“Have a good day.” Dad hugged Lara goodbye at the gate. “You’re walking home with Amelia this afternoon, yes?”

  “Uh-huh.” The two girls sometimes walked home together on their own if they didn’t have an after-school club.

  “OK. Make sure you watch the road carefully at the crossing.”

  “We will. Bye, Dad!” Lara waved to him and headed into the playground, spotting Amelia over by the fence chatting to a couple of their other friends.

  “Any news?” Amelia asked hopefully and Lara shook her head.

  “Nope. Oliver didn’t even act curiously today, so I don’t think the puppy was there.” She glanced eagerly at Amelia. “We could look for him on the way home this afternoon. Dad said the dog warden would probably use a special trap to catch him. It sounds scary – I’d much rather we found him.”

  “Definitely!” Amelia agreed. “He sounds so sweet, the way you described him. I hope we see him.”

  Lara nodded. The puppy was cute. But if he’d gone from the alley maybe it was a good thing, because it would mean he’d found his way home. He’d seemed so scared and lost when they’d seen him before, though – Lara was almost sure he didn’t have a home to go to.

  “It’s just along here,” Lara said. “At the end of this row of shops.”

  “Oh yeah.” Amelia nodded. “I know where you mean now. I’d forgotten this little alley was even here.”

  “I think it only gets used for delivering stuff to the shops,” Lara explained. “It’s really quiet most of the time so it’s the perfect place for him to hide. Are you sure you don’t mind going down there? It’s a bit dirty. And there might be rats.”

  Amelia laughed. “I don’t mind rats! I have two of them at home.” But then she paused. “I know what you mean, though. It’s pretty dirty. We’ll just have to be careful and not touch anything. Hey!”

  “What?” Lara spun round. “Did you see something?”

  “I-I think so…” Amelia frowned. “Down at the end by those big wheelie bins. Just a little face peering out.”

  “That’s where we saw him before!” Lara caught hold of Amelia’s hand and they crept quietly down the alley, almost on tiptoe, until they were halfway between the bins and the road.

  “Yes, there!” Lara breathed. “It’s him!” She tugged gently at Amelia as she saw the little dog looking at them. “Let’s stop here. I think Dad and I scared him by going too close on Sunday.” She crouched down and pulled off her backpack, digging out her lunch box. “Look, here’s half my sandwich from lunch.”

  “Did you save that on purpose?” Amelia whispered, ducking down next to her.

  “Yes… Well, I was sort of hoping… And it’s ham – I thought he’d like that.”

  “I’ve got some cheese cubes I didn’t have time to eat.” Amelia took out her own lunch, making a rustling noise as she opened up the foil wrapped round the cheese.

  “I think he heard you!” Lara’s eyes widened. “Look, he’s coming out a bit further. Can you rustle the foil again?”

  Amelia crinkled the foil with her fingers and the girls glanced excitedly at each other as the little dog came out from between the bins.

  “He’s so small!” Amelia said.

  “I know. I hardly got a chance to look at him before. He’s even thinner than I thought he was. Do you think we should throw him some bits of food?”

  “Maybe. Unless it scares him.” Amelia sounded doubtful. She scrunched the foil again and the puppy came a step closer. “Hold out some of your sandwich,” she suggested.

  Lara tore off a piece and slowly stretched out her arm. She laid the sandwich down on the tarmac in front of her and looked hopefully at the dog.

  The black puppy looked at Lara and Amelia, and then he looked at the sandwich. He seemed to be weighing it up – the food on one side and the scary people on the other. He took another step forwards and then made a sudden dash for the piece of sandwich, bolting it down in one mouthful before darting back again.

  But he didn’t go as far this time – just a few steps away.

  “Try a bit of your cheese,” Lara whispered, and Amelia pulled out one of the cubes of cheese. They both saw the puppy’s tongue lick hopefully over his nose, and when Amelia put down the cheese just a little way from her feet, he came to gobble it up straight away. Then he stood looking at the two girls, his tail slowly wagging, obviously waiting for more.

