Sarah’s dog Sheila was always dragging strange things into the house. One day Sarah went for quiet sounds in the cellar and froze when she saw her dog curled up in a bunting. Then she saw a baby basket and was surprised to find something lying inside.
Sarah Parker’s pet dog Sheila was known in the neighbourhood not because she was a sweet dog, but because she was a ferocious dane. Her imposing size and temper were enough to keep naughty children out of the beautiful garden.
Sheila, of course, was the pride and joy of the family. When Sarah first saw her at the shelter, she immediately fell in love with her and adopted her. Five years have passed and Sheila has grown into a wonderful member of the family.
Sometimes she would pull the worst pranks, dragging strange things into the house and hiding them. Whether it was a missing shoe, a bedsheet or even a plastic flowerpot, the neighbours knew it was Sheila’s shenanigans. But one day she dragged someone else’s baby home when no one was looking.
Sheila and Sarah were more like a mother-daughter duo. People avoided them and kept their distance as Sheila and Sarah walked down the street. Of course, no one dared to approach them because Sheila was aggressive towards strangers.
Sheila was Sarah’s only family companion. They often went out shopping and walking together. Sarah’s husband, Joy Parker, was usually away on business, and her sons Mark and Jacob were in their senior year of high school.
Sarah’s daily routine looked like she was a mother on wheels. All day long she was busy taking care of her family. Fortunately, Sheila was her only escape from the daily routine.
One evening Sarah took Sheila for a walk outside. Because the dog was wearing a dog muzzle, most passers-by were not afraid of her. Sometimes Sarah would put a dog muzzle on Sheila so she wouldn’t pick up anything in the street that wasn’t eatable. But that evening something else had caught the dog’s attention. Sarah tried to pull Sheila toward her, but the dog was staring at an old building across the street.
“HEY, COME ON, GIRL… LET’S GO HOME!”, Sarah commanded. “THAT’S ENOUGH, COME HERE!”
They were standing in front of a lattice gate some distance from the abandoned apartment building, and Sarah didn’t want to go there. Sheila sniffed around there and did not move until she was pulled back by the leash.
The next evening, Sarah took Sheila for a walk along the same path again. She deliberately walked faster to see if Sheila would stop at the exact spot near the gate.
Sheila was cheerful, except for the moment when they passed by the house. She stopped and sniffed something. She barked loudly and tried to break free to go there, but Sarah pulled her back and hurried home.
“I don’t know what’s wrong, but she keeps sniffing and doesn’t leave until I drag her by the leash,” Sarah told Joy. “Do you want me to check tomorrow?”
Sarah was relieved after Joy assured her that it could be a squirrel or a wild rabbit. She knew that Sheila often hunted birds and squirrels and ignored them.
The next day she was preparing breakfast and noticed that Sheila had not yet come to the kitchen. Usually the dog was always with Sarah in the kitchen and followed her around the house. But that morning it was strange not to see Sheila. Sarah thought she was sleeping in bed with her sons and decided to let her sleep some more.
But even when the boys said goodbye and rode their bicycles to school, Sheila was not in the room. Sarah was frightened and began to look for her everywhere.
“Yes, I’m going to our usual meeting place now to see if she’s there….. Honey, I’m worried… will she be all right?” Sarah anxiously asked Joy, who advised her to keep looking and let him know if she still didn’t find Sheila.
Sarah walked the streets looking for her dog. She even questioned people and showed pictures of Sheila on her phone. But no one could remember seeing her.
Sarah was scared to death. She ran home to let Joy know so he could do something to find her dog. But when she reached for the phone at home, she heard a faint scream in the house.
Sarah stopped and continued to listen. “What is this strange noise? Am I dreaming, or is it really a crying baby somewhere in my house?” she muttered, following the sound leading to the half-open cellar door.
Sarah turned on the flashlight on her cell phone because it was dark downstairs. She had already seen several horror films where terrible things happened in the basement, and for a moment she hoped that nothing terrible would happen.
“How foolish of me to even think of such a thing,” she muttered.
She slowly descended the stairs. The old wooden steps creaked and there was a musty smell. She threw a light into the corner and, coming closer, she heard a child crying.
“MY GOD! HOW DID YOU GET HERE?” she screamed in horror. There was a baby in a basket in front of her, and Sheila curled up next to the baby. Sarah was furious with her dog and realized that it was she who dragged the child there.
“SHEILA? WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU? Leave here, okay?” – she shouted. But Sheila snarled defensively and barked furiously at Sarah. After a gentle pat on the head, she calmed down.
Sarah lifted the baby out of the basket and realised that the child was only a few weeks old. She examined the basket and found deep bite marks on the handle. Sarah realised that Sheila had put the baby in it. She looked inside the basket and found a note under the feeding bottle.
“We may be the worst parents on earth, but we have no choice but to leave our girl,” the note said. “WHOVER FOUND HER… PLEASE TAKE CARE OF HER. AND PLEASE DO NOT TELL HER YOU FOUND HER IN THE ABANDONED HOUSE.”
Sarah was stunned. She immediately ran upstairs and called the police. The police investigated the case and told her that the girl’s parents could not be found. “They’ve probably moved out of state and it’s impossible to find them,” one of the officers told Sarah.
As the security cameras in that part of the street had recently gone bad, no one saw anyone with a baby outside the abandoned house. After talking to Joy, Sarah decided to take the child into her care.
“I think that’s what the Almighty wants us to do, dear,” she told Joy. Sarah took care of the formalities of the adoption and the child was officially placed in the Parkers’ care.
The little girl, named Ashley, grew in the love and affection of her new parents, and Sheila’s affection for the girl and her family grew by the minute.
“THAT DOG! SHE’S A PROTECTOR!!!”, Sarah often exclaimed when she saw Sheila around!
