A Home for Shimmer (13 page)

On the last Saturday in June, I went with Caitlin into the village for the next step in Shimmer’s training, which was learning to be with other people. So far, she’d thought everyone was her friend, all food was for her and rubber boots were for peeing on. I had to get her to behave better in public.

She trotted up and down the village street and was the model of good behaviour. She didn’t pull on the lead, she stopped when I told her to and she sat when I told her to. I felt so proud of her.

‘Seeing as it’s so hot,’ Caitlin said, ‘maybe we should try the beach, where you can let her off the lead.’

‘OK, let’s see how she gets on.’

We got the bus and, once again, Shimmer was very good and sat at my feet quietly.

‘I think we’re making progress,’ I told Caitlin.

When we got there, the beach was packed, people were sunbathing and I noticed there were a few dogs running around and enjoying the freedom. I quickly checked to see if there were any sandwiches or ice creams around, but the coast seemed to be clear.

‘OK, Shimmer,’ I said as I let her off the lead. ‘Now stay.’ Shimmer took no notice, charged off and straight into the water, darting in and out of the waves with glee. ‘She loves the sea. It’s becoming her favourite thing.’

We watched for a while then Caitlin suddenly pointed. ‘Oops,’ she said.

Shimmer had got out of the water and run over to where a couple were snoozing in the sun, the man in a pair of shorts and the woman in her bikini. I knew what was going to happen, and there was nothing I could do. Shimmer stood right next to them . . . and did the doggie shake. Her outline was a blur of fur and water, and the couple leaped up as though they’d been electrocuted. If Shimmer hadn’t been my dog, I would have burst out laughing, but the man started yelling at Shimmer and running after her. He looked really angry and was definitely not one to mess with.

Caitlin looked worried. ‘Let’s pretend she’s not with us,’ she said.

‘It’s tempting but . . . I have to own up,’ I replied.

I was about to go forward when suddenly a boy appeared and called Shimmer to him – Liam! Shimmer recognised him and went straight to him. He reached down and held Shimmer by her collar. Although we couldn’t hear, I could see by Liam’s body language that he was apologising to the couple, backing away from them and almost bowing. Shimmer soon got the message and backed away too. They looked as if they were backing away from a king, both bowing their heads, and again it was hard not to laugh. The man in the shorts still looked mad though, his face red with anger. He shouted something, then Liam headed towards us and luckily the man went back to his girlfriend.

Liam handed Shimmer to me and I quickly put her back on her lead. ‘See the dog training’s going well then,’ he said, but not in a nasty way.

‘Liam, thank you so much. You took the rap for us,’ I said.

Liam shrugged. ‘No problem,’ he said. ‘I’m well used to grown-ups yelling at me . . . and stuck-up girls like Poppy Pengilly yelling at me too. But listen, I know that bloke, he’s a mate of my dad’s and believe me, you don’t want to get in his bad books.’ Then he grinned. ‘You should have seen their faces though. Shimmer, you bad dog, you soaked them.’

Shimmer wagged her tail, delighted as always to be the centre of attention.

I sighed. ‘It’s not easy training a dog, you know. For a start, we’re supposed to ignore her when she’s been bad, not make a fuss of her.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Liam. ‘You’ll get the hang of it. Dogs are simple creatures. Ignore them when they’re behaving badly, reward them when they’ve done something right.’

Caitlin planted a big kiss on Liam’s cheek. ‘And
you
just did something right,’ she said.

‘Be-wuhnuh,’ Liam stuttered. He’d gone bright red.
So he’s not always Mr Cool-as-a-cucumber
, I thought as I gave him a big hug.

Chapter Fifteen

Invasion of the Men in Suits

I headed for the front door, where I picked up the post from the mat. I took it into Mum in the kitchen and she sifted through.

‘Richie, there’s one here from the council,’ she called out the window to Dad. He came running in as Mum opened the letter. Her face immediately dropped. ‘Permission refused,’ she said.

There was a moment of silence. ‘No!’ Dad exclaimed. ‘Let me see.’ He read the letter and sighed. ‘I suppose we can appeal . . . but it sounds pretty definite.’

‘So back to square one,’ said Mum.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

‘The council have refused us permission to convert the stables and outbuildings,’ said Dad.

‘But why?’ I asked.

‘Objections from some of the locals,’ said Dad. ‘So they weren’t all as on board as we’d thought. And we were all ready to start in a few weeks’ time.’

They both looked so fed up. I wished there was something I could do.

‘After all our hard work,’ said Mum, ‘who could have objected?’

Dad shrugged his shoulders. ‘I’ll try and find out then see what we can do to persuade them round to our way of thinking.’ He looked over at me and Shimmer, who was waiting expectantly in the hall with her lead in her mouth. ‘You go, Amy; no point in us all hanging around here. I’ll make some enquiries and see what we can do.’

‘We’re still the outsiders, that’s what it is,’ said Mum. ‘No matter what we do.’

Shimmer and I met Caitlin at the end of our lane and we caught the bus to the coast.

‘Might be an idea if we take a walk in one of the fields nearby before we head for the beach, that way, Shimmer can let off some steam,’ I suggested.

‘Yes, we don’t want a repeat of the famous wet dog incident,’ Caitlin agreed.

When we got off the bus, I kept Shimmer on the lead along the lane but once we reached the open fields to the left of the posh houses, I let her go and she was off, bounding around, sniffing everything in sight with her usual enthusiasm.

I blew my whistle and she came racing back. ‘Excellent. Result,’ I said.

Caitlin laughed. ‘She always looks like she’s smiling, doesn’t she?’

‘That’s because she is,’ I replied. ‘Unlike Mum and Dad when I left them.’ I filled her in on the latest news from the council.

