by Holly Webb
Chloe looked at her fingers. “We all walk to school together,” she repeated. But she knew that wasn’t really what Will meant.
“Come on, Chloe. Will needs to have a rest now. You can come back and see him soon.” Mum had finished talking, and was looking at Will’s pale face with concern.
Chloe hardly spoke on the way home, until they were just turning into their road. “How long is Will going to be there for?” she asked suddenly.
“I’m really not sure, Chloe,” Mum answered. “He ought to have been able to come home soon after the operation, but the nurse said they’re a bit worried that the bone pieces haven’t fitted back together properly yet. It could be a while – a few weeks, even.”
“Weeks?” Chloe whispered in horror. She hadn’t thought it could possibly be that long. She would miss his stupid jokes. And Jess would be heartbroken.
The puppy was waiting hopefully by the door when they got in, and her drooping ears made Chloe feel so guilty. She’d said to Will that Jess was OK, but now she looked so miserable. Chloe sighed. If she’d told Will that, it would have made him miserable too. There was nothing he could do about it, stuck in hospital.
But I could help, Chloe told herself. I could try and cheer Jess up.
She followed Jess into the kitchen, and watched as she slumped down into her basket. Chloe felt so sorry for her, sitting there with her head hanging.
“Hey, Jess,” she said gently, crouching down by the basket.
Jess ignored her. She wanted Will, and he still hadn’t come back to her. She didn’t like it when he went to school every day, but at least he always came home. Where was he now? And why hadn’t he taken her with him?
Chloe nervously darted out a hand to pat Jess, but she patted her too hard, when Jess wasn’t expecting it.
Jess was feeling so upset that when Chloe touched her, she jumped round and barked sharply, showing her teeth. What was going on? She stared angrily at Chloe, who was scrambling away, crying. Silly girl!
Why couldn’t Chloe just leave her alone?
Chapter Three
Chloe kept away from Jess after that. Her behaviour had brought back all those bad memories of the dog in the park. Chloe visited Will, and spoke to him on the phone a couple of times, but whenever he asked her about Jess, she just said that Grandad was taking her for lots of walks and wriggled out of saying any more.
Grandad really loved dogs, and Jess liked him, but it wasn’t the same as racing all over the park with Will. The puppy was bursting with energy, and a couple of short walks a day just weren’t enough. Jess was used to a quick walk before school, and then another really long one with Will and Dad later on. But Dad was working late so he could fit in visiting Will in hospital. He didn’t have much time for dog-walking. Collies needed so much exercise and Jess really hated being stuck in the house. She was bored.
It was the first morning of the holidays, so Jess hadn’t even had her walk to school. She wandered round the house with her lead, looking hopeful, but Mum was busy sorting out some books to take to Will, and Jess knew Chloe wouldn’t take her. Mum had encouraged Jess to go out into the garden, but that was no fun without someone to play with. She looked around the kitchen, trying to find something interesting to do. She pushed her squeaky bone across the floor for a while, but what she really needed was Will to throw it for her to chase.
Her bone was up against the kitchen cupboards now, so Jess scrabbled with one paw to get it back into the middle of the floor. But her claws caught on the cupboard door instead. It opened a little way, and then bounced shut.
Jess stared at it, fascinated. Then she carefully hooked her claws round the edge of the door again. Again, the door bounced and banged.
The next time, she pulled it a little too hard, and it didn’t bang back. Jess went to nudge the door again with her nose, but then she caught a delicious and interesting whiff from the cupboard.
There was food in there. Jess used her nose to push the door further open and found the cereal packets.
“Oh no! Mu-um!” Chloe was standing in the kitchen doorway, staring at Jess, who looked back rather guiltily. She was surrounded by chewed-up cardboard and an awful lot of cornflakes.
“What’s the matter? Oh, Jess!” Mum had come downstairs and was gazing at the mess in horror. “You bad dog,” she said crossly. “What a waste. I hope you’re not going to be sick now.”
