The Rescued Puppy (5 page)

Chapter Six

Lucky scrabbled and scrambled down the steep slope, trying frantically to stop himself by clawing at the reddish side of the cliff as he fell. Sharper rocks were sticking out of the sandy earth every so often, and he whimpered as one of his paws caught against a particularly large stone.

At last, he landed on a tiny ledge,
about five metres down the side of the cliff. He sat there cowering and shivering, holding up his bleeding paw and howling with fright. What had happened? All he had done was follow the butterfly! It had disappeared, and the path had gone with it. Where were Georgia and Adam? He wanted Georgia to look after his paw and stroke him, and get him out of this horrible place.

“Lucky!” Georgia screamed, racing along the path to the spot where he’d disappeared, with Adam dashing after her. “Where is he?” She flung herself down at the edge of the cliff to peer over, and felt suddenly sick, her head swimming as she looked at the sea so far below. When they were on the beach
the cliffs had looked so pretty,
pinkish-red
with sandy streaks, but now they seemed menacing and sinister, and very, very tall. The sea was right in at the bottom now, foaming and rushing about in clouds of bubbles. Even though Lucky was a good swimmer, she didn’t see how he could have survived such a terrible fall.

“Can you see him?” Adam asked, his voice quiet and miserable. Georgia shook her head. “No. He must be – under the water…” she said, her voice choked with tears.

But then there was a pitiful wail from below, and Georgia gasped. “Adam, look! He’s there, he’s there!”

She pointed to a tiny ledge below, where a clump of bushes and straggly
bits of grass had somehow managed to find some soil to grow in. It was just above the tumble of rocks rising out of the sea at the base of the cliff. Sitting there, staring up at them mournfully, was Lucky.

“Lucky, stay! We’ll come and get you – or – or something…” Georgia’s voice trailed away.

“He’s all right. He’s actually OK…” Adam murmured, gripping tightly on to two handfuls of grass, and leaning as far as he possibly could without going over too. “I can’t believe he managed to fall down there and still be OK.”

Georgia gulped, and tears welled up in her eyes. Adam put his arm round her. They were both shaking.

“He’s moving, definitely. But I think he’s hurt his paw – it’s so hard to see,” Georgia murmured. “I shouldn’t have tried to grab the lead off you. I’m really sorry.” She stared down at Lucky. “How are we ever going to get him back? It’s such a long way to that ledge.”

Adam looked worriedly at Lucky. “I think you’re right, he’s holding it in a funny way. There’s no way he’ll be able to climb back up here! I wonder if I can scramble down to him.”

Georgia grabbed his arm tightly. “Are you crazy? Look how steep it is! You’ll fall!”

Adam shook his head. “Look. Just along a bit – it’s almost like a path, down to where Lucky is.”

“Well, I can’t see it,” Georgia said stubbornly. She sort of could, but it didn’t look like much of a path, and she was scared that Adam was going to fall too. It was only a very thin sort of ledge, weaving its way towards the bigger ledge that Lucky was on.

Lucky howled again, and Georgia called down to him. “It’s OK, Lucky! Don’t be scared!” She looked back up at Adam. “Are you sure you can get down there?”

Adam shrugged. “No. But I want to have a go. It was my fault this happened too.” He went over to the little break in the cliff edge where the
tiny path started and gazed at it, chewing his lip. “I’ll sit and wriggle along, I think.” He edged himself down, very slowly, and Georgia watched, her heart racing.

Lucky stared up from his ledge and wagged his tail hopefully. Adam was coming to get him! He stood up, wincing as he tried to put his hurt paw to the ground, and then he had to flop down again. There was definitely something wrong with his leg.

He could see Georgia too, just her face, peering over the edge of the cliff, so very far away. Lucky let out a miserable howl. He wanted to be back up there with her!

“It’s OK, Lucky, ssshhh!” Georgia called out, trying to make her voice
calm and comforting. Their obedience class teacher had said that voices were really important. If she sounded frightened and upset, Lucky would be frightened too. She had to keep him calm. He always listened best to her in obedience classes; Adam got him too excited. Now it was more important to keep Lucky calm than ever before. The little ledge he was on was so narrow. If Lucky got frightened and scrabbled about, he could so easily fall into that treacherous-looking sea. And with an injured leg, he might not be able to swim.

Georgia watched nervously as Adam inched down the path towards Lucky. He was going as slowly and carefully as he could, but the path was very steep.
Suddenly, Georgia gasped as Adam’s feet went out from under him, and he slid down in a rattle of sand and tiny pebbles. She caught her breath, jamming her knuckles into her mouth to stop herself crying out.

Adam yelled in panic, and grabbed hold of a bush, hanging on even though it scratched his hands.

