Clearly the situation in the town had grown dire. Rosy being among the latest new active cases of diphtheria had grown alarming to this point. Children and people alike of Nome were in grave danger during the peak of the diphtheria epidemic. Worse, their antitoxin supplies were reduced to none.
The lack of antitoxin had required preventive measures - alerting the capital of Alaska, Juneau, about this and requesting immediate delivery of the medicine in order to prevent the spread of new active cases and if possible, prevent fatal cases before it was too late. Many lives were at a stake of this merciless disease.
The telegraph had been sent from Nome all the way to the capital of Juneau. It was requested urgently to have antitoxin delivered in crates by the fastest kind of transportation possible. The first-most choice for it was the ship that sailed to Juneau on the monthly basis. The closure of icebergs and snowstorms sadly prevented the ship from sailing towards Nome, halting the delivery.
Next choice they had was a bush plane that could fly from Juneau all the way to Nome and had that crate of serum delivered to the hospital. Sadly, as it was January of 1925, the snowstorms were much more frequent and even more dangerous to combat and for that reason, all the flights to Nome had been halted until further notice.
There was only one way left how to deliver that crate. It involved two parts of the journey. One was that the train was going to take off from Juneau all the way to the town of Nenana, decided by the Governor of Alaska. Second part of the journey was for the sled team of Nome to come to Nenana at once and bring the crate of serums back to Nome, requiring the fastest dogs to come.
The least favored choice of them all was chosen. The train was ready to take off for Nenana, waiting for two men to fully close the crate and tie it tightly in order to prevent any losses of this precious cure. Once that was settled, the crate had been placed into the train and with the blow of the train whistle, it set off on its perilous journey to the town of Nenana, across snow and wind.
Of course, Nome had to know what was coming for them and they had to be ready to deliver it. The fastest dogs of Nome were required to pass their running trial in the town to determine how fast they could run. If they were fast enough, they were going to save this town by delivering the crate of serums and likely… make a history.
The news of the town seeking the fastest dogs for this chosen team caught humans' interest. Even Balto was intrigued by those news. It had been the second morning since he had to flee after being framed for the crime he'd not committed. He knew that he was half and half, but deeply hoping in his heart, this could be his chance to show how capable he was for a sled dog!
"Boris, today is the day I feel like it's going to change everything!" Balto told him around noon on the old boat, the second noon after he'd to flee from town after being framed for the theft he'd not committed. Boris raised his eyebrow when he heard him say that, still not liking how that night turned out to be.
"But how can you be sure, boychick? I've heard that you were running like wild back to the old boat! Are you really sure you want to risk going there one more time?!" Boris asked him, holding the mop in his wings, only for Balto to let him know: "Oh come on, there's nothing wrong in me trying one more time. Honestly, don't stop me in this, I'll go there now!"
"Then I'm coming with you! Last thing I need is you running like wild in the town again!" Boris persistently let him know him, leaving the mop down on the floor and he followed Balto to the town, only this time around he didn't have to run after him like two days ago. In fact, Balto didn't seem like he wanted to rush there to the town.
"Look, whatever it is going on in the town, I'm sure it has to do with this diphtheria outbreak! Who knows, maybe it can cure Rosy from it!" Balto hoped, being followed by Boris on the snow beach, combined with cold sand underneath the layer of dirty snow. The only human in this town to have fallen ill to this sinister disease pierced Balto's heart. She was the only one who treated him kindly and he didn't want to lose her.
"If that little devushka does get her cure, do you think that things will change after that? At best, I really hope so!" Boris shrugged with his wings when they reached the first houses of Nome. The paper with bold letters on one of them caught Balto's eye and he stopped to see what it was. Boris also did the same thing.
"Hey, look! I was somehow correct about what I said!" Balto smiled when his fortune smiled back to him. What on paper said was: "WANTED! The fastest dogs in town are asked for the test race held on the Main Street to prove their agility, strength, fidelity and endurance! All mushers are required to report their fastest dogs to the mayor's office!"
"My, my, mal'chik. You do seem to have some fortune about this!" Boris thought about this, rubbing his feather against his beak. Balto just watched the paper and saw himself being in that team, doing what was necessary to save Rosy and others in this remote town. He felt the presence of a rather unknown dog next to him.
