The Unwanted Puppy

by Holly Webb

  Zoe’s mum frowned anxiously at Scout, who’d followed Zoe into the kitchen. “Hmm… I suppose Jack’s dad has just changed jobs. Maybe that was an old work phone. Now what are we going to do?”

  “We could call school,” Zoe suggested, almost reluctantly. She didn’t really want to help find a way to give Scout back. But Jack must be so worried about him. She could imagine how she would have felt, if it were Honey.

  “That’s a good idea, sweetie, but I don’t think anyone’s in on Saturdays.” Mum sighed. “Oh! Are you hungry, puppy?”

  Scout was sniffing hopefully at the edge of the table. He could obviously smell Zoe’s mum’s half-eaten piece of toast.

  Zoe’s mum eyed it, and then the dog. “No… I’d better not send you home with bad habits. I bet you’re not allowed to eat from the table.” She went to the big kitchen cupboard and dug around in the back of it. “I thought so. I tried to throw it away a couple of times but it made me so sad…” She held up a bag of Honey’s food.

  Scout bounced and woofed excitedly as he heard the dog biscuits rattling in their bag, and he practically danced when Zoe’s dad found Honey’s old bowl and they poured in a large helping. “After all,” Zoe’s mum murmured, “we don’t know when he got out. He might not have had breakfast.”

  “He doesn’t look like he did,” Zoe said, giggling as Scout wolfed down the biscuits. “Here, you’d better have some water, too.”

  Scout finished the food and licked thoroughly round the bowl, obviously trying to make sure he hadn’t missed any. Then he had a huge drink of water and sighed happily.

  “He’s so lovely,” Zoe said, as he came to nuzzle against her knees and began to lick her fingers. “If we can’t find out their number, can we keep him until school on Monday?” For a tiny moment she imagined keeping him forever – not telling Lauren and her family that they’d found him. But she knew it was only a silly daydream. “I bet they’re really missing you,” she murmured to Scout.

  “I’ve just realized something!” Mum brightened up. “He must be microchipped, mustn’t he? It’s the law. So all we need to do is nip down to the vet’s and get them to scan him – they’ll have his address on the computer.”

  “Oh yes.” Zoe stared down at her feet. Of course, that was the sensible thing to do…

  Unfortunately, the phone number on Scout’s microchip was the same out-of-date one that was on his collar. The vet’s had a back-up number, a landline, but although it rang, there was no answer.

  “I expect that’s their old house number. But I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have updated all the details when they moved?” Zoe’s dad said to the receptionist, shaking his head.

  “It happens all the time,” she told him. “You’d be amazed how many people just forget to do it. I’ll call back and leave a message – even if it is their old house, the new owners might have their contact details.”

  Zoe sat on one of the waiting-room chairs with Scout snuggled against her legs. She could tell that he didn’t much like the smell of the vet’s. His ears were all flattened down, and he was being very quiet and well behaved, as though he hoped no one would notice he was there. At least scanning his microchip hadn’t looked as though it hurt.

  “Yes, I suppose that’s the best thing to do. Thanks for your help, anyway.” Zoe’s dad sighed and came over to Zoe and Scout. “Well, all we can do is leave a message. If they don’t get back to us we really will just have to take him to school on Monday! Poor Lauren, she must be frantic, wondering where he’s gone.”

  Zoe nodded, but she couldn’t help thinking it was a little bit Lauren and Ben’s own fault. They should have bought Scout a new collar tag and made sure his microchip records were up to date.

  “So what do we do now?” she asked.

  Her dad shrugged. “We take him home with us and wait, I suppose.” He smiled at Zoe. “And make sure he’s well looked after – I don’t expect that’s going to be a problem, is it?”

  Scout stood at one end of the garden, waving his tail uncertainly. Zoe was running up and down the grass, tapping a ball between her feet. Was he allowed to join in? He’d tried to play with balls in the park before, and been told off and pulled away, but Zoe was calling to him and the ball looked so tempting…

  He crept forward, nosing cautiously at the ball, and Zoe laughed. “Yes! That’s it, keep going!” The ball rolled towards her and she nudged it back over to Scout. “Come on! Yes!” she squeaked excitedly as he scrabbled and pounced at the ball with his front paws and it bounced off to the side. Scout watched eagerly, settling into a hunting crouch as Zoe ran up to the ball again. This was a good game!