Jess flattened herself to the floor and whined miserably, backing towards her basket. She hadn’t meant to be bad. The cereal had smelled so good, and the cardboard boxes had been fun to tear up with her teeth…
Mum sighed. “Oh, Jess. It isn’t really your fault. You need a walk, don’t you?”
Jess thumped her tail on the floor, just once, but she kept down, watching Mum clear up the mess. She was sorry, but she still felt grumpy and bored. She desperately wanted something to do.
Chloe helped her mum with the tidying up. When they’d finished, Mum gave her a hug. “Not the best way to spend the first day of the holidays, is it? Shall we go out for an ice cream together after we’ve been to see Will this afternoon? I feel like I’ve hardly seen you recently.”
Chloe hugged her back, nearly spilling a dustpan full of cornflakes. “Yes, please! Thanks, Mum!” She danced over to empty the cornflakes in the bin. “Don’t worry about having to go to the hospital so much. I’ll be at pony camp next week with Maddy, so you won’t need to worry about me then.”
She turned round smiling, but then her eyes widened as she saw her mother’s face. “What is it?”
“Oh, Chloe! I never called them! It was one of my jobs for the day after Will had his accident, and I never phoned them up to book!” Mum looked horrified. “Where’s the brochure? I’ll ring them now.”
She grabbed the phone, and Chloe watched her making the call. Her mum frowned a little as she explained, and then looked terribly disappointed and guilty. Chloe knew what Mum was going to say before she even put down the phone.
“I’m so sorry. They’re all booked up. They’ve promised to call me if there’s a cancellation, but they didn’t sound very hopeful. Oh, Chlo, I feel dreadful…”
Chloe stared down at the ground. She wanted to say it was OK, she knew Mum had had other things on her mind. But she had been looking forward to this for so long! She and Maddy had spent ages at school talking about it, and drawing pictures of the ponies they might get to look after. How was she going to tell Maddy? It would ruin her holiday too!
She swallowed hard, trying not to yell at Mum. She knew she hadn’t done it on purpose. But it was so unfair!
She dashed out of the kitchen, scrambled up the stairs to her room and flung herself on to her bed, crying. Mum spent all this time worrying about Will, and she’d just forgotten about her. She mattered too, didn’t she?
She cried so much that her head ached, and then she actually fell asleep, in the middle of the day.
Mum came in just after she’d woken up, which made Chloe think she’d probably been hanging around outside her room, for a while. She had a plate with a sandwich and some biscuits on it.
“You missed lunch,” she said gently. “Cheese and ketchup, look.” It was Chloe’s favourite. She wiped her eyes and took the plate gratefully.
“I spoke to Maddy’s mum and explained. I said I’d arrange something really special for you girls later in the holidays.”
Chloe just nodded.
“I really am sorry, Chlo.”
She looked sorry, and Chloe leaned against her shoulder. Crying made her feel awful, and she felt guilty now as well. At least she wasn’t stuck in hospital like Will. “I know,” she muttered.
“Are you still going to come with me to visit Will tonight?” Mum asked. “I know he’s looking forward to seeing you. He asked if you could bring him some DS games.”
Chloe nodded. “Mmm. I know which ones he likes. I’ll find them when I’ve eaten this.”
“Thanks, Chlo. You’re a star.” Mum kissed the top of her he
ad, and went back downstairs.
Chloe didn’t feel like a star. She felt lonely and miserable. She ate the biscuits, but she didn’t really enjoy them, and then she got up to go and fetch Will’s games from his bedroom.
She was searching through the pile on his shelf, when a tiny noise made her turn round sharply.
She hadn’t noticed that Jess was lying on Will’s bed, staring at her, her eyes looking even darker than usual and so sad. For once, Chloe didn’t feel that horrible jump of fright that she got when a dog was too close. Jess just seemed so unhappy.
“You look like I feel…” Chloe joked, but it wasn’t really funny. “Mum isn’t cross with you any more, Jess, honestly.”
Jess gazed at Chloe, and thought she looked sad too. She whined, and Chloe nodded.
“I know. You miss Will, don’t you?” Chloe picked up the games, then wriggled herself over to lean against Will’s bed. “Me too, Jess.”
