Wolfie
Authors: Emma Barnes
Emma Barnes
Emma grew up in Edinburgh, studied at Cambridge and now lives in Leeds. Her first novel,
Jessica Haggerthwaite: Witch Dispatcher
, was shortlisted for the Branford Boase
Award and led to her being compared to Roald Dahl and Jacqueline Wilson. She has gone on to write several more books, including the acclaimed
How (Not) To Make Bad Children Good
(Strident
Publishing, 2011).
Emma’s books have been translated into several languages and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She regularly visits schools, festivals and libraries, sharing her love of books
and reading. If you would like to contact her to discuss a visit please email [email protected] or visit her web-site: www.EmmaBarnes.info
Emma Chichester Clark
Emma studied at the Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College, where she was taught by Quentin Blake. Her first book,
Listen To This!
, won the 1988 Mother Goose Award
for best newcomer to children’s book illustration.
She has illustrated books by Roald Dahl, Kevin Crossley-Holland and Michael Morpurgo, as well as writing and illustrating many of her own books, including
I Love You Blue
Kangaroo
, which has won awards in Italy and the USA, and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal.
Melrose And Croc Together At Christmas
was a finalist in the Blue Peter Book
Awards.
Her most recent books include
Hansel And Gretel
, a collaboration with Michael Morpurgo, and
Alice In Wonderland
, nominated for the 2011 Kate Greenaway Medal.
Published by
Strident Publishing Ltd
22 Strathwhillan Drive
The Orchard, Hairmyres
East Kilbride G75 8GT
Tel: +44 (0)1355 220588
Published by Strident Publishing Limited, 2012
Text © Emma Barnes, 2012
Cover and interior illustrations © Emma Chichester Clark, 2012
The moral rights of the author and illustrator have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-905537-27-3
eISBN 978-1-905537-67-9
Typeset in Gill Sans Light by Palimpsest Book Production Limited, Falkirk, Stirlingshire
Printed by CPI Group (UK) Ltd
The publisher acknowledges support from Creative Scotland towards the publication of this title.
To Abby . . . and Rocky, her canine friend
Contents
Chapter Four: Just Right For Elevenses
Chapter Five: Marcus Mainwaring
Chapter Six: “That’s Not a Wolf!”
Chapter Twelve: Fang in Danger
Chapter Thirteen: Midnight Again
Chapter Fifteen: Following the Right Paw
Chapter Seventeen: Human Knowledge
Chapter Eighteen: As It Turned Out
Lucie’s Present
“I
’m so looking forward to seeing Uncle Joe today,” said Lucie on Saturday morning.
“That’s nice,” said Mum.
“You see, he always brings me a present,” Lucie went on.
Mum frowned. “But of course it’s Uncle Joe you want to see really.”
“No, it isn’t, it’s the present,” Lucie said. “What do you think it will be?”
Mum shook her head at her, and Lucie wondered why grown-ups gave presents at all, if they thought they were such bad things.
“Perhaps he won’t bring a present this time,” said Mum.
“But he
always
brings a present!”
“You shouldn’t think so much about presents,” Mum said. Then she smiled suddenly. “But,” she added, “I think he
is
bringing a present, and I think
it’s going to be
even more exciting than usual
!”
Of course, after that, Lucie could think of nothing else. She was fidgeting about all morning, until Mum said she would read to her in French to calm her down. Mum read her Little Red Riding
Hood, which had always been Lucie’s favourite, but Lucie kept jumping up and peering out the window.
“Here he is!” she cried when the doorbell rang at last. She ran to open the door. Her parents followed.
Uncle Joe was standing on the doorstep. But he was not alone.
“Hello!” boomed Uncle Joe. “My, Lucie, how you’ve grown! And hair red as ever, I see!”
Lucie was not listening. She was staring at the animal that stood next to Uncle Joe.
It was BIG — bigger than Lucie.
It had pointed ears and sharp teeth.
It had a silvery coat and sweeping tail.
It had glinting eyes that looked straight at Lucie. They looked as if they wanted to gobble her up.
Lucie raised a shaking hand. “What is
that
?” she whispered, pointing at the creature.
“Oh, that’s your present,” said Uncle Joe. “A new pet!”
“But what
kind
of pet?”
“Can’t you tell? It’s a dog, of course!”
Lucie, Mum and Dad stared at the “dog”. It stared back at them out of cold, blue eyes. Its long tongue lolled out of the corner of its mouth.
“That’s no dog!” said Lucie. “That’s a WOLF!”
Anybody
could see that, she thought.
The grown-ups laughed. “Don’t be silly, Lucie,” said Mum.
“Don’t be daft, Lucie,” said Dad.
“Don’t be a juggins, Lucie,” said Uncle Joe. “As if I would give you a wolf for a pet!” And the grown-ups laughed so hard Lucie wondered if they would make
themselves sick.
“No, it really is a wolf,” Lucie said (backing away so the wolf couldn’t get her). And she pointed out how big the wolf was, and how sharp its teeth were. And besides, it
looked
like a wolf, not a dog. She even fetched the copy of Little Red Riding Hood so they could look at the pictures.
“Of
course
it’s not a wolf,” said Uncle Joe chuckling. “The man who sold it to me said it was a dog.”
“Of
course
it’s not a wolf,” agreed Dad. “It’s one of those dogs that
look
like a wolf, that’s all.”
“Of
course
it’s not a wolf,” said Mum. “It’s a German Shepherd, that’s what it is.”
“It’s a wolf,” said Lucie.
Nobody paid her any attention — except the wolf. It kept watching her out of cold, blue eyes.
They sat down for lunch. Lucie made sure to sit on the opposite side of the table from the wolf. She hoped her parents and Uncle Joe were right. They did know a lot about some things, after all,
like computers and vegetarian cooking (Dad) or how to speak French as well as English (Mum) or restoring old motorbikes (Uncle Joe). But Lucie didn’t think any of them knew much about
animals.
“What are you going to call your new pet, Lucie?” Mum asked.
“I don’t know,” said Lucie.
“Is it male or female?” Dad asked Uncle Joe.
“Do you know, I didn’t ask,” said Uncle Joe. “We’d better take a look.”
He got up and walked towards the wolf, which was sitting near the kitchen door. A low growling came from the wolf’s chest. Like a warning.
“Perhaps another time,” said Uncle Joe quickly, sitting down again. “You’ll work it out.”
“I must say, it’s a very
big
dog,” said Dad, tucking into onion tart. “I was expecting a puppy.”
“They’re a lot of hard work, puppies,” said Uncle Joe.
“It will need a lot of exercise,” said Mum. “Still,” she added, “We’ve got a big garden. And there’s the park nearby.”
Lucie thought about going for a walk in the park — with a wolf.
After lunch Lucie’s parents showed Uncle Joe all the things they had done recently to the house, while Lucie wondered what it was grown-ups found so exciting about new bathrooms. Then Dad
went to the pet shop and came back with a big sack of vegetarian dog food. They put some in a dog bowl and put it in front of the wolf. The wolf did not seem to like vegetarian dog food.
