mushers yelled from behind, be it Gunnar or the other tone. It didn't matter to them when they both started to encourage their dogs: "Giddap boy! Giddap, Steele! Giddap, giddap!"
They were nearing the canyon and both Steele and his rival noticed how tied they were, both being determined to pass it before the other one. Steele, still bent on his strategy, rushed ahead with all his might to have his team running faster to the point that Gunnar was losing his balance. He even tried to order Steele to slow down, but to no avail: "Steele! Whoa! WHOA!"
"Steele, we're not gonna make it!" Star alerted him that his strategy was going to plummet at the last moment and that they should let the other team pass first before regaining the advantage. However, Steele couldn't care any less and he silenced his teammate by smacking him in the lower jaw, almost making him topple down on the ground.
"Easy now, easy!" The opponent's team musher yelled when he realized how narrow was the passage for both teams and even Gunnar ordered him, without any avail again: "Steele, hold back!" Steele was already bent on making his strategy happen when he saw one of the opponent's sled dogs being close enough for him to… snap at his paw in the mid-air!
The dog was startled by this action that he, in the midair, faced directly the ground and the sled dog behind him collided, which resulted in having the entire sled team collapsing and colliding at the entrance of the canyon. Even the musher of that team lost his balance and his sled fell aside. This was Steele's strategy, a very simple and a dirty trick indeed!
Steele could only gleefully proceed with his team outside the canyon all while he heard that musher yelling: "OH, STEELE!" The anger coming from his tone just pumped up Steele's pleasure who got to turn around and laugh at this team for falling down before he and his team ventured to Nome. Speaking of which, one of the men standing at the top of that canyon was firing the flare to indicate the arrival of the oncoming sled team, all while Gunnar could be heard yelling: "Get in line, Steele! Get in line!"
Only ten minutes ago, on the old boat…
Balto was getting ready to return to the town and see what kind of surprise Jenna had. Moreso, he might be fortunate enough to witness the end of the race, even if he was aware what the outcome was going to be. Just so he was lucky to have Boris ask him: "Balto, why are you heading back to the town? Your drugs aren't even in the race, you're wasting your time!"
"Not quite, Boris! Max had told me earlier this morning that there was a surprise regarding Jenna!" Balto assured him that he was going to go to the town one way or another. Boris was persistent though: "But are you sure that you want to go? I mean, why don't you wait for some other day? I have a bad feeling about the town today!"
"Well, I'll compensate for that bad feeling to you, come with me!" Balto persisted even further and he even started to make a run for it! Boris was surprised that Balto dared to defy him to which he spoke: "Boychick, where do you think you're going?! WAIT!" Well, Boris had to get moving even faster almost to the point he started flying. Balto waited for him at the edge of the town.
"Hold it right here, mal'chik! Do you really think I'm this capable, huh?!" Boris wanted to make himself look formidable and authoritative in front of the young wolf-dog, but he was dismissed with: "Try being capable of this!" Balto let him know and without seeing that one coming, well, everything went dark in Boris' eyes when Balto caught him by his head in his jaws and got him climbing up the balcony!
They were just in time to hear the explosion in the sky nearby when Balto happily let him know: "It's the three-mile marker!" Right when he said that, he had Boris up on the balcony, who clearly struggled to break free and even Balto said it willingly, with goose's antics carrying on: "Balto, get your slobbering mouth off me!"
Once Boris parted his head from Balto's jaws, he had to quickly balance himself when he was free, only to be told: "Let's go, Boris! We'll go catch the end of the race." Yet he felt him grabbing his tail and showing reluctance in his wrinkled eyes, saying: "Oh no! No, no, no. I'm a delicate country bird."
He even brought it up, something Balto knew ever since he was a little puppy: "I hate going into town." Those words still didn't mean that much to Balto when he was back in his daredevil mode to ask him: "Ah, come on! What's the worst that can happen?" Boris raised his wing to tell Balto what he hated about towns like Nome.