"You know, I guess one dog really can make a difference." The husky next to him spoke. Balto looked at him, who seemed rather friendly. With light brown fur, light brown around his muzzle, tan ears and tan ring around the muzzle, as well as tuft on his head and also brown eyes, he didn't know what to say. The husky patted him by his shoulder and before he headed away, let him know: "'Nuff said!"
Balto watched him leave in another direction, to which he looked at Boris, who also seemed like he'd not seen that dog before. Balto was going to say: "Hey, how did you…?" But noticing that the dog was gone, left and right, he decided to shrug it off. He let the goose know: "Alright, let's go get to the Main Street!"
"Oh, are you really sure that mal'chik was that inspiring, uh?" Boris remained stubborn, wondering if an unknown dog like that one could really inspire someone like him. Balto stopped on their way, noticing the presence of two of his friends and whispered to Boris: "Then again, why don't we go say 'hi' to Molly? And Max too? They're right there!"
"Oh of course! Hurry up before they have to go race too!" Boris pushed him ahead, being understandable at least when it came to his friends. They were standing behind people on the Main Street. Balto rushed from their right, calling them: "Max! Molly! It's good to see you!" Judging by the looks on their faces, they showed the same relief.
"Balto! Oh, thank goodness! You really had us frightened! Not because of how you've come to us, but because of what happened two nights ago!" Molly exhaled in relief, noticing her wolf-dog friend back in the town, all in one piece. Balto laughed it off, joking about his own misery: "I had worse days, Molly."
"Have you come to watch this test race with us? They're going all the way to Nenana to fetch the medicine!" Max asked him, hoping that the humans wouldn't mind the presence of the wolfdog in the crowd. Balto asked: "Watch? I'm going to participate in it! Why aren't you two going to participate?"
"It's simple. Steele is most likely going to be in the same team and there's no way I'll be with him on that journey! Well, it may sound cruel what I say. I mean, I do care for little ones, but there's no way I have to be with him in the team, alright?" Max clearly explained his intentions. At least he was honest about the safety of children in Nome.
"Not even you, Molly?" Balto asked her, receiving his answer in the form of sigh: "Look, as much as I want to have Rosy well again, I won't be spared Steele's torment either. Even Audrey won't participate in this race, our master said so." At least both were honest. This seemed discouraging to him how neither of his friends wanted to come along.
"Well, Steele or not, I'll show him that he won't stand in my way to be in that team to save little ones of this town!" Balto went against all the odds, knowing what was going to come to him if he were to back down from this important race. "Wish me luck!" He rushed to the other side of the street, while Boris rolled with his eyes and let them know: "I really don't know what d'yavol got into that wolf-dog lately, you two! I've tried to reason with him."
"Well, if Balto is going to be in that race, then don't tame his… diavolo? I mean, don't tame whatever got into him!" Molly tried to figure out what Boris had just said before running off to the wolf-dog. When he left, Molly looked at Max, who gave her that smug look. "What?" Molly asked him, wondering if she just said something. Max smugly answered: "Nothing, I just like how you said that d-word, Molly."
"Ohhhh… alright!" Molly answered, being caught in this web. Did she really try to attempt something when she said that word? Like, was she trying to impress Max all because of how that admiration of hers for him didn't fade? If so, maybe Max would soon enough find out that his secret admirer was none other else than his best friend, standing next to him!
As for Boris, he had to keep up with Balto, who unleashed his inner daredevil and could see him climbing up on the fence. In the distance, a voice, belonging to a musher, Gunnar Kaasan most likely, boomed across the street, calling in all mushers to have their dogs ready as the race was about to begin and determine the fastest dogs who'd get the medicine all the way to Nenana.
Once Boris climbed on the wooden fence, it was not really easy to keep the balance unlike Balto, who didn't waste his time running around like a little puppy and told him: "The race is about to begin!" Boris tried to reason with him first: "Wait, Balto! Racing is a spectator sport…. it requires very little preparation! AHHHHH!"
Clearly Boris failed to keep his balance, but he reached for the window that was on one end of the fence, being glad that he did not fall down at least. Instead of standing on this unstable wooden, snow-covered fence, Boris climbed on the windowsill and made himself comfortable, seeking something inside: "You sit, you arrange refreshments!"