  Slowly, carefully, Lara tore off another bit of sandwich, holding it out in the palm of her hand this time. She couldn’t help giggling as the puppy took it, brushing his velvety muzzle against her hand. She longed to stroke his flopped-over ears but she was sure it would scare him away. “Shall I give him the rest?” she whispered. “Or … do you think we could get him to follow us back to my house?”

  Amelia caught her breath. “Would he?”

  “He might. And that’s got to be better than catching him in a trap, hasn’t it? Oh!” Lara laughed, suddenly realizing that the puppy had got impatient while they were talking. He was right next to her now, poking his furry, whiskery muzzle into her lunch box for more of her sandwich.

  Very gently Lara ran her hand down his back and the puppy tensed up – she felt him go still all over. But then he relaxed again and went back to chasing the sandwich round her lunch box. “You can’t eat that!” Lara gently pulled the cling film out of his mouth. “It will make you sick.” She stroked him again and this time the puppy didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t tense up and he glanced round curiously at Lara’s hand, and licked her wrist.

  “I think he might follow us,” Amelia whispered. “I’m going to stand up.”

  She crinkled the foil and then stood up very slowly, backing away as the puppy watched.

  “Come on,” Lara whispered, standing up too. “Come on, puppy. Amelia’s got more cheese. Yummy cheese. Come on.”

  Amelia held out the foil – there were still five or six pieces of cheese left – and the two girls retreated slowly up the alley.

  “Don’t stare at him,” Lara murmured. “He came out from the bins when we were looking in our bags, didn’t he? I don’t think dogs like it when you stare at them – it makes them think you’re scary.”

  “OK.” Amelia nodded. “But it’s difficult not to. Is he following us?”

  Lara looked back, keeping her eyes down towards the ground. Even though she wasn’t looking straight at the puppy, she could see little black paws trotting after them. “Yes,” she whispered back. “He’s coming. I think we should give him some more cheese at the end of the alley.”

  “Good idea.” Amelia fumbled a cube of cheese out of the foil and held it behind her as they came to the road. “Oh, he tickles!”

  The puppy padded after the two girls, intent on the food. But as they came out of the alley and on to the pavement, he stopped, crouching back against the wall. He didn’t want to go this way – the cars were loud, and there were people hurrying past. He felt safe in the alley and the brambly waste ground behind the fence.

  But there was food, so close. The two girls had soft voices and they weren’t very big. He could smell the cheese that one of them was holding out for him, just a little way along the pavement.

  Nervously he scurried after Lara and Amelia and took another cube of cheese – and another, and another, as they walked him home.

  “I’m going to shut the gate,” Lara murmured. “Have you got any cheese left?”

  “Just one bit,” Amelia whispered back. “But I bet I can keep him sniffing the foil for a while.” She crouched down by Lara’s front door and held out the last bit of cheese while Lara gently pushed the garden gate shut. The puppy snuffled up the cheese and then licked her hand thoroughly. Amelia opened out the foil and held it in front of his nose. Lara was just about to nip round them and ring the doorbell when she heard a thud from inside the house, then a scrabbling of claws and an excited woof.

  Oliver! He’d heard them outside his front door. Lara looked back at the puppy just as he reversed suddenly out of the foil, his ears flattening. She could tell he was going to run – and there were loose bits in the fence, even though the gate was shut.

  Lara only thought for a split second – Dad had said to be careful in case the stray dog was scared and snapped, but the puppy had been so gentle eating her sandwich and the cheese. She slipped her hands round his bony ribcage and picked him up, cradling him against her jacket.

  “Lara!” Amelia hissed. “Be careful!”

  “I am. It’s OK, it’s OK. Shh.”

  The puppy seemed to have frozen. As the front door opened and Dad and Oliver appeared, Lara could feel him shaking. But he didn’t try to bite or struggle.

  Dad looked at her and then down at Oliver, who was wagging his tail and making little whining noises as if he’d never seen anything so exciting. Quickly, he scooted the lurcher back into the house – Lara guessed he was shutting him in the kitchen – and then he appeared in the doorway again. He didn’t look as happy as Lara had thought he would.

