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Chapter 4: Truth and Consequence

The next morning found Jenna alone yet again in her shed, sound asleep. The air which wafted in through the cracks in the wood was cool and crisp as it gently rolled over her fur, providing for her an atmosphere that, in her definition, was perfect. The wind whispered softly outside, whistling almost rhythmically through the shed, which soothed her even deeper into the recession of her sleep, but like all good things, her slumber ended when her name was called.

Her ears perked up immediately and her eyes slowly peeled themselves open, but that was when she felt a strange illness overcome her. Her entire body throbbed with pain, her skin was tender to the touch, and her stomach churned like an angry sea, threatening to spew its contents onto the floor.

Her name was called again, driving her to rise from her bed, but she simply lacked the energy, and when she tried to move, the pain intensified, causing her to whimper softly.

It was then that she heard the creak of the rusty spring then the crash of the screen door as it slammed shut. She knew she should get up, but she simply couldn't, so she laid there waiting for whomever it was who called to open the door and find her.

She heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow as they drew near and laid her head down, for that alone was enough to drain nearly all of the energy she had. As her head hit the blanket in her basket yet again, the shed door opened and into it stepped, Evelyn, Rosy's mother.

Having no other way of communicating, Jenna simply began to whimper softly, but otherwise remained motionless, for she simply lacked the energy to move.

"Jenna what's the matter girl?" Evelyn asked, stepping into the room.

She approached the dog slowly, yet urgently, for she did not want to alarm her, but at the same time she knew that something was wrong, really wrong.

She arrived at Jenna's side and knelt down next to her, laying a hand on the side of her face. Jenna only whimpered, too sick to do anything else. Evelyn stayed by Jenna's side, checking her body for any indication as to what may be wrong with her, but upon seeing no visible affliction, she sighed and pressed herself to her feet.

Upon seeing her rise to make her departure, Jenna implored her to stay with a sad whimper.

"I know, Jen," Evelyn replied consolingly, "just hang on, I'll be right back. I promise."

Jenna only continued to whimper as Evelyn began to make her way out of the shed, and even still after the door was closed and she was once again alone, for she was scared.

Evelyn walked briskly into the house and once inside, found her husband to be readying himself to depart for work. Thankfully, Rosy had yet to finish getting ready for school, so she hand not yet come down stairs.

"Did you find her?" her husband asked, tugging at his tie.

"I did," she replied, "but something is wrong."

"Wrong?" he asked, perturbed, "how so?"

"I don't know," she said, "she's sick. Could you please take Rosy to school on your way to work? I have to take her to the vet."

He grumbled noticeably under his breath, for he was already going to be late as it was, and if he were to take Rosy to school he just might have to start seeking other employment; hopefully his boss would understand if he explained the situation.

"Alright I'll do it," he said to her, pressing a defeated sigh between his lips, "but what if when Rosy starts asking questions?"

"Just tell her it's a regular checkup," Evelyn replied.

He nodded once.

"Alright," he agreed, "you'd better get out of here before she comes down stairs."

Evelyn stepped forward and kissed his cheek briefly then pulled away.

"I love you," she said, and began to move toward the door.

U.D.

Jenna was scared, not only because of her ailing body, but also because the town's animal hospital was not exactly the kind of place she would elect to throw a picnic. It smelled of strange things that she did not understand and of others that she did, for the success rate of any hospital, especially an animal hospital was anything but perfect.

Evelyn was instructed to wait outside in the sitting room while the doctors did their various tests on her, so she did not even have any moral support to help ease her nerve, meaning that she was left to face this terror all alone. How she wished Balto was here.

The first test to be run on her was the taking of her temperature, which was done so in a way that she had only enjoyed once, for only that one time had she actually wanted anything foreign in there, then she was felt up and down, prodded gently around her stomach, legs, chest, and sides. Each poke they made caused her to whimper slightly, for no matter where they touched her it hurt, and then a stethoscope was placed against her side. After a grueling ten minutes of painful and obnoxious pokes and prods, the tests were finally concluded and she was left alone in the room, but only briefly as a nurse was brought in to keep an eye on her.

Evelyn was anxious as she waited, her fidgety fingers clasped in her lap. She did not know what was wrong with her daughter's dog, but whatever it was, she knew it could not be good.

Then finally the moment of truth came.

The doctor appeared in the room through a door to her right, causing her to lift her eyes immediately to him.

"How is she," Evelyn asked, rising to her feet.

The doctor smiled.

"She's fine," he replied assuringly, "but you'd better consider making room for pups."

The news shocked Evelyn.

