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Bonnie sniffed his hand, confused. She’d done her job perfectly, but nobody came. And Bonnie had kept barking after Brian went still, for a long time, actually, but nobody came. And it was getting cold here in the forest, and to be very honest, Bonnie felt like panicking a little bit. Which wasn’t what she was supposed to do, she knew. It wasn’t what she’d been trained to do.

But she hadn’t been trained to be completely alone in a forest with an unconscious owner either.

So Bonnie looked around the dark forest. Maybe she should start barking again, maybe somebody would come to help. What else was she supposed to do in a situation like this? Nothing made sense at the moment? Why had everything changed all of a sudden? Where was Brian’s mate? And Tyke? Why were they in the forest? Bonnie didn’t like this forest at all. It smelled wet and rotten and the ominous sounds of the wind blowing through the trees made all the hair on her body rise. With a frightened squeal, Bonnie nudged her owner’s face; his hands; his side. Brian stirred slowly, his eyes empty and unfamiliar.

“Bonnie?” he whispered in confusion, “You’re still here,” he said, his fingers curling around her neck. Bonnie huffed at him, watching as his eyes rolled up and his grip slackened.

Bonnie took a step back, tilting her head. She sniffed him, looked at the deep cuts in his body and then took another few steps back. She knew she wasn’t supposed to leave. But she couldn’t stay either.

With a frustrated yelp, she turned and ran. She didn’t know where to go, the trees all looked the same and it was so dark. She felt her stomach growl with hunger and her muscles ached from exertion, but she couldn’t stop. Bonnie didn’t know how long she’d been running for before she heard them. It must have been a while, since she could see the sky getting lighter and lighter. Their voices were distant, but their laughs echoed through the lonely forest. Bonnie shrunk back, unsure of what to do. The wind was wrong, so she couldn’t smell them and couldn’t tell how many they were. She should just turn around and go back to Brian. She should.

But she didn’t.

With her tail tucked between her legs, she tried to make herself seem as small as possible as she presented herself to them. There were four of them, each one looking at her with a surprised expression on their faces.

“Damn, that’s a pretty dog,” one said, nudging his friend next to him.

“Whaddaya reckon she comes from?” the other one asked, studying Bonnie closely.

“Coulda been anywhere,” a woman said slowly, “Most likely ran away from a farm nearby.”

“One of those sheep dogs, see them all the time,” an old man said calmly, reaching out a hand for Bonnie to sniff. Too frightened, Bonnie shrunk back further, “Bobby, grab my rope from the duffle bag.”

“He has a collar, dad,” the first guy said, pointing at Bonnie.

The old man frowned, getting to his knees, “There’s no farms nearby, Evelyn,” he grunted, “And this definitely isn’t a stray. Say, where do you come from, boy?”

Bonnie looked at him, confused. She carefully inched closer and sniffed his hand, then licked his fingers in an attempt to show him some respect. She felt the rope slide around her neck and barked in confusion. Bonnie couldn’t see where it had come from, but it couldn’t happen. There were pressing matters to attend to as she remembered her owner lying unconscious somewhere in these woods. She barked again, pulling at the rope in anger, but the guy didn’t let go. “It’s okay, buddy,” he said, “We’re not trying to hurt you, buddy.”

Bonnie growled at him, because her name was not ‘buddy’ and he had no right to tie a rope around her neck. She nudged the older man that was still knelt next to her and barked urgently at him.

“Think we drop him off at the shelter when we get home, dad?” the woman mumbled.

“Maybe,” the old man answered, “If it’s not a stray, he should be chipped anyway. Dogs like these are expensive.”

Bonnie barked at him again, turning and pointing her face in the direction she’d come from. But they didn’t seem to understand. The old man got up and studied her thoughtfully, “There’s definitely something going on with him.”

Bonnie gave a sigh of frustration, sat down and tilted her head at him. Then she knew. Jumping up with renowned energy, she started barking in short howls and the saw the faces of the people change to confusion. Bonnie continued. She wasn’t an alert dog for nothing and her sounds echoed through the forest.

“Damn, wait a minute,” the old man said, realization slowly dawning on his face, “He’s trained to do this.”

Bonnie pulled at the rope again and the old man gave the other guy a signal. The rope fell to the floor and Bonnie sprinted to the nearest tree. Skidding to a stop, she turned to see if they would follow.

“Come on,” the guy that had held the rope said and the group began to move.

Excited, Bonnie led them through the forest, they were slower than she had anticipated and had trouble climbing the terrain of the forest. More than once she had to stop and bark in their direction in frustration before the reappeared again. It was a long time before Bonnie finally picked him up and began to move from her own to Brian’s scent. Behind her, the group swore and grumbled, but they kept following.

When she finally caught sight of him, he was still lying in the exact same spot she’d left him in. He was paler though and when she pressed her nose against his hand she was startled at how cold he’d become. Behind her, the group slowly came up the hill. She turned, looking at them expectantly, but they had stopped and didn’t move. She saw shock on their faces and she trotted towards them to try and make them follow her again. She panted as she sat down, looking at Brian, then looking at the group again. They slowly got closer and Bonnie felt a surge of pride going through her.

She’d done her job perfectly.