My Dog Years: For Every Year I Walk Dogs, I Age 7

THE HAUNTED MANSION

The alarm rang out like a school bell right as my head hit the pillow. My eyes didn't even have time to close. They were wide open as I jolted into an upright position on the bed. It was hard to act with a hundred pound Golden Retriever, two Coton de Tulears and my own wire-haired Jack Russell Terrier in the full size bed with me. The clanging bell made the walls vibrate. Toby the Golden Retriever trembled with fear while his two puffy white siblings Prince and Simba, normally neurotic basket cases, snuggled up against me. I suddenly remembered the tour Mr. Yorkin had personally given me on the morning I agreed to housesit. With a veiny, well-manicured hand he had demonstrated how to set the alarm system and pointed out the different readouts on the digital display. After browsing through his collection of jazz cds in the screening room, he had escorted me upstairs and shown me the safe hidden in the master bedroom closet. The safe held all of Mrs. Yorkin's jewelry and his cash. It was equipped with a motion sensor and a body heat detector. So if the bell sounded that meant there was an intruder in the twelve thousand square foot Holmby Hills mansion with me.

With the seemingly impenetrable iron gates that surrounded the property and security cameras, I was not at all concerned about my safety. Instead, I'd had thoughts about the enormity of the master bedroom and the closet we were standing in.

The alarm bell was unrelenting. I grabbed my glasses then mustered the courage to jump out of the bed and lock the door. To the right of it was the alarm system keypad. I read the digital display and there it was: INTRUDER DETECTED MASTER BEDROOM. I instinctively lunged for the telephone on the nightstand to call 911. My hand shook as I dialed. Instead of 911, I dialed 912. On my second attempt I dialed 811. Try as I could, I could not make my fingers comply with my thoughts. In an inspired moment I grabbed my cell phone and pressed the red emergency key.

"911 Emergency what is your emergency?"

I focused my attention on the tips of the heritage trees I could see through the second floor window. I was determined to speak calmly and coherently. Instead I blathered.

"I'm housesitting and the alarm just went off. It says there's an intruder in the master bedroom." The female operator's voice remained flat as she typed.

"Is anyone else home with you?"

"No. I mean, yes. I have four dogs with me."

"Are you somewhere in the house where you can lock a door?"

"Yes, I'm in the nanny's room. I already locked the door."

A long beep sounded on her end. The faint sound of helicopters distracted me for a moment. I looked outside and for the first time ever noticed the spires on the black gate.

"A response team is on its way. I'm going to stay on the phone with you until they arrive. I need you to put the dogs somewhere secure where they won't interfere with the officers."

"I could put them in the bathroom."

"Yes, go ahead and do that."

I lifted the three little dogs out of the bed and set them down in the bathroom. I prayed that Toby not choose this moment to play dead the way he did on our hikes when he didn't want to walk anymore. Toby was confused but compliant. He and his siblings stared up at me with unwavering love and trust as I told them all to lay down. My Jack Russell, Lucas had a look of fear in his eyes that broke my heart.

"The response team has arrived. Are you standing near a window on the north side of the house?"

My mind raced as I tried to picture the blue print of the house. "Yes. I am. How did you know that?"