"Pups," she asked in disbelief, "but her heat cycle isn't until next month; how could she possibly be pregnant?"

"We can't say for sure, but these things happen sometimes," the doctor replied, "though it is highly unlikely and such occurrences are rare, they do happen."

Evelyn sighed, both in relief and in dismay, for she was glad that Jenna was not sick, but at the same time, she knew that feeding them until they were old enough to be either sold or given away would be quite difficult due to their debt to the hospital following the Diphtheria scare.

"Thank you doctor," she thanked, finding no other words to say.

He nodded and went to collect Jenna, leaving Evelyn alone in the waiting room.

U.D.

If Jenna was scared before she found out the news, she was mortified now, for she knew just how quickly news spread in a small town such as this, and she could only guess how long it would take for her husband to find out. When that moment came, she would be screwed because he would know that he was not the father. Dear lord why didn't she make a move on him last night? Because she thought this wouldn't happen, and she knew it would never stack up to what Kodi could provide, that's why. Oh God what was she to do now?

She had to keep this on the down-low. She would tell Kodi and Kodi only, but what about Rosy's parents? Surely they would discuss such manners with their friend's and acquaintances, and if there were dogs around to hear such a conversation, the jig would be up.

She sighed, laying alone in her shed.

"I am so screwed."

U.D.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Connor," Simpson begged under the scrutinizing scowl of his employer, "but I kept having problems between two of my dogs throughout the whole trip."

"But you're a professional, Simpson," Connor argued, "you should know how to handle such situations efficiently, if not then there is just no room left for you here."

"Please, Mr. Connor," Simpson Implored, "I'm begging ya, just one more chance. I promise I won't let ya down."

Mr. Connor sighed.

"Misha, you're a good kid, and I know you're trying your best, but I'm trying to keep a business alive here," Connor explained, "and I cannot afford to have you continuously showing up late with the mail. People depend on me and they depend on you to get their mail to them in a timely manner and it just hasn't happened yet."

Simpson nodded, lowering his eyes, for he did understand where Connor was coming from.

Connor sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"You know what, Simpson," he said, causing Simpson to lift his eyes, "let's just forget this whole conversation ever happened, but I'm only gonna give you one last chance. If you're late this time, you're finished, ya hear?"

A smile spread across Simpson's lips and he took Connor's hand into his.

"Yes sir, Mr. Connor," he replied, shaking his hand firmly, excitedly, "thank you. I promise I won't let you down."

U.D.

"What do you think is taking him so long?" Ralph asked aloud, such a question directed to anyone who would wish to answer.

"Connor is probably firing us, to be completely honest," Dusty replied bitterly.

"Yeah and who's fault is that?" Kirby retorted, turning a pointed glare to her.

"And just what are you getting at," she asked him indignantly.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Kirby charged, "look I understand that you hate Kodi's guts right now, but we cannot have you jeopardizing all of our jobs with all of your bullshit. Now either you two need to work this out or one of you needs to go, I don't care which, but one way or another, fix. it."

"Fine," Dusty replied with narrowed eyes, "if I'm to be made the enemy all the time then I'll just go."

She began to turn away.

"Dusty wait," Kodi called after her, but she ignored him and kept walking.

"Let her go," Ralph suggested venomously, "it's-"

"No," Kodi snapped, causing Ralph to jump slightly, "I'll not have her take the fall for this, and I am absolutely appalled that you all would. It's my fault she's pissed, it's my fault we are late all the time, and it's my fault we're probably gonna get fired, so if you are lookin for somebody to blame, blame me."

There was a silence as everybody stared at Kodi, but Kodi's scowl remained fixed deeply upon his features.

Chapter 4: Truth and Consequence

The next morning found Jenna alone yet again in her shed, sound asleep. The air which wafted in through the cracks in the wood was cool and crisp as it gently rolled over her fur, providing for her an atmosphere that, in her definition, was perfect. The wind whispered softly outside, whistling almost rhythmically through the shed, which soothed her even deeper into the recession of her sleep, but like all good things, her slumber ended when her name was called.

Her ears perked up immediately and her eyes slowly peeled themselves open, but that was when she felt a strange illness overcome her. Her entire body throbbed with pain, her skin was tender to the touch, and her stomach churned like an angry sea, threatening to spew its contents onto the floor.

Her name was called again, driving her to rise from her bed, but she simply lacked the energy, and when she tried to move, the pain intensified, causing her to whimper softly.

It was then that she heard the creak of the rusty spring then the crash of the screen door as it slammed shut. She knew she should get up, but she simply couldn't, so she laid there waiting for whomever it was who called to open the door and find her.

