by Sam Hay
“No!” he muttered. “Stop asking!”
Lizzy called for quiet. “I’m going to split you into two teams. Mr. Hill and I will take one group,” she said. “And the other group will go with Miss Bruce and James. Let’s see whose team can spot the most wildlife tonight!”
Leonie nudged Abby as Lizzy divided them into two teams. “We’ll spot tons with our new headlamps!” They started dazzling each other with the beams.
“Remember,” said Mr. Hill sternly. “Stick together and don’t go wandering off on your own. I don’t want to spend the rest of the night looking for you!”
Joe froze. An idea erupted in his brain. If he got himself lost near Tom’s cottage, then Mr. Hill would have to come and find him. If he did, then maybe he’d meet the pups!
Joe looked over at the dark forest. Could he really find his way to the cottage in the dark, all by himself? Maybe not—but surely Dexter could.
“All ready?” asked Lizzy.
Joe put up his hand. “I need to go to the bathroom!”
Everyone groaned. Mr. Hill shook his head despairingly.
“I’m really desperate,” pleaded Joe. He had to tell Dexter his plan. And the bathroom was the only place where no one else would hear.
“Go on then,” Mr. Hill said with a sigh. “But make it quick!”
As he turned to go, Joe beckoned to Dexter to follow him.
“So, are you sure you’ll be able to find the cottage again?”
“Mmm?” Dexter was concentrating on scratching his ear.
“Have you listened to anything I’ve been telling you?” Joe puffed out his cheeks. “I’ve explained this three times, and you still don’t look like you’ve heard a word.”
“Of course I have!” growled Dexter.
“And you’re sure you’ll find your way?”
“I’m part bloodhound! Bloodhounds can smell really well.”
Joe looked skeptical. Wasn’t this the dog that always got lost when he went out with Mr. Hill? But it was too late to worry. Joe could hear Lizzy calling him. He hurried back to his group, and they set off.
“Remember to be quiet and keep your eyes open,” she said as she led them down the path into the woods.
The night air felt cold on their faces and their flashlight beams bounced off trees and bushes.
“Will we see any badgers?” whispered Simon.
“Maybe,” Lizzy whispered. “But we’ll have to be extra quiet to stand a chance. Keep a lookout for bats and foxes, too.”
“And ghost wolves!” cackled Spiker, as he and Harry pushed past to get closer to the front.
Joe tried to stay at the back, but Mr. Hill had the same idea. He was making sure no one got left behind.
“Don’t you go wandering off again!” he whispered to Joe and Matt. “And stop dawdling!”
“Sorry, Mr. Hill,” Joe mumbled. “I just don’t want to miss anything.” He flashed his beam into the undergrowth, but the principal didn’t look convinced. Joe sighed. Getting lost was going to be difficult.
Dexter was scampering along by Joe’s side, but suddenly he veered off the path, disappearing into a clump of ferns.
“Hurry up, you two!” snapped Mr. Hill, shooing him along again. “You don’t want to get left behind!”
Yes I do, thought Joe glumly. At this rate he was never going to get away!
But just then there was a ruckus farther down the line.
“Hey!” hissed Mr. Hill. “What’s going on?” He moved forward to investigate.
Suddenly something cold and damp brushed the back of Joe’s hand. It was Dexter.
“That way,” he growled, nodding to the left. “That’s the way to the cottage.”
Joe scanned the area with his flashlight. He didn’t recognize anything. He definitely couldn’t see the path with the tree stumps that he’d been on earlier. “Are you sure?” he whispered.
But Dexter was already heading off.
Joe was about to follow, when he saw Mr. Hill coming back down the line. “Drat!” he muttered.
Just then there was a whisper from the front of the line. “Badgers up ahead, everyone turn off their flashlights and be quiet!”
As the beams went out, Joe inched away from the group. He nudged Matt. “I think I saw a fox. I’m going to take a look.”
“But you’ll miss the badgers!”
“Back in a minute …” And then he crept away.
“Joe!” Matt called.
“Quiet!” Mr. Hill hissed.
And Joe was free. He moved quietly through the underbrush, following Dexter. But the dog was going much too fast—bounding ahead, leaping over ferns and fallen branches, leaving Joe behind.