Only he didn't get to tell him because Balto was persistent into seeing the end of the race and of course, Jenna. He had to endure Boris' screams that involved balcony, rooftops, clothes and ropes shenanigans. After making their passing to the other side, the air way, they already managed to reach the other roof, giving Boris a little break over here.
"Please!" Boris told him that was enough after being clearly irritated how long these shenanigans were happening. He continued: "Why do I let you talk me into these things?" He had better had smarter ideas where to look at because he lost his balance once again and slid down the roof, only to get himself entangled in what looked like moose antlers nailed to the wall.
Balto slid and stopped to see what was going on when Boris had slid down and he heard him screaming when he was caught by the butcher, clearly noticing some dead geese hanging upside down on the other side of the window. He looked upside down to see Boris being held down by the butcher and about to be cut down with the knife!
"Not on my watch!" Balto dared to interfere in the process and before the butcher had a chance to strike down, he once again had to grab Boris by his head and pull him out to safety before the blade could land on Boris' throat! "What the…?!" The butcher was dumbfounded by what just happened, but once seeing where the goose was, he was swinging with his butcher knife in anger, yelling: "Bring that back, you thief!"
Yet Balto had no intention in doing so when he had to bring Boris like this and then he had a good view on the oncoming team outside the town, only for Boris to remind him: "You are putting me down now? Mr Golden Retriever?" Not even being taunted as another dog breed mattered to Balto and as he intended, he let him go with the words: "Whatever you say, Boris."
"Every time there's a race, you run around like you're in it!" Boris clearly reminded him what he also thought of Balto's rebellious young adult aged attitude. Yet Balto was sliding down the roof to the lower one, just assuring him: "Maybe one day I will be!" Boris couldn't let him go loose again when he saw him disappear out of his sight.
"Heel, boy! Boris Goosinov is no spring chicken!" Boris let him know when he followed, clearly not noticing the window roof into which, to his surprise, he descended with the crashing noise and someone else yelling inside, but Boris already escaped through the other window, caught freezing in the midair: "I'm no spring penguin either! Oi, it's cold!"
Balto caught him in midair and both of them landed into someone's house, being fortunate that no one was home at the moment. While making their way to the doors, there was someone shouting outside: "Look, a two-mile mark!" He wasn't wrong when the fired flare exploded in the sky, thus the cheering outside grew louder.
At the same time, Boris and Balto busted outside through the doors and the flare caught Balto's eye, to which he told Boris, who had to catch some air: "Come on! Don't wanna miss the finish!" Clearly Boris wanted to take a break here and even let him know: "Oh, that'd be a tragedy…"
Clearly he had to pay attention one more time when Balto rushed to the other side of the alley and Boris swung around and landed into a thick layer of snow. His response was only: "I was being sarcastic…" One way or another, not only that Balto was wishing to see the end of the race, but to see where Jenna was now…
And as for Jenna…
She was true to her words when it came to a surprise. Little Rosy was approached by her parents, who told her that they have something special for her. Rosy, being an energetic and excited young red-haired girl, followed her parents in the town. Jenna could listen to her asking her parents: "What kind of surprise is it, daddy? Oh, is it something that has to do with Jenna?!"
"It wouldn't be a surprise anymore if I tell you what it is, honey! Now, I want you to hold my hand and close your eyes, okay?" Rosy's father asked his only child and Rosy did so, but not before asking her mom: "Mommy?" But of course, her mother let her know: "It's alright, sweetie, trust your father! Even Jenna will come along! Alright, let's go, William!"
"About time, Dorothy." Rosy's father let her wife know when they entered the house and while Rosy was still having her eyes closed, a bag-eyed, black haired carpenter noticed his customers and gave them a sign, he grabbed something that was on his table he crafted himself and turned around and placed it on the floor. Rosy's father let her know: "OK, you can open your eyes now!"
