In the afternoon of the same day, Jenna was following her masters home, Rosy's father carrying her sled all while the little girl was excited about what was going on the entire day. While Rosy's parents were discussing today's race and Rosy's new sled, Jenna was feeling quite different thanks to something that happened not long ago.
It was the slight tingling in her muzzle. It wasn't anything cold like the air was that day, but a rather warm one. It was just how Balto unintentionally collided with her and they touched their muzzles. While it looked like an accident, to Jenna it let that warm feeling inside her muzzle. What was it? She was trying to figure it out herself.
They had returned home and Jenna just laid down in her bed near the fireplace all while Rosy headed to her room. Rosy's father left her sled in the shed and was now cleaning his boots from the snow he'd been stomping outside. Just as he was done, his wife came to ask: "William, you seem a little cold. Would you like to have some tea while you are resting?"
"Yes, thank you, Dorothy darling." Rosy's father appreciated that when he sat in his armchair in the living room. Jenna didn't want to let their masters know what she was feeling at the moment and even kept it for herself by resting in her bed even when her masters had tea in the living room and were discussing some more.
With the day outside getting shrouded into darkness, or nightfall, it was about time for dinner and even Rosy's mother called her: "Rosy, come downstairs! We'll have dinner soon!" Instead of Rosy's cheerful response that she was coming, a rather strange sound came from upstairs, like coughing. Jenna was the first one to notice.
"Rosy?" Her father asked, only to hear more coughs from her. Jenna got out of her bed and rushed to see her girl. Something was not right when she heard those sounds. She entered her room and saw Rosy sitting on the edge of her bed. She had her right hand holding her throat and she was coughing, her face turning red.
Jenna gained her attention by placing her head on Rosy's lap. She heard Rosy weakly saying: "Jenna…!" Then she coughed some more. Rosy's mother came into her room and upon noticing what was going on, she rushed to her daughter, asking: "Rosy?! Oh, Rosy, what's wrong? Your head feels so warm and you're coughing?!"
"Mommy… I don't know, but it hurts…!" Rosy let her know, her voice being quite weak to what it was earlier this day. Rosy's mother turned around and called her husband: "William, come quick! I think Rosy is not feeling well!" He was rushing upstairs and came into the room. Jenna noticed that worried look on his face, asking: "Rosy, where it hurts you?"
"It hurts my throat… and I am starting to feel tired…!" Rosy told her father, her voice getting swollen. Rosy's father was getting more concerned and so he looked at his wife, saying: "Dorothy, I think we need to take her to the doctor. I really don't like this! Come on, Rosy, get your coat on!" Rosy followed her father who had her black fur coat put on.
Jenna felt that protective urge growing faster and faster in her veins and they were taking Rosy to this 'doctor' as she heard. She couldn't let her be by herself so Jenna decided to accompany her masters even if initially they told her they'd be home soon. She knew that could take a long while, especially with Rosy being in a condition like this!
She followed them through the streets of Nome to that doctor her master mentioned. Her passing in front of one house eventually led to a familiar female voice calling: "Jenna! Hey!" If it wasn't for this serious situation, Jenna would be relieved to hear Molly. Seeing her gray female husky friend, Jenna told her, albeit showing no will: "Evening, Molly."
"Hey, we've been just wondering to see you today! Our master kept us busy almost the entire day! I was going to ask you about that surprise you'd told us earlier." Molly came to ask right where it hit Jenna, who looked down on the ground and didn't look like she wanted to mention it, but she had to.
"Jenna?" Molly's excitement was fading when she noticed something was not right, judging by her body signs. Jenna finally got the courage to say: "Molly, I really don't know how to tell you this… but something is not right with Rosy! She's been coughing for a good while and her throat hurts. I fear that she may be ill!"
Molly was left speechless when she heard what Jenna's human was going through, expressing her compassion: "I'm sorry to hear what's happening to Rosy. I just hope that it isn't something serious!" They could all hope for it that what Rosy was going through was anything but the illness that had broken into the town.