He grabbed a box lying on the table and grabbed what was inside, looking thin and crispy, asked him like a true sports' fan: "You like potato chip?" He then proceeded to eat that "chip", but soon enough a bubble came out of his beak and the bitter taste made him realize what he had just eaten couldn't have been a potato chip! In disbelief and disgust, he realized too late that the "chip" was a soap flake!
"I'm not watching the race, I'm running it!" Balto told him what he had finally decided and clearly Boris started coughing, not just because of what he'd eaten, but because what he'd been told. In his very noticeable Russian accent, he asked him loudly: "You said… WHAT?!"
"Look, I wanna help Rosy get better." Balto explained why he decided to join the race, even if he had intended this first, but it wasn't until now that Boris had to realize Balto wasn't messing around. Balto just looked in the distance and there, down the street, he could have seen her… Jenna. Along with Sylvie and Dixie, both of them showing disbelief upon something she'd told them. Was it their underground date?
"I can get that medicine through." Balto explained further, jumping around the fence when Boris was trying to tell him something, interrupted each time with: "First… First…" This wasn't just about Jenna anymore. True, he really liked her at this point, but Rosy was the only human in this town ever to be this kind to him, If she were a goner, Balto'd have been stripped away from any last source of kindness being given to him,
"They wouldn't put you in a sled team if you did win, which won't happen!" Boris summarized his feelings about Balto's hopes and slacking for the last two years. Still, that wasn't really enough for the wolf-dog to bring him down and even he fired back snarkily at him: "Boris, did you ever think maybe you're the reason the other geese fly south?"
That was pretty smooth response coming from Balto, but not as smooth as Boris remaining indestructible with his own reply: "If only your feet were as fast as your mouth." Once again, Kassan's voice boomed: "DOGS TO THE LINE!" Balto knew that he didn't have to waste his time arguing with Boris here, announcing: "They're starting! Wish me luck!"
He hopped off the fence, leaving the Russian snow goose behind, who was surprised that Balto was actually going for. He yelled to him: "Luck?! I don't wish you luck! I WISH YOU SENSE!" Yet Balto was now far enough from him and missed what Boris muttered. Besides, he made it to the start line.
He found a vacant spot between the familiar chow-chow and chinook and once he settled down between them, Kaltag spoke in surprise: "Balto?! What are you, nuts?! Steele catches you here, he'll turn you into kibble!" But Nikki had a rather different approach: "Let the half-dog run. It will be fun making him eat our snow!"
"GET SET!" Kaasan's voice once again was heard and after that, a gunfire was heard from his revolver and that was the sign for the dogs to make a run for it! They had to make a circle around the streets and show who was going to be among the fastest dogs in this race. Balto was behind Kaltag and Nikki, who had in mind to make themselves an obstacle for the wolf-dog. Clearly this was a rather poor choice.
Balto made his pass on Nikki's right side and for a moment he'd caught Jenna's attention, as well as the attentions of Sylvie and Dixie. They had to make their turn around the corner twice and just as they were on the seaside, Balto didn't see Nikki using his chance to hit him in the chin and sent him sliding down the frozen shallow where the old boats were docked!
Balto growled, feeling the pain and frustration mix inside him when he was sliding on his chest and noticed how he was going to be left behind if he didn't move fast enough! The ice was too slippery for him to run on, but thankfully there were some wooden poles sticking from the frozen shallow! He knew what he had to do - take a shortcut!
One pole, two poles, three poles… the barrel! It thankfully didn't give in under the layer of ice! Then he had to haul below the boats and under the pile of horizontally placed wooden poles and straight for the ladders to the other old boat! A mad leap to the other one had paid off and now he had to land on his paws below on the trail to return to the race!
He was right on time to get even to Nikki, who was dumbstruck by Balto's descending to the street. Balto was back to the lead! If only he had time to look at Nikki chowing the snow he'd intended to give back to him! But no time to waste! Another curve to pass and another one! He was the fastest dog in the race and the finish line was…
"TIME!" Kaasan's yelling indicated that Balto had finished the finish line first! He couldn't believe it, for the first time ever, in the form of a town race, Balto had entered his very first one and actually finished first! He looked around himself as he was catching up some air and there he noticed the familiar scarlett red female husky. Jenna smiled at him, showing that she'd watched his entire race and was proud of him for scoring the victory!
Then he felt the presence of the arriving malamute, who with all his malice, tried not to acknowledge the presence of the wolf-dog here, by saying: "Nikki, Kaltag, Star, move it! We're strapping up." He told them without showing any appreciation or anything, just ordering them like he had that kind of privilege.
