Jess the Lonely Puppy

by Holly Webb

  “Are you all right to walk?” Maddy asked, helping Chloe to her feet.

  “I’m fine,” Chloe said. “Let’s go home.”

  Maddy took Jess by the lead. “Just don’t go too fast, Jess, OK?”

  They slowly made their way back, with Chloe leaning on Maddy and Jess trotting obediently alongside her.

  Chloe’s mum was watching out for them through the front window. She looked worried.

  “Are we really late?” Chloe muttered.

  Maddy frowned. “A bit. And she wasn’t sure about letting us go, was she?”

  Mum flung open the front door. “Chloe, you promised me five—Oh no, what have you done?” She helped Chloe inside, and Jess and Maddy crept in behind them, not wanting to be noticed.

  “What happened?” Mum asked, getting down the first-aid box. She looked very upset – much more upset than she ought to be about just a scraped knee, Chloe thought.

  “Jess ran after a squirrel and I tripped,” she explained, trying not to make it sound too serious.

  “That dog again!” Mum said crossly.

  “She didn’t mean to hurt me! She was really sorry – she was whimpering,” Chloe protested. But she could see Mum wasn’t really listening.

  “She’s too wilful. I don’t know what we’re going to do with her,” Mum said, dabbing at Chloe’s knee with a wipe.

  “Oh, she isn’t really, Mum!” Chloe protested, giving Maddy a horrified look. “She’s lovely! She didn’t mean to hurt me.”

  Jess sat in her basket, her eyes swivelling between Mum and Chloe, shivering at the loud, upset voices. Mum kept looking at her as though this was all her fault. And Jess had a horrible feeling that it was.

  Chapter Five

  Will smiled and shook his head as he spotted Chloe walking up the children’s ward, a big plaster on her knee. “I know you miss me, Chlo, but cutting your leg off so you can stay in hospital too, that’s just dim…Seriously, what did you do?”

  Chloe grinned at him. “I took Jess for a walk! Well, me and Maddy did.” She looked down at the plaster and shrugged. “But Jess wanted to chase a squirrel, and I tripped…”

  Will beamed. “That’s brilliant!”

  “Hey!”

  “Not your knee! Brilliant that you took Jess out. Thanks, Chlo. I’d been really worrying about her.”

  Chloe sighed and glanced over at her mum, who was talking to the doctor. “I’m not sure Mum’s going to let me take her out again, though,” she whispered. “She was so cross. Jess has been really naughty in the last couple of days.”

  Will thought for a moment. “Well, if you really can’t talk Mum round, perhaps you can wear off some of her energy in the garden. She loves playing fetch, and you could try hiding one of her toys and getting her to play hide-and-seek, that’s fun. Then maybe she’ll be a bit less mad.”

  Chloe nodded. “Good idea. Anyway, I might still get Mum to give in.”

  “You just need to stretch your legs, don’t you, Jessie?” Chloe murmured, stroking Jess’s silky black-and-white back, as they leaned against the sofa watching TV.

  Jess let out a huge sigh, as if in agreement, then slumped down with her head in Chloe’s lap.

  Chloe had spent ages persuading her mum that Jess had only tripped her up by accident. But Mum was still saying that she didn’t think it was a good idea for Chloe and Maddy to take Jess out again. Chloe was also worried about what her mum had said about not knowing what to do with Jess. What did that mean? She was scared that her mum might want to send Jess back to the breeder they’d got her from. Will would be heartbroken.

  And it wasn’t just Will. Chloe would miss Jess so much, too, she realized now. She was determined to turn Jess into the most perfect dog ever, so Mum wouldn’t want to get rid of her. But that meant they had to go out for more walks. Chloe was sure that Jess was only playing up because she needed loads more exercise, and the occasional short walks she was getting with Grandad just weren’t enough. She’d spent the morning playing in the garden with Jess, like Will had suggested, but she was sure that Jess really wanted more space for a good long run.

  Eventually, after a whole day of begging, Mum agreed to let Chloe and Maddy take Jess out. But she made Chloe take her mobile phone, so they could call home if anything went wrong.