Rosy didn't waste a second when she opened her green eyes and upon seeing what the carpenter had to offer, her eyes widened in joy when she saw what the surprise was - a sled! "Ohh!" Rosy couldn't conceal her excitement when she playfully jumped on the spot before rushing to the sled, being beyond excited at this point.
Jenna could proudly look up to her human when she was saying everything she loved about her sled, be it the runners, brush bow and the entire sled in general! She looked up to her scarlett red husky, who walked up in the meantime. The harness for only one dog was there and Rosy was attaching her husky on it, saying: "Jenna, you're a lead dog! Ok, just a minute. Come on, mush!" She was done and ready to go!
"Then you'll need… this!" Jenna watched her owner pull out something of her coat and she now saw a beige musher hat on her girl, making Jenna smile preciously. She knew how much Rosy wished to have a sled and Jenna was making no exceptions to be her sled dog. Rosy touched her hat, speaking out of surprise: "A real musher's hat?! We're a real sled team now!" She spoke to Jenna just one: "Mush!"
Both Jenna and Rosy were out to show the real sled team what kind of sled team they were! But of course, Jenna giggled in an amusement when she saw Rosy coming back in and giving her thanks to the carpenter and her parents before telling them to come watch their race! At last Jenna was ready to show the real sled dogs who were in charge! Well, that's how Rosy was interpreting.
Her parents stood by and commented how much this meant to her, commenting about what they could have gotten her instead, just in time when the one-mile marker was seen and heard exploding in the sky! Rosy didn't waste her time: "Mush, Jenna, mush! Let's win this race!" Jenna offered her that pleasure and Rosy could be the youngest musher in this town!
This was all the happiness in the world she needed, along with having a dog like Jenna was! Speaking of Jenna, she was taking Rosy behind the finish line to follow the race and at the same time, hoped to see some of her friends on her way. Well, not the ones she had intended to see when she heard Dixie's voice: "Good morning, Jenna! Ought to be a close race, don't you think? Maybe even neck and neck!"
Once Dixie walked up to her husky friend, she seemed rather oblivious to Steele's way of racing. Jenna felt the presence of her other gossipy friend that was Sylvie on her left, who whispered quiet enough for Dixie not to hear: "Say something about her new collar before she gets whiplash!"
This gossiping demeanor of Sylvie and Dixie was the reason why Jenna rather preferred to be in the presence of Balto, Max and Molly mainly, but she was kind enough to speak: "Umm, Dixie, what a pretty collar. Is it new?" Dixie looked up to her brown collar with the golden heart as a tag, brushing it off: "What? This old thing?"
She was fast enough to change her opinion about it: "Yeah… do you think, um, Steele will notice?" Clearly to this Pomerian and her Afghan hound friend it was in the interest to receive Steele's attention, but not to Jenna. She was honest with her: "The only way Steele notices anyone is if they're wearing a mirror!" That way Jenna slammed down figuratively the arrogant malamute to the ground, but they didn't care honestly.
"They're coming!" One man yelled in the distance and it was quite clear that the race was coming to the end! Cheering and applauding got gradually louder and louder and soon enough, the sled team, Steele's to be exact, showed up on the Main Street, having the finish line ahead of them and victory in their paws.
Jenna could clearly hear Rosy calling for her: "Jenna! Stay, girl!" There was nothing more precious for Jenna but to have Rosy hug her. Besides, Jenna may have been a dog, but she deeply cared for her human as if she were her own child even when she was a little puppy herself. Jenna even licked her in cheek all while Rosy giggled: "Jenna! Hold on!"
The joy in this little child was not enough to describe with the words and just then Rosy could see the sled team coming. She grabbed her hat and waved it to Steele's team, calling: "Come on, Steele!" As if destiny was calling for it, a strong wind blew from behind and both Jenna and Rosy were taken off the guard when her hat was blown off further down the street!