“Wait for me!” Joe whispered. He shone his flashlight around a bit, but he didn’t recognize anything from the afternoon. “Are you sure this is the right way?”
“Yes,” barked Dexter. “Come on!” He bounded off into the forest ahead of Joe.
“Dexter?” Joe searched the trees with his flashlight. “Dexter? Where are you?” He listened. But all he could hear was the sound of the wind rustling the leaves above him. Joe shivered. Suddenly the dark woods felt slightly spooky. He was entirely on his own. He was also totally and utterly lost!
“Dexter? Where are you?”
Joe shone his beam to the left and right. But there was nothing but tall ferns, knee-high grasses, and a wall of giant trees looming menacingly over him. A dark shadow flitted past. Something else moved in the bushes to his right. Up above he heard a fluttering of wings. The creatures of the forest were everywhere. Joe’s heart beat faster. Then suddenly he heard a howling in the distance.
Awwwhoooooooooo…
“Dexter?” Joe whispered. He began to move slowly toward the sound, carefully edging around uprooted tree stumps and sunken burrows.
Awwwhoooooooooo…
The wind was stronger now, and the trees swayed and moaned, their branches creaking and groaning. Bats fluttered above. Owls watched from the trees and tiny scratchy rodents scurried over his feet.
Awwwhoooooooooo…
“I’m coming, Dexter!” Joe called. His flashlight picked out a few old sawed-off tree stumps. Then the ground became flatter, and he spotted a path, snaking off to the right. And suddenly the surroundings looked familiar. He’d done it! There was a crashing of branches, and Dexter hurtled toward him.
“There you are! I thought I’d lost you!”
Joe frowned. “What are you talking about? Your howling guided me here.”
Dexter cocked his head to one side. “I wasn’t howling.”
“What?”
If it wasn’t Dexter, what was it? Joe glanced around the dark trees, their branches creaking eerily in the wind. A cold shiver crackled down his spine. “Come on. Let’s get to the cottage.”
Once they were on the right path, it was easy to find the cottage. Joe wasn’t looking forward to this bit—telling lies about being lost. As he knocked on the door, the puppies started barking inside. A man’s voice hushed them and the door opened.
The forester was big and bearded. He towered over Joe. But then his face crumpled into a smile and Joe breathed a sigh of relief. “Hello, there,” he said. “What can I do for you?”
“Um, hello, my name is Joe Edmunds. I was on a night walk from the camp and I got lost …”
“You’d better come in,” said Tom’s dad. “I’m Paul Frost. Were you with Lizzy French?”
Joe nodded.
“I’ll dig out her cell number and tell her you’re okay. You’re not the first kid who’s turned up on our doorstep!”
Dexter headed straight for the living room where the pups were barking and whining and scratching at the door.
“I’ll try calling Lizzy now. The signal’s not always great in the forest,” Paul warned. “But if we can’t reach her, we can always walk you back to the campsite.”
That was the last thing Joe wanted! If Mr. Hill didn’t come to the cottage, the pl
an would be a washout!
There was an agonizing silence and then …
“Hello, Lizzy? It’s Paul Frost here—yeah, from Foxglove Cottage. One of the boys from the camp has appeared on my doorstep!”
Joe shifted his feet. He could just imagine the look on Mr. Hill’s face.
“Yes, Joe Edmunds, that’s right.” There was a pause and then, “Oh yes, fine. See you soon.”
The plan was working so far, but Joe was going to be in a lot of trouble. He’d probably be in detention until he was twelve!
Paul hung up the phone and smiled at Joe. “They’re on their way. Do you like dogs? My children are playing with some spaniel puppies in here. I’ll just go and make sure the outside light is on.”
Joe opened the door to the living room. The puppies were racing around, jumping over Rachel and Tom, chewing one another’s tails and barking like crazy.
“Hi,” said Tom. “Did you get lost again?”
“Yeah,” Joe said awkwardly. “I recognized the path and so I was able to find your house …” He was terrible at making stuff up. He stroked one of the puppies and tried to think of something else to say.