  He chased the ball up and down the garden with Zoe until he was worn out, and then flopped down in a patch of sun on the grass. He lay there happily, panting a little. Zoe ran off into the house and Scout looked at the door, wondering if he should follow her. But then she came back out with a bowl of water for him to drink and lay down next to him. Scout drank the water greedily and then laid his nose down on his paws, sleepy in the sun. He could feel the warmth of her, lying next to his back, quiet and loving.

  “Zoe!”

  Zoe woke up with a jump. She hadn’t been properly asleep, just sleepy… It was so warm for springtime, and there was something so special about lying there in the sun – especially when she was curled up with a dog.

  Scout sat up, too, shaking his ears and snorting a little.

  “Sorry, sweetie. Were you asleep?” Dad came walking down the garden.

  “Only a bit…”

  “The people from Lauren’s old house rang back. They had her number and I called her. I said we’d drop Scout back round – her husband’s out looking for him and she’s got the kids with her. Do you want to come?”

  Zoe chewed her lip. She sort of didn’t – but at the same time she wanted to stay with Scout for as long as possible.

  “We can put Honey’s old lead on him,” Dad suggested. “It’s still on the hook in the hall.”

  “Come on, Scout,” Zoe called sadly, trailing back into the house. He could tell that she wasn’t happy, she thought, watching him follow her, ears down. “We have to give you back,” she explained as she clipped on the lead, and waited for Dad to find his keys, and Mum to grab a cardigan. “I wish we could have kept you for longer…”

  The walk back to Scout’s real home seemed to take no time at all, even though Zoe was trying to go as slowly as she could, and she thought Mum and Dad were, too. They stood outside Scout’s house, looking doubtfully at the door, and Scout pressed himself against Zoe’s legs and whined.

  “I don’t think he wants to go back home,” Zoe said with a sniff. He didn’t want to go, and she wanted to keep him. It was so unfair.

  “He’s probably just confused,” Dad said gently and he reached out to ring the bell.

  Zoe could hear footsteps and an excited voice – Jack. He must be so glad that his dog was back, Zoe told herself, trying to block out her own feelings.

  “You found him for us, Zoe!” Jack squeaked, hugging her round the waist. “He ran out of the door. He was so naughty.”

  “It’s so lucky you found him,” Lauren said. “Come in – have a cup of tea. It’s the least I can do to say thank you.”

  “Oh, that’s OK…” Zoe’s mum started to say, but Jack was already pulling Zoe inside and into the kitchen.

  Lauren hurried around, making drinks, and Zoe watched as Scout sniffed thoughtfully at his basket and his food bowls.

  “As soon as he ran off, I thought about his collar tag,” Lauren explained, putting down cups of tea. “And then I realized we hadn’t updated the microchip, either – I had such a long list of things to sort out after the move.”

  “It’s a tricky time,” Zoe’s mum agreed. “So much to do.”

  Lauren sighed and looked over at Ben, who was getting biscuits out of a cupboard. “In a way this has been a good thing, though. Losing Scout and realizing that we hadn’t even remembered to buy him a
new tag – it’s made us see that we haven’t been taking care of him properly.”

  She looked a little worriedly at Jack, who’d run back into the garden where he was playing with his cars. Scout was standing by the door, and watching him, but he didn’t try to join in. “This morning we were talking about ringing up his breeder and getting her to take him back. We’ve realized we just can’t cope with him and it’s only going to get worse as he gets bigger. We did try to talk to Jack about it, but I’m not sure he really understands.”

  Zoe’s mum and dad both nodded, and Zoe could hear her dad saying something about that being a sensible decision, but it was as though she was hearing him from a long way away. There was a strange sort of rushing noise in her ears, like she could hear her own heart beating. They were sending Scout back? She wouldn’t even be able to see him in the park?

  She wouldn’t see him at all.