  “We found the puppy,” she said hopefully.

  “You went off on your own looking for a stray dog,” her dad said, trying to keep his voice gentle. “That was really not a good idea.”

  “But we rescued him!” Lara protested, and she felt the puppy wriggle in her arms as he heard her voice rise.

  “Shh…Try not to scare him, Lara,” Dad said. “Come on, you’d better bring him inside.”

  “What about Oliver?”

  “I’ve put him in the back garden.”

  The girls followed Lara’s dad into the house and Amelia quickly shut the front door behind them. The puppy whined anxiously at the bang and Lara shushed him as gently as she could.

  “It was my idea too,” Amelia told Lara’s dad as they entered the kitchen and Lara set the puppy down on the floor. “I wanted to see him – and then we thought of our leftover lunches.”

  “But what if he’d bitten you? Girls, you don’t know anything about him! I know he doesn’t look fierce, but you just can’t tell.”

  “Dad, please can you sit down on the floor or … or go over there behind the table? Please? It’s just I think you’re scaring him – you’re too big!”

  “What? Oh…” Lara’s dad looked down at the puppy, who was pressing himself as tightly as he could against Lara’s knees. The little dog had his tail tucked right between his legs and his eyes were closed – if he couldn’t see the scary man, perhaps the scary man wasn’t there…

  “Sorry, Dad.”

  “It’s OK.” Lara’s dad backed away a little and then sat down on the kitchen floor. “But dogs can get jumpy when they’re scared. You two really shouldn’t have tried to bring him home. He could have hurt you.”

  “Aren’t you glad we found him?” Lara asked. The puppy was looking sideways at Lara’s dad, still scared, but he’d relaxed a little now that the big man wasn’t looming over him.

  Dad sighed. “Yes, of course I am! You know I was worried about him out there on his own. But even though he’s tiny, he can still bite.”

  “Sorry, Dad,” Lara whispered.

  “Sorry, Mr Fisher,” Amelia said, looking guilty. “He didn’t ever snap at us, though.”

  There was a sudden scrabbling at the back door and Dad shook his head. “Oliver knows that something’s going on. We can’t keep him out there forever.”

  “He didn’t bark at the puppy when we saw him in the alley,” Lara pointed out.

  “I’m not worried about Oliver,” Dad said. “He likes other dogs. But we don’t know how this one’s going to react.”

  Oliver scratched at the door again and Amelia squeaked. “It’s open!”

  “What?” Dad tried to get up from the floor, but he wasn’t quick enough. Oliver came nosing curiously round the door, his tail waving when he saw them all sitting on the floor. It looked like a game – he liked being able to bounce on top of people.

  “Gently, Oliver,” Dad said, reaching out to grab his collar. “I can’t have shut the door properly. I was in a rush…”

  Oliver stood next to Dad, peering at the puppy, his ears pricked up. He looked friendly, Lara thought, but she wasn’t sure what the lurcher looked like to the smaller dog. An enormous great frightening thing, perhaps?

  As if he understood what she was thinking, Oliver crouched down, settling on to the floor with his nose on his long front paws. He lay there quietly, snuffling at the puppy.

  “It’s OK,” Lara whispered to the puppy. “Oliver’s friendly. He likes you.”

  Oliver yawned massively and got up, wandering away to his water bowl. He didn’t seem to mind that there was another dog in his house.

  The puppy watched him go and thumped his tail against Lara’s leg. Then he licked her knee and looked up at her. Lara stroked his head and his tail wagged again, just a little.

  “That was good,” Dad said quietly. “Oliver’s not taking too much notice and this little one’s quite calm.” He sighed. “I suppose we’d better hold on to him until tomorrow, and then I’ll take him to the shelter. I’ll call the dog warden and let her know we’ve got him too.”

  “Won’t they want to take him away at once?” Lara asked sadly. She and Amelia were both stroking the puppy now and the little dog seemed to like it, nuzzling gently at their hands.

