by Holly Webb
“Are you all right, Ruby? Do you want me to take him?” Dad asked. Mum was walking with Anya, who was just as much trouble as Toby, and didn’t have a lead, unfortunately.
“No.” Ruby shook her head firmly. Toby was her special responsibility, and she had to be able to look after him. Surely it couldn’t be that difficult to go for a walk?
At last they reached the park. It wasn’t very far away, but Toby had probably covered three times the distance by going forwards, backwards and sideways, and he was looking a bit weary. But as soon as he saw the huge expanse of green grass, and the other dogs racing around, he brightened up immediately, his tail starting to whip from side to side. He sniffed busily at several clumps of grass, and then followed Ruby along one of the paths.
“Shall we see what he thinks of the ducks?” Dad suggested.
“Knowing Toby, he’ll think that they were put there for him to play with,” Mum sighed. But they headed through the park towards the ducks, with Anya running ahead – the ducks were her favourite thing.
“Oh, watch out, Anya!” Mum called, seeing a man coming down the path with a big German shepherd dog. Anya loved dogs, and she wanted to stroke all of them – even if they looked big, and possibly a bit fierce, like this one.
Toby spotted the German shepherd at the same moment as Anya did, and he darted forward, dragging his lead out of Ruby’s hand.
“Toby!” Ruby squeaked in horror, watching him galloping away. She looked down at her hand, as though she was still expecting the lead to be in it. Then she raced after him.
Toby ran up to the huge German shepherd, and barked loud, shrill barks at it. He could see Anya next to the bigger dog. She was his, even if she did keep sleeping in his basket. He wasn’t going to let some big strange dog scare her. He danced around the huge dog – barking and yapping until he ran out of breath and had to sit down, panting.
The poor German shepherd hadn’t even thought of hurting Anya, and was too well-trained to do anything to Toby either. She took a confused step backwards, towards her owner. She was worried she might be in trouble, and it was all very unfair.
But her owner patted her. “Good girl, Tara. Sit, there’s a good girl.” The man then reached down and picked up Toby in one hand – while Toby wriggled and yapped and fought.
Ruby came running up. Mum and Dad were chasing after them, too.
“Here you go.” The man handed the wriggling puppy to Ruby.
“I’m really sorry! It’s his first walk – he doesn’t really understand other dogs yet…” Ruby stammered, hoping the German shepherd’s owner wasn’t going to shout at her.
“Sorry!” Dad gasped, as he caught Anya up. “I hope he didn’t upset your dog.”
Toby was still yapping at the German shepherd, who was now sitting beautifully and looking rather smug, as though she knew she was well-behaved and the little yappy dog wasn’t.
“Just be careful. Not all dogs are as calm as Tara,” her owner told Ruby kindly, and he nodded at Dad.
“I won’t let him run off again,” Ruby promised.
“I’m so sorry about that!” Dad said, holding tight to Anya, who was reaching out hopefully as the big dog paced past. “No, Anya, you can’t stroke her. We shouldn’t have let you get so close.”
“Let’s get home before we get into any more trouble,” Mum said, looking around anxiously at all the other dogs in the park.
As the German shepherd and her owner headed off down the path, Ruby hugged Toby tight. He was still staring suspiciously after the bigger dog, his little body tense with anxiety as he pulled in her arms.
“Oh, Toby!” she whispered. “That dog could have eaten a puppy like you for breakfast!”
“And had room for a couple more,” Dad added grimly.
Chapter Three
“It was so embarrassing,” Ruby said, blushing as she remembered the disastrous walk the day before. “And then on the way back home there was another big dog – a Labrador – and Toby barked at him, too!”
Ruby had hurried into school that morning to talk to Beth before they went into class. Beth had known they were taking Toby for his first walk that weekend – Ruby had been so excited about it on Friday.
Beth nodded. “I wonder if it’s a small dog thing? My gran’s got a Westie called Billy, and he barks at everything. Gran says it’s because he knows he’s little and he feels like he’s got a lot to prove. Toby might grow out of it,” she suggested, a bit doubtfully.
