The Puppy who was Left Behind

Chapter Five

Anna’s mum and dad arrived the next day in time for lunch. They’d brought a lovely picnic with them, with loads of sandwiches and a chocolate cake, and they ate it under one of the oak trees in the big field. Then Dad and Anna played Frisbee with Fred, sending him racing across the field. Fred was excellent at catching the Frisbee – he did huge ballet-dancer leaps to grab it. But as the afternoon wore on, Anna kept thinking that Mum and Dad would have to go soon, and take Fred with them. She hardly ate any of the lasagne that Gran had made for dinner. Somehow she just didn’t feel hungry.

“We should get back,” Anna’s dad said at last, peering at his watch. “We’ve got work tomorrow and it must be nearly your bedtime, Anna, even if it is the holidays. It’s starting to get dark. But it’s been a really good day.”

Anna gulped and looked over at Fred, who was snoozing in the corner. He looked angelic – maybe Gran would say he could stay after all? But then she blew her hot fringe off her forehead, and remembered that it was so warm because the saloon doors were tightly closed. Closed to keep Fred in, so he didn’t try to leap over the side of the boat. He’d nearly jumped into the canal again this morning, after he’d spotted a swan sailing grandly past.

“Do you want to gather Fred’s stuff together?” Mum suggested gently. Then she saw Anna’s worried face. “It’ll be OK,” she said. “I’ve got so much work done over the last few days, I can definitely take time off for some really good walks with Fred.”

“I know,” Anna murmured, picking up Fred’s bowls and tipping his water into the kitchen sink. She polished them dry with some kitchen roll and started to fill the bag with all of Fred’s things. One of the rubber bones squeaked as she picked it up, and Fred bounced up off his cushion, as though Anna had shouted his name.

He trotted over to her happily, waiting for her to throw him the toy. It was going to be difficult playing catch, with all these people squashed on to the boat, but it would still be fun.

But Anna just stared down at him sadly and put the squeaky bone into the bag that they’d brought with them to the boat.

Fred watched her, confused, and then realized what this meant. Of course! They were going home! He wagged his tail so hard it thumped against Anna’s legs, but for some reason she didn’t look very happy.

Helpfully, he hurried back to his cushion and picked it up in his teeth, ready to go.

Dad laughed. “Look, Fred’s keen to get in the car.” He came over to Anna, and hugged her. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. I can take him for a walk after work, too, you know.”

“I just think he’ll miss me,” Anna sniffed. Or maybe he wouldn’t at all, and that would be almost worse.

Dad gave her a kiss and gathered up the bag, and Mum clipped on Fred’s lead.

Anna and Gran and Grandad came out to the bow of the boat to wave goodbye, and even Sunny got up out of his basket to come and see what was going on.

Mum and Dad jumped over on to the bank, and Fred did a giant leap after them. He didn’t look too worried, Anna thought sadly.

But then as Mum went to open the gate, Fred looked back and realized that Anna wasn’t coming with them. He let out a little whine of surprise and stopped to wait for her.

“Come on, Fred!” Mum pulled gently on his lead, but Fred was pretty heavy when he didn’t want to move.

“Oh…” Anna whispered. “He wants to stay.”

She’d been wrong to think she’d be upset if he just walked away. It was much worse watching Fred turn his head from side to side, glancing anxiously between her and Mum and Dad, obviously not understanding what was going on. She wouldn’t have minded if he’d trotted happily across the field, after all. She wished he had.

Mum pulled the lead a bit harder, and Fred lurched to his feet, padding unwillingly after her.

Anna started to cry, and Gran hugged her. Even Sunny came over to her and pressed comfortingly against her leg. She turned her face into Gran’s chest so she didn’t have to watch.

Fred could hear Anna crying as Mum pulled him across the field and he hated it. He knew that was a bad noise – that it meant something was wrong. He didn’t want Anna to sound like that, and he stopped suddenly, yanking at his lead so hard that he slipped his collar. He pulled even harder, dragging it over his ears, and then he was free.

Anna’s mum had been holding the lead tightly, but when Fred got free she lost her balance and half fell over. “Fred, no! Come back! Bad dog!”

Fred flattened his ears and looked at her worriedly. He’d done something wrong, he knew he had. But it couldn’t really be wrong, because he needed to go and help Anna. He laid his ears back apologetically, and then he turned and raced back across the field to get to her.