  Her parents and Lauren and Ben went on chatting, but Zoe sat silently, not even sipping the juice that Ben had poured for her. She was almost sure that if she moved at all, she would burst into tears. She couldn’t look at Scout.

  It seemed hours until Mum said that they ought to make a move. Zoe stood up carefully, the way she did if she had a headache and sudden movements would hurt. It was all so wrong! When were they going to get rid of Scout? She hadn’t even asked. She wasn’t sure she could bear to know – but what if this was the last time she ever saw him?

  Scout followed them down the hallway and Ben held on tightly to his collar as Lauren opened the front door, so he couldn’t slip out again. Zoe shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans, in case she tried to push Ben’s hand away and grab Scout’s collar herself. The puppy was staring at her. His tail was tucked down and his eyes looked so sad. He was unhappy, and he was going to be really confused when Lauren and Ben sent him back. Zoe’s own eyes filled with tears and she turned away.

  No one said very much as they walked along the street. Zoe was concentrating on not letting her mum and dad see that she was crying. They’d think she was so stupid – it wasn’t as if Scout had ever been her dog. She knew that. He was just a friend, that’s all.

  “Zoe, which would you like?” her mum said and Zoe realized that she must have been asked a question.

  “Wh-what?” she asked in a wavery sort of voice.

  “Would you like mashed potatoes or— Zoe, what’s the matter?” Her mum stopped and looked properly into her eyes. “Sweetheart, what is it?”

  Her dad put his arm round her shoulders. “Oh, Zoe, don’t cry!”

  “They’re giving Scout back!” Zoe wailed. She just couldn’t hold it in any longer. “We won’t even see him now.”

  “We did say we’d think about getting our own dog soon,” Mum said gently. “Maybe even a Bernese mountain dog like Scout.”

  “I don’t want another dog!” Zoe looked up at her. “It won’t be the same, don’t you see?”

  There was a moment of strange, waiting silence, and Zoe looked up to see her mum and dad exchanging a thoughtful glance.

  “You know,” her dad murmured, “when they said they were going to give up Scout, I did wonder…”

  Zoe’s mum shook her head. “So did I! But it just seemed a bit odd to suggest we could take him!”

  “You mean it?” Zoe whispered.

  Her mum laughed and looked at her dad. “Yes!”

  Zoe stared at them for a second more, and then she turned and raced back down the road.

  Zoe held up the treat – it was a bit of cheese. She’d discovered this was Scout’s favourite after he’d eaten her packed-lunch sandwiches. Scout was sitting, just about – he kept half getting up and then sitting down again because he wanted the cheese – at the end of the line of wellies Zoe had made.

  “In and out! In and out, Scout!” Zoe said hopefully, crossing her fingers. Scout eyed the cheese, and then the wellies, and then marched straight down the side of the line instead of zigzagging through them like he was supposed to. Then he sat down in front of Zoe, sitting beautifully, like the best-behaved dog ever. He stared up at her with huge, dark, hungry eyes and she gave him the cheese anyway. She couldn’t resist those eyes and, after all, he was sitting.

  “How’s he doing?” her mum called from the kitchen. “Have you run out of cheese yet?”

  “He almost did it,” Zoe called back. “And, um, yes. Can we have some more cheese, please?”

  Scout turned to look hopefully towards the kitchen, too. He might not get this in and out thing, but he knew exactly what cheese was. He loved it almost as much as he loved Zoe.

  “Ava! Come on, wake up. Look at this!” Mum held up her phone in front of Ava’s nose and Ava squinted at the photo on the screen sleepily. Then she sat bolt upright in bed and grabbed the phone. Ever since her parents had agreed to getting a kitten, Ava had been scanning the local animal shelter’s website and checking the noticeboard in the supermarket. But no one seemed to have any kittens in need of homes – until now.