Dexter couldn’t sit still. He kept jumping up at the window, then dashing through to the kitchen, listening for Mr. Hill. “What if he won’t come in?” he barked, as he made another return journey to the living room. “He needs to meet the pups properly.”
Joe ignored him. There was nothing he could do but wait.
There was a loud knock on the door. All the kids from his group were there: Moanie Leonie and Abby, Ava and Molly, Simon, Ben, Spiker, Harry, and Matt, plus Lizzy and Mr. Hill. It had started to rain, and they all looked fed up—except Mr. Hill, who looked furious. His face was purple and he was glaring at Joe.
“Hi, Paul,” said Lizzy. “Thanks for looking after Joe for us. This is Brian Hill, his principal.”
“Hello,” said Paul. “It’s no problem at all.Would you like to come in for a drink?”
“No!” snapped Spiker. “We haven’t found the ghost wolf yet!”
“Yeah,” wailed Leonie. “The other team will have seen tons more stuff than us! I wanted our team to win the competition.”
Mr. Hill shot them a look for their rudeness. Then he turned to Paul. “It’s kind of you, but we should be getting back to the camp.”
Yeah, so he can give me a good lecture, Joe thought glumly. Somehow he had to get Mr. Hill inside the house to see the pups …
But just then Dexter came to the rescue. He raced back into the house and pushed open the living-room door. The puppies came bounding out, spilling onto the doorstep. The children gasped in delight and rushed forward to pet the pups as they whizzed around, wagging their tails.
“Aw, they’re so cute,” said Molly. “Look at their tiny tails!”
“Ha! That one seems to like your sneakers, Spiker.” Matt laughed as the largest puppy began chewing one of Spiker’s shoelaces.
“Hey!” yelled Spiker, trying to shake him off. “Cut it out!”
“Heel!” commanded Paul. The puppies returned to his side at once.
Mr. Hill raised his eyebrows. “They’re well trained.”
“They have to be to live in a forest.”
Mr. Hill bent down to stroke one of the puppies. “Hello, there.”
Joe held his breath. But it wasn’t going to happen. Mr. Hill stood up and his face was stern again. “We need to get going.”
“No!” yelped Dexter. “Make him stay, Joe!”
But before Joe could say anything, there was a distant roll of thunder and suddenly it started pouring outside.
“Quick! Come in!” Paul said, holding open the door.
A couple of the children made a dash for it, and the others followed. Mr. Hill reluctantly headed inside, too, still glowering at Joe.
“What are the pups called?” Ava asked, as everyone crowded into the kitchen.
“This one’s Queenie,” Rachel explained, scooping up the largest pup. “She’s definitely the boss—she keeps the others in line. That one over there is Buttons—he’s the clown. That’s Munchie, the greedy one. And the small one is Titch.”
“Do you want to give the puppies some treats?” asked Tom, handing a tin to Ava.
She bent down with the treats, and the pups came hurtling toward her. But Titch wasn’t with them. Joe spotted the little pup over by Mr. Hill, who was tickling her ears while he talked to Paul.
Yes! thought Joe. It’s working!
“I tried everything to train him,” Mr. Hill was saying. “But Dexter just didn’t seem to be able to learn …”
“Well, it depends on the dog,” replied Paul. “All breeds are different. Some of them are just naturally wilder than others. Even if you start training them as pups, some don’t respond.”
Joe glanced down at Dexter, who was scratching and fidgeting. He definitely wasn’t the right sort of dog for Mr. Hill.
“But I can’t help thinking it was my fault,” said the principal. “I don’t think I was giving Dexter the right commands.”
“Nonsense!” Paul smiled. “It was probably just his nature. Look, that pup’s obviously taken a shine to you. Why don’t you walk over to the other side of the room and call her to heel. Go on, see what happens.”
Mr. Hill didn’t look eager. “No, um, I don’t think so.”
“Go on,” called Molly. “Me and Ava have got a spaniel at home, and she’s so smart!”
The principal frowned. Then he stood up and walked across the room to the door. “Heel!” he said, sounding slightly embarrassed. In a flash the pup trotted over to him and sat at his feet, waiting for his next instruction.
