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Show Lifeline g Where had he come from? "Who are you?" I asked boldly. "What do you want?" M' name's Nick Estrada. I wuz wonderin1, ma'am, you got any scraps - a bone maybe? It's fer m' little sheepdog, Sheba, She ' needs her strength." "I don't see a dog." He's trying to lure me outside. "She's layin' beside the house a-nursin' her pups." "And how did the pups get here - walk?" My voice was tinged with sarcasm. "No mum. I toted 'em in m1 saddle bag. Got a job promised in Ruby Valley. Sheba, havin1 pups, slowed me down. A sheepman ain't nothin1 without his dog." Just then a little brindle dog put her front paws on the bottom step - a nursing mother! Nick reached to give her head an affectionate pat. "Sheba here, she's m' 1ifeline." "I have plenty of leftovers for everyone - a leg of mutton. Sheba gets the bone." I watched them leave with a warm inner feeling, fear having been replaced with trust. In a sense this stranger had thrown me a lifeline, for during our encounter, my attack had gone unnoticed. Incrediby the year was up, the car packed for our return. "Let me take one last look upstairs," I said. "Hey, what's taking so long?" Clark came up behind me. "I'm proud of you, Kay. You've proved what going back to nature can do. This is why we need to keep on top of our resources - so we'll have |