“Adam!” Georgia called down. “Are you all right? You have to come back up, it isn’t safe. We’ll phone Mum and Dad.”

Adam nodded. “Sorry, Lucky,” he called down sadly. “We’re going to get help, I promise.” He dragged himself back up, going hand by hand and holding on to the scrubby plants that lined the path.

Georgia grabbed him as soon as he got near the top. “We should have called Mum and Dad straight away. Are you OK?”

Adam nodded. “Just a bit scratched.” He showed her his grazed hands. “But it was really scary. Poor Lucky. He fell loads further than me.” He reached into his pocket for the phone, and pressed the menu button to bring the screen on.

Nothing happened.

Georgia and Adam stared at it in horror. “Try again!” Georgia said hopefully, but the phone remained stubbornly lifeless.

“I must have hit it on something when I fell. Mum’s going to be furious…” Adam murmured.

“That doesn’t matter now. What are we going to do?” Georgia looked around, hoping that there might be somebody else walking along the cliff top. But they were all alone.

“I’ll have to run back down to the road – there’s a phone box, isn’t there? I’ve got some money left from yesterday. You stay here with Lucky. You really need to keep him calm, you’re good at that. We don’t want him trying to climb up and falling even further.” Adam frowned. “Georgie, I can’t remember Dad’s mobile number, can you?”

Georgia shook her head miserably. “No. But it doesn’t matter,” she added suddenly. “Dad wouldn’t be able to get down the cliff either. It’s just too dangerous. You’ll have to call the coastguard.”

Adam nodded nervously. He’d never made an emergency call before – but this was definitely an emergency.

Chapter Seven

Georgia watched as Adam raced off down the path, leaving her all alone on the cliff top, with only the seagulls shrieking around her. Then she leaned over the edge again, digging her toes into the sandy earth so that she felt safer wriggling out a couple of centimetres further over the edge. She felt quite sick staring down at the 
water, which seemed to be crashing against the cliffs harder and harder every time she looked.

Lucky was curled up in a little ball now, with his nose tucked in next to his tail. He looked so tiny that Georgia wanted to cry.

“Lucky!” she called down to him.

Lucky glanced up and barked delightedly. He’d thought that Georgia and Adam had both gone and left him here. He had no idea how he was ever going to get back up the cliff. He’d looked down at the water on the rocks just below, and wondered if he should jump in and swim till he found the beach, but the water looked very different to the sea he’d swum in before. His little ledge was just above
the waves, which kept rolling in and sending cold spray up at him. And the rocks looked slippery and frightening. His paw hurt too, and he wasn’t sure he’d even be able to swim. He’d pressed himself back against the cliff wall instead and curled into a ball, whimpering sadly to himself, wishing someone was there to help him. And then he’d heard Georgia!

Perhaps he could climb back up to her? The ledge was very narrow, and it trailed away into a tiny little path that went winding up the cliff. Georgia wasn’t really all that far away, Lucky thought, staring up at her white and anxious face. He limped along to where the ledge narrowed, and looked thoughtfully up at the path. It was
very narrow. He started off up it, squeezing himself as close as he could to the side of the cliff and feeling the sand trickle down into his fur.

“Lucky, stay!” Georgia was calling to him. She sounded worried – cross, almost. He was only trying to reach her, why was she cross? But he knew what “stay” meant from his obedience classes. He had to do as he was told, even though he really didn’t want to. He sat down on the path, his ears drooping, feeling confused.

“It’s OK, Lucky, sorry. I’m sorry…” Up on the cliff, Georgia took a deep breath, and tried not to feel frightened. It just felt as though Adam had been gone for ages and ages. Every time she looked down, Lucky’s little ledge
seemed to have grown even narrower, and the sea wilder. And if the tide came up much more, the ledge would be underwater! She tried to remember when high tide had been the day before, but her mind felt foggy.

“Good boy, Lucky. Stay! What a good boy! Lots of biscuits soon. Stay! That’s it.”
Just don’t move, Lucky, please!
she added silently to herself.

“Georgia! Georgia!”

Lucky looked up, his tail wagging. Adam had come back too! He tried to bark happily to show Adam he was pleased to see him, but jumping about hurt his paw and his balance seemed all wrong. He slid backwards, scrabbling and yelping, and Georgia and Adam’s faces appeared over the edge of the cliff, both looking horrified.

“Lucky, keep still!” Adam yelled. His voice was sharp and fierce, and it made Lucky scared. He skittered about on the ledge anxiously.

“Down, Lucky! Down! Stay!” That was Georgia again. She didn’t sound scared like Adam, but she sounded very firm. Not cross, but he could tell he had to do as she said or she would be.
Lucky lay down flat on the ledge, feeling the cold water splash over his back. He wanted to get away. He hated it down here! He howled, and howled. But he kept still.