"Do you think I should tell someone about this? Like Max, Balto or anyone else?" Molly asked her when she noticed Jenna heading away, having to follow her masters. She turned her head to let her friend know: "Please… please do. I really don't know what is going to be if Rosy's illness is serious!" Molly could only gaze at her friend feeling frightened for her human's safety. Max wasn't going to like to hear this and especially not Balto…
Speaking of Balto, earlier around sunset…
Balto and Boris had just left Nome. Balto was humiliated throughout the pain and shunning he'd suffered today, seeking happiness and hope instead. Boris followed him from behind, still not being able to figure out what to tell him, the words of comfort that were. It looked as if Balto couldn't be consoled with today any longer.
Boris stopped by as he noticed Balto sniffing the air and Boris could see where he was looking at. Three wolves were up there on the hill, with one wolf puppy among them. The brown one howled, as if that one were calling Balto to… join them. Not the first time it occurred and many other wolves were trying the same as the time went on.
Balto being reluctant and backing away was the sign the wolves recognized. They just looked at each other and figured out that if the wolf-looking dog (or the dog-looking wolf in dog's eyes) was to stay behind, then they were not going to wait for him any longer. Boris saw those wolves leaving behind the hill all while Balto headed back to his old boat.
"Not a dog, not a wolf. All he knows what he is not." Boris muttered to himself while watching Balto drag his tail down as he headed up the plank that led him to the deck. Boris still looked and looked, thinking what he could offer to him, mentioning: "If only he could see what he is." Little did he know that those words gave him an idea!
Balto kept his head down, marching to the captain room of the abandoned boat. He didn't seem like he wanted to have Boris cheer him up, who tried his best by showing him what he could be. It was either him chewing the old bone like a dog or lapping the water from the old water dish, hoping it'd break Balto's somber mood apart. Neither worked.
In fact, Balto just decided to lay down below the gray blanket. This whole day turned sour and Steele's words: "Get out of here, wolf-dog. Get back to your pack!" struck him the hardest. The silence was broken with the squeaking of a cat toy that rolled in front of Balto down to the other side. The suspect was revealed to be… Boris.
He had hoped that igniting Balto's puppy days would break him from being miserable today and little did he know that this plan did not work either. Now Boris played the trump card - the Russian dance! He danced in circles, spreading his wings with each: "HEY!" and showing how it was done in the motherland. Too bad the motherland wasn't strong in spirit to lift the wolf-dog's mood.
Finally Boris gave up on his attempts to cheer Balto up and so he hung his head down, walking to him and laying on his right side. Boris didn't want to go through another miserable day, thinking: "I tried anything I could think of for today, but the mal'chik is thicker than ever before! How long will it be…?"
His thoughts were broken with the honks coming up in the sky. Balto actually raised his ears and look to find the source of honking, followed by Boris. A flock of Russian snow geese flying above to the south, migrating from the cold winters and forming an arrow-like formation. A pretty casual sight at this time of year.
"Homesick, Boris?" Balto smugly asked the goose next to him, thinking to reverse roles over here for fun. "You ever think about going back?" This kind of question prevailed for some time and each time Boris would give him the same answer: "Don't fret, Fido!" He got on his legs and waddled to the front side of the captain room.
"I'm sticking here until I'm sure you can stand on own four feet!" Boris gave him his opinion as he grabbed the mop, hoping to keep the deck of this old boat in a neat condition despite being abandoned for many times. "You're taking care… of me?" Balto asked him that, thinking how at this point, he could have lived a rather solitary life.
"Don't thank me!" Boris let him know what he thought. Him cleaning the deck and showing his intentions, Balto could only wish that he'd some kind of work like sled service so one way or another, he'd not have to rely on Boris for the necessities in his life. Just then, he felt a rather familiar smell from not that far and even let Boris know what was coming, or who at least: "I smell… herring."
"The herring are flying south too?" Boris put the mop in the bucket when he asked him that, clearly not paying any attention to the oncoming or at least hearing himself what he just said. "Say! Must be Muk and Luk!" Balto always enjoyed their company and what kind of mischief they were capable of! Boris was still not fully paying attention and even dismissed it: "Oh, good news…!"
"UNCLE BORIS!" Muk's cheerful voice boomed from the front and now Boris was convinced who was coming, responding with: "Oh no!"Some kind of humor was returning to the wolf-dog, when he smugly said: "How sweet - uncle Boris!" He knew that nickname for almost three years by now, but it was always amusing to hear it from these polar bear cubs.