A few of the kids clapped, and Mr. Hill’s face turned pink.
“See?” Paul laughed. “I told you. Spaniels might be a bit noisy, but they’re easy to train. We’re actually trying to find homes for these puppies. You wouldn’t be interested, would you?”
“Definitely not,” said Mr. Hill, his smile disappearing. “It’s much too soon after Dexter.”
“No, it’s not!” yelped Dexter, leaping up and down. “Do something, Joe!”
But there was nothing he could do.
“I think it’s time we went back to camp,” Mr. Hill said stiffly.
The kids trooped outside with Dexter trailing behind.
“We’ll take the shortcut,” said Lizzy, leading the group onto a proper forest road. It was wide and open, and the moon lit the path.
Dexter immediately took off on his own. Joe was glad to see him go.
“I wish we’d seen more badgers,” Simon said glumly.
“Yeah, we’re bound to have lost the competition!” wailed Leonie. “The other group will have spotted lots more!”
“And we’ve walked so much,” Abby added.
“Yeah—all thanks to Where’s Waldo!” added Spiker, poking Joe hard in the back.
Joe gave Spiker a filthy look and trudged on. He looked at Matt, who was walking next to him, but Matt was staring off into the distance and looking grumpy. He guessed his friend still hadn’t forgiven him.
When they’d almost reached the camp, Joe heard the howling again.
“What was that?” said Molly.
Ava linked her arm through her sister’s. “Yeah, that’s creepy …”
Joe gasped. “Can you guys hear it, too?”
Ben nodded. “Yes.”
Joe gulped. So it wasn’t Dexter howling!
“It’s probably the ghost wolf,” Spiker said with a smirk. “It’s howling its head off before coming here to hunt us down and rip out our throats!”
Leonie gave a squeal and clutched Abby’s arm tightly.
“In your dreams, Bradley.” Lizzy laughed. “I’ve been working in these woods for three years, and I’ve never seen the ghost wolf yet!”
Matt nudged Joe. “I think it was the ghost wolf,” he whispered. “And I bet the other group back at camp didn’t hear it! A bunch of badgers and bats can’t beat hearing a wolf!”
Joe smiled at his friend and gave a sigh of relief. It looked like he was forgiven!
Joe got his lecture just before bed.
“How could you be so selfish?” the principal boomed. “Anything could have happened to you—and not only were you putting yourself in danger, but the rest of the group, too!”
Joe looked at his shoes.
“I have a good mind to call your parents!”
Joe winced. He was about to be sent home.
“I won’t,” added Mr. Hill, his voice dropping. “But you’re on your final warning, Joe Edmunds. And as punishment, you can wash the breakfast dishes again tomorrow morning!”
Was that it? Joe looked up at his principal. Surely Mr. Hill was going to come up with something worse than greasy plates?
“Go on! Back to your tent!”
When Joe got back to the tent, Dexter was already there, spread out across the sleeping bags. It stank! Joe rolled his eyes. “The others will be here soon. Why don’t you go and find somewhere else to sleep?”
“I can’t sleep. Not until you sort out my problems,” whined Dexter.
Joe gritted his teeth. He was tired and annoyed, and he’d had enough of Dexter for one night. “I tried my best. But I don’t think Mr. Hill is ready for a new pet, okay?”
Dexter howled.
“And don’t start that again!” Joe sighed. “Maybe Mr. Hill doesn’t need a new pet. After all, he’s seen the pups now—so he knows not all dogs are as badly behaved as you, Dexter. I’m sure he realizes that it wasn’t his fault that you ran off a cliff! So, I was thinking … maybe it’s time for you to go now. You know, pass over to the other side …”
“No!” howled Dexter. “Brian needs a new dog!”
“But he doesn’t want one!”
“He does!”
“Well, sort it out yourself, then,” snapped Joe. “Because I’ve run out of ideas! Now get out of the way, so I can get into my sleeping bag.”
But Dexter wouldn’t move. He sat there like a rock, glowering at Joe. “You must help me,” he growled. “It’s your job.”
“Well, I wish it wasn’t! I’ve had enough of being the Protector of Undead Pets … Now move over!” And he gave Dexter a shove.