"Oh no! My hat!" Rosy gasped when she saw her musher hat landing on the street and she was going to retrieve it, but Jenna pulled her back to the safety, showing how dangerous it was to go there as the team was coming! Rather out of nowhere, Jenna could swear that she heard some humans yelling: "It's that stray dog!" and even "He's going to run the race!"
Jenna was indeed surprised when she saw a rather unexpected racer down the street, taunted by the humans - Balto! Steele was not nearly as happy as soon as he saw the wolf-dog running next to him and he even was going to bite him in the leg closer to the finish. Rosy and Jenna could only watch in surprise as Balto pulled a risky stunt.
He made a jump for it and evaded being bitten by Steele, only to grab Rosy's hat from the street and have Steele's team pass the finish line, which was embroiled into applause when Steele finally passed the finish line! Another victory in the name of Gunnar Kaasan's team and another triumph for Steele and his boys. Steele took that victory with pleasure.
Steele took it in to relax after running for hours and hours. He himself required very little rest after being this trained and even his boys were looking like they sought no rest. They were already on the move when Nikki first spoke to him: "Congratulations there, boss, there! It was a pleasure running behind youse!"
Not even Kaltag could spare Steele with his over-the-top stacking up of attributes: "You're the most amazing, exalted, pre-eminent…!" But his tower of cards that represented the attributes was blown when Star loudly yelled: "YOU WON!" Clearly Kaltag could react this way - smacking Star in the head with his paw and he landed on his back. Yet, Steele had a rather different concern over here.
He clearly could hear the discussion between his master Kaasan and the man operating the camera here, going with: "I don't know. You think Steele's losing his edge?" and the answer just made him growl: "Yeah, looks like just about any dog could outrun him." It made him angry to think about how a wolf-dog like Balto even dared to out-run him there! Speaking of the lobo…
"Balto! What a crazy thing to do just to show off to a pretty girl!" Steele could hear little Rosy saying that when Balto approached her, holding her musher hat in his jaws. He courteously returned it to her master and stopped to glance at Jenna happily, who seemed like she had to tell him something, related to this surprise perhaps. And she was just putting Jenna's harness around him.
"I'm sure Jenna would love to have you on her team!" Rosy had her ideas, but clearly she overlooked the fact that her father was coming and didn't seem eager to see Balto there, yelling: "Hey! Rosy! Stay away from him!" He was kicking the snow in Balto's face to make sure he'd leave, which made Rosy upset to see: "Dad!"
"He might bite you, honey! He's part wolf." Those words shattered Balto's happiness he'd been building out of the matches and they all were burnt down now. He was seen dropping Jenna's harness down and with his head, ears and tails down, just left them alone. Not even Rosy's pity could retrieve his lost happiness: "Now you're hurt his feelings!" But in Steele's point of view, this just made him chuckle deviously, thinking that the wolf-dog had it coming.
Finally it was his chance to try and woo Jenna with his another triumph over there as her humans were leaving, but before doing so, Sylvie and Dixie themselves took that pleasure in, curiously leaving Audrey out of this, wherever she was now. Sylvie and Dixie were heard speaking: "Congratulaions, Steele!" Both were competing for his attention but the best they had received was in his significant tone: "Ladies!" Dixie seemed to take it deeper to herself.
He had the female he'd been dreaming of to talk with, introducing: "Hi there, Jenna. Enjoyed the race?" Her answer was a rather monotone one: "Yeah. Almost as much as you did." Clearly she wanted to have none business with him, but he thought otherwise: "Thanks. Jenna, let's go celebrate! I know where all the bones are buried."
She knew what he was trying to do and clearly she was not going to let this arrogant malamute take over so she smugly replied: "I don't know. Suddenly… I've lost my appetite." Now this was something that Steele took rather personally and he knew whom Jenna usually was seeing so he pulled his card: "Oh. Well, maybe your taste runs more toward… wolf!" This last word was full of spite, especially when he stated out who that "wolf" was.
