by Holly Webb
For Robin and William
For more information about Holly Webb visit:
www.holly-webb.com
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
About the Author
Other titles by Holly Webb:
Copyright
Chapter One
“Beth, we need to go now,” her dad told her gently. They didn’t have much time before they needed to leave for the airport.
Beth didn’t answer. She just stroked Harry’s soft white head and chestnut-brown ears. She couldn’t stop the tears dripping down her cheeks. The puppy jumped up, placing his paws on her shoulder, and licked them away. “Oh, Harry, I’m going to miss you so much. I don’t want to say goodbye,” she whispered.
Her voice was so sad that Harry’s curly tail stopped wagging. What was Beth talking about? It didn’t sound good. He hoped they could leave this place soon. It was too noisy, and it smelled odd. There seemed to be lots of other dogs here, he could hear them barking and growling and whimpering. He wanted to go back to his nice home.
“Here’s his basket, and his toys,” Beth’s mother said, putting them into the pen. “I’m sorry but we really do need to go, Beth; we have to set off for the airport soon. It’s going to be so exciting, isn’t it?”
Harry watched his basket, his favourite red rubber bone and squeaky fish being put into the wire cage. Beth squeaked the fish for him a couple of times, then rubbed her hand across her eyes. Harry gave a puzzled whine, looking up at Beth with his big, brown eyes. What was going on?
“Oh, Mum, he knows something bad is happening,” Beth said, as she got to her feet.
“Don’t worry,” the girl from the shelter said gently. She was called Sally and she seemed nice, but Beth wished she’d never had to meet her. “He’ll find a lovely home really soon, I’m sure. He’s such a sweet little dog. Puppies are always easy to rehome, and Jack Russells are a popular breed.”
Beth nodded, wiping her tears away with her sleeve. She supposed she ought to be glad about that – she certainly didn’t want Harry to be here at the shelter for ages, all miserable in a little run. But she didn’t want anyone else to have him either! He was hers.
She’d only had him for two months, when her dad broke the news to her that his company was sending him to America for three years. At first it had seemed so exciting, going to live in New York, but almost at once she’d thought of Harry. Would he like it there?
And then Dad had said he couldn’t come. That it would be too difficult with quarantine, and they would be living in a city flat that wouldn’t be suitable for a dog. Harry had to stay behind, and since they had no one to leave him with, he had to go to the shelter – a home for unwanted dogs. Which didn’t seem fair, because Beth did want him, very much.
“We’ll write to you, to let you know when Harry’s settled with a new owner,” Sally promised. “Really soon. I know he’s going to find a lovely home.”
Beth wanted to shout out that he had a lovely home, but she nodded, and her dad led her out, which was good, because she was crying so much she couldn’t see.
Harry whimpered, calling after her and scrabbling at the wire door. Beth was crying! There was something wrong, and she was going away from him. He howled for two hours, and then he was so exhausted he fell asleep.
When he woke up, she still hadn’t come back.
“Oh, just look at this one,” Grace said longingly. “A Labrador. Isn’t she gorgeous?”
Mum smiled at her. “We haven’t the room, Grace, you know that. Even though she is beautiful. Lovely eyes.”
“Maybe a small dog, like a Jack Russell, then!” Grace started frantically scanning through the shelter website to see if they had any smaller dogs. “They’re those cute little terrier dogs that used to hunt rats. They’re really clever. And small! We’ve got room for one of those, definitely.” Grace looked hopeful.
“No, we haven’t. And you’ll need to get off the computer soon, Gracie, I have to get on to the estate agent’s website again, and see if any more flats have come up.” The Winters were looking to move at the moment, as there just wasn’t enough room for them all in their current flat, especially now Grace and her brother Danny were getting older.
“It’s no use, Gracie.” Danny sighed, as he squeezed behind the computer chair to go and make some more toast. The computer was squashed into one corner of the kitchen. “I’ve been trying to convince Mum and Dad to get a dog for years.”
Mum frowned at him. “Don’t you start, Danny. You both know we just haven’t got the space. It’s not fair to shut a dog up in a flat, even a little one. If we had a garden flat, maybe. But not on the seventh floor!”
Grace nodded. She knew it really, but every so often she managed to convince herself it wasn’t true, just for a minute. She went back to stirring her cereal, imagining running through the park with a gorgeous black Labrador or a bouncy little brown and white Jack Russell scampering beside her. If they were moving anyway… Was it too much to hope for a flat with a garden? She licked her spoon dreamily.
“Don’t get rice pops on the keyboard, Grace!” Mum warned.
“Hey!” Danny had paused behind Grace’s chair with his plate of toast, and was leaning over her shoulder. “Gracie, look! Mum, come and see!”
“I’m never going to get on to my computer,” Mum muttered, coming over to look at the screen. “Fairview Animal Rescue Shelter. You’re still on the dogs’ home website? Danny, haven’t we all just agreed we can’t have a dog?”
“Yes, but look. Our Fantastic Volunteers! People who help at the shelter.” He grabbed the mouse and clicked on the link. “Look, they get to walk the dogs!” Danny beamed at Grace. “We could do that, couldn’t we? I know we can’t have our own dog, but we could borrow some. It would be like having lots of dogs!”