"No hugging, no licking!" Boris was ready to fend himself from those polar bear cubs, using the mop and the bucket as some sort of weapon and shield. Once Muk showed up from the front and came closer and closer, Boris started panicking, thinking that his defense was going to be worthless, shaking and having his eyes shut. He held his defense tightly.
Yet no affection came from Muk and Boris could see why - his mop prevented Muk from coming any closer and clearly Boris could take it easy… but not for long! Luk, the bigger polar bear cub, just happened to be right behind him and once Boris fell into his "fluffy" trap, his white belly, it was at that moment that they caught him… again!
Balto watched them all delightfully how Boris kept falling for their traps every single time and as grumpy as he could get, he could hear Luk mumbling something and Muk translating what his brother would say: "He says he's glad to see you. We love you, uncle Boris!" If there was anyone Boris had to look after, it was them two, Balto could only dream of that!
The old Boris was always some kind of perfectionist when it came to his looks, mainly how he broke free from Luk's embrace and re-assembled his feathers, making sure not a single one was held as a "hostage" in Luk's paws. Then again, Luk was just being himself cute and showing the love for the old goose like a little child. Same for Muk.
Right after snatching his feathers back, Boris heard Luk mumbling something again to Muk and he translated for him: "What?! Of course he's glad to see us! He loves us… don't you?" Even Balto gave him that look. Who could say no to polar bear twins like them? No matter how grumpy Boris could get, he knew where he had to draw the line.
"Oi, OK, OK! Hey, boychicks, let's play a game!" Boris finally let go, but he of course, had a trick up his feathers as both of them were on the deck. Both polar bear cubs eagerly awaited from Boris what game he had in mind: "Yes, please, uncle Boris!" Boris' game was nothing else but: "Race you to the shore, one, two, three… GO!"
Both Muk and Luk were ready, got set and on Boris' yell, they made a jump for it to the shore! Balto came to see where this race was going to lead while Boris satisfyingly let him know: "They win!" Yet the splashing of the water in the distance and their calls for help proved that they couldn't just leave them there and Balto beckoned Boris to see what was going on.
When they rushed to the shore, at first both of them had a rather serious look on their faces, but each had a different reaction afterwards - Balto's being amused and Boris being anything than amused. "Help! Help! We're drowning! Save us, please!" Muk and Luk were swimming in the shallows and even to this day, despite Balto encouraging them many times, they were still being too afraid to swim…
"Bears! Fellas! Idiot balls of fluff!" Boris couldn't take any of this nonsense happening to the point he started throwing insults, only for Balto to cut him off: "Easy, Boris. You know they are." It was quite noble of him to cut him with his taunts just so Boris wouldn't genuinely hurt someone. He told them: "Muk! Luk! Relax! Come on, you're OK! You're not drowning!"
"Huh?" Muk was surprised upon hearing that. Boris parted from Balto to reach both polar bear cubs in the shallows, just so he could show them how "deep" in the water they were. Balto couldn't clearly hear what they were saying, but he could hear Boris telling them something of "tide being out". It was rather silly what these two had gotten into.
This reminded Balto how even these polar bears were still dependent on Boris and they were doing it rather willingly unlike himself. They weren't accepted by other polar bears due to them being afraid of water and swimming and how they were hunting their fish rather reluctantly unlike others. Balto already excelled in hunting fish while finding meat in the town.
At least he had two rather strange friends to spend his time with and he didn't have to hide himself. They were all in a somewhat similar situation regarding how much their breed accepted them and all three had Boris to look after them, something he could only wish to come to the end one day. Returning to the old boat, Boris behind him and Muk and Luk further behind, Balto could swear Boris mentioned a strange Russian name, something like "Dostoevsky".
Once they were back on their boat, Balto had his own plans. He wasn't hungry. Sure, he could have tried to get some meat from the alley or go hunt down some fish in the shallows or at least gnaw the flesh from bones, only that he didn't. Despite his day being quite terrible today, with a few exceptions, he just wasn't hungry.
He had a good reason for so. His muzzle was feeling warm. It wasn't him being ill or anything, but ever since he'd collided with Jenna on the street with his muzzle on hers, something happened. Balto had that very warm feeling that spread from his muzzle to the very edges of his body. It felt pretty good actually and it saved his day from being entirely miserable.