  Luckily, Jess seemed to know that she had to be on her best behaviour. She walked sedately all the way to the park, trotting along next to Chloe. Chloe and Maddy smiled at each other as a couple of old ladies commented on what a well-behaved dog she was.

  “I wish we could get them to go and say that to my mum!” Chloe whispered, and Maddy giggled.

  Chloe’s leg was still a bit too sore for her to run really fast, so Maddy took Jess’s lead when they got to the park.

  Jess looked up at Maddy and Chloe, her ears pricked, but she didn’t race off.

  “What’s up, Jess?” Maddy asked her gently.

  Chloe leaned down to stroke her, and Jess nuzzled her gently, pressing her cool, damp nose into Chloe’s hand. She rubbed Jess’s ears. “It’s OK, Jess. You go! Run with Maddy!”

  “But not too fast!” Maddy added, smiling.

  Jess wagged her tail delightedly, swishing it like a flag, and sprinted away, but she kept coming back to check on Chloe, who was sitting on one of the benches.

  “She’s really worried about you,” Maddy said, panting. Jess had just raced to the other side of the trees and back. “She’s such a sweetheart.”

  Jess sat on the path, laid her muzzle on Chloe’s lap and stared up at her anxiously. Was Chloe all right? She swept her tail back and forth across the path when Chloe beamed at her.

  Maddy flopped on to the bench too. “We should head back, shouldn’t we?” she asked, checking her watch.

  Chloe nodded. “Let’s go home past the shops to give Jess a change,” she suggested. She took the lead from Maddy and got to her feet.

  Jess looked up at them both, and her tail stopped wagging. Home? Already? But she wanted to run some more! That had hardly felt like a walk at all.

  “Do you think your mum will let you take Jess out on your own next week, when I’m at pony camp?” Maddy asked, as they walked through the park gates.

  Chloe frowned. She hadn’t really thought about that. “I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I can’t see her saying yes. She’d be too worried something might happen to us. Maybe I can ask Grandad to come with me…”

  “Do you mind if I nip in and buy a magazine?” Maddy asked, as they went past the corner shop.

  Chloe shook her head. “Course not. We’ll wait for you outside. Sit, Jess!”

  Jess looked at Chloe doubtfully, and Chloe gently pushed her to sit down. She’d been reading up on the internet about dog-training, and she’d tried practising with Jess in the garden, but they weren’t very good at it yet. Eventually Jess sat, and Chloe fussed over her lovingly.

  Maddy took ages. Chloe could see her through the window, dithering about which magazine to buy.

  She gazed down at her feet, thinking sadly about pony camp and how cool it would have been. But then, if she’d gone Jess would have been really lonely without her, she supposed. Maybe it was all for the best.

  Jess soon got bored of sitting still and watching people going in and out of the shop. Lots of them had interesting things in their bags, though. She sniffed hopefully. Delicious-smelling things.

  Suddenly, Jess pulled sharply at her lead, and Chloe gasped as she dragged it out of her hand. Before Chloe could catch her, Jess was right outside the shop door, rooting in a big shopping bag which a lady had put down while she found her car keys.

  “Jess, no!” Chloe squeaked, horrified, as the lady tried to pull her bag away.

  “Is this your dog?” she demanded furiously. “What on earth were you doing, letting go of her like that?”

  “I’m really sorry!” Chloe said, blushing scarlet. “Oh, Jess…” She finally managed to grab Jess’s lead and pull her out of the shopping bag, but it was too late. She ha
d a biscuit in her mouth, and there was a packet sticking out of the bag, ripped open by her sharp little teeth.

  “She’s eating my biscuits!” the lady shouted. Chloe thought she might explode, she looked so cross.

  “I’m so sorry, I’ll pay for them,” she gasped, frantically digging in her skirt pocket for her purse, while trying to hold on to Jess’s collar with her other hand.

  Jess had finished the delicious biscuit, but she was beginning to realize that she’d done something wrong. The lady with the bag was shouting at Chloe. Jess squirmed behind Chloe’s legs to hide.

  Chloe quickly pressed a pound coin into the lady’s hand, muttering, “Sorry!” again. As she pulled Jess away, she could hear the lady behind her, telling everyone coming out of the shop that little girls shouldn’t be allowed to walk dogs they couldn’t control.

