by Blake Morgan
Noah’s mum and dad were waving from the gates. “Come on!” his dad called over. “Time to go home.”
Noah fist-bumped with Jake and then we followed his parents out of the arena.
“Wait!” called a voice. “You forgot this!”
We turned round to see Lily running towards us, carrying the trophy. She shoved it into Noah’s arms and it glinted in the sunshine, scattering light across Noah’s freckles. He looked happier than I’d ever seen him. “Take care of it for the summer,” Lily told him.
Noah grinned. “Thank you, Lily – for everything.”
She shrugged. “Don’t thank me. Just make sure you get lots of practice in over the summer break!” Jake came to stand beside her and the two of them waved us off as we climbed into the car.
Today had been the best day ever! Noah placed the trophy on the back seat between us and we kept guard of it as we travelled home. Noah was a winner – but then he’d always been that in my eyes.
“What’s for dinner?” Noah asked, catching his dad’s eye in the rear-view mirror. “I’m starving!”
“Roast dinner,” his dad told him. “I marinated the chicken last night.”
My tummy gave a growl and I glanced inside the trophy, assessing. Yup, I reckon you could fit a whole roast dinner in there. Maybe if I was lucky, Noah would use it as a food bowl tonight! A dog could always hope.
That evening I lay stretched out between Noah and his mum. She was perched on one end of the sofa and Noah was perched on the other. I have to admit, my body did take up most of the seating arrangement, especially after I’d wolfed down those tender morsels of chicken leg. The trophy sat sparkling on the windowsill – funnily enough, Noah hadn’t let me eat my supper out of it.
His mum laughed now as she looked down at me. “I’m only letting you on here tonight,” she told me. “It’s a special treat to say thank you.”
Earlier, Noah had phoned Katie at the Training Centre. I’d lain at his feet as he’d told her the whole story of how brave I’d been in the sea and how I’d taken care of him at the Activity Day. It was thrilling to hear how brilliant I’d been! No one even suggested I needed more training – in fact, Noah had repeated Katie’s words from down the phone. That I needed a medal!
“We’re calling him the Dog Who Dared!” Noah had finished, his toes tickling the fur under my chin. I wriggled with delight and rolled on to my back, holding my front paws up to beg him to stroke my tummy. As Noah ended the call he reached down and stroked his fingers across my soft belly. “Katie says hi,” he told me and I gave a yip to say hi back.
Now that we’d had our supper, it was nearly time for bed. It had been a long couple of days – a long couple of months! I couldn’t believe how much had happened in the short time I’d been living with Noah and I could see it was a good job I’d come here. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t been with him all those times he’d felt faint?
But soon, Noah’s anaemia would be better and he might not need a Detection Dog any more. I gave a small whine of anxiety. What if they sent me back to Katie? Not for extra training, but for good. I mean, I liked Katie – but I loved Noah.
Noah must have picked up on my mood. As Lucy came to sit on the sofa next to her mum, he reached his arms around my neck. All four of us sat in a row, cuddling up next to each other. “We’ll be together forever, won’t we, Lucy?” I could feel the warmth of his breath in my fur.
Lucy gazed at the two of us. “I can’t imagine life without Buddy,” she said, reaching out for a snack from the coffee table. I lifted my muzzle hopefully, but she popped the biscuit into her mouth. Rude. “We’ll never be without you or your tummy,” she said, rubbing my fur.
Noah’s dad’s voice called through from the kitchen. “Time for bed, you guys.”
“Yes, come on,” their mum said.
Noah and Lucy rolled their eyes at each other. Reluctantly, the three of us climbed off the sofa and made our way upstairs. Noah picked up a sheaf of photos from a side table – Amelia had sent them over and Noah had printed them out before supper. Now, as he arranged them in his photo album, I hopped up on to the bed and looked over his elbow. There was Noah playing rounders, another one of him holding the trophy with Lily, and a final one of Noah with an arm draped across my shoulders. Who was I kidding? Noah was never going to get rid of me! I nudged my nose beneath his hand, forcing him to stroke my head. Then he kissed my nose. “It’s you and me, Buddy,” he said. “Best friends forever.”
Noah got beneath the quilt, and I went to the bottom of the bed and turned in a circle three times before settling.
As Noah set the alarm on his mobile phone, a text message came through. “It’s Lily,” he said, reading it. “She says can I go cycling by the canal with her next weekend?”
“Aren’t you meeting Jake in the park?” his dad asked, popping his head around the door.
