Ellie the Homesick Puppy (3 page)

At Gran’s house, everything smelled different. Ellie had been there before, but only with Megan, when it had been fun. Gran was doing her best – she’d taken Ellie for a walk when they first arrived, to stretch her legs after being shut up in the car. But Ellie had trailed along behind her with her ears drooping, and in the end Gran had turned back.

But it was worse in the house. Ellie didn’t want to be here, and she
hated
cats. Sid was huge and black and old, and very grumpy. He didn’t like dogs at all, and he really didn’t like dogs who barked and jumped around all over the place. He stood on the back of an
armchair and hissed angrily when he first saw Ellie. With all his fur standing up like that and his tail fluffed up like a brush, Sid was nearly as big as she was.

Gran carefully made sure they were kept apart after that, shutting Ellie in the kitchen. But then the phone rang, and she forgot to close the kitchen door when she came out to the hall to answer it. Ellie trotted out after her – she might not want to be here, but Gran was her one link with Megan.

Sid was sitting in the middle of the hallway like a furry black rock.

Ellie bounced at him bravely and barked, but Sid shot forwards and scraped his claws across her nose. Ellie yelped. She’d chased cats before, or tried to anyway – Megan didn’t like her
chasing things. But the cats had never fought back before. She stared at Sid worriedly, and he hissed again. It was a clear warning.

Ellie crept behind the sofa and stayed there, sulking, until Gran tempted her out with a handful of bone-shaped biscuits, the ones that Megan always gave her. Even those just made her miss Megan more. Gran took her back into the kitchen away from Sid and tried to make a big fuss of her, but Ellie didn’t really want to play. She was too confused.

Perhaps Megan would come and get her soon? She had been here with Megan before, after all. And she definitely remembered Sid, and the way this house smelled so strongly of cat. Megan must be coming later, Ellie decided hopefully. Every time footsteps went past on the pavement outside she pricked up her ears and wagged her tail. But as the afternoon wore on, she stopped bothering. It never was Megan, and now it was getting dark.

She padded over to her basket and stared at it miserably. If Megan was coming to get her, she wouldn’t need her basket. Her food bowls were here too, and her toys. Why would they be here if Megan was coming to take her home?

“Can I talk to Ellie, Gran?” Megan asked, gripping the phone tightly.

“I’m not sure that’s a very good idea, Megan,” Gran said gently. “It might upset her. She’ll be fine. I’m going to put a hot water bottle in her basket, and she’s got her blanket and all her usual things. I expect she’ll have settled down by the morning.”

Which means she hasn’t settled down now
, Megan thought unhappily as she said goodbye. Ellie was hating being at Gran’s, just as Megan had thought she would.

They were having fish and chips for tea, as a treat, so they didn’t have to cook, but Megan hardly ate anything.
It wasn’t the same without Ellie lurking hopefully under the table in case anyone dropped a chip.

She was feeling so miserable she went to bed early, but it took her ages to get to sleep – her room was full of boxes, and they all looked strange and gloomy in the dark.
Only till Tuesday
, Megan told herself.
Today’s Sunday. Tuesday afternoon, I’ll have Ellie back
.

That night, Ellie was left alone in Gran’s kitchen. She had her own familiar basket and her blanket, which was wrapped round a cosy hot water bottle, but she was still desperately homesick.

She whined unhappily for a long while, but Gran didn’t come down. Ellie was tired, but her basket felt wrong with the hot water bottle in it. It had cooled down now, and it sloshed and wobbled when she moved. Ellie tried to scrabble it out, but it was heavy, so she picked it up in her teeth and dragged it instead. Still it wouldn’t budge. She tugged again and the water started to leak out over her blanket.

Ellie howled. Why had Megan abandoned her?

Ellie woke up in her damp basket. She eyed the hot water bottle worriedly. People didn’t like it when she chewed things. She looked up anxiously as the kitchen door opened, wondering if Gran would be very cross.

But she only laughed. “Oh dear, they did say you liked chewing things at the moment. It’s all right, Ellie, I know you
didn’t mean to be naughty. It was probably silly of me to let you have it. I just didn’t think. Don’t be sad, little one, you’ll see Megan again soon.”

Ellie stared up at Gran with mournful eyes, as she tidied up her damp things. Even though Gran was being friendly, she didn’t want to stay here. If only she could go back home to Megan.

Ellie was good at finding things, and she was best at finding Megan. She smelled special, and Ellie could always find her. She knew when Megan was coming home from school – she could just feel it. She somehow knew when it was time to go and sit by the door, so she could be there to see Megan as soon as she got inside.

So it would be no problem to find Megan, Ellie was sure. But finding her meant she had to get out first, and she wasn’t at all sure about that.

Gran fed Ellie, then let Sid into the kitchen to give him breakfast. After that, she left the door open so Ellie could get out of the kitchen too. Gran watched them anxiously, but this time the cat and the puppy stayed out of each other’s way.

After a while, Ellie crept out of the kitchen, watching carefully for Sid. She was fairly sure he was in his favourite place – on the back of the sofa, so he could look out of the window and see exactly what was going on in the street.

The front door was very big and very solid. It had a handle, which Ellie couldn’t reach, even standing on her hind legs. The letter box was at the bottom of the door, but even though she could get her claws into it to scratch it open, it was only big enough for her nose and even that hurt. Ellie sat staring at the door hopelessly, then she gave her ears a determined shake. If she couldn’t open it, she would just have to wait until someone opened it for her.