  “No, when I spoke to her before, she said they took any stray dogs to Valley Animal Care. So we can just drop him off there tomorrow.”

  Lara sighed. Poor little dog. She knew he’d be well looked after at the shelter, but he deserved to have a real home. Like Oliver did. A home like theirs.

  The puppy followed Lara and Amelia into the garden, sniffing curiously at Oliver’s basket as he went past. The big dog was curled up in there, watching him. The puppy gave him a hopeful look – was the big dog friendly?

  Another dog had come sniffing around the alleyway a few days before and the puppy had approached him, remembering his mother and the other puppies. He remembered playing and tussling with them, and sleeping snuggled up together. He’d hoped the dog might help him find some food. Instead it had snarled at him and then snapped angrily. The puppy had retreated through the fence and hidden away under the brambles, trembling. He wasn’t sure if this big dog would snap too…

  But as the puppy ran after the two girls, the big dog wandered out into the garden and sniffed at him gently. When the girl who had picked him up rolled a ball towards them, the puppy nosed at it doubtfully. He’d never played with a ball and he wasn’t sure what to do with it. He looked up at the big dog, and watched curiously as he nudged the ball and flipped it up into the air with his nose. The ball landed just in front of the puppy’s paws and he yapped excitedly. The big dog seemed to be waiting for him to do something…

  The puppy ran at the ball, meaning to push it with his nose as the big dog had done. But he didn’t get it quite right – his paws hit the ball first and he rolled over with it, tumbling in the grass as the girls giggled behind him. He gave the ball a confused look. What had happened?

  The big dog leaned down and licked the puppy’s nose. The little dog liked that. It felt good. He stumbled up and followed the big dog as he ambled back into the house, keeping close by its long legs. The puppy clambered over the doorstep and the big dog looked back at him patiently. The two girls and the man were watching, and the puppy scuttled nervously across the floor towards the big dog, who was slumping down in his basket again.

  The puppy wasn’t quite brave enough to climb in with him so he sat next to the basket instead, watching as the two girls came to sit down at the kitchen table. Then the big dog leaned over and licked him again, the huge tongue pulling his ears back. His mother had licked him like that, the puppy remembered.

  Slowly, he eased himself down so that he was lying on the floor with just his nose resting next to the big dog’s paws. He still didn’t know what had happened to his mother and the other puppies – all he could remember was scrabbling his way out of a cardboard box and finding himself in the alley. But for the first time in ages, someone was looking after him. He was somewhere safe.

  “You should give him a name,” Amelia said. “You can’t just keep calling him ‘puppy’.” Lara’s dad had got them a drink and left them to keep an eye on the puppy while he called the dog warden.

  “I know,” Lara said, leaning round the edge of the table to look at the little dog, who was still curled up next to Oliver. “I keep thinking of brilliant names. But Dad’s going to take him to the shelter tomorrow. And if I give him a name it’ll make saying goodbye to him even harder.” She looked back at Amelia and lowered her voice so that her dad wouldn’t hear her from the living room. “I wish we could keep him, but I don’t think Dad would say yes.”

  Amelia smiled. “You should definitely keep him! I’m sure you could persuade your dad.”

  “Yeah … I suppose I could try.”

  Amelia glanced round at the clock. “Oh, wow, it’s half past four. I wish I could stay but my cousins are coming over so Mum said not to be at yours for too long.” She got up quietly, trying not to disturb the two dogs. “Bye, little one.”

  “Are you off, Amelia?” Lara’s dad came back, holding his phone. “Lara, I told the dog warden that I’ll take the puppy to the shelter tomorrow.”

  Amelia gave Lara a meaningful look as they went to the front door and Lara sighed. It was easy for Amelia to say they should keep the puppy. She wasn’t the one who had to persuade her dad! But still…

  “Jet,” Lara said as Amelia fiddled with the gate.

  Amelia turned back to look at her. “Oooh! Nice name!”

  “I know. He’s nearly all black, and if I brushed him I bet his coat would be really shiny.”

  Amelia ran back up the path and gave Lara a hug. “You have to keep him! Ask your dad now!”

 

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