Jess gave a huge sigh, and Chloe giggled. “That was right in my ear.” She looked at Jess, whose nose was hanging over the edge of the bed right next to her, and very gently stroked her.
Jess closed her eyes and sighed again, gratefully, as Chloe scratched behind her ears. It felt so nice to have somebody fuss over her.
Chloe lay in bed that night feeling too hot to sleep. Mum had said she thought it might thunder, but even though a storm would probably cool everything down, Chloe hoped she was wrong. She hated thunderstorms. She turned over and yawned. She was tired, but she was never going to be able to sleep in this sticky room…
She was woken hours later by a huge crash of thunder. Her room was still lit up by lightning, which meant the storm was right overhead. Chloe sat up, clutching the duvet around her shoulders. Another flash! The horrible blue-white light sent everything into scary shadows, and she shivered, waiting for the thunder.
Suddenly a little black-and-white body hurtled through her bedroom door, making Chloe squeak with surprise. Jess flung herself on to Chloe’s bed, whimpering in fear.
“Oh, Jess, are you scared of thunder too?” Chloe cuddled the puppy close, forgetting to be frightened, either of Jess or the thunder. As the next thunderclap cracked overhead, Jess cowered against her, letting Chloe wrap her arms around her small black ears to shut out the noise. “Ssshh, ssshh, it’s OK. It’ll go away soon.”
Jess licked her hand gratefully. She couldn’t have stayed in the kitchen, not with those crashing noises and that awful prickly feel in the air. She really wanted Will, but Chloe would do. It was nice to be cuddled, and she was making good sounds, shushing noises that made the crashing seem not so bad.
She could feel Chloe’s heart thudding so quickly. She was scared too, Jess thought. She licked her again, and then snuggled closer as another growl of thunder rumbled round the house.
Chloe lay there, jumping every so often as the thunder rang out, but mostly thinking over and over, I’m cuddling Jess. I’m holding a dog! I’d never have thought that she’d be scared of thunder, when she’s so bouncy and loud. “You’re even worse than me, Jess.” She giggled, and Jess licked her under the chin.
The thunder was dying away now, to just a few grumbles, and Chloe lay back down, with Jess still cuddled up next to her. “Are you staying, Jess?” she asked.
But Jess was asleep already, curled in a little ball in the crook of Chloe’s arm.
Chapter Four
Jess was still there when Chloe woke up the next morning, snuggled down the side of her bed. Chloe smiled delightedly – it was just like she’d imagined having a dog would be. Jess yawned, showing a huge length of pink tongue, and rolled over on to her back, still fast asleep. She lay there with her paws folded on her chest, snoring a little, until Chloe woke her up by giggling too much.
“Sorry, Jess. You looked so funny.”
Jess let out another enormous yawn, then gave Chloe a big face-washing lick.
“Urgh. Now I’m really awake.” Chloe got out of bed and followed Jess downstairs to the kitchen, where Mum was making toast.
“I was wondering where Jess had got to!” Mum said, looking slightly surprised. “You slept late! I was just about to come and wake you up. It’s holiday club this morning, remember?”
Chloe nodded. Her mum worked part-time at the library, and so in the mornings she and Will usually went to a holiday club at one of the other schools nearby. Even though she didn’t normally hang around with Will – he stuck with the boys, mostly – it would feel weird being there without him.
Jess watched sadly through the front window as they got into the car without her. She’d been hoping for a walk. She had that itchy, bored feeling again. She trotted back into the kitchen and out into the garden through her dog-door. She sniffed around for a while and snapped at a few butterflies, then she just lay on her side in a sunny patch, flicking her tail idly.
A beetle wandered past her nose, and Jess rolled over to stare at it as it trundled off between her paws. She crept after it, tail wagging slightly, and watched it climb under some stones in the flower bed. Where had it gone?
Jess pawed at the stones, but the beetle had gone. She scrabbled some more, then dug furiously, her paws spraying up stones and earth. The beetle was long gone, but the digging was fun. Jess happily clawed and scraped and scratched, loving the exercise.
Then she fell asleep, her nose in a pile of earth, worn out and snoozing blissfully.
