When the jobs of the mail dogs depend on a race against an airplane, Balto sees their odds of winning to be impossible and guiltily refuses to lead the team. Kodi nearly loses hope when a former champion named Steele offers to take Balto's place in...
Kodi panted as his paws drummed repeatedly over the snowy landscape, the sled team tearing up snow behind them. Come on! Faster! He urged his burning muscles, his harness jingling as he ran. We can do this!
Behind him, he heard Ralph let out a yelp. "Ow, my broken toenail! It's killing me!" He complained. "Can we slow down?"
Steele snorted at the front of the team. "Don't be ridiculous! This is a race. There's no slowing down!"
"Oh, uh, you've got it, Steele!" Ralph sounded more confident.
The massive black and white husky panted as he led the team over the hills of snow. "We're gonna win this, boys!" When Dusty coughed, he added in a grunt. "And girls."
As Kodi looked up, his heart sank. He saw the plane up ahead in the distance, a thin cross traveling across the bright sky. It was covering more ground than they had thought possible. It was so far ahead of them, he couldn't even hear the growling of the engine.
For the first time, Kodi felt his confidence fade, replaced by cold uncertainty. Maybe dad was right... Dogs can't outrun planes. This is a waste of time. He looked aside at Kirby. "I think Balto was right!" He barked reluctantly. "We can't beat the plane."
As Kirby flashed him a surprised look, Steele whipped his head over his black shoulder, baring his teeth. "We will beat it!" He snapped, startling both of them. "Because I'm leading you to victory!"
"But look at that thing!" Dusty exclaimed from behind Kodi. "There's no way we'll catch up to it. Balto told us that. If we'd listened-"
"Have you forgotten who I am?" Steele snarled back at them. "I'm Steele, champion racer, lead dog! That's why you're going to win this race." He panted as he led them up a slope. "Balto is nothing but a coward and a horrible father!"
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Kodi jerked his head upward, anger flashing through him. "My dad is smart and strong, and that's why he didn't want to lead us to failure!" He realized this truth as he spoke it. "He's a hero!"
For a long moment, Steele just glared back at him through a narrowed icy blue eye. Kodi returned the glare, seeing no shame in defending his father. I'm sorry if I offended you. He thought. But no one insults my dad and gets away with it.
At last, a smirk spread across Steele's face. "You have the same fire as your mother, kid." He looked ahead again as they headed up the mountainside.
"My toenail hurts!" Ralph grunted, and Steele let out a growl of annoyance.
It wasn't long before the team reached the town of White Mountain. Steele slowed the team to a halt beside the Post Office, and the postman stepped out with a fresh bag of mail. Up ahead, the bush plane was parked, receiving it's own bag of mail.
Steele shook slush from his black and white coat before turning toward his team. "See, Kodi?" He prompted smugly. "The plane's still here. We'll beat it on the way back."