Ruby sighed. “Maybe. He’s so sweet most of the time – you know he is. But I just couldn’t get him to stop barking! Mum rang Auntie Nell, and she says we might need to take him to obedience classes. Mum called and signed him up for some, but they don’t start for a few weeks. I don’t know what we’re going to do until then!”
“I’m sure puppy training will help. He isn’t really bad-tempered. Just yappy. He’s a gorgeous dog, Ruby.” Beth smiled, remembering. When she’d come over to tea last week, Toby had curled up on her lap and fallen asleep. When it was time for Beth to go home, Ruby had had to pick him up off her lap still asleep and all saggy, like a Beanie Baby dog.
“Maybe he just needs to get used to other dogs,” Ruby said. “Or perhaps you’re right, and he will grow out of it. But I need to make sure I hold on to him really tightly until he does.”
Beth frowned thoughtfully. “Couldn’t you take him somewhere quieter for walks for now?” she suggested. “Somewhere with not as many dogs, I mean.”
Ruby nodded. “That’s a good idea. I’ll ask Mum and Dad if they can think of anywhere. It’s half-term next week, so we should have a bit more time for walks.” She hugged Beth quickly, as the bell rang. “You’re a star!”
Ruby’s mum was pleased with the idea of a quiet walk. She thought that it would be a fun way to start the half-term holiday, after school on Friday afternoon.
“What about those woods we go past on the way to your dance class? Norbury Copse?” she suggested. “People do take their dogs there, but I wouldn’t have thought many people would be out in the middle of a Friday afternoon.”
“That would be great!” Ruby agreed.
When they got out of school on Friday, she said goodbye to Beth – who was going to stay at her gran’s for the week – and rushed to the car, flinging her PE bag into the boot.
Toby was sitting in his new wire travel crate, looking worried. He still wasn’t sure about going in the car, and he wasn’t really keen on being shut in the crate, but at least he had more space than in the old cardboard carrier.
The woods were only about quarter of an hour’s drive away, and soon Ruby was lifting Toby out, letting him sniff busily around the grassy verge they had parked beside. There were only a couple of other cars there – it looked like the woods would be good and empty.
It was a gorgeous autumn day, really warm for October, and Toby had a brilliant time racing along with Ruby, and flinging himself into piles of dry leaves. They flew everywhere as he rolled and jumped and snapped at them, growling as though he were very fierce. His legs were so short that every so often he disappeared right into a drift of leaves, and then he would come up spluttering and do it all over again.
Ruby was laughing so much her tummy hurt. The way Toby’s ears flapped when he jumped made him look as though he was trying to take off!
“Oooh, river!” Anya called excitedly, as they came to a little stream running along between deep, sloping banks.
There was an old rickety-looking wooden bridge, and they stood on it throwing sticks in and watching them float past underneath the bridge. Toby watched them in bewilderment, unsure why anyone would waste good sticks dropping them in the water. He whined and tugged on the lead, wanting to go and explore some more, and at last they went over the bridge and deeper into the woods.
Ruby and Toby were chasing Anya through the leaves, when suddenly Toby stopped, staring off down the little winding path they were following. He’d heard something, Ruby could tell. He looked as though he was li
stening with every hair of his body. Then she heard it too – barking, but much further into the woods. They weren’t going to have the place to themselves after all.
“Oh, is it another dog?” Mum said, with a sigh. “Hold tight to him, Ruby. Or I can take him, if you like?”
“It’s OK.” Ruby wound the lead round her hand, as Toby let off a series of earsplitting barks. He jumped around at the end of his lead, wanting to chase after the other dog, but Ruby wouldn’t let go.
Anya stared at Toby, wide-eyed. She didn’t like it when Toby barked loudly. She backed away, meaning to grab hold of Mum’s hand, but she wasn’t looking where she was going. She tripped over a tree root and fell, scraping the side of her face against the rocky ground.
“Oh, Anya!” Mum came running to scoop her up, as she started to howl.
