The Passing of Togo 

By Earl J. Aversano

This story was inspired by the movies Balto (1995, © Universal Pictures and Amblimation/Amblin Entertainment), Balto II: Wolf Quest (2002, © Universal Cartoon Studios), and Balto III: Wings of Change (2004, © Universal Cartoon Studios), as well as the real history of the Serum Run of 1925. 

The original Balto cartoon characters, including those which appear, or are mentioned, in this story: Aniu, Kodi, Dingo, Dusty, Kirby, Ralph, Mr. Simpson, Boris, Steele, and the cartoon version of Balto are copyrighted property of Universal Pictures, Universal Cartoon Studios, and Amblimation/Amblin Entertainment, respectively.  The versions of the following real-life humans and dogs, as presented in this story, are copyrighted property of JerseyCaptain: Togo, Fritz, and Leonhard Seppala.  Their real-life counterparts are copyrighted by no one.  The character Belle, used in this story, is used with permission of my friend, and an old Balto Source member, DingoHusky.

Neither this story, nor any part of it, may be reproduced in print, or posted on a web blog, message board, or other electronic medium, without the permission of the author.

NOTES

This story is fictional.  Togo is presented here as a character in the cartoon universe of the Balto movies, in which he never officially appeared.  In this setting, Balto still played a key role in the Serum Run, as he did in the movie.  The difference being that there were TWO teams…Steele’s (which became Balto’s), and Togo’s.  Togo’s team retrieved the anti-toxin from the train station at Nenana, and carried it about two-thirds the distance to Nome (after making the trek out of Nome to get to Nenana).  Steele’s team picked it up from them in relay, and carried it on.  From there the events occur as they did in the first Balto cartoon.

The first event which occurs in Togo’s dream sequence, in Chapter 2, is taken from an account of an actual event which occurred during Togo's lifetime (but, as it turns out, not during the real serum run, as I originally thought).  For details, you can read the excellent book “The Cruelest Miles”, or go to this website: http://digintodogs.com/reference/Togo_(dog).html. 

In this story, the character of Dingo is not a sled dog, but a constable’s dog, who assists him in keeping the peace in Nome.  I owe this interpretation of the character to my Balto Source friend, DingoHusky (who portrays Dingo as a character role-player on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/dingo_thedog).

(The setting of this story is Nome, Alaska.  It is 1929…four years since the Serum Run, and a year since the events portrayed in Balto 3: Wings of Change.)

CHAPTER 1

Togo, one of the great heroes of the Serum Run four years earlier, lay reclining in the snow on the beach of Norton Sound, a short distance from town.  It was early spring, and the sky was dark in the late hours of the night.  There was still plenty of snow on the ground, and some ice in the sound…but it had broken up and was now free-floating. 

Togo was old now, by dog standards - sixteen years old...and his age began to tell.  Gray fur swept across his muzzle, and encircled his piercing, ice-blue eyes.  He stared out into the darkness of Norton Sound.

With Togo were Dingo and Kodi, two sons of Balto, another great hero of the Serum Run.  Also present was Belle, one of Dingo’s young daughters.  Kodi had made a name for himself as an up-and-coming sled dog, moving rapidly up the ranks of Mr. Simpson’s mail team.  He had already earned the co-lead position, just under the team’s leader, Kirby.  Dingo, on the other hand, had taken a different path.  His human was the town constable, and so he had learned to be a police dog, assisting the constable with keeping the peace, and sniffing out all manner of troubles.  And, unlike Kodi, he’d already found a mate, and sired some puppies.

Belle, as usual for any husky puppy, was excited and in the mood to play.  While her father Dingo obliged her, Kodi lay next to Togo.  Apart from the playful noises coming from Dingo and Belle, the whisper of the cold, sub-arctic breeze, and the soft lap of the sound on the beach, all was quiet.  Kodi was the first to break the silence…

“It’s a peaceful night, isn’t it, uncle Togo?”