  “What happened?” said Maddy, as she came out of the shop, clutching her magazine.

  “Jess stole that lady’s biscuits!” Chloe whispered to her friend. “It was so embarrassing! I don’t think I’ll ever dare go in that shop again!”

  When they got home, Chloe carefully avoided telling Mum about their walk – except that Jess had been good in the park. She went out into the garden and lay on the rug under the apple tree in the shade. It was so hot.

  Jess lay down next to her, panting and wagging her tail as the bees buzzed past her nose.

  Chloe reached out to stroke her. “What am I going to do with you, Jess?” she muttered. “Only two walks. One cut knee for me, one stolen biscuit for you. This isn’t working out very well, is it?”

  Chapter Six

  Grandad came over the next day to look after Chloe while Mum and Dad went to the hospital, and as soon as they’d shut the front door behind them, Chloe pulled him over to the kitchen table to sit down and talk.

  “What’s the matter, Chlo?” Grandad grinned at her. “You’re looking very serious.”

  Chloe huffed out a sigh. “It is serious! I’ve tried everything, but Jess can’t stop getting into trouble. Mum’s really cross with her and I’m worried she might take her back to the dog breeder.”

  Grandad looked down at Jess, who was fighting with her stretchy rubber bone under the table. “I’m sure your mum wouldn’t do that. She hasn’t said anything to me. What’s Jess been doing?”

  Chloe explained about the cereal, and the plants, and her knee, and then the stolen biscuits. It did sound rather awful when it was all in a long list, she realized.

  Grandad nodded slowly. “I didn’t know she was so upset with Jess, but I can see why… It’s been really hard for her and your dad, you know, worrying so much about Will. And they’re worried about you too, Chlo. Your mum thinks it’s really spoiling your holiday.”

  “If I could get Jess to behave well and go for walks without being afraid of what she might do, I’d be having a brilliant summer,” Chloe replied.

  “But you’re already making a big difference,” Grandad pointed out, reaching across the table to cover her hand with his. “Think back to the day of Will’s accident – just think about how you were with Jess. I felt so sad, watching you. It looked like you secretly wanted to play with Jess and Will, but you couldn’t make yourself. And now look at you! I know the walks didn’t turn out too well, but at least you went! And you haven’t given up on Jess, even after she’s got you into trouble. I’m so proud of you.”

  Chloe went pink and looked down at the table, feeling embarrassed. Dad had spotted her cuddling Jess the day before and told her it was great that she seemed to be getting on so well with the puppy, but no one had said it as nicely as that before.

  “But it isn’t making her any better behaved, Grandad. I just don’t know what to try next.”

  Grandad hugged her. “Honestly, your mum won’t send her back. But we don’t want her getting any more stressed out than she is already.” He nodded thoughtfully. “What that dog needs is a training class.”

  “Oh yes!” Chloe bounced in her chair. “Will was going to take her, but it clashed with football. He was planning to do it in the holidays instead, but then we all forgot about it after the accident.”

  “How about it then? You, me and Jess. Let’s find ourselves a trainer. Come on, Chlo, show me some of those computer skills. Let’s go and see what’s on round here.”

  Ten minutes later, Chloe and Grandad had found a training class that was being run in the church hall round the corner. “Look, there’s a class starting this Tuesday,” Grandad pointed out. “Perfect. Something fun for us to do while Maddy’s away, stop you feeling too sad about that pony club thingummy.”

  “Pony camp.” Chloe giggled. “Can we call now, Grandad? I hope they aren’t full up.”

  Luckily, they weren’t. Grandad put down the phone, looking very pleased with himself.

  “We can go?” Chloe asked eagerly. She was standing next to him, with Jess waltzing excitedly round her legs. Jess could tell that something good was happening. Chloe sounded so happy.

  Grandad nodded. “And when I told Mike, the trainer, that Jess was a Border collie, he mentioned that he does agility sessions too. So I’ve signed us up for a taster in a few weeks’ time.”

  “What’s agility?” Chloe asked, stooping down to hug Jess and ruffling the fur round her neck. Jess looked up at her adoringly.