Toby was so surprised by the noise Anya was making that he stopped barking. He didn’t much like loud noises either – unless he was the one making them. He whimpered and pulled at his lead, trying to get away.
“Ruby, can you get the wipes out of my bag?” Mum asked, examining the graze down the side of Anya’s face.
Ruby nodded. But Toby was pulling and tugging at the lead, and she couldn’t unzip the bag and hold him at the same time. She looped Toby’s lead over a nearby branch, so she could get at the bag properly. “Here they are.”
Toby wriggled anxiously. He didn’t like to see Anya upset, and he certainly didn’t like the wailing. But once Mum had found a couple of sweets in her bag, Anya seemed to cheer up miraculously, and let her wipe the graze clean. After that, Toby stopped worrying about Anya quite so much, and started to investigate the branch that Ruby had fastened him to.
He didn’t like it, Toby decided. He couldn’t move more than half a metre either way without the lead pulling on his collar and hurting his neck. He couldn’t go and sniff at that clump of bracken, which smelled as though a couple of other dogs had been there before. He had to check that out properly. And there was a really good, big stick just out of reach, which he would love to chew. It wasn’t fair! He shook himself crossly, making the tags on his collar jingle.
“It’s all right, Toby, hang on a minute…” Ruby murmured. But she didn’t even look round at him – she was still fussing over Anya.
Toby shook himself again, and his lead slipped off the end of the branch and thudded to the ground beside him. He stared at it in surprise. He hadn’t meant for that to happen.
If Anya hadn’t started to howl again, because Mum had accidentally wiped her face too hard, Ruby would have noticed what had happened and grabbed him. But she was giving Anya a hug to cheer her up.
Toby eyed them thoughtfully. They were busy. But there was no point in coming out for a walk, and then just sitting on the path the whole time. He pattered away, sniffing happily at the bracken. He expected that Ruby would come and catch him up in a minute anyway. Another dog had definitely been past – perhaps the one he’d heard barking earlier? He would go and find it. He scampered along the path, nose down, following the scent, and leaving Ruby and Anya and Mum far behind.
“Is she going to be OK?” Ruby asked Mum worriedly. It looked like a nasty cut, and it was still bleeding, even after Mum had wiped it a couple of times.
“It’ll be fine,” Mum said. “We need to go home and wash it properly though.”
“It hurts!” Anya wailed. “An’ my fleece! My best fleece!” It was her pink one with the hearts on, and it was stained with mud all down the side.
“Mum can wash it. It’ll be dry by tomorrow, won’t it, Mum?” Ruby hugged her little sister gently. “Toby didn’t mean to scare you by barking like that. He thought he heard another dog. Didn’t you, Toby?”
Ruby turned round to look at him. But Toby had gone.
Chapter Four
The wood was full of birds calling, and squirrels racing up and down the branches. Toby was so little and so light-footed that on his own, without Mum and the girls, he hardly made any noise at all – only the quiet shushing of his lead, trailing behind him through the leaves. So he saw far more of the wildlife than he had before. A robin fluttered from tree to tree – almost as if it was leading him on – and Toby followed, fascinated.
The wood was old, and some of the trees were very large, with odd twisted roots that made little bridges and holes along the path. It was natural for such a small dog to try to wriggle through these rather than going round them, but unfortunately Toby forgot about his lead. He was hurrying after the robin when he was pulled back with a sudden, horrible jolt. He yelped and turned round, thinking that Ruby had caught up with him and grabbed the end of his lead. He looked up crossly. Why hadn’t she called him, instead of grabbing him like that? But Ruby wasn’t there.
Instead, his lead was caught on a sticking-out root – stuck fast, as he found out when he tried to pull it away like he had earlier. Toby wriggled, and whined, and whimpered, and pulled, but it was no good. The lead wasn’t budging this time.
Toby sat down, panting wearily. This was just the same as before – he was stuck, when he wanted to explore. He tried pulling again, but the other way, squirming backwards to pull off his collar, instead of trying to free the lead.