He couldn't take it anymore. He just walked up to the deck and there he saw, watching the town of Nome bathing in the final sunrays. The town he was born not far from, having very little memories from it when he was a puppy, but that touch muzzle-to-muzzle invoked a happy one he had when he was a little puppy and it was his mother who taught him…
"And what is so interesting?" Boris climbed on the deck, breaking Balto's thoughts a bit. He didn't let go of the one he'd been thinking of ever since that touch: "Jenna." Boris knew Jenna as Balto's friend, but due to that behavior, he knew that it was more than it: "Is love! So go make move!"
This just gave Boris an idea to break into dance, further adding: "When the angels' balalaikas strum the sweet song of love… mambo!" He couldn't resist, he had to dance one of his homelands' traditional dances just so he could let Balto know how it was done. "Nah, she's not my type." This decline made Boris stop dancing.
"And why not? This wolf business again?" He clearly started finding Balto's excuses redundant, be it that he pushed his wolf side behind or kept telling him things like he could be on his own now. He asked him again: "What's wrong with being half and half, I'd like to know?" Balto didn't give him an answer, thinking it was merely rhetoric.
"Sometimes I wish I was half eagle." Boris reminded him of his life desires, something that even Balto was rather amused to hear, asking him: "Why?" Boris, of course, despite him being grumpy, had some wisdom treasured in his mind: "Better profile, for one thing! Hmmmm… and no one eats you, for another!" He surely was full of surprises when Balto came to think about it.
Whether Balto thought that Boris' idea was either foolish or necessary, it didn't matter to him at that moment. He, once again, glanced at Nome, thinking if there was any chance for him today and just as Boris was going to maintain the boat before heading to sleep, Balto let him know: "Alright, Boris, let it be your way then!"
"My way what?" Boris was at first struck puzzled when Balto spoke to him, but then a smile came on Russian goose's face, answering: "So you are going to go for it, mal'chik? You're going to see Jenna tonight?" Boris just couldn't miss a clue. Balto, standing at the exit of the boat, let him know: "Well, my day was pretty bad today, but just maybe seeing her in private would actually enlighten me today. I'll see you tomorrow!"
"Good, good! Just stay out of beda in that town!" Boris encouraged his move, but of course, giving him a precaution why he should not get involved into trouble this time. Balto caught up with the last rays of sun descending below the horizon and the night breeze occured right on time. All he had in mind was to spend some time with Jenna, on whom he could not stop thinking of.
He reached the first houses of Nome, lingering in shadows. He didn't feel like coming across any of those humans to taunt him and worse, throw something at him. All he had to do was to turn to his right and see if Jenna was at home. She probably was, considering the fact that it was cold and dark outside and she'd rather choose a warm and a cozy indoors place…
"Balto, is that you?" A familiar male voice spoke, which had taken Balto off the guard for a moment here. Balto looked around and saw a familiar dark brown male husky coming to him, which made Balto speak: "Max! I admit, you startled me here for a moment!" Well, Balto did a good thing he didn't start chuckling now.
"You were going to Jenna's, right?" Max asked him, but without that smug look he'd give him whenever he'd go see Jenna in town. Balto noticed Max acting a bit different, but he decided to stay himself, answering: "Well, yeah! I thought that it'd be a good time for me to see how she's doing, you know?"
Max sighed, hating to tell him what was going on: "I suggest that you should turn around then and head the other way, to the hospital." When he heard the word hospital, Balto felt alarmed by what he heard, asking him: "Did you just say… hospital? Is… is Jenna alright?! I hope something bad didn't happen to her…!"
"Balto, calm down! Jenna is alright!" Max shushed him here and then he revealed: "It isn't Jenna who went to the hospital. It's Rosy who had to go, Molly told me." As happy as he was to hear that Jenna was alright, it didn't make him any happier when he heard "Rosy", asking him: "What do you mean by that? What's with Rosy?"
"I… I don't know, honestly. She's been coughing and her throat was aching her. I don't know what she caught, but I fear it might be, as humans call it… diphtheria." Max let him know what could have happened to her and even he was unsure what it meant, but it didn't sound any encouraging to think about it. Balto and Max looked down upon realizing that.
