by Sam Hay
Bonsai hesitated for a millisecond, but he couldn’t help himself – he had to chase it!
Joe and Matt carried on playing with the pup for a bit, while the cats watched from the wall. Joe had just thrown the ball when he glanced at Pickle and realized she was trying to get his attention. He ran over.
“Everything OK?” he whispered, pretending to stroke Pebbles.
“I think things are better now, Joe,” Pickle said, purring softly. “Pebbles doesn’t seem anxious any more, and Bonsai seems to have learned his lesson. I think it’s time I was going.”
Joe could see she was already beginning to fade.
“Thanks for everything, Joe. I’ll never forget you.”
Then Pickle disappeared completely, just as Maya’s mum stuck her head out of the back door and called Maya and Jay into the house for lunch.
“You can come over again, if you like, Joe,” Maya said. Joe blushed and Matt nudged his friend.
“Maybe,” Joe mumbled, trying not to look at Matt, who was now making lovey-dovey faces.
As Pebbles followed Maya into the house, Joe noticed that Bonsai kept his distance. Hopefully he had learned some cat respect now. Joe wondered if it would last – he didn’t fancy another visit from Pickle!
“What about him?” Matt nodded to Fang, who was still sitting on the wall.
Joe shrugged. “I should probably take him back to the chip shop, I suppose.”
But just then Maya reappeared with a bowl of cat food. “Mum says I can give him some food.” She stroked his mangled ears as she watched him tuck in. “He’s a funny old thing. I wonder what his name is?”
“Er … something tough, I reckon,” said Joe. “Like Fang, maybe.”
Maya giggled. “Yeah, that suits him.”
“Do you think they’ll keep him?” Matt asked as he and Joe walked down the road, heading for home.
Joe shrugged. “Hope so. He’d definitely keep Bonsai in line, if they did.”
Just then a raindrop landed on Joe’s face. He glanced up at the sky. They’d been so busy playing with the puppy, neither of them had noticed the dark clouds above.
Matt zipped up his coat and Joe reached back to pull on his hood. As he did, he felt something wet and soggy in there.
It was a hairball – a green, sludgy reminder of Pickle.
Joe shuddered. He definitely wouldn’t miss those. Then he smiled. He was glad she’d passed over peacefully. And he was looking forward to having some peace and quiet of his own now.
“Joe, have you stepped in something?”
“What?”
Matt was sniffing the air. “Something smells really bad.”
Joe checked his shoes. “It’s not me.”
Matt checked his. “Or me!”
Joe sniffed the air. He could smell it now, too – something horrible, like damp, sweaty socks, or stinky shoes. Joe heard a faint howling sound – in the distance, as though a dog was trying to call its owner. For a second, Joe wondered if it was Bonsai. He listened again. It was closer this time, and it definitely didn’t sound like a puppy. It sounded like something bigger, much bigger…
What if it was another undead pet, come to offload all its worries on to him? There was only one thing for it…
“Come on!” he suddenly shouted to Matt. “Race you home!” And Joe took off down the street, running as fast as he could.
Copyright
STRIPES PUBLISHING
An imprint of Little Tiger Press
1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road,
London SW6 6AW
Text copyright © Sam Hay, 2012
Illustrations copyright © Simon Cooper, 2012
First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2012.
eISBN: 978–1–84715–414–9
The right of Sam Hay and Simon Cooper 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.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
www.stripespublishing.co.uk
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