I am so terribly sorry that I have taken so long to update this; I had major writer's block and school was kinda got in the way. I finally think I have this going relatively like I want and it's winter break now. I hope to get some parts up as quickly as I can. Anywho. Here it is just before the new year! Speaking of which, Happy New Year!

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Michaela was driving the wagon back from seeing a new patient. Earlier that day there had been frantic knocking at her door and she opened it to a young boy of about ten who looked just as frantic as his knocking had been.

"You're the doc, right?"

Michaela's eyebrows shot up. "Yes."

"Please come! My ma's hurt!"

She had quickly gathered what she needed, bundled Hanna into her travel basket and climbed into her wagon, which she hadn't had the chance to unhitch from Shadow after going to town, along with the boy.

The boy's mother, a widow, had fallen and broken her leg; it had been a compound fracture and the bone had broken through the skin; Michaela had been shocked that the woman hadn't bled to death while she had waited for her to get there. Michaela had been able to set the bone and stitch the skin together again and the woman seemed to be doing better, but Michaela had made the son promise to come and get her if his mother started feeling sick or in worse pain and she promised to stop by again in a couple of days. The boy and his mother had offered for him to show Michaela the way home, but she had declined, not wanting the injured woman to be left alone.

On the way home Michaela ran into a little problem. It was starting to get dark, the homestead had been further from town than Michaela had ever been and she wasn't wholly sure of the way. It wasn't long before she was lost.

Michaela eyes nervously darted around her darkening surroundings; she moved Hanna's basket closer to her. Shadow seemed to be getting nervous as well; his ears were twitching and his gate seemed antsy.

Suddenly Shadow reared.

Michaela barely maintained her grip on the reins; she was so startled that she couldn't even try to talk Shadow down.

Finally Shadow came back down on all fours; unfortunately he took of at a gallop, with Michaela hanging on to the reins, trying to get him to stop.

The back right wheel ran over something and when it came back down there what a loud "crack" and the back right corner of the wagon was dragging on the ground.

Shadow tried to keep going but it was too much of a strain to try to pull the broken wagon and slowed to a stop.

Michaela sat the, stone still, for a moment, gripping the reins so tightly that she knew her knuckles would be white under her leather gloves. She took several deep breaths, trying to clear the terror from her mind.

Soft whimpering cleared Michaela's mind more effectively than anything could have.

She dropped the reins without another thought and reached over to the basket next to her, pushing the blankets aside.

Hanna's sightless blue eyes were darting everywhere, on the verge of wails.

Michaela picked up the infant, speaking softly to the little girl.

Finally Hanna began to quiet; Michaela returned her to her basket, tucking her stuffed animal more closely to her.

She then remembered Wolf in the wagon bed and looked back at him, hoping he was still there and alright. Wolf had, without her noticing, moved right behind the wagon seat and she bumped noses with him.

She jerked her head back with a laugh as Wolf sniffed and nosed at her worriedly. "I'm fine, boy." He looked at her in a way that seemed like he wasn't sure whether to believe her or not; again surprising Michaela with how human he sometimes seemed. "Really." He seemed relatively satisfied with her being all right and turned his head toward Hanna, nosing at her and making her giggle delightedly. Michaela smiled. "She's fine too." After a few more moments of checking Hanna, Wolf appeared satisfied that both of them were all right and started looking around them; Michaela doing the same. She sighed. "Well, this is a fine mess I have gotten us into isn't it?"

Wolf was sniffing the air; then he began to growl; Michaela looked worriedly at him. "What is it?" She looked around; trying to spot what could be making Wolf so uneasy.

Except for Wolf's low growling, the forest was silent and completely still; Michaela's heart was racing; she gripped Hanna's basket tightly to her. The silence stretched on, seemingly without end; grating even further on Michaela's nerves; her eyes kept darting in every direction.

A loud cry ripped through the silence.

Indians on horses and on foot surrounded her on all sides; guns and bows and arrows pointed at her.

Wolf was growling at them, his teeth bared threateningly.

One of the Indians darted forward with a knife; Wolf lunged and snapped his teeth at him; the warrior had to jump back to avoid being bitten.

A commanding voice broke in from behind Michaela and all eyes turned in the direction that it came from, including Michaela's.

There was a tall Indian sitting atop a horse, whose hair was down with an eagle feather in it.

Michaela met his sharp intelligent eyes; he looked her over assessingly.

Suddenly Hanna started crying; Michaela's eyes went wide with panic; she had hoped Hanna might escape their notice; she pulled the basket even closer. The Indian looked surprised at the cry; he rode closer and peered inside the basket at Hanna. Wolf was still growling, though slightly more subdued than when the other Indian's had approached and he seemed more intent of the other Indians, who actually had weapons.

It appeared to Michaela that he was in charge, or at least someone of importance, to whom the others would listen.

She spoke to him. "Please." He lifted his head at her voice, raising an eyebrow. "Please, I don't know if you can understand me, I mean no harm; I'm just lost. I'm sorry if I am on your land but regardless to whatever happens to me; please make sure she is safe. She is just a baby."

He continued to watch her silently.

He turned to his companions and said something, to which they lowered their weapons and two of them moved to unhitch Shadow.

He then turned to Michaela. "You will come with us."

Michaela looked at him, surprised. "You speak English?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "So do you."

Michaela blushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…well…"

One of the other Indians, who was leading Shadow by the bridle, approached her; Wolf growled loudly; causing him to jerk away.

"I'm sorry!" Michaela cried, scolding herself for forgetting to get Wolf to back down; she turned to the wolf. "Wolf, it's all right; they aren't going to hurt us." She ran a hand gently through the animal's fur; he stopped growling and calmed under her touch, though he still eyed the strangers warily. Michaela looked at the Indian who appeared to be in charge. "Tell him I'm sorry. Wolf is just very protective of Hanna and me."

He apparently relayed the message to the man, who nodded before stepping more carefully toward where Michaela was sitting.

The Indian who was leading Shadow had brought the horse alongside the wagon and was motioning from Michaela to the horse saying something; Michaela turned to the other Indian questioningly. "He will hold the horse while you mount."

"Oh." She frowned slightly. "How will I carry Hanna and ride at the same time?"

He frowned slightly. "You have blankets for her?"

Michaela nodded.

He dismounted and joined her on the wagon. "Pick her up." Michaela did as she was told, though she watched him curiously. He removed one of the blankets Michaela used to protect Hanna from the basket; he told the her to put the baby back down; then he took the blanket and tied it over her shoulder, creating a kind of large sling; he lifted Hanna out of the basket and placed her into the cradle created by the sling/blanket; he tied the other two ends together over Hanna. "That should do for now."

Michaela carefully mounted Shadow; she used one arm to hold Hanna securely against her chest, still a little wary of this method of carrying her. She glanced back at the wagon. "My bag!" It had slid under the seat and she had nearly forgotten it in all the…excitement.

The lead Indian knelt down and looked under the seat; he pulled out the bag, turning it over in his hands; he looked at her strangely. "I have never seen such a bag."

"It has my basic medical supplies."

"Medical?"

She nodded. "I'm a doctor."

He looked at her dubiously. "Among whites only men make medicine." He still handed her back her bag.

One of the Indians had taken Shadow's reins and was leading him so, since she didn't have to direct the horse Michaela held on to Hanna and her bag with one hand and gripped Shadow's mane with the other. She prayed that she and Hanna would be alright.

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I hope that that was ok and that it wasn't terribly botched. Thank you for reading!