The Forgotten Puppy

by Holly Webb

  Pretty! Emi wanted to tell him that the puppy was the loveliest dog she’d ever seen, but she didn’t want everyone to laugh at her again.

  The golden puppy stumbled out of the basket and came to see what her brothers and sisters were looking at. There were new, interesting smells… Exciting smells! She trotted across the room and sniffed at Emi’s boots. Then she looked up with dark, sparkling eyes and put her fat little paw on Emi’s leg, as if she was saying, You belong to me…

  “What will you call her?” Jess asked with a little sigh. “You’re so lucky, getting a puppy!”

  “We’re not sure yet,” Emi told her. “We keep arguing about it – it’s really difficult to choose. But I like one of the names Mum suggested, Rina. It’s pretty just by itself and it means jasmine in Japanese.”

  Jess nodded. “That’s lovely! Oh, look, there’s your mum. Email me a picture of her, Emi! Have a good weekend.”

  Emi waved as she dashed off to meet her mum at the school gate. First they were going to meet Ben (round the corner from his school, though, as he said it was far too embarrassing to be picked up by his mum and his little sister) and then they were driving over to Kaii’s house to bring their puppy home. There was a special new metal crate in the back of the car for the puppy to travel in, and at home there was a basket and food bowls and lots of toys.

  When they had decided they were definitely going to get the little golden puppy, they’d gone shopping and Emi had darted excitedly round the pet shop, choosing everything the puppy could possibly need and more. Mum had persuaded her to put most of it back, though – the puppy didn’t need three leads, after all. Emi knew that really. It was just such fun picking out the different things and imagining the puppy using them and drinking from her new water bowl and playing with all the toys.

  Ben had said he thought Emi was so excited she was going to try sleeping in the puppy’s basket, but that was just Ben being silly. She had stroked the furry cushion in it, that was all, and tried to think of a little golden puppy sleeping there, all curled up. The basket was going to be huge for the puppy, to start off with.

  “Come on, Mum, let’s go!” Emi raced down the road, pulling her mum after her. “Ben had better be quick getting out of school…”

  But Ben was already waiting for them and he looked impatient, too.

  Emi sat in the back of the car, staring dreamily out of the window. She wasn’t seeing the streets they drove past at all – she was imagining walks with their puppy and sitting curled up together on the sofa. Or maybe on the floor. Mum wasn’t sure about dogs on furniture, but Emi was hoping she’d give in after a while…

  The golden puppy heard the doorbell ring and jumped up. She knew by now what that noise meant. Voices at the door and then quite often people coming to see her and her brothers and sisters, and play with them. She liked that – most of the time. Some of the people scared her – they were too loud and picked her up too suddenly. She padded to the door and sniffed at it, hopefully. The day before, one of her brothers had gone away with the people who’d come to visit. She missed him. It had been strange, curling up in the big basket without him last night. She wondered if perhaps this would be the people bringing him back.

  But when Kaii carefully opened the door, the golden puppy saw the girl again – the one she remembered from a little time ago. She had snuggled into that girl’s lap, she was sure. The girl had rubbed her ears and whispered to her. There had been a boy, too, and he’d thrown a jingly ball for her to play with. He wasn’t quite as warm and cuddly as the girl, but she’d liked him, too.

  She danced up to Emi and Ben, yapping excitedly and whisking her little curl of a tail.

  Emi looked at Kaii hopefully. “Do you think she remembers us?”

  Kaii was smiling. “I think so. She hasn’t been that friendly to any of the other visitors. She’s been a bit quiet today, actually. I think she’s missing her brother. He went to a new home yesterday.”

  “Ohhh…” Emi crouched down to stroke the puppy. “I hadn’t thought about that. You’re going to miss all your brothers and sisters when you come home with us…”

  The puppy leaned into Emi’s hand, closing her eyes blissfully. It was definitely the same girl. She knew just how to fuss over a dog. The puppy leaned in a little more and then her claws skittered and scrabbled on the tiled floor and she flipped over.

  The puppy stood up, shaking her ears and looking bewildered. She wasn’t quite sure what had happened. But the girl reached down gently and picked her up, holding her close.