As usual, Ruby had checked Toby’s collar before they set out, to make sure there was enough space so it didn’t rub him and hurt. But that also meant that if Toby didn’t mind squashing his ears and wriggling very hard, it wasn’t actually that difficult to get the collar off.
He burst out of it like a cork from a bottle, rolling over backwards and landing in a pile of leaves. He picked himself up, and sniffed curiously at his collar and lead. He didn’t like to leave them, somehow. But he was sure Ruby would come along soon, and she could unhook the silly lead for him. He’d let her put it back on him if she’d come and run with him, instead of standing around and spoiling a good walk.
He trotted off through the undergrowth. He’d lost sight of the robin, but now there was an interesting grey-furred creature that was scampering through the branches above him. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it bounced and sprang very temptingly, and he was hoping it might come a bit lower. He barked at it, but that made it go faster and climb higher, and he had to run flat out to keep up.
“Toby! Toby!” came a far-off cry. That was Ruby calling him. He stopped for a second, but the squirrel stopped too, looking down at him so cheekily that he couldn’t bear to let it go. He’d try to find Ruby in a minute, once he’d caught it. He set off at a gallop again, and the squirrel leaped through the trees ahead of him.
He was chasing it so desperately that he almost ran into an old lady, standing in the middle of a clump of bracken holding a pair of binoculars.
“Ssshh!” the lady whispered crossly.
Toby pulled up short, staring at her in surprise. She’d been so quiet, he simply hadn’t noticed she was there.
There was a beating of wings and a pair of birds fluttered away, squawking in fright. Toby watched them go, and barked again excitedly.
The old lady sighed. “You’ve scared them away, you silly dog.” Then she seemed to realize for the first time that he was all alone. “Where’s your owner, hmm?” She looked around, expecting someone to come chasing after him, but the woods were silent. “You haven’t got a collar! Who do you belong to? They shouldn’t be letting you race around here on your own, there’s a road close by. Come here… Here, dog…”
She stretched out a hand to him, but Toby had heard the irritated tone in her voice after he scared the birds, and now he didn’t trust her. He backed away nervously, and as she took a step forward to grab him, he raced off.
He hurried back through the bushes to the path, suddenly wishing that he was with Ruby. He’d find her, and then maybe they’d be able to catch the strange furry grey animal in the trees together. Toby scurried down the path, expecting at any moment to come to the big trees where he’d lost his lead, and then, a little way on, to find Mum and Anya and, most importantly, Ruby.
But
as he went further and further along Toby realized that this might not be the path he wanted. He looked around, and suddenly the trees all seemed so much larger and darker, and different. He had no idea where he was, or where Ruby was. He was lost.
“But we can’t just leave him!” Ruby stared at her mum in horror.
“Ruby, we have to go, I’m afraid. We’ve been searching for ages.” Mum was holding Anya in her arms, who was crying miserably, the graze on her face still bleeding a little. “I need to get Anya home and clean up her face. It’s filthy, and we’ve left it nearly an hour like this.”
“If we go home now, we might never find Toby! Just five minutes more, please, Mum.” Ruby looked around, desperately hoping Toby might spring out of the bracken suddenly, and everything would be all right again. But they had searched everywhere, calling and calling. Toby seemed to have totally disappeared.
“I’ve phoned your dad, and he’s going to leave work early so you can both come straight back and look. I’m really sorry, sweetheart, but we have to get home.” Mum set off down the path, carrying Anya.
Ruby stood in the middle of the path, looking uncertainly one way and the other. She couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Toby. Maybe he’d been frightened by something, and was hiding. He might come out in just a minute, if they were quiet.
“Ruby, please!” Mum called, heading for the bridge over the stream.
Ruby trailed after her, trying not to cry. But by the time they reached the car, the tears were streaming down her face.
Toby pattered down another path, sniffing hopefully. He was sure he could smell Ruby, but the scent was all over the place. It was very confusing. It didn’t help that he was so hungry. He wanted to be back at home with Ruby, eating his tea.
