Riverbend School for Girls - Vox Fluminis Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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1943-1944

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Vox Fluminis 31 THE END OF A PERFECT DAY IT was such a beautiful day, sighed Sheila as she started to gather the food from her picnic, and now it is starting to rain and the wind is rising again. Two weeks of nothing but rain and howling wind and then the first decent day the same thing starts all over again. It is pretty awful, isn't it, Soda? she aske-d. But her small cocker just grunted as he was interested only in his bone. Come on, old boy, she shouted, we'd better get started. Darn it all, she muttered to herself, if I thought it was going to rain, I would have brought the car. It seems so dismal walking through the woods now. As they trudged along an old shack suddenly came into view, and Soda started barking excitedly. Stop it, she commanded, but she too was excited and taken in by this crumbling place with the small light burning in the window. She sen.sed something sinister in the air, and quickened her pace, all the while trying to quieten Soda. Suddenly she heard a loud bang and Soda started yelping. She ran to him and found his foot caught in a trap. Sheila tried her best to free him, but could not budge the heavy trap. She knew she would have to get help from the shack because Soda's paw was bleeding badly and his cries were get- ting fainter and fainter. She shuddered as she hurried ner- vously towards the place and up the small walk. Eavery step she took made her heart quicken a pace, until by the time she reached the door, she was conscious only of the rhythmic thumps of her heart and the barely audible cries of her dog. She automatically touched the door bell and a servant im- mediately appeared. My dog, she whispered weakly, has caught his paw in this trap. Would you please help me unfasten . . . You fool, cut in the servant, you know dogs are not allowed here Miss Sheila, and you might have guessed that there were traps. But since he is only a small cocker I'll take him. Go and see Mr. Johnston, he's in the first room at the end of the hall. She looked at him startled and drew Soda closer to her. Many things she had not noticed before, she noticed now. Why was there a door bell on the shack and a servant inside? Why this luxuriously furnished room? Who was the man who expected her, and how did he know her name? Mr. Johnston is waiting, he said sharply. But Soda . . . I want . . . Give me the dog, snapped the man snatching Soda from her, and get going, he commanded. Y-yes, she faltered. She walked slowly down the hallway and opened the large door at the end of it. There she saw a short stout man sitting behind a big oak desk, apparent- ly reading his mail. Well, Sheila, how about it?,' he asked. I think it's about time you- here he broke off abruptly. He was now looking up at her, his black eyes merely slits. Who in the devil are you? he asked hoarsely. Your butler told me to come here, she replied in a frightened voice. so heref' she laughted weakly, well here I am. Oh, I see, he said and she noted a sigh of relief in his voice. But what did you come here for in the begin- ning? Yo-u see, my dog got his paw caught in a trap, just outside here, which I couldn't unfasten, so I brought him in. You mean there is a dog here? he shouted. Jones, come here, he called to the servant. As soon as the butler appeared Mr. Johnston said, Why did yo-u let a dog in here? Kill him at once. But he's just a small cocker, and he doesn't know much, so it's all right, sir, said the butler. Mr. Johnston was just ready to reply when the large door opened, revealing an old wo-man hobbling in. She said in a sepulchural voice, 'Tm