  “Oh, look at her,” Mum laughed. “She’s all fluffed up and worried. She’s really cute. I do think she looks like a Jasmine.”

  Ben nodded. “Maybe. But I’m not shouting ‘Jasmine’ in the middle of the park. Let’s go with Rina.”

  “I can’t believe we’re bringing you home and we got to choose your name,” Emi whispered into Rina’s furry ear. “We’ll look after you so well, I promise.”

  Emi was glad they’d gone to get Rina on a Friday night and now they had the whole weekend to get to know her. Kaii had suggested that it would be best to keep her in the kitchen at first, so she wasn’t too scared by the big, strange house. But Emi was pretty sure Rina wasn’t scared of anything.

  Ben put her down on the kitchen floor when they first got home, and she went marching round the room on her little stubby legs, inspecting everything carefully. She stood by the glass back door and barked at a very surprised pigeon, and then they saw her tail wag properly for the first time. Because it was curled up so tightly over her back, she didn’t wag it the same way most dogs did. It just wobbled instead.

  “Look at her tail!” Emi laughed. “It looks like a caterpillar wriggling!”

  “That pigeon got a shock.” Ben peered out into the garden. “I think it might be up in the apple tree panicking now.”

  But Rina looked very pleased with herself. She went back to exploring the kitchen, sniffing at her bed and all her new toys, and looking hopefully at her food bowl. She knew what that was.

  “Yes, we’d better feed you,” Mum murmured and Rina danced up and down excitedly as she saw Mum opening the bag. After she’d gobbled down the food, she flopped into her new basket. It was too big for her – she looked a bit lost in the middle of it. She sniffed all around it worriedly and then looked up at Emi, Ben and Mum.

  “I think she’s wondering where the other puppies are,” Emi said anxiously.

  “Maybe,” her mum agreed.

  “I’ve got an idea,” Emi said suddenly, rushing out of the kitchen. She shut the door carefully behind her and hurried up the stairs. She was back down a minute later with a huge teddy bear that she’d won in a tombola at the school fair, ages ago. It had dark-gold fur, almost the same colour as Cho, Rina’s mum. Emi laid the teddy bear down in the basket next to Rina and the puppy sniffed at it suspiciously. Then she climbed on to it, rather slowly, as she was very full of food, and slumped down, with her head pillowed on its fat, furry middle.

  Emi smiled to herself. The puppy was already fast asleep.

  “I’m sorry, Rina.” Emi sighed and looked down at the puppy, who was nosing at her big rucksack. “You can’t come, sweetheart.” She put the T-shirts she was carrying into the bag and crouched down to hug the little golden dog. “I really wish you could. I’m going to miss you so much.” It was the following weekend, and she and Ben were going to stay at their dad’s. She glanced around the room. “Have I forgotten anything? Oh! Toothbrush!”

  She darted into the bathroom and Rina galloped after her. The puppy had only stayed in the kitchen for a couple of days – it was clear that she wasn’t at all worried about her new home, even if she did miss the other puppies, especially at night.

  The big teddy bear helped, though. Rina had moaned and whimpered for a little while when they had left her in the kitchen that first evening. Emi and Mum and Ben had all sat on the stairs listening to her and worrying. She had sounded so sad that Emi had almost cried. Then Rina
had stopped, all at once, and there was no more noise till half past five the next morning. Emi hadn’t minded that. She’d gone downstairs in her pyjamas as soon as Rina had woken her up – it just meant an even longer day of playing.

  Emi thought they might have to buy Rina a new bear soon, though. She’d chewed most of one arm off already. She pulled him round the house with her too, which was very funny to watch, as the bear was at least twice as big as she was. Emi had filmed her and sent the video to Dad, who said it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen. He was just sorry there was no room for a dog at his flat.

  Rina hadn’t brought the bear up to Emi’s room, as she had enough trouble just getting herself up the stairs. They were quite steep for a dog with very small legs. She trotted after Emi to the bedroom and peered into the bag again.