"Hey, now, just a second here, Steele! I was the fastest dog." Balto let him know how this race had ended up like. This clearly made Steele stop dead in his tracks and open his eyes. Out of all dogs who'd been in this race and three of his most loyal ones, this half-breed had taken this race that day?! How could that be possible?!
"You were the fastest… what?!" Steele couldn't actually believe that someone would consider a wolf-dog to be the winner of this race, less that if they were to accept him in the team, he'd have to be his… teammate. "Do you honestly think any musher would put you on his team? You're really mixed-up!" He said this, showing his authority by circling around him.
"Steele!" Jenna scolded him, coming from the crowd and showing disgust and disbelief up by how he was treating Balto, once again. "It doesn't matter who's on the team as long as the medicine goes through. Stop being such a glory hound!" She'd gotten him here, not believing that the female he'd been dreaming of to be his would actually turn on him with the words that perfectly showed who he was.
"You're hundred percent right, Jenna. I… I… I wasn't thinking about the children." Steele said this, rather unconvincingly just so he could make sure that Jenna would not find out who he really was: "The important thing is to get the medicine, and that's what I'll do." Then he turned his look maliciously towards Balto, once again.
"And when I come back I'm gonna fold you five ways… and leave you for a cat toy!" Clearly it didn't come through Steele's thick skull who was listening to him and how his depraved pleasure was showing. He quickly snapped when he heard his master calling: "Good dog, Steele!" He had to act like a happy dog who was excited to see his master back again.
"Good boy!" Kaasan patted him after Steele got off him, but in the next moment, Steele's joy turned into anger when Kaasan looked at Balto and spoke: "Now let's take a look at our winner here." If his master was really going to have this wolf-dog in the sled team, he couldn't let his reputation go down like this! He made some preventive measures.
It was a rather filthy deed - He maliciously stomped on Balto's paw and the wolf-dog yelped in pain, revealing his long wolf-like fangs, quickly convincing Kaasan who the winner was: "Ah, we can't trust this one." The man next to Kaasan, most likely the town's mayor, pointed out: "He's part wolf!" This instantly crushed Balto's dreams in being a sled team and… bringing the medicine to the sick people of Nome, Rosy being among them…
All while Steele watched this wolf-dog having his dreams crushed into bits and hearing his master say: "He might turn on me. Nikki, Kaltag, Star, let's go!" He smugly followed his master and he could also hear Jenna try to reason with Balto, only for the wolf-dog to leave on the other side of the street. It didn't matter anymore, nothing could stop Steele in having all the glory he was seeking for.
By nightfall he and his team were going to be ready to run to Nenana. While to his teammate this was going to be the life-saving mission for people of Nome, to him it was all about glory, fortune, fame, reputation and… having Jenna. Nothing was going to stop him from having her when they were going to return any day soon and she couldn't do anything about it either.
Once the nightfall had come, a light snow was coming from the sky. People were on the street, watching Kaasan strapping in the resources on his sled for the next few days and also his dogs in their harnesses. The telegrapher was seen turning on the oil lantern and hanged it on the hook outside his office. It wasn't there for any reason.
"As long as there's hope for those kids, I'll keep this lit!" The telegrapher told them why he had placed it out there. The oil lantern looked like a shining beacon in the darkness. "It'll guide the team back." In the end, he made a fairly valid reason here. At last, the team was almost ready to move on. Gunnar made the last preparations.
"The sooner they leave, the sooner they're back!" One of the townsfolk told the others, wishing for the sled team to return as soon as possible to the town of Nome. Once the dogs were ready, even if Star was troublesome to settle down with, Kaasan yelled: "Steele! HYAH! Giddap, hyah!" They were on the move!
Citizens were applauding and whistling as The Great Race of Mercy had just started! They were all waving with their hats and wished them a safe journey to Nenana and home! They were leaving Nome and the very first stretch of this race was going to be a familiar territory, but beyond that came the alien territory.
Steele found the familiar surroundings with the towns like White Mountain, Golovin, Elim, but beyond Elim he'd found himself in a rather strange territory. As long as they could follow the coastline, even going through the frozen bay, they were still safe. The town of Unalakleet was the final one on the coastline before heading to the mainland.