Grace practically pushed her nose up against the screen. There was a big photo of a hopeful-looking dog, with a lead in its mouth. Bonnie, she was called, apparently. “Could we do it, Mum?” she asked eagerly. “The shelter’s not far from here. Only a couple of streets away, on the other side of Fairview Park.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me.” Dad had walked in, and was staring at the computer now, too. “Anything that gets you out in the fresh air and not watching TV is good news. Does it say when they’re open? I’ll take you over there later, if you like.”
Danny scanned the page. “We’re always looking for more volunteers,” he read. “Please drop into the shelter!”
Grace smiled up at Dad delightedly. “You really mean it?” she breathed. She hadn’t really expected to be allowed a dog, and this was much, much better than nothing!
Harry was lying in his basket, with his nose shoved firmly into his blue cushion. It smelled like Beth’s house – his house – and it shut out the smells of other dogs. He couldn’t understand why Beth had left him here, and why she hadn’t come back. Beth had brushed him and fed him and loved him. She had run into the house to find him and play with him as soon as she got home from school. What had gone wrong? He hadn’t been naughty, he was sure.
He could still hear the other dogs barking and whining, however hard he tried to bury his head in the cushion. But then he heard the sound of footsteps. Slowly, he crept out of his basket, and went to peer through the wire door of the pen. Maybe Beth was coming back? She might even be waiting for him out there! He sprang up against the wire hopefully, and from further up the corridor Sally turned round to look at him.<
br />
“Hey, Harry…” she said very gently. “You decided to come and see what’s going on, did you?”
Harry’s ears went back, and his tail sagged again. Beth wasn’t there. Just that woman who smelled of other dogs. He slunk back to his basket, and Sally sighed. She hoped Harry wasn’t going to have a really hard time.
Harry thought miserably about home. It felt like the sort of time he’d normally be curling up at the end of Beth’s bed. His basket was usually only for daytime naps; he always slept with Beth. She’d probably have given him one of his favourite biscuit bones, too. He sighed, and snuffled sadly. She would come back, wouldn’t she?
Chapter Two
Grace and Danny went to school round the corner from each other, Grace in the juniors and Danny at the secondary school. So Danny usually walked Grace home, except on Tuesdays when Grace had ballet. But today Mum was meeting them so they could all go to the shelter, and be properly registered as volunteers. They’d gone on Saturday, but it had been really busy, and the staff had asked them to come back in the week, so they could meet the dogs when everything was less hectic.
“Oh, where is she?” Grace swung her school bag impatiently.
“She’s not even late yet! We were finished early for once,” laughed Danny. “Hey, which dog do you want to take out? I really liked that big lurcher on the website. He was great – I bet he runs like the wind!”
Grace smiled. “I don’t mind. Any of them. Oh, look, there’s Mum!” Grace ran over to her. “You were ages! Can we go straight there?”
Mum laughed. “Yes, but I just want to stop at the supermarket for a few things, OK?” She winked at Danny.
“Mu-um!” Grace’s expression was tragic.
“She’s kidding you, Gracie!” said Danny. “Honestly, you’re so easy to wind up. Come on, let’s get going.”
Grace, Danny and Mum stood in the shelter reception, waiting for Sally, the manager, who was going to show them around. There was a constant noise of dogs barking and howling.
“You get used to it after a while,” Mandy the receptionist said, smiling. “Think how happy you’ll be making them, taking them out for walks. And it’s not only walking. With some of the dogs it’s just about companionship, a bit of playing or stroking. I’m afraid some of them have been badly treated, and we need to help them to trust people again.”
“But none of them are dangerous?” Mum asked anxiously. “I wouldn’t like Danny or Grace to be with any dogs that might bite.”
“No, no.” The receptionist shook her head. “Volunteers only take out dogs we trust completely.” She grinned at them. “The only thing you need to worry about is not getting too attached! I’ve got three dogs from here, the ones I simply couldn’t resist! You just have to remember that all the dogs are going to be rehomed eventually, or we hope so anyway. So don’t let yourselves get too fond of them, will you?”
Grace peeped through the glass door, looking at the dogs peering back at her from their runs. How could she not fall in love with them all?
“Grace, did you hear?” Mum said gently. “Don’t get too involved!”
Grace turned back and nodded. She would try…
The shelter wasn’t too busy, so Sally took Grace and Danny and Mum round to meet some of the dogs they’d be able to walk. There were so many – Grace was torn between being glad there were lots of dogs for her to get to know, and sad that they all had no homes of their own. It was heartbreaking when the dogs jumped up at the doors of their pens, their tails wagging desperately, licking her fingers, clearly begging for her to love them and take them home.
“Oh, this one’s gorgeous.” Grace knelt down in front of one of the wire-fronted runs to look at a little brown and white Jack Russell. “He’s only a puppy!”
Harry looked up hopefully. Grace’s voice sounded a little bit like Beth’s. But his ears flopped back again when he saw her – just another girl. He turned round in his basket so he didn’t have to look at her.