  She didn’t really understand what it was. It looked a bit like Emi’s school bag, which was worrying. When Emi had that bag it meant she was going away and she wouldn’t be back until just before dinner time. But it never seemed to need this much packing. And Emi was sad, Rina could tell. She kept hugging her, but too tightly, almost so hard Rina tried to wriggle away. Something was different.

  “Emi, are you ready?” Mum called up. “We need to go – the train’s in twenty minutes.”

  “Can we take Rina to the station with us?” Emi begged, as she hurried down the stairs to join Ben, with Rina jumping carefully from step to step behind her.

  “I suppose so,” Mum agreed. “It’s not far. I can always carry her back.”

  Emi reached up to get Rina’s lead down from the hook, and Rina twirled and danced and yapped in excitement. Emi’s mum had taken her for her last vaccinations on Monday, but she’d only had a couple of very short walks since then.

  But why wasn’t Emi excited, too? When Emi crouched down to clip on her lead, Rina could tell she was still unhappy. She licked Emi’s nose, hoping to cheer her up and Emi giggled, but she didn’t sound quite right. She didn’t go skipping out into the front garden the way she usually did, either.

  Rina stopped, pulling back on her lead as they reached the pavement and whimpering. What was wrong? She didn’t want to go out like this.

  “Oh!” Emi squatted down next to her. “Do you think Rina can tell we’re worried about leaving her behind?”

  “Maybe…” Her mum glanced worriedly at her watch. “Perhaps we should take her back inside. You’ll miss the train.”

  “No.” Emi stood up and tried hard to smile. “It’ll be fine. I want her to see us off. Come on, Rina! Let’s go!” And she patted her leg encouragingly.

  Rina sniffed cautiously at the fence post and then pattered out on to the pavement. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but Emi and Ben were both coaxing her along and there were such interesting outside smells…

  Emi stared out of the window of Dad’s flat, watching an old lady walking along the street with her dog. The dog was quite elderly, too, Emi thought, and they were walking at a perfect pace for each other, slow and gentle. She heaved a huge sigh, so huge there was a big misty patch on the glass. She missed Rina so much. She couldn’t help thinking about her all the time.

  She wasn’t sure if she wanted Rina to miss her or not. She didn’t want the puppy to be sad, but at the same time, it would be nice to know that Rina cared enough to notice if she wasn’t there. When they’d got on to the train, she had heard Rina howling on the platform next to Mum. She’d done the same thing the first few mornings when they’d left her to go to school. Mum called it her Shiba scream – she said that Shiba Inus were famous for it – it really did sound as though Rina was screaming.

  “Are you OK, Emi?” Dad came and sat on the sofa next to her. “You look a bit down. Too much homework?”

  “I’ve done it all. Sorry, Dad. I’m just missing Rina.”

  Dad hugged her. “You don’t have to be sorry. It’s hard to leave her behind when you’ve only had her a week. You can call your mum later to find out how she is.”

  But all the same, Emi felt guilty for saying it. She didn’t want her dad to think she didn’t want to see him – she missed him loads, too. It was just so difficult. She felt like she couldn’t ever be in quite the right place…

  “Ben, look, there’s Mum, I can see her. And Rina, too!” Emi bounced up out of her seat, hurrying to the train doors.

  “Leaving your bag on the train, are you?” Ben sighed, picking it up and following her, but Emi was hardly listening. The train was pulling in slowly now and she could see that Mum had picked Rina up to stop her being scared. She was making Rina wave her paw to them.

  Emi giggled and pressed the ‘Doors Open’ button impatiently.

  “You have to wait for it to light up, Emi, honestly!” Ben rolled his eyes. The doors beeped and opened.

  “Mum! You brought her!” Emi gasped, as she jumped out. “Hello, gorgeous Rina! And you, Mum,” she added quickly, kissing her mum on the cheek.

  “Did you miss me at all?” Mum asked, but Emi knew she was only teasing.

  “How was Rina after we spoke? Did she mind us being away? Did she notice?”

  “She definitely did.” Mum put Rina down carefully, now that the train was pulling out, and passed Emi the lead. “She’s been really quiet the whole weekend. I’m sure she was waiting for you to come home.”

