The Forgotten Puppy

Chapter Two

“A Shiba Inu?” Emi’s best friend Jess shook her head as they walked through the school playground. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them! What do they look like?”

“Really, really gorgeous…” Emi sighed happily. “They’re not very big, but they’re sort of solid-looking, if you know what I mean? Chunky, I suppose. Ben said Mum’s old dog looked like a fox, because they’ve got quite pointy faces and hers was an orangey-red colour. But you can get black and tan Shiba Inus, too, and even white ones.” She giggled. “Mum showed us some photos online and there was a white Shiba Inu puppy – he looked like a snowball with ears. Their fur’s not really fluffy, but it sticks out a bit, he was so roly-poly and cute…”

Jess laughed. “You’ve fallen in love, Emi!” Then she shivered. “Ooooh, talking of snowballs, I wish the bell would go. I’m frozen. I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually snowed soon. I really wanted us to have a white Christmas, but all it did was rain in the school holidays…”

“Maybe we’ll get a snow day off school instead – that would be good. Imagine playing with a puppy in the snow…” Emi couldn’t think of anything better.

“So, do you know when you’re going to get the puppy?” asked Jess. “And can I come over to see it? Please?”

Emi put an arm round her friend’s shoulders. “Course you can! But I don’t think we’ll be getting the puppy for a little while. Mum called the friend of her friend who’s the breeder, though, and we’re going to go and visit one weekend – Mum said it would be too tricky to fit it in after school. And this weekend we can’t, because we’re going to Dad’s. We’re seeing his new flat for the first time. You know he moved, too, right?”

Jess nodded. Her parents didn’t live together, either – it was one of the things that she and Emi had in common – that and the fact that they both loved animals. Jess had three cats at her dad’s house and guinea pigs at her mum and stepdad’s. They both understood what it was like having two families and two houses. Jess knew all about having to remember which house you’d left your homework book in and sometimes forgetting which family was picking you up from school.

“Mum said none of the puppies could come home with us for a few weeks anyway,” Emi explained. “They have to be at least eight weeks old before they can leave their mother and they aren’t quite that big yet. Nearly though!”

“When you get the puppy, will you be able to take him to your dad’s, too?” Jess asked thoughtfully.

Emi shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so. It’s a pretty tiny flat. Dad’s going to have to sleep on the sofa while we’re staying, so we’ll all fit. And mostly we’re going to go by train to get there. Dad can come straight from work to meet us at the station. It’s not far from the flat, he says. If he came to get us from our house by car we wouldn’t get there till really late. I’m not sure a puppy would like going on a train much.”

“You’re going by train on your own?” Jess sounded envious.

“With Ben.” Emi sighed. “He’s going to be a nightmare. Mum and Dad keep saying he’s got to look after me, so it’s like the ultimate excuse for him to be a bossy big brother. ‘I’m in charge, you’ve got to do as I say, you’re only nine, blah blah blah…’”

Jess sniggered and Emi grinned at her. “Well, he is like that!”

Emi stood between Mum and Ben on the doorstep of Kaii’s house. She was feeling a strange mixture of excited and sad – they were going to meet their new puppy for the first time, so of course she was excited! But she wished Dad was with them. It had been brilliant going to see his new flat last weekend. She’d really missed him when they hadn’t seen him for a few weeks because of his move. Dad had played computer games with them, and he’d dragged them out to the woods near his new flat, and even though Ben had said walks were boring, it had been really fun. They’d chased about and jumped over a stream. Emi had nearly fallen in, but Dad had caught her just in time.

There was a little wood near their new house, too, Emi remembered, as she listened to the sound of barking on the other side of the door. They’d be able to take their new puppy on walks there soon! Maybe Dad would get a pet as well, she thought, as Mum smiled down at her. But not a dog – not when he was out at work all day. They were really lucky that Mum mostly worked from home, so they wouldn’t be leaving their new puppy alone too much.