Grace gave him a surprised look. All the other dogs had been desperate for attention, and had wanted all the stroking and cuddling they could get. But this little puppy seemed to want them to go away!
“This is Harry,” Sally explained. “He’s our newest arrival. He was left with us a week ago, by a family who were moving to America quite suddenly. The girl he belonged to was about your age, Grace. She was really sad to leave him.”
“Oh, wow,” Grace murmured. She could imagine. Harry looked really young. The other girl couldn’t have had him for all that long before she had to give him away.
“He looks pretty miserable,” Danny said, crouching down to get a good look at Harry in his basket.
Sally nodded. “Yes, he’s really missing Beth, his old owner. He is eating, but not much, and he won’t respond to any of us when we try to cheer him up. I think he’s still hoping that Beth’s coming back for him.”
“That’s so sad,” Grace said, her voice wobbling. “I wish there was something we could do to help.”
Sally looked at her thoughtfully. “Harry isn’t ready to go out for walks yet, Grace. If you wanted to spend time with him, it would have to be here at the shelter. Probably just sitting with him in his run, letting him get used to trusting another person. It’s sad, but we just don’t have the time for that very often, with so many dogs to look after.”
Grace looked up at Sally, her eyes shining. “But I would love that!” she said gratefully. “Mum, is it OK? You don’t mind if I stay here while you and Danny walk your dogs?”
“Well, as long as it’s all right with Sally…” Mum said doubtfully.
“Honestly, you’d be doing us a favour,” Sally assured them. “We’re short-staffed, and we’ve all been feeling really bad that no one’s had time to work with Harry yet. But Grace, don’t expect too much to happen at once, will you? It might be a long, slow job. Poor Harry’s really moping.”
Grace nodded, looking at Harry’s smooth little back, as he lay curled into a ball in his basket. His nose was tucked under his paws, as though he was trying to shut out the world. She would take it really slow.
“I’ll let you into the run, then just sit down quietly to start with, not too close to him,” Sally told her. “Then I’m afraid it’s just all about waiting. See what he does. But if you spend some time with him every time you come, hopefully it will help him a lot. I’ll make sure I stay close to check you’re both doing OK.” She opened the door for Grace, and Grace slipped inside, trying to be as quiet and unfrightening as she could.
Harry raised his head suspiciously and glared at her. It was that girl again. What was she doing in his run? He huffed crossly through his nostrils, and Grace tried not to giggle, it was such a funny little noise. She leaned against the wall of the run, and watched Harry, as he turned himself away and snuggled sadly into his basket again. It wasn’t quite what she’d imagined, sitting on the floor just looking at a dog, instead of racing round the park. But Harry was so little, and his face when he first looked up at her had been so hopeful, and then so terribly sad. Grace wanted so much for him to be happy again and sat there quietly until her mum and Danny returned.
Harry had always been a friendly dog when he lived with Beth, but he liked his own space, too. He didn’t really enjoy being cooped up with a lot of other dogs. And he hated being shut up in a run. However hard the staff tried to exercise all the dogs, they had to stay in their runs for a lot of the day. As for the noise – Harry was a sensitive little dog, and the sound of barking made him want to hide under his cushion.
What made it worse was that other people kept bothering him. He was taken out of the run and given to them to hold. He wished they would just leave him alone so he could wait for Beth to come back and get him. When was she coming back? He was still hoping that she would, but he was getting less sure every day.
That first day, Harry hadn’t even looked at Grace. She wanted to go to the shelter on Tuesday, but she had her ballet class. But on Wednesday, when Grace vi
sited, Harry actually stood up in his basket and leaned over to give her a considering sniff. Hmm. So it was her again.
On Friday she was back, so he licked her fingers, just to be polite. When she went, he watched her walking down the corridor. She smelled nice, and he wondered whether she would come again. On Saturday, he sat up in his basket when she opened the run, and when she crouched down beside him, he put his paws on her knee, positively encouraging her to stroke him.
“Oh, Harry…” Grace breathed delightedly. He was pleased to see her!
Harry hadn’t been planning to make friends with the girl, but she was quiet and gentle, and she reminded him of Beth. It was nice to be stroked and petted again, and told what a lovely boy he was. He was still waiting for Beth to come back, of course, but there was no harm in letting this nice girl –Grace, the others called her – make a fuss of him.
The next Monday, Sally walked past Harry’s run to see him curled up in Grace’s lap while she stroked his ears. Grace was staring down at him with a little smile on her face. She was imagining that Harry was hers, and that they weren’t at the shelter, they were sitting on the grass in her garden, a lovely big garden, just right for a dog to play in. None of the flats that they’d seen in their house-hunting had had gardens, but this was only a dream, after all…
“You’ve done really well with him,” Sally said, smiling.
Grace jumped slightly – she hadn’t noticed Sally coming. Harry grumbled a little when she moved, and turned himself round to get comfy again.
Sally watched him, looking pleased. “You’ve got a great feeling for animals, Grace. You’ve been so patient, and it’s really paid off with Harry. We’ll start trying to introduce him to more visitors now, I think. We’d really like to rehome him soon.”
