parents. She was sitting beside them, so she’d probably be over there for a while. Saba decided she could return quickly enough, and walked down the hill, and to the small spring.

She had been right, the water was very good. Soon, she felt her strength return, and she was ready for an hour more of chasing the stick with Kelly. Little did she know that her destiny was fast approaching, and that her entire life was about to change. There would be no more chasing the stick today.

A group of four wolves was walking alongside the ridge on the other side of the spring that Saba was drinking from.

They were brown, all except one, who was black. He appeared to be the one in charge, and walked at the head of the small pack.

One of the wolves was a little larger than the other three, and he groaned. “Man Stripe, I’m so hungry I think I could eat a whole caribou by myself. What’s it been, three days?”

“That’s nothing new.” One of the others said. “You can always eat a caribou by yourself Chunky.”

The wolves all laughed.

“True.” The big wolf said again, “but this time it’s serious.”

The black wolf stopped walking, but remained silent.

“You know Stripe, I’m kind of hungry too. You think we’ll find food sometime soon?”

The black wolf laughed. ”I think I just did.”

“What?” Chunky asked. “Are you serious Stripe?”

The black wolf nodded. “Yeah, I’m serious. Look down there.”

The four wolves looked down at the bottom of the ridge.

“A dog?” One of the wolves asked.

“Hey,” Chunky said. “Beggars can’t be choosers. Dog is fine with me.”

Stripe laughed. “Chunky, everything’s alright with you.”

“So what’s the plan?” One of the brown wolves said.

“I say we surprise her, double up on her.” Stripe responded.

“You know, she’s kind of cute.” The fourth wolf said. “Can we play with her a little first Stripe?”

Stripe sighed. “No you can’t play with her Junas. Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to play with your food? She might get away from us. It’s more important that we eat.”

“Aw come on.” Junas said. “You know how long it’s been since I’ve…” Stripe cut him off. “No is no Junas.”

“Alright, Alright.” Junas said. “So we double up on her then?”

Stripe nodded. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

The wolves turned, and two of them headed down the ridge.

Saba had finished drinking, and pulled her head up. “It’s so beautiful out here.” She thought. “I wish I got to see it more. If only I had been a sled dog like…” 

Her thoughts screeched to a halt and she sighed. Even now, four years later, the wound that her brother’s death had inflicted on her was extremely sensitive.

Saba was about to turn and walk back up the hill when she heard a growl from behind her.

She turned, and saw two wolves, one black, the other brown. They were crouched low and growling, showing their yellowed teeth.

“Who are…” Saba stopped as the wolves started to advance toward her. “What are you doing?” She asked.

The wolves didn’t respond.

Saba began to feel frightened and started backing up, keeping her eyes on the wolves.

She’d backed up about thirty feet when she heard more growling, this time from behind her.

Saba turned and saw two more wolves, both of these brown, advancing toward her from the rear. They were trying to box her in.

Saba began to feel genuine terror enter her body as she realized what the wolves meant to do.

“Please don’t!” She cried. “I… I don’t know how to fight! Please, just leave me alone!”

The black wolf grinned. “Get her.” He said.

The other three wolves jumped at Saba, and she ducked. The three wolves collided in mid air and fell in a heap to the ground.

Saba had never been in a real fight before, and other than puppy fighting with her siblings, had no idea how to defend herself.

The black wolf shook his head. “Can you guys not do anything right?” He walked toward her. “I’m sorry.” He said. “But we really need food.”

Saba shuddered.

The black wolf hit her in the face, and knocked Saba to the ground. She scrambled back to her feet. By this time the other three had also gotten up, and one of them jumped on her back. Saba felt his teeth tear into the side of her neck as he bit her.

Saba was shocked. She couldn’t believe this was happening. “They want to EAT ME!” Saba thought.

Some part of the wolf instinct in her kicked in then, and Saba threw her front paws in the air, wrapping them around her assailant and threw him off her back.

He hit the snow, and the next one ran at her, again from behind. This time, Saba kicked him as he jumped at her, and he also tumbled to the snow. She tried to do this again as the third attacked, but the wolf was ready for her response and instead of jumping at her, he shut his jaws on the middle of her back leg.

Saba screamed as she felt his teeth scrape bone.

The wolf wouldn’t let go, and Saba tried kicking her leg, but found that that only made the pain worse.