“Hello! Erika, yes? And Emi and Ben? I’m Kaii.” He beamed at them as he opened the door. His sweater was covered in dog hair but Emi was hardly looking at him because, peering nosily around his legs were two beautiful dogs. The larger dog was black and tan, but the smaller one was the same golden-red colour as Kin, her mum’s old dog. Seeing the Shiba Inu breed for real, instead of in a faded photo, Emi realized that they were so much more beautiful. Their pointed, pricked-up ears made them look really clever. They had whitish fur around their dark eyes, too, which made them stand out. Both of the dogs were staring at Emi now, with their heads on one side, as though they were trying to work out what they thought of her.

Kaii was laughing, Emi suddenly realized, and so were Mum and Ben. Emi looked up at them, her face going red. What had she done?

“It’s OK,” Kaii said, smiling. “I was just saying why don’t you come in? I don’t think you heard a word I said, though. You like them, then?”

“They’re beautiful!” Emi told him, as they followed him inside. “And they look really clever.”

“They are,” he agreed. “And they make good pets, too. They’re very loving. But you do have to be quite firm with them, otherwise they walk all over you.”

“Are these the puppies’ mum and dad?” Emi asked. She’d love to have a puppy that grew up like these two. She was sure they were grinning at her as well. One of them had his tongue hanging out.

“This is Daisuke and this is Kimi,” said Kaii. “Dai is the puppies’ dad, but Kimi’s their big sister. Cho, their mum, is with them in the puppy room at the moment. Would you like some tea first?”

Emi looked at her mum hopefully, and Mum smiled and shook her head. “No, that’s OK. Emi’s so desperate to see the puppies, I think she might explode if I say yes.”

“Come on, then. I’ve got a room for the mums and puppies at the back of the house – it leads on to the garden, so they can go outside when they’re big enough.”

It looked like Kaii had had the room built on to the back of his house specially, Emi thought, as he led them through. It must be a lot of work, breeding dogs.

“Here we are. Just come in quietly to start with – Cho’s very friendly, but she’s quite protective of her puppies. She’ll let you play with them in a bit, but we have to let her get used to you.”

Emi and Ben practically tiptoed into the room. In one corner another gorgeous golden dog was sitting upright, looking at them sharply. It seemed like she’d heard them coming and had sat up to see what was going on. And next to her, curled up asleep in the big basket, were four fat, furry, puppies, fast asleep.

“Don’t worry, they’ll wake up in a minute,” Kaii told them, as he watched Ben and Emi trying to peer over and get a good look at the pile of puppies. “They have a sixth sense – they always know when something interesting’s happening. See? I told you!”

One of the puppies, who was black and tan just like his dad, had popped his head up so quickly that Emi couldn’t help laughing. “He looks like a teddy bear,” she whispered to Ben and her brother grinned. It was the way the fur stood up all round their heads and paws, Emi decided. As the puppy climbed over his brothers and sisters to come and investigate, he looked like too much of a fluffball to be real.

The other puppies squeaked crossly and woke up as he stomped over them and then Emi gasped. There weren’t four puppies – there were five! Now that they were all moving, she could see another puppy who’d been snuggled up next to the mum, with the others on top. And this puppy was a gorgeous golden colour.

“Look…” She nudged her mum.

“I know, they’re so cute,” Mum whispered back. “Oh, look, they’re all waking up now. They’re coming to see us!” She reached out and one of the creamy-white pups sniffed her fingers curiously and then licked her.

The golden puppy let out a big yawn and scratched its front paws against the blanket.

“That tail looks like a little doughnut, curled up like that. Is the golden puppy a girl?” Emi asked Kaii. “She looks like a girl…”

“Yes! Well done. She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

Pretty! Emi wanted to tell him that the puppy was the loveliest dog she’d ever seen, but she didn’t want everyone to laugh at her again.

The golden puppy stumbled out of the basket and came to see what her brothers and sisters were looking at. There were new, interesting smells… Exciting smells! She trotted across the room and sniffed at Emi’s boots. Then she looked up with dark, sparkling eyes and put her fat little paw on Emi’s leg, as if she was saying, You belong to me…