“Jess!”
Jess sat up with a jump, blinking sleepily, and saw that Chloe was there, looking down at her with her hands to her mouth.
“Oh, Jess, Mum’s going to go mad. Dad gave her that plant for her birthday.” Chloe quickly fetched a trowel from the garden shed to scoop some of the earth back into the flower bed. “We have to tidy up. Maybe she won’t notice.”
But it was too late. Chloe’s mum was standing by the back door, looking horrified. In fact, she looked more than horrified, she looked furious.
“You bad dog! Look at this mess! Oh, I don’t believe it! My beautiful camellia…” She crouched down to look at the plants that Jess had rooted up.
Jess hung her head sadly. She’d only been playing…
“I think she was bored, Mum,” Chloe said quickly. “Don’t be cross with her, please. She misses Will, and all the walks he and Dad used to take her on. And now Grandad’s not staying any more, she’s hardly getting any exercise at all.”
Chloe stroked Jess, feeling her shiver. It was obvious she hated being shouted at. Chloe frowned. “Mum, could me and Maddy take Jess for a walk? Just to the park. We could run around with her and work off some of her energy; I’m sure she wouldn’t be so naughty then.”
Mum shook her head. “You’re not old enough, Chlo. And I thought you were terrified of dogs! And Jess is such a handful. But you’re right, she does need more exercise.”
Chloe helped her try to fill in the earth around the camellia again. “Mum, you let Will walk me to school all last year, and he’s only a year older than me. And I’ll be with Maddy, too! She’ll help me with Jess. We’ll be fine!”
Her mum sighed. “Well, it might be worth a try. I’m sure she’s only being naughty because we’re not spending enough time with her.”
Chloe threw her arms around Mum. “Excellent! I’ll go and ring Maddy!”
“This is great, Chloe. I can’t believe you aren’t nervous of Jess any more.” Maddy was looking admiringly at Chloe walking with Jess on her lead.
Chloe smiled. “I can’t either. But it’s brilliant.”
Jess was scampering along happily, sniffing the interesting smells and hoping they were going to the park so she could run really fast, like she did with Will. She still wished he would come back, but Chloe was her person now, too. Chloe had looked after her during that horrible, frightening night, and that made her special.
They raced all over the park for a whole hour, until the girls were exhausted, although Jess was still bright and bouncy.
“She’s not tired at all!” Maddy panted, collapsi
ng on to a bench. “Look at her, she wants to dash off again!”
Jess barked excitedly. She could see a squirrel scurrying along between those trees, and she loved chasing squirrels. She looked up hopefully at Chloe and tugged on the lead.
“Sorry, Jess, we’ve got to get home. I promised Mum we’d be back by five.” Chloe turned to walk Jess out of the park, and Jess gave the squirrel a last longing look and followed her.
But then the squirrel changed direction and started to run along the grass almost in front of Jess’s nose. It was too much to bear. She gave an enormous bark and flung herself after the squirrel.
Chloe gasped as she felt the lead almost pulling out of her hand. “Hey! Jess, no. Come back!”
Jess was so strong. Chloe tried desperately to get her under control, but she was only just managing to hold on as Jess dragged her after the squirrel. They galloped over the grass, and then Jess cut across one of the tarmac paths that ran through the park. Chloe tripped on the edge of the grass and went flying, finally letting go of her lead.
Jess sped up. She was going to catch a squirrel at last! But the squirrel had made it to the trees, and all Jess could do was bark crossly at it as it disappeared into the leafy branches. Disappointed, she turned to go back to Chloe.
Chloe! There she was, lying on the path. She was crying! Jess let out a terrified whimper and raced over, throwing herself on to the ground next to Chloe and whining miserably.
Chloe had scraped her knee on the tarmac, and blood was dripping down her leg. Maddy was trying to wipe it up with a tissue, but it was a nasty cut.
“Oh, Jess, it’s OK.” Chloe sniffed. “Don’t be upset.” She could see why Jess was frightened, and she felt so sorry for her. Will had been hurt, and he’d gone away. Now Jess thought that she was going to go away too.