She heard the crunch of footsteps in the snow as they drew near and laid her head down, for that alone was enough to drain nearly all of the energy she had. As her head hit the blanket in her basket yet again, the shed door opened and into it stepped, Evelyn, Rosy's mother.

Having no other way of communicating, Jenna simply began to whimper softly, but otherwise remained motionless, for she simply lacked the energy to move.

"Jenna what's the matter girl?" Evelyn asked, stepping into the room.

She approached the dog slowly, yet urgently, for she did not want to alarm her, but at the same time she knew that something was wrong, really wrong.

She arrived at Jenna's side and knelt down next to her, laying a hand on the side of her face. Jenna only whimpered, too sick to do anything else. Evelyn stayed by Jenna's side, checking her body for any indication as to what may be wrong with her, but upon seeing no visible affliction, she sighed and pressed herself to her feet.

Upon seeing her rise to make her departure, Jenna implored her to stay with a sad whimper.

"I know, Jen," Evelyn replied consolingly, "just hang on, I'll be right back. I promise."

Jenna only continued to whimper as Evelyn began to make her way out of the shed, and even still after the door was closed and she was once again alone, for she was scared.

Evelyn walked briskly into the house and once inside, found her husband to be readying himself to depart for work. Thankfully, Rosy had yet to finish getting ready for school, so she hand not yet come down stairs.

"Did you find her?" her husband asked, tugging at his tie.

"I did," she replied, "but something is wrong."

"Wrong?" he asked, perturbed, "how so?"

"I don't know," she said, "she's sick. Could you please take Rosy to school on your way to work? I have to take her to the vet."

He grumbled noticeably under his breath, for he was already going to be late as it was, and if he were to take Rosy to school he just might have to start seeking other employment; hopefully his boss would understand if he explained the situation.

"Alright I'll do it," he said to her, pressing a defeated sigh between his lips, "but what if when Rosy starts asking questions?"

"Just tell her it's a regular checkup," Evelyn replied.

He nodded once.

"Alright," he agreed, "you'd better get out of here before she comes down stairs."

Evelyn stepped forward and kissed his cheek briefly then pulled away.

"I love you," she said, and began to move toward the door.

U.D.

Jenna was scared, not only because of her ailing body, but also because the town's animal hospital was not exactly the kind of place she would elect to throw a picnic. It smelled of strange things that she did not understand and of others that she did, for the success rate of any hospital, especially an animal hospital was anything but perfect.

Evelyn was instructed to wait outside in the sitting room while the doctors did their various tests on her, so she did not even have any moral support to help ease her nerve, meaning that she was left to face this terror all alone. How she wished Balto was here.

The first test to be run on her was the taking of her temperature, which was done so in a way that she had only enjoyed once, for only that one time had she actually wanted anything foreign in there, then she was felt up and down, prodded gently around her stomach, legs, chest, and sides. Each poke they made caused her to whimper slightly, for no matter where they touched her it hurt, and then a stethoscope was placed against her side. After a grueling ten minutes of painful and obnoxious pokes and prods, the tests were finally concluded and she was left alone in the room, but only briefly as a nurse was brought in to keep an eye on her.

Evelyn was anxious as she waited, her fidgety fingers clasped in her lap. She did not know what was wrong with her daughter's dog, but whatever it was, she knew it could not be good.

Then finally the moment of truth came.

The doctor appeared in the room through a door to her right, causing her to lift her eyes immediately to him.

"How is she," Evelyn asked, rising to her feet.

The doctor smiled.

"She's fine," he replied assuringly, "but you'd better consider making room for pups."

The news shocked Evelyn.

"Pups," she asked in disbelief, "but her heat cycle isn't until next month; how could she possibly be pregnant?"

"We can't say for sure, but these things happen sometimes," the doctor replied, "though it is highly unlikely and such occurrences are rare, they do happen."

Evelyn sighed, both in relief and in dismay, for she was glad that Jenna was not sick, but at the same time, she knew that feeding them until they were old enough to be either sold or given away would be quite difficult due to their debt to the hospital following the Diphtheria scare.

"Thank you doctor," she thanked, finding no other words to say.

He nodded and went to collect Jenna, leaving Evelyn alone in the waiting room.

U.D.

If Jenna was scared before she found out the news, she was mortified now, for she knew just how quickly news spread in a small town such as this, and she could only guess how long it would take for her husband to find out. When that moment came, she would be screwed because he would know that he was not the father. Dear lord why didn't she make a move on him last night? Because she thought this wouldn't happen, and she knew it would never stack up to what Kodi could provide, that's why. Oh God what was she to do now?