‘That’s just mean,’ she said. She opened her arms wide, looked up to the sky and said, ‘Dear whoever’s up there, we need help down here. We need a miracle . . . Come on, Amy. Join in. We should do a rain dance to ask the council to change their minds.’

I opened my arms out as Caitlin had done and looked up at the sky. ‘Good idea, my mad friend. Anything’s worth a go.’

We danced in a circle like Red Indians, put our arms up in the air and Caitlin chanted, ‘Ombabumga, good fairies help us. Wicked Witch of the West, release us from your spell. And you too, Snow Queen of Narnia – and whoever else has put a hex on the Silverbrook project.’

I laughed. ‘That ought to do it.’

That done, we walked on a bit further and I threw the ball for Shimmer and off she went. It was so hot that Caitlin and I decided we’d lie on the grass and soak up a bit of sun before heading down to the sea. After a few minutes, I realised Shimmer hadn’t come back with the ball. I sat up to look for her and could see her at the far end of the field near a gate. She had her nose to the ground. Clearly, she’d smelled something of interest. I hoped it wasn’t a rabbit or a squirrel or someone with a picnic.

‘Shimmer!’ I called. She looked up then went back to sniffing.

I blew the whistle. She still didn’t come back.

‘I don’t believe it,’ I said. ‘I really thought she was getting the hang of being obedient.’ I got out my little tin of dog treats and shook it. ‘Last resort. She always comes when she knows there’s something nice for her to eat.’

Shimmer glanced over at us then went back to sniffing. Suddenly, she came bounding over to where we were.

‘Good girl,’ I said when she reached us and I gave her a treat. ‘I shouldn’t be having to use titbits at this stage of your training, but never mind.’

Shimmer gulped down her treat then she pulled the end of my jeans with her mouth. ‘No, Shimmer,’ I said. ‘I want to stay here.’

She let go, ran off a few paces then came back and started tugging on my jeans again. She let go and ran off in the direction of the corner of the field and started barking.

‘What’s she doing?’ asked Caitlin.

She was acting really strangely. Running away a short distance, then coming back and tugging at my jeans, then running off again.

‘I think she wants us to go with her,’ I said. ‘No, Shimmer. We want to sunbathe. You run about but not too far.’ I lay back down on the grass.

Shimmer woofed and raced off back to the corner of the field, where she began to bark loudly. I sat up.

‘I think she’s found something,’ said Caitlin. ‘Let’s go and see what she’s looking at.’

Reluctantly, we got up and trudged across the field to where Shimmer was busy sniffing the ground.

Caitlin saw him first. A man in the grass wearing rider’s gear and a helmet, lying very still. ‘Oh my God,’ she said and pointed.

It was Mr Pengilly. ‘He’s been hurt,’ I gasped. ‘We have to get help, phone an ambulance.’

‘I’ll do that,’ said Caitlin and pulled out her phone.

‘And I’ll call home,’ I said.

Luckily, Mum picked up straight away. ‘Mum. We’re over at the fields near the beach and Shimmer found Mr Pengilly. I think he might be dead! Caitlin’s calling nine-nine-nine, but what if they don’t get here in time?’

‘Slow down, Amy. Is he breathing?’ Mum asked. I could hear the alarm in her voice.

‘Caitlin, is he breathing?’ I asked.

She leaned over him. ‘Yes. I can see his chest moving.’

‘Where exactly are you?’ asked Mum.

I explained our location. ‘I think he might have fallen from his horse.’

‘Stay there. Don’t move him in case he’s hurt his neck. We’ll be there as soon as we can. I’ll call your dad now. Keep your phone on.’

‘Will do.’ I clicked my phone shut.

‘Mr Pengilly, can you move?’ asked Caitlin, but there was no response. She looked at me. ‘Do you think we should put him in the recovery position, on his side, like they showed us at school?’

I shook my head. ‘Mum said not to move him . . . Mr Pengilly, we’ve sent for help. Try and wake up if you can.’

Caitlin had gone white. ‘Amy, I’m scared.’

‘We have to stay calm,’ I said, though calm was the last thing I was feeling. ‘We don’t want to make things worse. Whoa, this is scary. What should we do?’

‘I think we should keep talking to him. Remember when we did first aid at school, they said to keep talking to whoever’s hurt. We have to try and get him to wake up and he could tell us where he’s hurt . . . Mr Pengilly, Mr
Pengilly
.’ She looked at me. ‘What do we talk to him about?’

‘I don’t know. Anything. Er . . . It’s hot isn’t it, Mr Pengilly? My dog Shimmer found you. She was sniffing around . . .’ I carried on, talking about nothing, stating the obvious.

It seemed a lifetime that we were waiting, then suddenly Shimmer started barking. We looked over to the other side of the field where we could see a girl on a horse had come into the field.

‘I think it’s Poppy,’ said Caitlin and she stood up and waved.

She came galloping over and slid off her horse. ‘Is it my dad?’ she asked and when she saw her father, ran over to him and knelt beside him. ‘Dad, please wake up!’ She started to cry. ‘What happened?’

‘We don’t know. I’ve called my mum,’ I said. ‘An ambulance is on its way. He is breathing, Poppy. Don’t worry. They’ll be here soon.’

Poppy looked like she was going to faint. ‘We’ve been looking for him everywhere all morning. His horse came back without him. I’ve been out looking for him for hours.’

‘Shimmer found him,’ I said.

Poppy took her dad’s hand, tears rolling down her face. ‘I’m here, Dad, I’m here!’

‘Do you want me to call your mum?’ asked Caitlin.

Poppy looked even more upset. ‘I don’t have a mum. She died when I was little. There’s only me and Dad.’