"Do you… do you think it'd be a good idea if I go see Jenna and offer her some words of comfort?" Balto asked him, hoping that his intentions weren't going to slip out and make him look terrible because of what he intended. Max looked back in his eyes and without thinking, said: "I think that'd be a great idea. I just came to tell you what happened… you do know the way to the hospital?"
"I may only guess now. Max, thanks for telling me." Balto thought about it and he greeted his friend on the street as he advanced to the hospital. What could have struck Rosy on this same day? He had to know, he wanted to express his empathy for the little girl whose dog he couldn't stop thinking on. He was only hoping that the timing was not bad…
He made it relatively soon to the hospital and the fortune smiled at him - Jenna was there, sitting by the window from outside! He wanted to make sure that if he was going to follow Boris' advice, then he first had to look neat and groomed. He could notice an ice in snow that offered him a good reflection, but his messy hair just didn't want to stay down.
He left that aside when he went to make his move on Jenna, who didn't move her eyes from what was going on in the hospital. "Jenna?" Balto asked her, hoping for a response. At first, she didn't give any so Balto cleared his throat and in a lower voice, asked her again: "Jenna?"
For a moment she glanced back at him and answered: "Balto. Hi." Her voice was lowered and gurgled with confusion, anxiety and grief. "Hi." Balto spoke once again, ready to make his move: "Look uh…" he exhaled once again to make sure he didn't stutter asking her: "Just a shot in the dark, but I was wondering if…"
He stopped for a second, showing that he could have given himself some time to think about what he was going to say and then asked her at once: "I don't know, maybe you'd like to go chase a few sticks by moonlight?" He then couldn't hold his chuckles anymore, thinking how this didn't go out that well. However, Jenna not responding to his suggestion made him realize that the situation with Rosy… seemed serious.
"Jenna?" Balto moved closer. He didn't like where this was leading to. Jenna finally answered to him, her voice not sounding that promising: "Rosy's in here." Balto climbed up on the window to see for himself, where he could see the doctor measuring Rosy's temperature as she was still coughing and holding her throat. This seemed quite dire: "In a hospital, why?"
"She feels warm and she has a terrible cough." Jenna explained so far what was not right and it just wasn't any encouraging for her to see. She looked at Balto, hoping that he'd know at least: "Balto, what's wrong with her?" She didn't think this through, since he was a half-wolf and half-dog and human illnesses were rather alien to him.
"Uh, I'm not sure, but I know how to find out. Come on!" Balto knew that they had to find out what was the cause of Rosy's condition without him being seen by other humans. He led Jenna to the back side of the hospital and there were the wooden doors. The rusty lock kept the doors shut, but Balto relied on his wits: "I have the keys to the city."
Jenna didn't know what he was trying to say by that, but she saw Balto raising on his rear legs to reach with his claw the nail that held the door hinges, then he descended to the lower hinge to repeat the same process. The doors were rather opened in an inverse fashion, but Jenna noticed something else instead. Something that she could have noticed on him all this time, but at last it came to her attention.
"Balto!" Jenna was surprised by the size of Balto's paws and the claws her wolf-dog friend had. It was just one of the details in everyday life she didn't notice until it came right into her eyes. Balto's response was suave: "Big paws kinda run in my family. At least, uh, one side of my family." If anything, it was the wolf side, which Jenna could only know because of Balto telling her about him being half-wolf when they met as puppies years ago.
Once they were inside, they felt the heat coming from the boiler in the corner. This was very likely the boiler room for the hospital. There was one opening in the wall and Balto was just heading that way. Jenna was reluctant at first to go there, but she wanted to know what was with her master so she followed him below there, Balto telling her: "Stay close."
"No problem there." Jenna answered, even if she meant the opposite, feeling rather nervous about this dark, cold, damp and dusty place. "It's so gloomy down here! Not that I'm scared or anything… ah!" She came across a spiderweb right in front of her eyes, but Balto just cleaned it for her like a brush, clearly not minding the ambient.
"Gloomy? You kidding? It's the most beautiful spot in the world!" Balto kept sweetening the ambient of this dark place, much to Jenna's confusion, but she still followed him further. "Dogs travel for years just to be right here." Balto further told her. She rose a bit, noticing some dirt and dust on her nose, but Balto offered to remove that with his paw.
