Ranger's Apprentice I: Arising Danger

| Chapter VII

I immediately relaxed and stepped closer. I sat down next the dog that was making so much noise and tried to calm it down. But it kept yanking and yelling. Frowning, I tried to find the source of why it was yelling from pain and saw it was the leg of the dog. There was a wound on the thigh.
     "Shhh," I said. "I'll take you to my cabin and treat the wound, okay?" I asked the dog. I noticed it was a female and asked her: "What's your name?"
     I noticed she was wearing a collar with a tag on it. I grabbed the tag with my first two fingers and read out loud. "Heidi." I looked up to her. "So that's your name? Well, Heidi, my name's Silver. And I'll take care for you." Why was she wearing a collar actually? There was one reason why a dog would have a collar around its neck. Because it has owners.
     "After that, I'll bring you back to your owners," I said, after I had realized that. I carefully lifted the dog and started walking back to the house. I didn't know how long the walk would be, but one thing was sure: I would return when the night had already fallen.

And I was right. Because I did return when it was dark outside. I knocked the door but when Will didn't answer, I opened the door myself and closed the door behind me. I immediately headed towards the kitchen and put Heidi on the floor.
     Heidi was lying on the ground and she was panting. I opened some drawers and searched for bandages and alcohol — alcohol is used to clean wounds. Once I found what I needed, I started to treat Heidi's wound. It was filled with dirt and I had to remove the dirt. And that was a real struggle, because Heidi was struggling to break free from my firm grip. But after some time, I finally managed to treat Heidi's wound. After that, I brought Heidi to the living room and carefully placed her on the couch. Tired as I was after fighting Heidi in order to treat the wound, I lied beside her and fell asleep.

I would only have woken up late in the morning, I am sure, but I woke up by a tap on my shoulder. I immediately looked up and wanted to get up, especially when I saw Will standing with his arms crossed. But soon he sat down in front of me and he started petting the sleeping dog I was holding. I hadn't grabbed a blanket, last night, so I would need a few moments to stretch my stiffened muscles when getting up.
     "And may I ask where you found her?" Will asked with a soft tone.
     I pet Heidi and saw she was waking up. She moved a little and then looked at me without turning her head. "An hour or so south from the cabin," I explained.
     Will nodded and asked: "And what's her name?"
     "Her name's Heidi, and I am gonna take her back to her owners," I said, feeling less courageous than I was showing. How am I even gonna find the owners of Heidi? Where do I start from here? The more I thought about it, the more stupid and dumb this action looks like. Because without thinking about it, I just took a dog to my cabin and now wanted to return it to the owners, when I have no idea who the owners could be. How stupid is that?!
"I see she has a wound," Will stated. "You cleaned it well." Then he moved and said: "Silver, look at me."
With a sigh I did as he said. I knew where this was going.
"I was searching for you all night," Will said. "Do you know what time it is now?"
I could guess it, judging the darkness from outside the windows, but I was too tired to be serious. "No, enlighten me." And then immediately added: "I am so sorry, Will! Sometimes I just have these moments I need to have my time, and then I just run away from everyone and everything. I didn't mean to upset you."
Will placed his hand on my right forearm, the one with the scratch and said: "Calm down a little, would you. No need to upset yourself." Then he said without showing emotions: "It's half past two in the morning."
"I better go to sleep," I said.
Will chuckled. "Yes, you absolutely need to!" Then he stood up and went to his room, leaving me on the couch with Heidi. Soon we were both sleeping.

Next day was unexpected, because something unpredictable and so unexpected happened. Let me explain the situation.
     Heidi and I had slept on the couch from — Will told me this later — ten o'clock in the evening to half past two in the morning, and probably a bit later after that. But at some point, between half past two in the morning to nine o'clock — at that point I had woken up — Heidi had walked away from me. So, she was gone.
     I was cleaning my face, had showered for only a few minutes, dressed up very quickly, and I had choked my breakfast until I was sure I needed to see a doctor. Will told me to calm down and that they would surely find Heidi. Telling me to calm down was the cause of me doing the whole opposite. I was freaking out.
     "But if something happens to her, I will never forgive myself!" I had told Will.
     So right after that, I had gone outside and was starting to call her. Will had followed me and had jumped onto Tug. "Go towards Wensley and I'll search the forest, okay?" After that, he had gone looking for Heidi.
     I was walking on the streets of Wensley. I turned around and called for Heidi. She seemed to be pretty much gone. And it was my fault, for not looking after her when I had promised her that. "Heidi!" I yelled again.
     "Why are you repeating that name all over again?" someone behind me asked.
     I turned around and saw a woman standing behind me. She had a kind face and her eyes were looking also so kind at me. She kinda looked familiar to me, but I wasn't sure where I had seen her.
     "I lost my dog," I sadly said.
     The woman stepped closer and I immediately stepped back. I was not comfortable with people getting so close to me. She raised her hands and said: "I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable. I am Jenny, Jenny Dalby."
     "Silver Young is the name. But you can just call me Silver, my lady," I said.
     "Aren't you Will's new Apprentice?" Jenny asked.
I nodded my head. "Yes, I am."
     "When was the last time you have seen your dog?" Jenny asked.
     "When I was sleeping around half past two in the morning," I answered.
     "And how does your dog look like?"
     "Well," I began. I hadn't really paid attention to how Heidi looked like, to be quite honest. All I had paid attention to was treating that nasty wound of hers. "Heidi is a black dog with a white belly and a white neck. Her tail is also white on the underside and she has yellow eyes. She also has a green collar with a tag on it. Her name is on that tag."
     Jenny's mouth dropped and she said, without much enthusiasm: "I know who the owner of Heidi is."