She had to keep this on the down-low. She would tell Kodi and Kodi only, but what about Rosy's parents? Surely they would discuss such manners with their friend's and acquaintances, and if there were dogs around to hear such a conversation, the jig would be up.

She sighed, laying alone in her shed.

"I am so screwed."

U.D.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Connor," Simpson begged under the scrutinizing scowl of his employer, "but I kept having problems between two of my dogs throughout the whole trip."

"But you're a professional, Simpson," Connor argued, "you should know how to handle such situations efficiently, if not then there is just no room left for you here."

"Please, Mr. Connor," Simpson Implored, "I'm begging ya, just one more chance. I promise I won't let ya down."

Mr. Connor sighed.

"Misha, you're a good kid, and I know you're trying your best, but I'm trying to keep a business alive here," Connor explained, "and I cannot afford to have you continuously showing up late with the mail. People depend on me and they depend on you to get their mail to them in a timely manner and it just hasn't happened yet."

Simpson nodded, lowering his eyes, for he did understand where Connor was coming from.

Connor sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"You know what, Simpson," he said, causing Simpson to lift his eyes, "let's just forget this whole conversation ever happened, but I'm only gonna give you one last chance. If you're late this time, you're finished, ya hear?"

A smile spread across Simpson's lips and he took Connor's hand into his.

"Yes sir, Mr. Connor," he replied, shaking his hand firmly, excitedly, "thank you. I promise I won't let you down."

U.D.

"What do you think is taking him so long?" Ralph asked aloud, such a question directed to anyone who would wish to answer.

"Connor is probably firing us, to be completely honest," Dusty replied bitterly.

"Yeah and who's fault is that?" Kirby retorted, turning a pointed glare to her.

"And just what are you getting at," she asked him indignantly.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Kirby charged, "look I understand that you hate Kodi's guts right now, but we cannot have you jeopardizing all of our jobs with all of your bullshit. Now either you two need to work this out or one of you needs to go, I don't care which, but one way or another, fix. it."

"Fine," Dusty replied with narrowed eyes, "if I'm to be made the enemy all the time then I'll just go."

She began to turn away.

"Dusty wait," Kodi called after her, but she ignored him and kept walking.

"Let her go," Ralph suggested venomously, "it's-"

"No," Kodi snapped, causing Ralph to jump slightly, "I'll not have her take the fall for this, and I am absolutely appalled that you all would. It's my fault she's pissed, it's my fault we are late all the time, and it's my fault we're probably gonna get fired, so if you are lookin for somebody to blame, blame me."

There was a silence as everybody stared at Kodi, but Kodi's scowl remained fixed deeply upon his features.

"Now, if nobody else wants to help her, that's fine by me, but I'm not gonna sit idly by and watch somebody get hurt because of something I caused. Now if you would kindly move."

The dogs on his team parted, leaving a hole big enough so that he could fit between them, then without another word, he stormed away in pursuit of Dusty.

Lucky for him, he managed to catch her before she could disappear into one of the town's many intricate alley systems, as he was certain he would never find her in there.

"Dusty, wait up!" Kodi called.

Immediately she whipped around to face him, snarling viciously, which caused him to retreat at step.

"What do you want?" she asked him bitterly, ceasing to snarl, but allowing her face to remain firm.

"Dusty please, just hear me out," Kodi began, "I-"

"Save it, Kodi," Dusty interrupted, "I'm in no mood to hear you try to apologize to me."

"I didn't come to apologize for my actions," Kodi replied, "I came to apologize for theirs."

Though she may not have known it, her eyebrows stitched together in confusion.

Taking advantage of whatever silences he could, Kodi continued.

"It was wrong of them to say that to you," Kodi said to her, "alright. I know it's not your fault. It's mine."

"You're damn right it is," she replied with a sarcastic laugh.

"Dusty, you're my friend and I care about you, and even if you may not care for me anymore, I will not let you take the heat for something that I have done, and if we get fired, it's all on me, but you can't just walk away from it all like this."

"Oh?" she asked incredulously, "and why not?"

"Because, Dusty, do you honestly think that Simpson won't be able to find you?" Kodi asked reasonably, "and when he does, do you think he will be very happy with you?"

Dusty hung her head.

"No," she replied with a sigh.

"So what'dya say?" he asked her, "why don't you come on back and if they say anything else, I'll break their necks."

She still seemed hesitant, so Kodi sighed.

"Look I know you're mad at me right now, and you have every right to be, but don't let this be your downfall, Dusty. You can take a swing at me, yell at me, curse me, do anything you please to make you feel better, but please I implore you, don't destroy your life over this. Please come back with me."