  “Haven’t you ever seen it on TV?” Grandad replied. “It’s a bit like show-jumping, but for dogs. Jess isn’t old enough for real agility classes yet, but he thought she’d enjoy the taster session.”

  Chloe beamed. “Jess would love that.”

  “I’m sure she would. Mike said it’s great for collies; it works off loads of their energy. I thought it sounded like just what we need!”

  Chloe was rather nervous about the first training session. What if Jess didn’t behave? It would be really embarrassing if she just wouldn’t do as she was told. And Chloe was a tiny bit worried about all those other dogs too. She wasn’t scared of Jess any more, but she wasn’t sure how she’d feel about a hall full of dogs.

  Luckily, there were only five in their class, and they were all puppies too. Two Labradors, one black and one chocolate, a cocker spaniel, and one breed that Chloe didn’t recognize. His owner said he was a mixed bag.

  Jess adored the class. Everyone fussed over her and said how beautiful she was, and Chloe spent ages telling her she was a good dog, every time she did as she was told.

  “She’s doing really well.” Mike, the trainer, crouched down by Jess and patted her gently. “Let’s see you walk up the hall, turn at the end and come back. Don’t pull her, and walk slowly, OK? Lots of praise.”

  Chloe looked down at Jess lovingly – “Come on, Jess, walk,” she said, keeping her voice gentle but firm, like she’d been told.

  Jess showed off happily, trotting along right next to Chloe and turning perfectly, without Chloe having to pull her.

  “Great. Give her one of your treats, Chloe. She’s a natural.” Mike looked really pleased.

  “You are such a clever girl, Jess!” Chloe said, holding out a dog biscuit.

  Jess gulped down the delicious meaty biscuit, wagging her tail happily. She loved dog training!

  At the end of the class, Grandad walked over. He’d been watching from the back of the hall, and Chloe had asked him to take some photos to show Will when she went to visit.

  “We were so lucky there was a course starting this week. Jess seemed to really enjoy herself.” Grandad smiled. “I’m sure she’ll love that agility taster session, too.”

  On their way home, Jess walked close to Chloe, feeling happily tired after the class. She wanted to go home and curl up in her basket, then later maybe Chloe would play those fun games with her in the garden. There might even be more of the yummy treats.

  Chloe’s mum was delighted that it had gone so well. “I’m going to have to come and watch one of these classes,” she suggested. “It sounds as though you and Jess are doing brilliantly.”

  “We’ve got beginne
rs’ training on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the next four weeks,” Chloe explained.

  “Are you coming with me to see Will?” Mum asked.

  Chloe nodded excitedly. “Yes, I want to tell him how fantastic Jess was at the class. He’s going to be so proud of her! I didn’t tell him we were going, in case Jess behaved really badly.”

  Will was watching a DVD on the screen above his bed, but he turned it off as soon as he saw Mum and Chloe. “Wow, it’s good to see you,” he said, grinning. “Mum, have they said how much longer I have to be in for?”

  Mum shook her head. “I’m supposed to talk to Dr Bedford today. Hopefully not much longer, now you’ve started physiotherapy.”

  Will made a face. “It’s good being allowed to move, but I’m so slow! It’s going to be ages before I can go for runs in the park with Jess. How is she?”

  Chloe beamed at him and pulled out her camera to show him the photos Grandad had taken. “She’s brilliant! Look!”

  Will stared at them, frowning. “You took her to dog training? But I was going to do that!”

  Chloe looked at him in surprise. She had thought he’d be pleased. “I know, but—”

  “I was really looking forward to it!” Will said angrily. “She’s my dog!”

  “Actually, Will, she’s a family dog,” Mum said gently. “I know you’ve spent the most time with her, but Chloe’s been looking after her really well. You’ll be able to go to the classes too when you’re better.”

  But Will was still scowling, and he hardly spoke to Chloe for the rest of the visit.

  Chapter Seven

  When Jess sneaked into Chloe’s room that night, she could feel that something wasn’t right. Ever since Chloe had come home, she’d been so quiet. She’d petted Jess and played with her, but she hadn’t been quite the same.