Ellie the Homesick Puppy (5 page)

It was getting dark, though. She wanted to keep going, but the stormy feeling in the air was getting stronger, and she could hear low growls of thunder. It made the fur stand up on her back. She would have to find somewhere to stop for the night. All of a sudden, the greyish sky split with a bright flash of lightning, and a heartbeat later thunder crashed down. Ellie howled, and dived through a garden gate.

She raced into the garden, looking round desperately for somewhere to hide from those horrible noises. A house! A little wooden house, just here in the corner, just the right size for a dog. There were spotted curtains
blowing in the window, and the door was open the tiniest crack. Ellie nosed at it, pushing it wider, and sneaked inside. There was even a cushion on the floor, along with a scatter of crayons. Ellie collapsed on to it gratefully and closed her eyes. It seemed a very long time since she’d run away that morning.

Soon Ellie was fast asleep.

A few miles away, Megan was lying awake. She wasn’t really scared of thunder, not when she was safe inside. But tonight it was terrifying. She kept imagining Ellie outside, frightened by the growling thunder. What if she was hurt? What if she was hiding under a tree to get out of the rain, and the tree was struck by lightning?

Megan watched the rain beating against the windows, and shivered. It was a long time before she finally huddled under her bedclothes and drifted off into a troubled sleep.

The creak of the wooden door opening woke Ellie with a start. She shot upright, backing nervously into the corner of the playhouse.

A little boy was staring at her. He looked just as amazed as she did.

“A dog!” he breathed delightedly. “A dog’s come!”

He sounded friendly, and Ellie relaxed a little, but she didn’t go closer. Most children she met with Megan
loved her and wanted to stroke her, but Megan wouldn’t let her jump up at children, or even sniff them. One little girl had seen her walking past, and then Ellie had gone to sniff her hand, and she’d squealed. Ellie had felt quite hurt. So now she watched this little boy carefully.

“Hello, dog…” He was crouching down now, staring into her eyes, and Ellie was sure that this one wasn’t going to cry. “I’m William. Have you come to stay? Are you going to live in my house?” He sounded very excited. “I know! You’re hungry! Grandad’s dog is always hungry.” He leaned closer, and whispered, “Mummy’s on the phone. I was having breakfast, but I came out when she wasn’t looking. You
can have my breakfast.” He scrambled out of the little house and dashed away.

Ellie stood there blinking, not quite sure what was going on. She pattered over to the door, and peered out. William was coming back, more slowly now, his dark head bent earnestly over a bowl, with something balanced on the edge of it.

“There! My Weetabix. I’ve already had two, so you can have that one. And this is a bacon sandwich. I don’t like bacon anyway.”

Ellie could smell the bacon. After nothing but stale bread crusts since yesterday, it smelt like heaven. She trotted over to him and took it delicately from his hand as he held it out to her. It disappeared in about three bites.

“Wow, you are hungry.” William sounded impressed.

Ellie sighed with pleasure, licking the bacon from round her whiskers, and looked hopefully at the bowl.

“Oh! Do you like Weetabix too?” He put the bowl down on the ground for her and watched hopefully.

Ellie sniffed at it with interest. Oh, yes, she recognized this. She had proper dog food at home now, but when she’d been very small she’d had this too, for breakfast. She liked it. She gulped it down, licking the bowl out thoroughly, then sat down, scratching her ear with one hind paw. She always did that after meals. It felt good.

William laughed. “Funny dog,” he said, crouching down to stroke her gently.

Ellie closed her eyes, and leaned against him happily. He reminded her of Megan, even though he was so little. She would see Megan soon, she thought excitedly.

“Oh!” William straightened up. “Mum’s calling me. I have to go.
I’m going to ask her if you can stay! Mum! Mum!” He dashed back to the house, and Ellie watched the kitchen door swing shut behind him. She would have liked to stay with him for longer, but she was sure she wasn’t that far from home now.

She crept past the playhouse and back under the garden gate. She paused for a moment outside William’s house, to give him one last grateful bark, then she went on her way.

A few hours later, Ellie stood looking down into the river. She was sure she had just seen a fish. She had been here once before, one wonderful afternoon when they’d had a picnic, and Mum had told Megan off for feeding her bits of sausage roll. Remembering it made her feel hungry. She had walked a very long way since the bacon sandwich.

