"Look Sherlock! Look what we brought home for you!" Sherlock pushes his pirate hat up away from his eyes as he looks up from his toys and at him mum. To his surprise he sees a small furry bundle of reddish colour move about in his mother's arms. Sherlock quickly gets up and runs over to his mum as he hears a small bark erupt from the fur and a black nose peaks out under Mrs. Holmes' elbow. "Gimme gimme," the four year old exclaims, his arms reached out and his hands make grabbing motions for the noisy black nose that was attached to a medium ball of fur. The small boy teeters and falls onto his rump as Mrs. Holmes places the wiggly fur ball into his arms. He squeals with joy as the Irish Setter pup tackles the curly haired and promptly covers his face in slobbery kisses. The quick and loud footfalls of Sherlock's older brother Mycroft quickly muffle the sound of puppy barks and giggles. "Whatchya gonna name him, Sherlock? Huh? What's his name going to be?" The overly excited 10 year old kneels down beside boy and pup as he asks, petting the wiggly Setter. "Pull the pup of your brother so he can think, Myckie," Mr. Holmes chuckles as he steps into the country home, closing the door behind him. Mycroft happily pulls the puppy off his little brother and Sherlock sits up. Looking over at the wiggly creature, Sherlock thinks, "Hmmmm…," looking about the room for ideas, he spots his favourite toy, "Redbeard!"
An eight year old Sherlock bursts through the front door, a now full grown Redbeard at his heels as he spots his brother come home from a study date out the kitchen window. "Havast thee!" Sherlock cries, pointing his wooden sword at his brother. "It's have at thee, Sherlock," Mycroft corrects as he runs past his little brother with a grin. Despite being six years older, Mycroft still loved playing Pirates with his little brother. Especially after study group. Once changed into his own pirate outfit, Mycroft runs back outside; his weapon of choice, a slingshot, in hand.
Mycroft fires one of their dad's tennis balls into the air as he and Sherlock pretend to be taking over an enemy ship, the Magnum. Barking, Redbeard jumps from the wooden cart that was their own ship, The Baker, to chase the ball. Sherlock gasps and reaches for the red fur of his friend when he sees the neighbour driving down the shared drive rather quickly. "Redbeard no!" he yells and runs after the dog, trying to stop him. There's a cry, a grinding of tires, a thump and dogs yelp as Mr. and Mrs. Holmes run out the door of their home. It's a blur of commotion as Mycroft runs to his brother's and Redbeard's sides, the Holmes parents trying to pull Sherlock off the whimpering dog and the neighbour barking about not having the dog under control. Sherlock screams and thrashes, trying to get away from his parents so as to care for his dearest companion who was currently whimpering and limping beside Mycroft back into the house.
After several hours of comfort from the whole family, Sherlock lays quietly in his bed, listening to his parents talk through his cry induced hiccups. The youngster hadn't heard what his parents had agreed upon but he quickly figured it out when he heard his dad open the gun box and call for Redbeard to come with. A loud cry of "no" echoes down the hallway and stairs a few moments later as Sherlock frantically runs down the stairs; nearly falling down them. Mrs. Holmes quickly wraps her arms around her little boy before he can run out the door but he quickly gets free and runs after his papa. There's a loud band and a scream for Redbeard that echoes through the trees. Sherlock runs as fast as he can through the thickly treed back and to his horror he sees his best friend lay, crying softly on the moss of the forest floor. He quickly runs to Redbeard's side and hugs him, ignoring the blood that quickly soaks his nightshirt. "Redbeard," he cries repeatedly into his fluffy neck, "Captain, don't die. I need you."
Sherlock doesn't remember what happened next but he will forever blame himself for his most dearest friend's death. Believing that if he had run just a little bit faster, he would have stopped Redbeard from being hit.