“Maybe the three of us can go cycling and to the park,” Noah said, wriggling down beneath his quilt. It was nice for him to have two good friends. Three good friends, if you counted me, which I did.
His dad snapped off the light and stood, silhouetted, in the doorway. He didn’t say anything about Noah needing to be careful or that maybe he shouldn’t do so much exercise. I could feel the muscles relax in my haunches. “Night, Noah. Night, Buddy.” Then he closed the door.
The two of us settled down. “Buddy?” Noah asked in the dark, after a short while. His voice was already sounding heavy with sleep. I nudged my nose into his hand. “I meant what I said. It’s you and me forever, right?”
Always, I said inside my head. I gave his fingers a small lick to make sure he understood. I sensed him smile, then he turned over and soon his gentle snores vibrated down the bed.
I gazed up at the moon through a crack in the curtains. Was Jake looking at that moon too? And Lily? It felt as though a net of friendship was spread from home to home, keeping us all connected beneath that big white ball in the sky.
I curled myself up tighter as my eyelids grew heavy. Soon, I was dreaming too, my feet twitching in my sleep. I dreamed of chasing balls across a beach, running after Noah and leaping between Lily and Jake. Then the ball changed into a roast chicken and I found myself licking my lips as I gobbled it all up in my sleep. Yum, yum!
It doesn’t take much to keep a dog happy. Just a boy, a ball and maybe a snack or two. Some might call me the Dog Who Dared, but I just call myself Buddy. Buddy is another word for friend, did you know that? And that’s what I was – Noah’s friend. That’s all I’d ever wanted to be, even if it meant dragging him out of the sea. But soon, Noah would be able to do anything he wanted. He’d be the Boy Who Dared. Dared to take on the world – as long as he had a dog by his side.
Sniff sniff sniff. My nose twitched like crazy as it picked up the scent: warm and meaty and delicious. Sniff sniff. Dog food? Sniff sniff. A juicy bone? Sniff sniff. No, even better – steak!
My claws tapped on the kitchen floor as I closed in on my target, only to find that the food was high above me on the kitchen counter, where my paws couldn’t reach.
That steak really does smell good, I thought to myself. Although I’d prefer it served in a bowl on the floor. Perhaps with a side portion of bacon. But I’ll take what I can get – I don’t want to cut my tail off to spite my bottom.
I scrambled on to a dining chair, rose up on my hind legs and clawed with my front paws at the kitchen counter. I. Just. Can’t. Reach.
Aha – I know! I bounced up and down on the padded chair – boing, boing, boing – I was getting closer! After a few bounces, I was able to pull myself on to the counter. But just as I was about to sink my teeth in, the plate rocked off the edge and landed on the floor with a loud clang!
All of a sudden an angry voice shouted, “Mutt! Is that you, Mutt?” A tall, dark shape appeared from behind the kitchen door. It was one of those mean, furless creatures. A Two Leg. My owner.
A shiver of fear ran through me, right to the tip of my
tail. My legs started to tremble and my heart was beating so loudly I could hear it in my ears. I leaped off the kitchen counter and turned to run – the steak now forgotten. My owner ran after me, chasing me out of the kitchen and into the garden.
“It’s no use running away from me!” he shouted in his booming voice. “I’ll catch you, you stupid dog!”
He was getting closer and closer, and when I turned to look and saw the rope he held in his hands, I almost tripped over my paws. My whole body trembled with fear. He was going to tie me up and leave me outside in the garden again. It was so cold and lonely out there – I couldn’t bear the thought of it. Even a life as a stray would be better than that!
He was just reaching out to grab me when—
I woke up with a jolt. My legs were twitching frantically, as if I was still running. My dream had felt so real … because it was real. It had all happened, just like that, on the day I finally ran away. Apart from the steak – that really had been just a dream.
My nightmare brought it all back – how my owner would leave me on my own for days at a time, forget to feed me, shout at me when I’d done nothing wrong, tie me up outside during the cold winter nights.I might only be a mongrel mutt but no dog deserves to be treated that way. That’s whyI decided to stand on my own four paws – to make it by myself in the world – to run away and live rrruff. After all, how hard couldit be?
That evening, almost a week since I’d left, I was outside, sheltering under a tree from the biting cold. “Ow-ow-owww!” The wind howled and I howled back, trying to scare it away. The moon looked like a pale grey ball just sitting there in the sky, as though waiting to be pounced on. It gave off a murky light that helped me to see in the darkness.