She hung around the hallway all morning, waiting for the door to be opened and half-playing with her squeaky fish toy.

She was just scrambling underneath a chest of drawers, trying to reach the squeaky fish, when there was the shrill sound of the doorbell. Ellie jumped, banging her head on the bottom of the chest.

She could hear someone shifting around on the doorstep. This was her chance!

Ellie wriggled herself round under the chest, so that her nose was sticking out, and watched as Gran hurried to answer the door. It was the postman with a parcel. Gran opened the door wider to take the sheet of paper she
needed to sign, and Ellie’s ears pricked up as she saw what was beyond it. Gran’s didn’t have a fenced-in front garden like Megan’s house did, just a flower bed and then straight on to the pavement. As Gran turned away from the door to rest the sheet of paper on the very chest Ellie was hiding under, Ellie darted out of the door.

Ellie’s heart was thumping as she hid herself behind an enormous clump of stripy leaves under the front window. She had expected the postman to see her and shout, and maybe try to catch her, but he was too busy chatting away with Gran. Still, Ellie was sure Gran would see her if she tried to run down the street now. Hiding was best. She watched anxiously as Gran gave the
sheet back, and the door began to close. Was she going to notice?

Some strange sense made her look up just then, and she nearly gave herself away with a yelp.

Sid was staring down at her from his perch on the back of the sofa. He knew she was there. What if he mewed and Gran discovered she’d got out?

Ellie watched Sid nervously. Should she run now, and see if she could get far enough away in the few seconds she had left? But Sid wasn’t meowing to get Gran’s attention. He was sitting very still, just watching with disapproving eyes, the tip of his tail twitching very slightly.

The front door slammed shut. Ellie gulped.
He wasn’t going to stop her
.
She supposed it made sense. He didn’t want her in his house any more than she wanted to be there. Ellie wagged her tail at him gratefully, and sneaked out from behind the bush and on to the pavement.

She needed to get away from Gran’s house fast, before Gran realized what had happened and came to find her. Ellie looked around, her tail wagging very slightly. She couldn’t help but be excited. She was heading back to Megan! She was going to find her, all by herself!

She was going home.

Ellie skittered quickly across the road, making for a little lane with high hedges that led down between some of the houses. She’d be out of sight from Gran’s house quickly here, she was sure.

Once she was in the lane she raced as fast as she could. They had gone down here on the walk yesterday; it was brambly and overgrown, with lots of hiding places.

Finally she ran out of breath and collapsed, panting, underneath a tangle of brambles. She lay in the leafy dimness, breathing fast, and loving the feeling of being out on her own. Walks with Megan were the best thing, of course, but it was fun not to have a lead on and to be able to go where she liked. The bramble bush smelled nice. Earthy, but sweet at the same time.

Ellie tried to work out which way she should go next. Where was Megan? Which way?

She rested her nose on her paws. It wasn’t that she was going to sniff Megan out exactly, that would be silly, she was much too far away for that. This was different from finding Megan’s scent. It was more of a feel. Megan – and home – was that way.

Ellie wriggled eagerly out from under the brambles and set off down the lane. She knew it was going to be a long way – longer than any walk she’d done before – but she wasn’t scared. She was Megan’s dog, not Gran’s, and she was meant to be with Megan.

Back at the house, Gran was searching anxiously for Ellie. She hadn’t missed her until a few minutes ago, when she had put out Ellie’s lunch, and she was hoping that the puppy was hiding in the house somewhere.

“Ellie! Ellie! Here, girl! Where are you?”

Gran crouched down to check behind the sofa, in case Sid had frightened her again. The cat was still curled up on the back of the sofa.

“Where can she be, Sid?” Gran muttered worriedly. “Oh, she can’t have got out when the postman came? I would have seen her, surely. And that’s the only time I’ve opened the door. But then where is she? I’ve looked everywhere.”

Gran thought sadly of Megan – they’d be leaving their old house about now, she expected. Megan would be so excited; how could she spoil their moving day by telling them Ellie was lost? But if she didn’t find the little dog soon, she would have to.

Sid followed as she went out into the hallway and opened the front door. Gran looked anxiously up and down the street, while Sid coiled round her ankles, purring lovingly.

He really didn’t like dogs in his house.

The lane led out on to a main road. It was a busy road, and it didn’t have wide pavements for people and dogs to walk on, like the ones Ellie was used to. She stood hesitating on the little patch of ground where the lane and the road met, and watched the cars whooshing past. She wasn’t supposed to go near cars. She had been very carefully trained to sit and wait at the edge of the pavement until Megan said to walk.

Cautiously, Ellie stretched out one paw on to the road, then jumped back with a frightened yelp as a car shot by in a speeding rush of air. Ellie looked around and decided that she wouldn’t
cross, even though the lane went on over the other side of the road. She would walk along the edge of the road instead. She was fairly sure she would still be going the right way. She set off, but the edge of the road was only a narrow fringe of dusty grass below the hedges. Every time a car went past it ruffled Ellie’s fur, and the tyres screeched and scared her. She kept jumping into the hedge in fright.

Ellie was cowering in the hedge waiting for an enormous lorry to thunder past, when she realized that just in front of her was a hole. It was a gap in the thick hedge, leading away from this horrible, frightening road! Ellie darted through it and found herself in a field. This was much better.
There were no cars, only long grass that was fun to run through. Ellie darted across the field happily. This was much the best way to go – no more roads, she decided, at least until she got close to Megan’s house, where there were roads all around.