"Here? I can't see why." Jenna answered, licking her paw so she could clean the rest of her muzzle, showing how much she disliked being dirty. Balto smugly leaned closer to her and answered her: "That's 'cause you're looking at the bowl half empty!" She was confused by what he just said and he even moved onto some pile below the floor shaft.
"See this? It's the polar ice caps!" Balto was going to reveal her something. It wasn't a random trick he'd come up with himself. It was a treasured memory from his puppy days his mother had given to him and even to this day, her voice faintly echoed in his mind: "In case you're wondering why I am showing this to you is because one day you'll meet someone special in your life to show the lights."
It was all because he believed. He believed that Jenna was that one he could have a chance to be with in his life despite the odds. Jenna's initial thoughts to his words were: "Balto, those are broken bottles. And they're not half empty, they're all empty!" She didn't really see the point of what he was trying to do here, other than to find out for Rosy.
"The sun." Balto looked at the source of the light above, hoping to change her mind at the last moment and that this was going to be something for both of them to remember. "Oh, Balto…" Jenna thought how Balto was really doing some kind of nonsense with the broken bottles and light as if they were going to do something useful.
"And… to the north…!" Balto moved some of the glass shards in the right position and he moved aside. Jenna's clearly unamused look swiftly changed when the light beamed through the shards and directly to the north, they illuminated at this very place. She gasped in awe when she saw this dirty and damp place turn into something magnificent!
"The northern lights!" Jenna gasped, not seeing this one coming. Even Balto took a brief moment to watch in an amazement that his trick actually worked out pretty well! "Oh, Balto, you're right! It's beautiful!" This was something that Jenna was never going to forget, thanks to him using his wits.
"Yeah… Beautiful." Balto responded to her. He wasn't looking at the lights when he said "beautiful"... but at her! If only she could have seen him when he said that, that'd have been incredible! Their looks were finally coming eye to eye with one another, their muzzles coming closer… nothing could spoil this very beautiful moment between them... especially in this Aurora Borealis ambient… the rhapsody of many dancing colors at this dark place...
The sound of the footsteps from the room above not only interrupted their momentum, but it also extinguished the Northern lights shining below. Balto and Jenna both broke their eye contacts and headed to the pile where the shards were, being careful not to step on them. "Good night, Rosy." The voice from the town's doctor broke the silence.
"I'm so cold…" Rosy spoke, feeling very exhausted. Judging by what the doctor just said, she was going to rest in hospital, which did not bode well to Jenna and Rosy's parents. "I have another blanket for you here. Stay warm and get some rest." Balto and Jenna were both watching the doctor leave the room Rosy was going to sleep and noticed that he was heading to the room next to this one.
That one also had the floor bars from where Balto and Jenna could observe the talk between Rosy's father and the doctor. "Doctor, how is she?" Rosy's father asked, being distressed by Rosy's ailing condition. "Exhausted from coughing. Her fever's getting worse." The doctor clearly didn't sound any encouraging. And the answer that followed was the nadir…
"Looks like diphtheria." The doctor said, looking into his drawer of medicines and pointing at the one that had no more medicine left. "She's the 18th case this week. And I'm out of antitoxin." He sat down, holding the medicine of something else and sighed deeply, realizing how dangerous the situation had just gotten.
No one was that much distraught as Jenna was. In fact, when Balto heard what Rosy had caught, he could hear Jenna weeping quietly and leaving the undergrounds of the boiler room. Was this a wise choice? Should he have brought Jenna to this place to let her find out Rosy's condition? He followed her with apologies in his mind.
"Jenna. Jenna, I'm sorry! Jenna, I…" Balto walked to his friend, feeling guilty for bringing her down there and as her human was sick, without any medicine to prevent her illness… "...I didn't mean to upset you! I shouldn't have taken you there." Balto regretted his decision, but Jenna's answer made him not: "No… I'm glad you did."
She didn't finish her sentence, mainly because of the crashing sound out there. What they say, or precisely, whom they say, meant trouble. A malamute was below the rubble he had caused and was holding the chain of sausages: "Steele!" Jenna pointed out, but the presence of hers just encouraged him to come inside: "Well, well."
He made his move to her really quickly and further sweetened the situation with: "What's wrong with his picture?" He already had Balto inside and insisted: "Jenna, join me for dinner!" He swung with the sausages he had and they were soon wrapped around Jenna's neck, much to her surprise and Balto's dissatisfaction.