I was in a strange new place after travelling all day. A patch of dry grass, some rusty old swings, railings all the way around … must be a park, I thought. Even though I was in unfamiliar territory, it was far too late to go any further, so I’d have to stay the night and get some sleep. As I lay down under a bench, my ears twitched at the sounds of unknown creatures rustling in the trees and bushes. I felt more alone than ever.
Grrrowl! That wasn’t me – that was my stomach. I was so, so hungry. I hadn’t eaten in … I didn’t know how long it had been, but it felt like many dog years. If only I knew my way around the park, then I could have hunted for some greasy food wrappers to lick. Yum!
As I thought about food, the hunger pains kept tugging at my insides and I let out a wail. “Ow-howl!” But what was the use? Nobody was going to hear me and even if they did they wouldn’t care. You just can’t trust a Two Leg. At best they let you down and at worst they’re as cruel as cats. I had to be my own master now. I had to keep going and never look back. I might have been suffering from the hunger and the cold, but it takes more than that to keep this doggo down!
I lifted my nose. A soft breeze had blown a strong smell of – sniff – trees, then something more promising – sniff sniff – maybe something good to eat – sniff sniff – something like – sniff sniff – FRUIT!
The smell reminded me of the only time I’d ever eaten fruit. I was trotting down the high street with my old owner on one of the few times he took me out for walkies. We got to a shop with fruit and vegetables on a stand outside. As we passed by, a plum rolled off on to the pavement and I gobbled it up before my owner could stop me – stone and all!
Now, I could smell the sticky-juicy-yumminess of plum once more. I followed the scent across the grass. It was as though I was on a lead – an invisible one that was pulling me towards the delicious fruit. I trotted along eagerly, my tail wagging with excitement.
There it was! A huge tree towered in front of me. There was a whole heap of plums scattered underneath. I gazed happily at the fruit. You’re mine, all mine!
I scampered over to the tree, my tongue hanging out and dribble running down my furry chin. I’d almost reached the fruit when a frightening noise made me freeze.
“KRA! KRAAA!”
From high in the tree’s branches, a flock of ravens flew out into the sky. They moved as one, like a pack of foxes, making my ears ache with their sharp screeching. “KRA! KRAAA!”
I can’t speak a word of Raven, so I couldn’t understand a thing they were saying. But I did know this – they were heading straight for my fruit! The biggest one swooped down on the nearest plum and tore off a mouthful. I started to edge forwards slowly, carefully, to make my own claim, but the bird whipped its head round so I was level with its pointy beak. I was only a young pup, but I’d been around long enough to know that I shouldn’t fight something with a beak sharper than my teeth!
When the biggest raven was full, the rest of the flock landed and started pecking the fruit to pieces. The large bird watched over them, making a caw-caw-caw! noise that sounded like it was laughing at me. Then all the other ravens finished eating and flew up into the sky. And all that was left behind was a pulpy mess of skin and stone.
So that was it then. No food for me. The only thing I could do was find somewhere to curl up and get some sleep. Maybe I shouldn’t have run away – at least I had food and shelter when I lived with my old owner, I thought miserably. Most days I’d get a few scraps to eat, like cold rice or pasta left over from his dinner. OK, so sometimes he’d completely forget to feed me but at least I didn’t starve to death.
No – I had to stop thinking like that. I couldn’t just sit around feeling sorry for myself. I’d left home because I was unhappy there. If I just kept my tail up and carried on, I’d be much better off on my own. I trotted over to one of the benches – one with a pile of dried leaves underneath. I turned a circle three times to carve out a nest for myself, then flopped down heavily and rested my head on a paw.
I knew I’d feel better after a dog nap. Maybe tomorrow I’d find something even yummier than a plum. This thought cheered me up and got my tail wag-wag-wagging again. That’s right – I was a free dog. Free to do whatever I liked, however I liked, whenever I liked … I just hoped there’d be some food involved!
STRIPES PUBLISHING LIMITED
An imprint of the Little Tiger Group
1 Coda Studios, 189 Munster Road,
London SW6 6AW
www.littletiger.co.uk
First published in Great Britain by Stripes Publishing Limited in 2020
Text copyright © Blake Morgan
Illustrations copyright © David Dean
Additional images used under licence from Shutterstock.com
eISBN: 978–1–78895–289–7
The right of Blake Morgan and David Dean to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
