herd and the woods. Nothing seemed to be happening, so Saphrina sank to her stomach. Just before she started to doze off, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. 

Saphrina jumped to her feet, whipping around. The figure was shrouded in darkness and just stood. It was definitely some kind of canine. Saphrina slipped under the cow’s pen fence, putting herself out in the open so the intruder could see her. The figure swayed a little then took a step forward, limping.

Saphrina’s heart leapt and she sat down calmly, making Solo come to her. When he got close enough for Saphrina to see his face, she could see that he didn’t look so good. His eyes were still lit with their usual light, but they had dark circles and he looked like he had almost wilted.

“Are you alright? You don’t look so good...”

Solo brushed off her comment, an almost crazed look on his face. “You do like me” he started, changing the subject deliriously. “You saved me from those dogs... and then you saved me from... more dogs” 

Saphrina tried to smile, but Solo looked awful!

“Solo, are you sick?!”

Solo puffed his chest out, as if he was going to argue, but staggered. “Yeah... I- maybe” he said softly before his eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed. Saphrina jumped to her feet, shocked and checked him over. He seemed okay except for his shoulder. It looked worse then before! Saphrina looked around and spotted the old barn John sometimes used to put pregnant cows in. She could hide Solo in one of the stalls. Using all of her strength, she grabbed the unconscious wolf by the scruff of his neck and dragged him to the barn.

Once she had gotten into the dusty wooden building, she dragged Solo into one of the stalls, settling him down in the hay. She took a rest, panting then remembered Galileo, Phil’s border collie and one of Ridge’s close friends. He was a genius! Saphrina nodded to herself, mumbling a quick “I’ll be back soon” to Solo, then she took off into the night.

     Once she came to Phil’s huge pasture, Saphrina tilted her head, took a deep breath, and howled as loud and long as she could. Ridge, Nimbin, Galileo, Trigg and Pilot, who had been sleeping on the porch, scrambled to their feet and down the stairs. They spotted Saphrina and charged until they realized it was her.

“Saphrina!” Ridge began angrily, “What on-”

“I need your help!” Saphrina spat out. “Well at least Galileo’s!”

The dogs exchanged looks but leapt after Saphrina, following her back to her barn. As Saphrina walked back to the stall she’d left Solo in, she half wished Loki could’ve come too... she would’ve been a little easier on her when she found out about Solo. 

“Please don’t be mad” she aimed mostly at Ridge before pushed the stall door open. The six dogs stepped into the stall and Solo, who had woken back up, stared back at the dogs.

“I thought we were done with this whole capture thing!” Solo mumbled desperately. “Why’d you bring them here?”

“They’re here to help” Saphrina replied. 

“We’re here to leave!” Ridge growled furiously. “You’re lucky we don’t come back here with humans! Let’s go!”

“No!” Saphrina yelped, jumping in front of them. “Please! He needs help!” 

“I can’t believe you brought him back here!”

“I can” Nimbin interrupted. Ridge glared and Nimbin shrugged. “Well I saw it comin’...”

“What were you thinking?!” Ridge snapped.

“He’s not all bad!”

“Yes he is! You watched him kill Shooter!”

“And I watched him save me too!”

Ridge stopped arguing and raised a brow. “When did he save you?”

“Back in town” Saphrina said softly, eyes dropping to the ground. “When I... let him out”

“That was you?! Aw... Saphi...”

Rage was building up in Ridge’s voice and Saphrina couldn’t bring herself to look at his face.

“Nimbin wasn’t the one that saved you?”

“Nowpe” Nimbin replied back for her. “By the time I’d gotten there, he’d already chased ‘em away. I wouldna had time ta save ‘er”

Ridge glanced back at the wolf hatefully. “Please Ridge” Ridge shook his head, knowing Saphrina had found his soft spot and stormed out of the barn, leaving Galileo to look at the wolf. Saphrina, Galileo and Nimbin rushed into the stall and Galileo began to analyze the wolf’s shoulder.

“Hmmmm...” 

“Is it bad?”