"You start at one end, I'll start at the other." Steele elaborated this plan, knowing how that one would turn out if it was even successful. "When we get to the middle, well…" He clearly ignored Balto's presence, whose plan was not making him any happier, thinking how dirty Steele had to be to steal a friend from him, with Jenna answering: "You tell me."
"Alright, Steele!" Balto wanted to show him that he made a mistake interfering between them and even barked at him, or at least he tried to because it didn't sound intimidating. Even Jenna discouraged him: "No, Balto." He was baffled at first, thinking how she was fawning over to him, but that was not the case here.
In fact, when Steele was not paying attention to Jenna's face, she used that moment to look at Balto and dart with her eyes on what was in the corner of the room. Balto looked by himself to find out what she was trying to say and then it hit him how brilliant Jenna was! Of course, the heating boiler at the corner of the room!
"Gee, Steele…" Jenna spoke in her sweet tone, without revealing her true intention to the malamute what she had in mind. Steele thought that his chance was now ignited, without thinking that this last word was going to be… literal, to which he chuckled. "I have to admit your offer is very tempting."
"It is." Steele chuckled like a glory hound, thinking how his simple plan was working, all while he was slowly backing up thanks to Jenna making a move on him! He clearly didn't notice what she was trying to do, but he did, albeit too late when Jenna let him know: "But these days I prefer my meat… cooked!"
That last word she had to offer just made realize that his rear was… burning, literally! He even felt the smoke coming to him and he yelped loudly in pain, giving Balto and Jenna enough time: "Come on, let's go!" Balto alerted Jenna that it was their time to get out of there, shutting the doors behind them, only that they underestimated the strength of these doors.
Steele made a mad jump for it through the doors and smashed them in half, tackling both on the floor. This was all a bad timing for both Balto and Jenna when they noticed the flashlight coming from the other corner of the hospital: "What's all that noise?!" The second voice followed: "I think it's over here!"
They were all surprised by humans approaching, but Steele was the slowest one to notice that. Balto and Jenna were already making their escape: "Jenna, come on!" If they had any chances right now, they could just make a run for it into another alley and avoid being captured! Almost there, Balto thought, and there'd be no consequences to face…!
Then, he felt something was entangling his legs and he collapsed in the snow. Noticing quickly what it was, he was shocked to discover that Steele's sausages were wrapped around him! It didn't even help him when the flashlight was directed at him and the wielder of the flashlight: "Looks like Balto's found your meat!"
The wielder just happened to be Rosy's father and the other man was the butcher! The butcher took the sausages from Balto, saying: "Good thing Steele was here. Good boy, you've earned these." He offered them to Steele as he gleefully feasted on what he'd stolen from the butcher, showing to what extent his malice could go.
"Besides, I can't use them after that wild animal's touched 'em!" The butcher spitefully spoke, this one hurting really bad the wolf-dog to hear anyhow. He felt Rosy's father kicking the snow at him and taunting: "Go on, get out of here, you thief!" Balto had to abandon Jenna behind him and he even heard him say something without looking back: "Come on, Jenna, let's go home!"
She clearly didn't follow him and he couldn't stop to look behind himself! He must have passed by another man, who thankfully didn't notice him running from behind and he couldn't care any less. Everything… absolutely everything was now destroyed for him in this one day and night! He had the urge to run away… run away somewhere far, far away!
Only that he just couldn't run away and never come back. He had a place to sleep at and it was just outside the town. He rushed to the old boat, seeking it as his own sanctuary, away from anyone and their harm, be it an enemy or a friend. He didn't want anyone to come see him or talk to him… he just wanted solitude, all by himself…
When he reached the entrance of the old boat, he caught some air, after running like wild from the town. Never he'd run this fast in his life and never he'd been this terrified. Framed for the theft he'd not even committed in the first place! It was all Steele's doing and he wass feasting like a glory hound in the town for the sausages he'd stolen before.
Once he'd caught his air, Balto noticed the cold wind blowing from the north and the snow falling. The snowstorm was coming. He couldn't be outside anymore, not after running wild out there. Boris was very likely asleep in the captain's room, under the blanket. Trying to hold his emotions back, Balto could only go inside and hit the sleep under the blanket, hoping that this situation was not going to repeat anymore… hopefully.