Roaming across the snow, they'd reached the town they'd not bothered seeing the name and eventually crossed the river by the name Yukon. They marched against mother nature on the left bank of Yukon, eventually heading more to the east and following another river, a smaller one until after many days of running, they'd finally seen their destination - Nenana!
The train was already waiting there, fuming and whistling in the snow. The people working on the maintenance of the fuming locomotive saw their team coming. They knew it was the time to give them the crate of antitoxins. They opened one of the compartments where the precious crate was being held and together they'd taken it to Kaasan.
"Alright, now make sure you lash her down tight!" Kaasan told them when they were strapping the crate on the sled with leash harnesses and they'd placed a lantern placed on the top of it as the lightning beacon of hope. They were ready to make their journey home now. Kaasan grabbed the harnesses and yelled: "Giddap, Steele! GIDDAP! Mush!"
Steele finally couldn't wait to move on. Unlike his father and the father of his cronies, he was going to be the dog who'd make a history and put his father to a shame for being weak and shallow. With all pleasure they had started mushing back all the way to Nome! All while the men from the train were wishing them luck on their way home.
But the journey to Nome was a treacherous one. They were supposed to follow the river back to the town that'd eventually take them to the coastline. Mother nature tightened its grip on the team as by the end of the next day, they were trying hard to push through the blizzard. They had to keep their heads low now.
"Come on!" Steele pressured them to move on, thinking that this blizzard wouldn't last any longer. The hope of the team was faltering instead, namely when Star yelled: "STEELE! Maybe we should go back! WE'RE LOST!" This was a very poor choice of words coming from Star, who snarled furiously at him: "I AM NOT LOST!"
"Lost? Did I say lost?!" Star chuckled nervously when he'd faced furious Steele. "You didn't let me finish!" Nor did he have to finish here because Steele turned around and started pulling the sled again, yelling: "THIS WAY!" He didn't have time to hear what Star was saying and he screamed when he was being pulled ahead.
The blizzard didn't die down. In fact, it only grew stronger. On the night of the second day they were already struggling harder and harder, making them forget their goal. All that they wanted was to make it through this deadly blizzard. If only they knew that Steele's leadership was anything but a proper one in this raging storm…
"STEELE! We're going in circles!" Star finally broke the monotonous silence when the vision out there was only a few meters ahead of them. Again, Star almost regretted saying that when he snarled at him one more time: "WHAT?!" He clearly wasn't capable of taking criticism for his poor leadership through the deadly storm and then there was this?!
Star was making another excuse, which had to do something with "circles", but Steele couldn't focus on what he was saying here because Kaltag, Nikki and the rest of the team came closer, expressing their doubts about his leadership and their current situation. Was he finally going to admit that they were lost and had to seek the way back?
But that didn't happen. Steele assured them desperately: "I know what I'm doing! It's…" He paused for a bit and looked in an ominous direction, continuing: "It's this way! Come on!" He pushed them ahead without actually knowing where they were going. They were all terrified at this point what to do! They almost paid… at the cost of their lives.
As if Steele couldn't have chosen worse, marching through the deep snow and blizzard misdirected them in the worst way possible! Steele unintentionally led them to the edge of a slippery path to a small opening to the cliff! They were all screaming in terror as all of them were sliding down the ravine, having no idea how to slow down or even stop!
Kaasan was heard screaming from behind, but once they'd reached the bottom of the ravine, it just resulted in Kaasan losing his balance, hitting multiple tree branches and falling to his side in the ravine, losing his consciousness. All the dogs landed roughly in the deep snow and sustained certain hits and injuries.
"Oooh, I hit my head on something!" Nikki spoke when he raised from his snow pile and even Kaltag let him know what that something was: "Yeah, my head!" Timing couldn't be any worse when one of the sled dogs walked up to Kaasan and nudged him, but the musher was not responding, alerting Steele: "Looks like he's hurt bad, Steele!"
"What are we going to do now, Steele?!" Star asked him with his fangs chattering in the cold and shivering bad. He wasn't the only one, everyone was shivering and had their fangs chattering in the howling blizzard. Steele was just sitting there, clueless and hopeless, not moving a centimeter from his position. The sled was tipped to the side, the crate and the lantern sustaining little to no damage. However... They were all disoriented, stranded, disillusioned, far from home and the worst...
They were lost.