“It looks infected” Galileo mumbled, intensely squinting at the gunshot hole. “Was the bullet ever removed?”

Saphrina looked at Solo and the wolf shrugged. “I didn’t take it out. I don’t even know what a bullet is”

Galileo frowned and squinted at the wound. “Well who wants to go get it?”

Saphrina looked expectantly at Galileo. 

“Well I’m not gonna get it!” Galileo exclaimed, stepping back. “Look at it! Do you know how gross and infected it is?!”

Saphrina turned to Nimbin. “Don’t even look at me!” he retorted before she even said anything. 

“Please Nimbin! Pretty please! You’ve done gross stuff before!”

Nimbin shook his head stubbornly. 

“Ridge would’ve done it it if he liked Solo”

Nimbin opened his eyes and glanced warily at the wound. 

“You guys are all pansies” Solo muttered, reaching around and nibbling on his own shoulder. “Do I just bite it out?” he asked between nips.

“Uh... yeah... that should work” Galileo asked, looking a little sick. Wincing, Solo finally closed his teeth on the tiny metal object and dropped it into the straw. 

“There we go” Solo said weakly, falling back into the hay and closing his eyes. Saphrina went to nudge him awake, but Galileo motioned for them to go outside the stall. 

“So will that make everything better?” Saphrina whispered. Galileo shrugged. 

“It might. Now that it’s out, the open air could make it better... but I don’t know how far the infection’s gotten. He could get worse. But he might be strong enough to make it through”

Saphrina nodded solemnly. “So what do I do until then?”

“Bring him water. Other then that, there’s nothing you can do. Just sit and wait”

“Okay” Saphrina breathed nervously. Galileo turned to leave, but remembered one last thing.

“And if he goes out to the woods, uh... don’t follow”

Saphrina nodded. She knew what Galileo was thinking. Wild animals usually went of to find somewhere to crawl under if they knew they weren’t going to make it...

“Seeya lata’” Nimbin said softly, leaving the barn. 

Saphrina watched them somberly, then did as Galileo had told her to do and went outside to drag in a bucket that snow had fallen in. Once she went back into the warmth of the barn, the snow melted into water and Saphrina set it down next to the wolf. Even in his sleep, the wolf shivered, so Saphrina found a tattered old blanket in the hay and pulled it over the wolf. Once she was satisfied he was okay, she left him alone. Morning had already come and Wendy had probably filled her bowl already. She didn’t worry about anyone finding Solo. Now that the calves were all born and were strong, the barn had little use. 

Throughout the next day, Saphrina would duck back into the barn to make sure everything was okay and every time she did, she found Solo in the same shape. Curled up under the blanket, deep asleep. 

When John had finally locked the herd up in their pen, Saphrina didn’t wait for his approval and rushed into the house to eat her dinner. She was back out the door and headed for the barn before John had even finished his dinner. When she returned once again, Solo was still asleep under the blanket. Some of the melted snow was gone, so he must’ve woken up at some point...

Saphrina settled herself down beside the wolf. He didn’t smell like what Saphrina remembered... it made Saphrina feel nervous. But shrugging it off, she closed her eyes and fell asleep too.

Only a few hours later, Saphrina woke up on her own. She lifted her head, wondering what had woken her up. Had it gotten warmer? She looked down at Solo. The wolf was panting heavily, eyes closed tightly in pain and his tongue was hanging out of the side of his mouth. The heat was coming from Solo. He had a fever. Saphrina scrambled to her feet, eyes wide. He seemed like he was awake.

“I’ll- I’ll go get Galileo!” she managed before sprinting out of the barn.

Galileo and the other dogs were already outside guarding their herd, so Saphrina was able to get the Border Collie running back to the barn quickly. But as they got closer, they could see John making his way to the barn. 

“What is he doing out here?!” Saphrina barked aloud. “He’s usually about to go to sleep by now!”

John opened the door to the barn, lantern in his hand, and Saphrina dug in, speeding up in an attempt to beat John there. But by the time she had slipped through the barn door, John was already holding a lantern to the stall. Saphrina slipped through his legs to see the light of the