Up above Lucky on the cliff, Adam explained to Georgia what was happening. “I got to the phone box and called the coastguard. But I didn’t know exactly where we were on the cliffs; I hope I told them the right place. I said it was just up from Cliff Cottage.”

“Are they sending someone?” Georgia asked anxiously.

“Yes, they said the boat will come out from Woolbridge harbour, and it won’t take long at all. The lady on the phone said it might even get here before I did.”

“Did she say to do anything else?”

Adam shook his head. “Just to come back and try to keep Lucky calm, and you’re doing that brilliantly. And we should watch out for the boat and wave, in case they can’t see Lucky.” He propped himself up on his elbows, staring out to sea. “That’s not a coastguard boat, is it?” he asked, pointing to a small boat, far out on the waves.

Georgia shook her head. “No, I think that’s the trip boat from Woolbridge. Anyway, the coastguard boat won’t be that far out, I bet. It’ll come round the edge of the bay.” She frowned down at Lucky on his ledge, and the
nasty-looking
rocks below him. “How are they going to get to him, Adam?
They won’t be able to get a boat close up to those rocks, will they?”

“If it’s the inflatable they will. I saw it in the boat shed when I went to Woolbridge Beach yesterday. It’s made for going in and out of the rocks round the coast. Look, there are people on the cliffs – maybe they saw it being launched. Josh and Liam said people always go up there to watch when the coastguard boat goes out.”

Georgia nodded, watching the little crowd of people gathering further along the cliffs above the beach. She could see they were chatting and pointing at Lucky. If it had been another dog, she would have been interested too. Now it only made her feel sick.

“Georgie, look! I can see it coming!”

The coastguard boat was roaring around the far edge of the cliffs in a cloud of spray, and bouncing over the water towards them. It was quite small, and there were only three crew, but it was very, very fast.

“I wish Mum and Dad were here,” Georgia said worriedly, as the little grey boat shot towards them. “Maybe they saw the boat being launched from Woolbridge when they were shopping. Do you think they’d come back to see what was going on?”

“Maybe. They might even be in that crowd over there.” Adam hugged her.

The boat was getting closer now, and they could see the coastguard men waving to them. They waved back and pointed down to Lucky.

Lucky could see the boat coming too. It was very loud, and he didn’t like it at all. He barked at it, wishing it’d go away.

“Shhh, Lucky, it’s OK!” Georgia called down. “I think he’s scared of the boat. Lucky, stay!”

The coastguard boat had stopped by the rocks, and one of the men was climbing out. Georgia held her breath anxiously. It looked so slippery.

“Hello up there!” the man called to Adam and Georgia. “He looks pretty frightened. Can you get him to stay? I don’t want to scare him into jumping.”

Georgia nodded. “Lucky, stay there! Stay!”

Lucky stared wide-eyed at the man in the bright orange suit, with his huge
life jacket and white helmet. He looked like some sort of strange creature, and he’d arrived in that great noisy thing that was still grumbling and snorting below him. Lucky gave a loud series of barks, trying to sound big and scary. But the man didn’t go away. He climbed slowly closer instead. Lucky looked around, desperate for a way to escape. There was only the little narrow path where he’d already slipped. But he didn’t have a choice. He started to back away up it, still barking at the strange man.

“Lucky, no!” It was Georgia, calling him from up above. “Stay! Lucky, stay!”

Lucky knew he should do as he was told, but he didn’t want to stay! The strange man was coming after him!

“Stay, Lucky!” It was Georgia’s firmest voice. If he did as he was told, he might get dog treats – he knew Georgia had them in her bag. And he was very hungry. The man was coming closer. Lucky stayed still, and looked imploringly up at Georgia. Did he really have to stay?

“Yes, good boy, Lucky! Stay!” Georgia sounded pleased with him.

The man was nearly at his ledge now, and Lucky wanted to growl at him. He didn’t look nice at all with that big white helmet on. But he kept quiet. He was sure Georgia wouldn’t want him to.

“You’re a good dog, aren’t you?” the man called, as he climbed on to the ledge. The man’s voice was actually quite nice, and Lucky stopped shivering.
“Look what I’ve got.” The coastguard held out a bit of biscuit, and Lucky gulped it down gratefully. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all, even if he did look scary. “Want some more biscuit?” The man reached down and picked him up, and gave him a whole biscuit this time. “Aren’t you a little star, hey? Come on then.” And he started back over the rocks to the boat, with Lucky tucked tightly under one arm.

Up on the top of the cliff, Georgia hugged Adam tightly. “They’ve got him, they’ve got him, Lucky’s really going to be OK!”