Togo, of course, wasn’t really the uncle of Balto and Jenna’s sons and daughters.  However, he had been one of Balto’s mentors, and a friend.  And so, as with Boris, they had come to view Togo as a sort of surrogate uncle, which pleased him immensely. 

Togo, however, did not reply.  Puzzled, Kodi continued.  “Uncle Togo?”

Togo looked at Kodi through the corner of his eye, without turning his head.  “Yes,” he replied, “it is.”  His voice was gravelly with age, but there was still a strength and dignity to it.

Dingo walked up from behind, and plopped down on the other side of Togo.  “I always like it when it’s like this.  There’s less for me to worry about.  I guess the humans here aren’t much for causing trouble after a certain hour.  Thank goodness!”

Togo chuckled, still staring out at the sound.  It remained quiet for another few minutes…then he spoke.  “Do you remember the old sled dog saying, Kodi?  The one the old dogs always mutter when their time has come upon them?”

Kodi turned to Togo with a start, his eyes wide.  “Uncle…!”

Togo chuckled again.  “Well?”

Kodi sighed, and concentrated a moment.  “Yeah, let’s see…I think it goes something like ‘it’s been a good run.”

“That’s right.”  Togo replied.  “And for me, it certainly has been.”

There was a long silence after that.  Belle came up beside Dingo, and placed her forelegs up over her father’s back, joining the three adult dogs in their repose.  The cold breeze played in and across their fur.  Belle giggled softly, thinking how much it tickled.

Togo finally decided to rise.  Grunting under the pressure and pain of arthritis in his joints, and the old injury he suffered during the Serum Run, he struggled to get to his feet.  Kodi, for his part, knew better than to try and offer the old sledding and racing veteran any help, as Togo would only have bluntly refused.  He never liked being perceived as a burden.  However, Dingo was not a sled dog, and wasn’t aware of Togo’s stubbornness about such things.  He felt sympathy for the dog that all his brothers and sisters had come to admire and love so much.  He rose up as Togo did.

“Let me help you, uncle Togo.”

Togo pulled back, and firmly blurted  “No!!”  Then, with a softer tone, he continued.  “No…I can manage.”  He grunted again, and continued to slowly rise.  And, from underneath Dingo, Belle came running up and jumped up on Togo, grabbing playfully at his nicked ear and tugging with a growl…sending Togo sliding abruptly back down into the snow with another grunt.

“BELLE!” Dingo shouted, his face contorted in frustration.  “Get off of him NOW!”  Belle loosened her grip on Togo’s ear and hunkered down, a guilty look in her eyes.

Togo and Kodi both laughed.  “It’s alright, Dingo”, Togo replied, “she’s a pup.”  He grunted again.  “She reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age!”  Togo rose again as Belle slid underneath him, looking up at Dingo, who shot back a glance which said, for all intents and purposes, “just wait ‘til I get you home!”

Togo stretched out, his old joints cracking as he did.  With a yawn, he stepped around and looked back at town, and then up at Anvil Mountain in the distance.  And then up at the sky, and the northern lights dancing across it.  He sighed.  “I’ve got a busy day tomorrow…”

Belle took a look at the northern lights as well, and became excited again.  Hopping up and down between her father and her uncle Kodi, she could barely contain herself.  “Ooooh!  The northern lights!  I love them!  They’re so pretty!  Uncle Kodi, do you think gramma and grampa are up on the mountain again tonight, watching them?  Huh?  Huh?”

Kodi laughed softly.  “Oh, I’m pretty sure they are, Belle.  They go up there a lot!  You know what?  When your father and I, and our brother and our sisters were just pups, grandpa Balto used to tell us a story about the northern lights.  He said that the dogs who live with the human tribes here and across the water always believed that the lights are the spirits of our ancestors.  That they dance like that because their spirits are running and playing together in the beautiful fields that await us all when we leave this world for the next.