  “Oh! They’re gorgeous! Mum, are they real? I mean, are they for sale? Can we go and see them?” The photo showed a litter of kittens snuggled up in a cardboard box – it wasn’t a very big one but they’d obviously all decided it was the best place to sleep ever. Ava was almost sure there were four but it was quite hard to count them…

  “Yes, they’re real and, yes, we can go and see them. Rosie, the lady who owns them, put their picture on Facebook and she said she’s free this weekend if people want to visit. I’ve sent her a message to see if we can go round today. Your auntie Jade sent me their picture – Rosie’s a friend of hers. Auntie Jade said she thought of you as soon as she saw them!”

  “They’re so little and fluffy…” Ava cooed, stroking the phone screen with her finger. Then she sighed as the picture disappeared. “Oops! Sorry, Mum, I’m still half asleep. I just wanted to stroke them!”

  Mum smiled as she took back the phone. “I love the ginger and white one – but the stripey kitten’s gorgeous, too. I think we might have a really hard time choosing. Oh, look! Rosie’s messaged me back, asking if we can come round at about ten o’clock. Ooooh, I don’t know, Ava, what do you think? It’s a bit early for a Saturday, isn’t it?”

  Mum laughed as Ava leaped out of bed, flinging off the duvet. “You think we can, then? We’ve got to get Lucy and Bel up, remember. And your dad’s still asleep.”

  “We’ve only got two hours!” Ava squeaked. “Wake him up now, Mum! And tell Lucy and Bel we’re going to see some kittens. They’ll be out of bed the fastest you’ve ever seen, I promise!”

  “Hurry up,” Ava groaned. “There’s the house, look, number twenty-two. Lucy, you don’t need to bring your toy cat, we’re going to see real kittens…”

  “They will like my toy cat,” her sister said firmly, gathering up her toy cat and her handbag and all the cat’s clothes, and clambering down from her car seat. Lucy was only just three – Mum and Dad had said they’d think about getting a family pet once she was old enough to understand that a kitten wasn’t another toy for her to play with. Ava had been looking forward to Lucy’s birthday more than her own.

  Ava’s middle sister, five-year-old Bel, had run on ahead and was trying to undo the latch of the garden gate. She was just as excited as Ava was. Neither of them had been able to eat any breakfast, and they’d watched Dad and Lucy ploughing through their Weetabix with disbelief.

  “OK.” Dad locked the car and led Lucy over to the gate. “Let’s go!”

  Bel finally managed to unlatch the gate and the front door opened as they walked up the path. A lady in a stripey T-shirt waved at them. “I saw you coming. I’m Rosie.” She scooped up a silvery tabby cat who was trying to escape round her legs. “And this is Moppet. She’s the kittens’ mum.”

  “She’s beautiful,” Ava’s mum said.

  “She really is,” Rosie agreed. “Come on in. Moppet’s too young to have kittens, to be honest. She was a stray. She kept coming into the garden and in the end I adopted her. I d
idn’t know I was getting five cats instead of one!”

  “Oh, wow…” Ava sighed. It sounded like a dream come true to her.

  “Anyway, come and see the kittens. They’re in the kitchen.”

  Ava could feel her heart thumping with excitement as they walked through the hallway. The kitchen door was closed and Rosie opened it carefully, obviously trying not to bump into any kittens on the other side.

  “Oh! Oh! A kitten!” Bel squealed as a little furry face popped round the edge of the door.

  The kitten disappeared at once and Mum shushed Bel gently. “Sweetheart, remember what we talked about. You’ve got to be quiet round the kittens. If you shout, you’ll scare them.”

  Bel nodded but Ava could tell that she was so excited she wasn’t really listening. Ava swallowed hard as Rosie opened the door all the way. There seemed to be a bubble of nervousness stuck in the top of her throat. She had been daydreaming about this moment for so long!

  The kittens seemed to have taken over Rosie’s kitchen. There were cat toys everywhere, a cosy basket sat next to the radiator, and a huge kitten climbing frame made of scratching posts and carpeted hidey-holes was squashed up next to the kitchen table. As they all went in, a small ginger kitten looked up from licking the butter off a piece of toast.

  Rosie put Moppet down and sighed. “That was my breakfast,” she told the kitten, lifting it off the table. “You’ve had yours.” She looked round at Ava and her family. “They’re lovely but they get everywhere.” Then she frowned. “Hang on. How many kittens can you see?”