Thankfully, Jenna didn't have to deal with any of this nonsense when Rosy looked behind and called her: "Jenna! Come on, girl! We're going back home!" This was a free ticket for Jenna to get out of this talk, ending it with: "Sorry, Steele. My girl is calling me." She had no longer in her mind to talk to him when she heard what his intentions were.
Even if he intended to woo Jenna, clearly Steele failed to notice that Dixie snuck to him and she tried to have him while toying with his collar any speaking: "On the other hand, my girl is away at boarding school." In Dixie's point of view that worked thanks to her short size when Steele stroked her with his black and white tail. She felt like she was going to melt through the snow while landing on her back, clearly appreciating the attention he'd given to her.
As for Balto, he was dragging his tail down the street when some other humans were taunting him for being a "tramp", "wild dog" and such. It was right on time when he passed next to Boris, who was just done shaking the snow off him after Gunnar's sled pelted him with snow. He followed him and asked: "Boychick, what's the matter?"
"Nothing, Boris… just the casual…" Balto let him know and this made the Russian snow goose not say a word anymore. He followed him through the alleys and he couldn't help himself but to notice how forlorn Balto was looking like this. They were venturing down the few alleys and on his way, Boris had the urge to do something.
He was going to tell something to Balto twice when he raised his wing, but each time he backed down, either because he forgot what to say or out of fear he'd make the wolf-dog's day harder than it already was. It was out of nowhere when Balto could hear Rosy's voice in the distance: "Jenna!" This surprised him and also brought him back some joy.
"Jenna!" Balto called for her name and he rushed straight ahead, leaving Boris in the alley as he didn't want to miss seeing Jenna. Clearly he didn't adjust his speed. He saw her right in front of him and because of him not minding his speed, he started sliding straight towards Jenna who was passing in front and it was right on time when she noticed him… in a rather unexpected fashion.
Balto's muzzle was touching hers! He watched her from below all while Jenna watched in surprise how Balto pulled this off. Balto backed down a bit and sat on the ground, nervously laughing: "Jenna, I, uh…" Clearly this was a rather unfortunate timing when Rosy and her parents were calling her: "Jenna! Jen, come on!"
She quickly glanced back to her family and then back to where Balto was… only to notice that Balto wasn't there anymore. Where could he have gone to? She sniffed his scent on where he was last standing, but was cut short when Rosy's father called her: "Jenna! Come here, girl!" She couldn't linger here anymore, but she thought to herself: "I'm sorry, Balto."
Speaking of him, he was watching her from behind the wooden fence and he deeply sighed, his ears lowered down, when he saw her leave. This joy that had returned to him was rather an illusion and he was ready to leave this town to the old boat. Just in time to have Boris catch up with him: "And what was your hurry a minute ago, boychick?"
"Does it matter, Boris? Let's just go back to the boat." Balto passed by, telling him where to go, clearly wanting to leave everything behind for today. Boris didn't like how he was hiding his direct troubles, but at the same time, he clearly noticed what kind of burden his life was at this point, following him to the other alley.
"Balto, there's some things I can't do for you." Boris opened up this talk, hoping that the troubles that engulfed Balto would be solved one way or another, but Balto's uninterested: "Yeah." didn't help. "I'm a goose, not a Cupid." He aimed straight at what was bothering Balto. However, this was a rather bad timing when…
"Didn't make the team… Bingo?" Balto could hear the familiar cold and gleeful voice behind him. When Balto stopped dead on his tracks, he didn't turn around, much to Boris' relief when he whispered to him: "Don't listen to him or look at him. Live a long life!" Boris was trying hard to teach him that lesson, something that Balto couldn't accept over the last two or so years.
"My name's Balto!" Balto finally spoke and even turned around, leaving Boris disappointed about this. He heard him mutter something, but was rather concerned dealing with Steele while at the same time the crowd was attracted, consisting of Nikki, Kaltag and Star only. They were right on time to hear Steele taunt him: "I'm sorry, Balto. Balto the half-breed!" This was one of rare times he spoke his name correctly, but deliberately for mocking.