Ellie set off again along the riverbank, wondering if she could catch a fish. That one had looked very slippery. And although she loved getting wet, she hadn’t had a lot of practice at swimming.

Ah. Maybe this would be better than a fish. Just ahead of her, standing on the riverbank, was a man with a fishing rod, staring out over the water at his float. But what really interested Ellie was his bag of sandwiches, lying by his tackle box.

Ellie sneaked closer, and then darted out from behind a tree and seized a sandwich.

“Hey!” The fisherman shouted crossly, but he couldn’t chase her without getting tangled in his line. He was trying to lay it down carefully, but Ellie didn’t wait for him. Gripping the sandwich in her teeth, she ran for it, racing away down the overgrown path.

When his shouts died away into the distance, Ellie sat down to eat her prize: a tuna sandwich. So she was having fish after all!

She licked up the last crumbs from the grass and sighed happily. She felt much better now. She stood up and gave herself a brisk shake. It was time to set off home again.

“Hello? Yes, this is Lindsey. Oh!” Mum beckoned frantically to Megan, who was listlessly picking at her tea. She just didn’t feel like eating – it made her worry about how hungry Ellie must be, after a day and a half with no food.

“Who is it?” she asked, staring at Mum’s excited face. Then she sat up straight, gasping. “Is it the posters? Has someone seen her?”

Mum was nodding. “Yes, yes, a Labrador puppy. Yes, quite small. Let me write that down. By the bridge. Oh dear, I am sorry. And that was this morning? Oh, thank you so much for calling us. Yes, I hope we will too.” She ended the call, and turned to
Megan, who was now standing right next to her, trying desperately to hear what the person on the other end of the line had been saying. “That was a man from the village who was fishing down by Selby Bridge this morning. Ellie stole his sandwiches!” Mum hugged her, laughing.

Megan smiled. “I was just thinking about how hungry she must be!”

“Come on, call your dad. Let’s go and look for her. It’s getting dark, but we should be able to see for a while.”

Ellie’s paws were aching, but she felt so proud of herself. She had done it. She could see Megan’s school
playground, and the park was just round the next corner. She was so close! Despite her weariness, she trotted along faster. In a few minutes she would be back with Megan. She was just in time – already it was starting to get dark.

This was her road, and there was her house! Ellie looked carefully up and down the road for cars, then crossed over to her own front gate. She couldn’t open it, but it was a pretty iron one that she could slip through, even though it was a tight fit. She stood outside the front door and barked happily. They were going to be so pleased to see her!

No one came to the door, so she scratched at it with her front paws and barked again, louder and louder.

At last she heard footsteps. Ellie barked and jumped delightedly. She was going to see Megan! But when the door opened, it wasn’t Megan. Or even her mum or dad. There was a strange woman standing there, looking down at her in surprise.

Ellie whimpered, tucking her tail between her legs in confusion.

Megan had gone. She had left, and abandoned Ellie with Gran. Megan didn’t want her any more.

“What’s going on?” A man was coming down the hall now, looking surprised. “Oh! A dog? Has it got a collar?”

“No, I don’t think so.” The woman bent down to look.

Ellie backed away from the doorstep, miserably. She didn’t know what to do. But the woman who’d answered the door followed her, talking gently. “Don’t be scared, puppy, are you lost? Oh, look, she’s shivering, poor little thing. She’s so pretty, and she can’t be very old.”

The man came out too. “She must have slipped out of someone’s house, don’t you think? Maybe we’d better keep her for the night. We’ll have to put her in the shed, though. Jasper would go crazy if we brought another dog in, and he’s already upset about the new house. We can take her round to the police station in the morning, and see if she’s been microchipped.” And he reached down and scooped Ellie up.

The man carried Ellie round the side of her house, only it wasn’t her house any more, and she wasn’t even allowed in. They put down a rug for her in the shed, with a bowl of water and some dog biscuits. It was comfortable, but she was in the garden and she was shut
up, when she should be inside, upstairs sleeping on Megan’s bed.

Her family had gone away and left her. She just didn’t understand. Even though Megan’s dad had been cross with her, Megan had still cuddled her and talked to her and loved her the same way, hadn’t she? Why had Megan left her behind? Had she just forgotten her?

Ellie buried her nose under her paws and whimpered. She’d spent so long trying to get home, and now home wasn’t there.