“Fred, get back here!” Anna’s dad yelled, dropping the bags and starting to chase after him. “No! Here!”

Fred flinched as he heard the shouting. He hated it when people shouted at him, and it seemed to have been happening all the time recently. Anna’s grandad kept being cross with him, and now Dad was as well. He darted through the gate and saw Anna, still standing on the boat, watching sadly.

“Fred!” She leaned towards him, but Grandad was there, too, looking annoyed – and Sunny.

Sunny barked at him and Fred stopped, looking uncertainly at Anna. Then he heard Dad pounding up behind him and he skittered sideways along the path, not sure what to do. As Dad reached out to grab at him, he shot away up the towpath, and darted under the fence and into the shadows of the wood.

“What happened?” Anna gasped. “Fred was off his lead, Dad!”

Her dad nodded grimly. “He slipped his collar.”

Mum hurried up to the gate. “You were right, Anna. He was upset about going without you.”

Dad sighed. “I’ll go and get him. Naughty thing!”

“Shall I come, too?” Anna suggested, putting her foot up on the side of the boat, ready to jump over to the bank.

Dad shook his head. “Better not. He’s in a bit of a tizzy, isn’t he? I don’t want him getting any more excited.”

Anna watched anxiously as Dad headed into the woods. Poor Fred. He really wouldn’t understand what was happening. He was probably hiding under a bush somewhere, feeling even more miserable than she was.

Anna wriggled free of Gran’s arms, and jumped out on to the bank. “I know Dad said to wait here, but I can’t!” she told Mum. “I won’t go into to the wood. I just want to see if Dad’s found him yet.” She was pretty sure that he hadn’t.

She could hear him calling for Fred, and he was sounding more and more worried every time. Anna shivered as she came into the shadows of the trees hanging over the fence. It was getting late, after nine now, and the sun had set. It was almost dark.

A sudden, horrible thought made her stop, just as she was about to lean over the fence and peer in to look for Dad and Fred.

What if they didn’t find him?

It was even darker in the wood, and Fred’s red coat would blend into the shadows. If he was upset and hiding, Dad just wouldn’t see him.

Anna gasped and climbed up on to the fence, trying to see through the dark trees.

“Anna!” Mum called. “Don’t climb over there.”

Anna twisted round to look at her. “Can’t I go and help look? Please? Fred will come if I call him, Mum. He’s scared, but he isn’t scared of me.”

“No, wait there.” Mum dropped the bags and came over to her. “Dad will find him. He’ll be back in a minute with Fred, I’m sure he will.”

But just then, Dad came hurrying back up the thin thread of a path, a worried expression on his face. “I can’t find him,” he said anxiously. “The silly dog’s gone racing off somewhere. I’m sorry, but I think we should all go and look and call for him. Have you got a torch?” he shouted across to Gran and Grandad.

Grandad nodded and went back into the boat. He returned with two big torches and handed one to Dad.

“My phone works as a torch as well,” Mum said. “We’d better split up, then we can look everywhere. Anna, come with me, OK?”

Anna nodded. She was too upset to say anything. Her beautiful Fred was lost, hiding somewhere in this horrible wood, all alone.

Fred huddled in a hole under the roots of a tree, watching the trees get darker and darker in front of him. He wasn’t exactly sure where he was, but he thought he could find his way back to the boat. He’d gone quite far, racing as fast as he could away from Sunny and all the angry people shouting at him. But he could always follow his own scent back the way he’d run.

He just wasn’t sure that he wanted to go back. Not yet, anyway. Dad had been trying to take him away from Anna, and he didn’t understand why.

Fred snuffled at the dusty leaf litter in the bottom of his hiding place. What else could he do? He didn’t want to stay here. It was getting dark and even though he could see quite well in the dim light, he didn’t like it much. He wanted to be sitting on his comfortable cushion, with Anna stroking his ears.

Fred’s ears twitched. There were footsteps coming down the path. He wriggled uncertainly and poked his nose out of the hole. Someone was calling for him! Fred was about to jump out and see who it was when he recognized the voice. It was Grandad, sounding worried and calling, “Here, Fred! Fred! Come on, boy!”

Fred listened and then he scrunched back up into his hiding place, making himself small. Grandad had been cross with him back on the boat, and Fred could hear the strain in his voice now, too.

He wouldn’t go back just yet. Not while people were still cross. He’d stay hidden a little while longer.