  “Oh, poor Rina,” Emi murmured.

  Ben crouched down to rub the little puppy’s ears gently. “We missed you, too,” he told her.

  “I was glad she was there, though,” Mum said, putting an arm round Emi as they walked out of the station. “The house didn’t feel so empty. And I might have let her snuggle up with me on the sofa and watch TV last night…” she added, looking a bit guilty.

  “You said we weren’t allowed!” Emi told her indignantly.

  “I know – but we were both missing you two, and she was so cuddly and warm. It’s definitely got colder this weekend. I wouldn’t be surprised if it snows soon.”

  Emi looked down at Rina. “You’ll love it if it does, Rina. You’ve got the perfect fur for snow, all thick and soft!”

  Rina stood on the back doorstep, watching Emi worriedly. She was dancing about in the white stuff, her boots leaving great deep prints.

  It had been cold for ages, but the snow just hadn’t come, even though everyone at school had been staring out of the classroom windows and hoping for it for weeks. Another fortnight had gone by, and Ben and Emi had been on another visit to Dad’s, and still there hadn’t been any snow. But now, at last, it had fallen overnight, just in time for the half-term holiday. Emi had woken Rina up with an excited yell from upstairs and then she’d come racing down in her pyjamas and jumped around the kitchen, practically falling over as she tried to get her wellies on.

  Rina sniffed at the snow. It smelled odd – clean and cold and somehow sharp. She wasn’t sure she liked it, even though Emi obviously did. Rina let out a huffy little breath. Emi was hers and she had to look after her. She always went outside when Emi did. Cautiously, she put one paw in the snow and then drew it back again at once. Too cold. Too wet.

  Emi floundered back across the garden, giggling and shivering. “Don’t you like it, Rina? Oh, you have to like it!”

  Rina yapped at her crossly, telling her to come in right now. Emi’s cheeks were bright red against her black hair and she looked frozen.

  “Look!” Emi scooped up a handful of the white stuff and showed it to Rina. It looked like a ball, a white ball. Rina’s ears pricked up at once. She loved to play fetch – she and Emi could chase a ball around for ages. Ben had tried to teach her to play football as well, but she wasn’t very good at that. The ball was too big and she usually got so excited chasing it that she’d try to fling herself on top of the ball and then she’d fall over.

  “Fetch? Fetch the ball!” Emi hurled it across the garden and Rina forgot about the strange white stuff and leaped off the step. She’d bounded halfway across the snow-covered grass before she realized she couldn’t actually see th
e snowball any more.

  Emi was doubled over laughing. “Oh, Rina, it’s up to your tummy,” she giggled.

  Rina snorted crossly. But then she decided she didn’t mind that much. The white stuff was cold and wet, but the smell was good after all. And she could dig! She scuffled at the snow experimentally with her front paws and it flew everywhere. She sneezed and then she dug and then she chased her tail in the snow and then she dug some more. Yes, she liked this stuff very much…

  It was perfect timing – snow for the holidays. And there was a whole week off school! Emi knew she ought to be happy – and she was, most of the time. Building a snowman and trying to build an igloo (it didn’t really work, it just kept collapsing on her head) and going out on Jess’s sledge with Rina. It was all brilliant.

  But she was spending part of half-term at Dad’s and, much as she wanted to see him, she would miss Rina. He’d called her and Ben and told them all about the exciting trips he had planned – there was a science show at the museum, and the shopping centre close to him had set up a mini ice rink. Emi loved the sound of that, she’d never been ice-skating. And he said the woods looked amazing in the snow. There were all sorts of fun things to do. Emi was really looking forward to seeing Dad for a bit longer than a weekend, too. But it did mean four whole days away from Rina.

  Emi had missed her so much, the two weekends they had been at Dad’s. And she knew that Rina had missed her, too. And Ben, probably, Emi admitted to herself. Rina loved to play rough and tumble roly-poly wrestling games with him, and she quite liked sitting on his lap and watching him play on his computer. Especially when he was talking to his friends. Ben got them to say hello to her, too, and it made her really confused, hearing the voices saying her name coming out of the laptop.