Harry the Homeless Puppy

Chapter Three

Harry had started to look forward to Grace’s visits. She usually came after school, so at about half-past three he would find himself standing by the door of his run, sometimes with his paws up on the wire, watching out for her. That Friday afternoon, almost two weeks after he’d first met Grace, Harry woke up from a nice snooze in his basket, and stretched out his paws. Now, why had he woken up? Was it food-time? No… Ah. It was Grace time. She should be coming to play with him soon.

“Oh, he’s lovely! What a gorgeous little dog!”

A voice floated over to him, but it didn’t sound like Grace. Harry blinked, still a little sleepy, and peered across the run. A young woman was looking at him, and Sally was with her.

Sally opened the run to let the woman hold Harry. He allowed her to pick him up, but he kept peering over her shoulder, looking out for Grace.

“He’s been with us a couple of weeks now. He’s a lovely puppy, but he’s been missing his old owner. She had to go overseas. He’s cheering up a bit now, but any new owners would have to take it slowly with him. Really take the time to build a relationship. And you know that Jack Russells are very energetic? They really need a lot of exercise.”

The woman nodded. “I’ll definitely go home and talk it over with my husband. I’ll let you know very soon.”

She waved goodbye to Harry as she walked down the corridor back to the reception area, and Harry wagged his tail delightedly and woofed. The woman smiled, thinking this was all for her – she didn’t realize that Grace was just walking through the door behind her. She went home thinking what a sweet, affectionate little dog Harry was. He’d obviously taken to her.

Grace gave the woman a worried look as the door swung shut. Not another person admiring Harry! Everyone who came to the shelter seemed to think he was really cute. Grace had a horrible feeling that Harry would be going to a new home soon.

“Hey, Grace! I’m making some coffee; do you want some juice? And there’s a packet of chocolate biscuits, look, I splashed out. Fancy one?” Sally waved the packet at Grace as she walked past the kitchen on the way to see Harry the next day. On Saturdays Grace usually played with Harry, and then tried to spend some time with any other dogs that the staff thought needed fussing over. Sally had asked her to help with a couple of other dogs who were quite shy and needed someone patient.

“Chocolate biscuits! Yes, please!”

Grace leaned against the kitchen door, nibbling her biscuit. She couldn’t take it with her, the dogs would all want to share it, and chocolate was not good for dogs at all.

“You’re doing really well with Harry, you know, Grace. It’s made a big difference to him, you being here.” Sally stirred her coffee thoughtfully. “You’re going to miss him when he goes to a new home, aren’t you?”

Grace nodded, her mouth full of biscuit. “Mmmf.”

“Now that he’s so much friendlier, I don’t think it’s going to be all that long before he goes. He’s such a sweetie. Just keep it at the back of your mind, OK? I don’t want you to be upset, that’s all.”

Grace stared into her orange juice. “I know…” she said at last. “I won’t be upset. Really.” She told herself that it was true, she’d always known that Harry would be rehomed. But deep down, she knew that she’d been secretly pretending that he was hers.

“Anyway, I reckon you could take him for a real walk today, if you fancy it?” Sally grinned as Grace nearly hugged her. “Watch it with the juice! I think he’s ready. Danny’s here, isn’t he? Your mum’s happy for you to go out if he’s with you, isn’t she?”

“Yes.” Grace nodded excitedly. “I’ll tell him.”

Sally smiled. “It’s OK, I’ll find him. You go and put Harry’s lead on. I should think he’ll keel over with excitement. He just hasn’t been getting enough exercise. Jack Russells really like a couple of hour-long walks every day.”

Sally was almost right. As soon as Harry saw his lead, he started jumping up madly, leaping about and practically bouncing off the walls. He could jump easily as high as Grace’s waist. She had to pin him under one arm to keep him still enough to put the lead on. “Calm down, calm down, silly boy,” she murmured lovingly as he leaped up to try to lick her face.

Eventually she led him proudly out through the reception area, where Danny was waiting with Bella, the Labrador they’d first seen on the shelter website.

It felt so exciting, walking out of the shelter with Harry on his lead – it was a smart blue one that had been his when he belonged to Beth’s family, and he looked lovely.

“Remember how I showed you, get him to walk to heel!” Sally called after them.

Grace looked down at Harry and grinned. Heel was a good idea, but… He was just so excited. She had to keep gently pulling him back every time he lunged after a strange smell, or wanted to chase a fluttering leaf.

Harry was blissfully happy. He hadn’t been outside the shelter in so long – but as soon as he’d seen his lead, and heard Grace say walk, he knew exactly what it meant. He loved walks. He wanted to see everything! Every bee was a possible enemy that needed chasing, every leaf had to be checked out.

Grace was glad that Sally had reminded her to keep a really good hold on Harry when they passed other dogs. A huge Alsatian was walking beautifully to heel along the road towards them, and Harry spotted him even before she did. He barked mightily (just to show the Alsatian he wasn’t scared, even if he was a little…) and tried his best to show that he was the bravest, toughest dog in the world.

The Alsatian’s owner smiled at Grace. “You’ve got a real little character there!”

Grace nodded breathlessly. All her energy was going on keeping Harry under control. She hoped he wouldn’t be like this with every dog in the park!

Luckily, he started to calm down after that, and by the time they were passing the shops he was walking quite nicely to heel.

“Hey, Grace, if I just tie Bella’s lead on this hook, is it OK if I nip in and see if they’ve got the new skateboarding magazine?” Danny asked.

Grace looked doubtfully at Harry. He didn’t look like he wanted to stop. “If you’re really quick!” she agreed.

“Brilliant. Back in a minute.” And Danny disappeared inside the newsagent’s. Bella sat down patiently and didn’t seem to mind waiting, so Grace bent down to pet Harry.

“Hi, Grace!” Someone was calling. Grace looked round to see her friend Maya from ballet coming down the road with her sister. “I didn’t know you had a dog! What’s his name? Can I stroke him?”

Grace blinked. “He’s called Harry,” she said slowly. “Yes, of course you can stroke him, he’s very friendly.” She knew she ought to tell Maya that Harry wasn’t actually hers, but she just didn’t want to… It was so nice to pretend that he really belonged to her. Harry was being so good, sitting and letting Maya pat him. Grace was so proud of him! And his good behaviour was mostly down to all that time she’d spent with him – so why shouldn’t she let Maya think that he was hers?

“Come on, Maya, we’ve got to go,” Maya’s sister told her, and Maya stood up reluctantly.

“Grace, could I come over again one day, and play with you and Harry? He’s gorgeous, you’re so lucky!”

Maya had come over to tea a couple of times before, and they’d had a great time. But what was Grace supposed to say now? If Maya came round, she’d know that Grace didn’t really own Harry.

Grace looked down at the floor. “I’ll have to ask my mum,” she mumbled.

Luckily, Maya’s sister was in a hurry. “Come on, Maya, now,” she said, heading off down the road.

“Um, see you at ballet!” Grace called, as Maya hurried off after her sister.

Maya was calling something back to her, but Grace pretended not to hear. She just hoped Maya didn’t think she was being unfriendly. And what was she going to say to her at ballet if she asked again about coming over?

Maybe she should have told Maya the truth after all…