Balto 4: SOTW: Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Beaten
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Later that night, the dogs were sound asleep, except for Kodi, who was tossing and turning, wondering why he couldn't get to sleep.

"What is keeping me awake?" Kodi asks himself,

Kodi looks around the room and finds that nothing is out of place, except for the fact Dusty's bed was empty.

"Where have you gone to now, Dusty?" Kodi asks, getting up to search for his teammate,

After a while of searching, Kodi finds no sign of Dusty.

"She must be outside." Kodi says, then looks outside, only to get hit by specks of snow and face the bitter cold of the wind that was blowing.

Kodi however put that aside and continued his way out of the house an searched the yard, only to find Dusty isn't there.

"Where could she be?" Kodi asks, then he hears a growling sound that nearly scares him out of his mind.

"What was that?!" Kodi says in surprise, backing up so far he trips on a rock sticking out of the snow and falls on his back.

Kodi, still on his back, looks around for the cause of the sound, then looks down at his white underbelly, noticing where the growling sound was coming from.

"Oh great." Kodi says, "Might as well find something to eat."

Kodi gets back on his paws and walks off, later he reaches the General Store and manages to get some beef jerky from there using a secret entrance he knew of to get in.

"That should satisfy me for now." Kodi says, then he catches a whiff of something, "What's that smell?"

Kodi follows the smell to an alley leading behind the General Store and figures out what it is.

"Wait, this is Dusty's scent!" Kodi says, then he continues following the scent into the alley.

After going around a bend, Kodi saw something that nearly scared him out of his fur: Dusty, lying her side beaten from some sort of fight. Her fur was a mess, her dogsled collar had been torn off her neck, and there was what looked like coal dust all over her body.

"Dusty, are you OK?!" Kodi asks in fright, hoping his teammate was alive,

"Kodi?" Dusty says weakly, barely able to open her eyes, "Is that...?"

"Thank goodness." Kodi says, nuzzling his friend, "I thought I lost you for a moment there."

"I appreciate your concern." Dusty says,

"Think you can walk?" Kodi asks,

"I don't think so." Dusty says, trying to roll onto her paws, "Think you can carry me home?"

"Sure." Kodi says, lifting Dusty onto his back.

The trek back home wasn't easy for Kodi. He didn't get any sleep, and he trying to push his way through the wind while carrying Dusty on his back. With every step, Kodi thought he'd collapse, but he eventually reached his house. Kodi knew he couldn't get through the door while carrying Dusty, so he set her on the porch and entered through the door, pulling her in afterward and setting her on his bed.

"Don't worry, I'll get help." Kodi says, then he looks toward her parents, who are asleep.

"I know you two told me not to disturb you, but I need help from at least one of you." Kodi whispers, aware of what Dusty's parents told him.

Kodi knew that Molly would be the proper choice as he didn't want to deal with Max's cranky side, so he decided to wake her up instead.

"Come on, Molly. Wake up." Kodi says, nudging her,

"Kodi?" Molly asks, starting to wake up, "This better be good."

"I'm afraid it's not." Kodi says, pointing to Dusty,

In an instant, Molly was wide awake and ran over to Dusty, knocking Kodi over in the process.

"What happened?!" Molly asks Kodi in shock,

"I don't know." Kodi says, "She was like that when I found her!"

"Where?!" Molly asks, nearly in panic and pinning Kodi on his back with her holding him down,

"By the General Store." Kodi says, knowing that Molly didn't attack him out of anger, but fear.

"What should we do?" Molly asks,

"Get Simpson." Kodi says, "I woke you up to keep watch over Dusty while I went to get him."

"I see your point." Molly says, getting off of Kodi.

"I'll try to be quick." Kodi says, getting onto his paws and running up the stairs.

After a while, Kodi finally got Simpson to wake up.

"OK, what is it Kodi?" Simpson asks, still half asleep.

Kodi gestures at the door and walks to it, showing Simpson that he wanted him to follow him.

"OK, I'm coming." Simpson says, following after Kodi.

Kodi eventually leads Simpson all the way to the room where Dusty was and shows him the problem.

"How did this happen?" Simpson asks in concern, observing Dusty,

Molly gives Simpson a look saying that she would tell him, but couldn't since dogs were unable to talk to humans.

"I better get John." Simpson says, getting a coat and boots on.

Later, at the veterinary clinic, Josh and Saba were sleeping peacefully while their owner, John, was making sure he had enough supplies for tomorrow. Suddenly a knock is heard at the door, catching John's attention and waking up Josh and Saba.

"Who could be here at this hour?" John asks, answering the door.

"Sorry to disturb you." Simpson says, "But I need your help."

"No problem, and with what?" John asks,

"One of my dogs is injured." Simpson says, "Looks like it's from some sort of fight."

"Then we better get to work on it." John says, gathering necessary supplies.

Later, Dusty wakes up to see Kodi and Molly looking down on her.

"Mom, Kodi, what...?" Dusty asks but winces in pain,

"Easy, Dusty." Molly says, laying a paw on her daughter, "You've had a rough night."

Dusty looks down at her body, noticing she had a cast on her left foreleg and a bandage on her right hind leg.

"Do you remember what happened when you were outside?" Kodi asks,

"All I remember is that I left to get a breath of fresh air, then I dropped by the General Store for a bite to eat, but while looking for the secret entrance, I was attacked by what looked like wolves." Dusty says,

"Wolves? How many?" Kodi asks,

"Two at least." Dusty says,

"Do you remember how they looked?" Molly asks,

"No." Dusty says, "It all happened so fast and it was dark out. But their scents seemed familiar."

"What'd the scents remind you of?" Kodi asks,

"I'm not sure. But it seemed like they're part of a sled team." Dusty says,

"Well, the important thing is that you're safe." Molly says,

"But whoever attacked Dusty is still out there." Kodi says,

"But Dusty won't be leaving the house anytime soon due to her current state." Molly says,

"How long will I stay like this?" Dusty asks,

"A week or two." John tells Simpson,

"Thank you, sir." Simpson says,

"You're welcome." John says, "You know where to find me if another one of your dogs gets injured or the damage gets worse to Dusty."

"Yes, John." Simpson says,

"Later." John says before leaving the house for home.

"You three better get some sleep, it's been a rough night for us all." Simpson says, heading back up the stairs.

"He's right." Molly says, "Kodi, I want to watch over Dusty until she gets better."

"You got it, Molly." Kodi says,

"See you in the morning." Molly says, heading back to her bed.

"Well, at least we get to sleep together again like you did before we won the race." Dusty says,

"You're right about that." Kodi says, lying next to Dusty,

"Kodi, think you could... uh..." Dusty asks,

"Could what?" Kodi asks,

"You remember what you did for me when you let me share your bed?" Dusty asks,

"Yes, why?" Kodi asks,

Dusty slightly rolls onto her back, exposing her white underbelly to Kodi.

"Oh. I see now." Kodi says, rolling onto his back.

"Thanks." Dusty says, rolling back onto her paws and crawling on top of Kodi.

"You're welcome." Kodi says,

"Good night, Kodi." Dusty says, nuzzling her head into Kodi's fur.

"Same to you, Dusty. I promise I won't let any further harm come to you." Kodi says, dozing off.