Dusty seemed to consider his words carefully for a moment, but after a moment she digressed with a sigh and lifted her eyes to him.

"Alright, I'll go," she conceded, "but don't think that this has changed anything between us. I'm still pissed at you."

Kodi nodded, though inside he had hoped that the hatchet would be buried and that it would end here, but he decided to take whatever little victories he could and allowed a faint smile to pass over his lips.

"After you," he said to her, gesturing toward the sled with his paw, but when she shot him an icy glare he lowered it and stepped back, allowing her to pass.

He watched her go for a moment then began to follow, but as he took his third step, he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Mom?" he asked, turning to look behind him.

He found her to be approaching at a casual walk, looking just as lovely and sensuous as ever, but rather than drool over her as he had before, he seemed to feel guilty, for he knew that what they had done was both sick and wrong, and he knew that he would never be able to undo what was done. However, as a means of avoiding awkwardness between them, he buried such feelings in his stomach for the time being and forced a smile upon his face.

She moved in and greeted him as she had every other time he had finished with a mail run then pulled away, but as she grew distant he detected a faint tribulation in her eyes, one which would go undetected by anybody else had they not felt the same.

"Kodi, I need to talk to you," she said, lowering her eyes, "alone."

Kodi felt knots begin to form in his stomach, for her tone suggested that something was severely wrong, but he wished not to disobey through fear of causing a scene, so he nodded and allowed her to lead him away.

Little did they know, though, that they had a witness to such a conversation, and though they thought that they had done well to hide their discomfort in one another's company, nobody knew them better than he, so he could spot it from a mile away. He bought his time and waited for them to grow distant before following, keeping to the shadows to avoid detection, for something was amuck and he knew it since yesterday. Hopefully he would finally get some answers.

U.D.

Her words rang in his head like a funeral bell, echoing off of his skull and repercussing in his brain like somebody had blown a horn directly in his ear, and upon hearing such damning words he felt his stomach turn a flip and felt his heart drop right out of his chest.

He could not believe what he had heard, in fact was so sure that he had misheard that he would not believe it until he heard it again, though a part of him told him that he didn't want to.

"No," he muttered softly under his breath, "it- you can't be."

Jenna only sighed and lowered her eyes.

"You said that this wouldn't happen!" Kodi cried, now beginning to panic, "you promised!"

"Kodi, you need to calm down," Jenna pleaded, trying to settle her frightened child.

"Calm down?" Kodi asked with a chuckle, "Calm down? I got my mother pregnant!"

"Shh, keep it down," Jenna whispered urgently, "somebody will hear you."

"Somebody already did," Balto growled as the shed door was thrown open.

"Balto!" Jenna cried, "I- it-"

"Save it, Jenna," Balto yelled, whipping his head toward her, "you and I are through, and as for you," he turned to Kodi, who was petrified with fear.

Without warning, Balto leapt on him and tackled him through the shed's thin wall to the ground outside, then began to relentlessly beat him with his paws.

"Balto, stop!" Jenna pleaded with tears pouring down her cheeks as she tried to pull him off of her son, "it was an accident!"

By now the commotion had drawn quite a crowd of curious onlookers who had heard the yelling and wanted to see what was going down, but nobody expected to see this.

Balto withheld his paws from Kodi for a moment and whipped his body around, throwing Jenna to the ground, leaving his stricken son lying in a sniveling ball on the ground, his face swollen and bleeding.

"An accident!" Balto screamed as he stood over her, a livid fire burning in his eyes, "Jenna he is your SON! You FUCKED your SON! Do you not understand just how FUCKED UP that is? You are carrying HIS kid!"

"Balto I'm sorry!" she cried, wrapping herself up into a frightened ball, "I don't know what came over me, I just-"

"I know EXACTLY what happened," Balto interrupted, "you're a whore, never satisfied with anything, so in order to fill your constant desire for something more, you decided to cheat on me, and with your own son no less!"

"Bato that's not what happened at all!" Jenna pleaded, trying to defend herself, "I-"

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Balto screamed, "I don't want to hear another word!"

He stood, panting, and as silence fell between them, the muttering of the crowd reached his ears and caused him to face them.

Feeling his anger subside slightly, he shook his head and turned away.

"Enjoy him if you can," he said flatly as he began to walk away, "but I'm done with you."

"Balto please," Jenna pleaded in a voice choked by tears as she rose to her paws, but he did not stop, "Balto!"

She she pursued him for a brief distance, begging him to stop, but once she realized that it was really over, she collapsed onto her haunches and began to sob uncontrollably.

"Please," she cried under her breath, "don't leave me."