The wolf jerked his head sideways, and lifted Saba off the ground. While she was in the air, the wolf turned his head, turning Saba on her back. He didn’t let go of her leg as he did this, and his teeth tore a gash three inches deep around Saba’s leg. She screamed again, and the wolf let go of her, letting the momentum caused by the roll throw her to the ground.

As Saba hit the ground, she felt the breath whoosh out of her lungs. Her chest felt like it was on fire, and she couldn’t breathe.

The black wolf smiled, as she struggled to regain her footing. “Well I’m glad that at least one of you remembers what I taught you.”

He walked over to Saba, who was swaying a bit. The loss of blood was making her feel very light headed.

The black wolf stopped in front of her. Saba pulled back her paw, and with all the force she could muster, slapped the wolf across the face.

The blow had little power behind it, and it barely moved the wolves head, but it was sufficient enough to leave a pretty good scratch.

The wolf looked at her for a moment, then raised his paw, wiping it on the side of his face. He pulled it down and looked at it. There was a faint coat of blood on his paw. “Very good.” He said. “Now, like this.”

He popped his paw up, and caught Saba in the chin, popping her head up. The force of the blow was enough to lift her front legs off the ground.

Saba was already seeing stars, but when she dropped her head level again, the wolf hit her again, this time, straight in the face.

Saba felt herself hurled backward, and flipped over on her back, lading on the snow. Her vision went blurry as she bounced back up in the air, then it fragmented as she came down again, and bounced into the air a third time. Saba didn’t even feel herself hit the ground this time, as she slipped into comforting blackness.

A rough looking reddish dog was walking along a hillside, when he saw the wolves attacking the female dog.

“Can that be who I think it is?”” The dog thought.

He ran down the hill, and as the black wolf was about to finish her off, jumped, hitting the wolf in the shoulder and knocking him clear of the downed female.

The wolf quickly regained his feet. “You!” He said. “What are you doing here?”

The rough looking dog glared at the wolf. “I should ask you the same question Stripe. You know this is my territory.”

The other wolves walked over and stood next to their leader. “Yeah man,” one of them said. “We know, but… but we’re so hungry. We weren’t able to find anything to eat on our own.”

“So you’re reduced to murdering helpless dogs?” The rough dog said. “Not on my territory.”

“But…” Stripe started.

“I suggest you just leave.” The dog said. He waited, and when the wolves made no move to leave, added “now!”

The black wolf jumped a little, and the four of them turned, running away.

The dog waited for them to leave his sight, and when they had, looked down at the unconscious female at his feet. “Now let’s see if we can’t get you a little help. He said.

The dog lifted the severely injured female on his back, and began to walk away.

Saba slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times. She was quite surprised that she woke up at all. Her last memory was that of the wolves that had been trying to eat her.

She looked around her. Saba was in a cave. Other than that, she knew neither where she was or who had brought her here. She was near the entrance to the cave. She could see the snow outside, and thought of running toward it. Then she stopped. “If someone did rescue me I really ought to thank them.” She thought.

“Did someone rescue me?” She asked aloud. “Are you still here?”

“Well, look who’s awake.” A voice said from behind her.

Saba turned and gasped.

The red dog smiled, and walked toward her.

Saba started to tremble as the dog stopped in front of her. She stood, and raised her paw to her rescuer’s muzzle, feeling down his face. “It… it can’t…. you’re…” Saba had trouble finding the right words to express the multitude of emotions coursing through her. “You died. A… a long time ago. It… it can’t be you can it? She paused, almost unwilling to say the last word. “…Everest?”

The dog smiled and nodded.

Tears flooded Saba’s eyes as she continued to stare at her lost brother. She was at a loss for words, for words at that point seemed tremendously inadequate to express the feelings that were coursing through her. “…but… but… how… why… why didn’t you come back to us? I mean, if you’ve been alive all this time…”

Everest sighed. “This…this is going to be somewhat difficult to explain.”

Saba sat down. “Well… I’m listening.”

Everest sat down beside her. “I… I didn’t really know how to handle the feelings I had for you.”

“So you ran away?” Star asked. “You made us think you were dead? You know mom didn’t stop crying for a week?”

Everest sighed again. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been watching you, all of you actually.”

“Watching us?” Saba asked.

“Well you’re still my little sister.”