Steele didn't stop here when he saw Boris behind and got the pleasure to mock him: "Hey, goose, you a half-breed too, huh? Part… turkey?!" That one he made clear and out of his dark sense of humor, pushed Boris on his back with the latter screaming as some kind of clanging was heard as Steele turned around.
This kind of dark comedy gave not only Steele a twisted pleasure, but rather a good time for his boys to laugh and give their opinions, starting from Nikki: "Good wordplay there, boss!" Kaltag went frenzy on his attribute stacking: "You're the wittiest, the quickest…! You're the drollest, the cleverest, the most hilarious…!" But it'd not be finished without Star interrupting: "YOU CRACK ME UP!" He paid his prize when Kaltag smacked him in the head, giving him a rather new case of concussion.
"Steele, just leave him out of this!" Balto told him that the inclusion of Boris in this unstable situation was just not worth it. Yet, the malamute had his plans: "Oh, Balto, I've got a message for your mother." Right on Balto's nerve that was, when he saw these three howling mockingly together. He felt the anger in his veins, seeing how not only they dared to taunt him, but they included his mother?!
They taunted him with some nonsense, but it didn't matter to him anymore. This had to stop. He didn't care what was going to be of him if he was going to counterattack! He felt Boris pulling him by his tail and ordering him: "Balto, stop! WHOA!" He didn't clearly stop at it was just in time when Steele noticed what was going on.
A bully like Steele was obviously not going to let someone he had a pleasure to torment to get back at him. He growled back at the wolf-dog and bluntly ordered his boys: "Get him." This resulted in these three barking and snarling at him and Steele's last addition of the salt to the wound was: "Get out of here, wolf-dog! Get back to your pack!"
That hurt a whole lot on a new level and Boris trying to cool down the heated situation didn't help him: "Maybe it's the unrelenting fear, but I'm seeing the wisdom in this advice!" Poor choice of words from someone like him. He even pushed Balto back to tell him: "Maybe we go now, huh? NOW!"
"I'm thinking Balto's friend got his feathers ruffled!" Balto heard the taunts from them, but then he had to suffer the snow being pelted onto him and Boris and even Star's excited screaming: "Goose! HA! I get it!" He was always that kind of slow in these situations, but there was nothing as fast as the pain, impact and fall on the side when Balto felt the rock at the high speed being thrown at him!
Both Boris and Balto left the alley and eventually the town far enough so none of these four would follow them, even if Balto could swear he'd heard something being told about him. They were already at the edge of the town… and this was a rather poor timing for him. His friends weren't here for him and for what reason they were absent?!
Back to Steele and his boys, he glared in the distance out of pleasure when he was the one who had hit Balto with that rock and Kaltag praised him for that kind of action: "That was the most dead-centre, one-target, down-the-middle…!" He should have started to ask him why he was bothering when Star interrupted… again: "You hit him!" Clearly this made Kaltag smack him from above, but Star covered his head there. He should have done it from below when Kaltag's paw smacked him there, sending him on his back!
Steele chuckled on this, leaving his boys behind through the crack on the wooden fence. He didn't get to hear Nikki telling Kaltag: "That son of a…" It was for the better that Kaltag interrupted him just at the same time when Star got up, still under concussion: "He's the most malicious, disgusting, obnoxious, revolting, repulsive…!" This revelation was a rather strange twist about their opinion on their boss until…
"He's no lap dog!" Star's poor timing resulted in him being threatened to get another smack in the head from either below or above by Kaltag. But instead, Star started to realize his mistake when he gladly offered himself to do the unthinkable - he smacked himself from above and fell down again!
Nikki and Kaltag could only gaze one another in surprise how someone like Star could make it through the day with these many concussions in one day! Well, at least they were going to wait for him to come to his senses and head back home. Little did they know that this day of their victory would, eventually, lead to something… sinister.