The Scruffy Puppy

Chapter Seven

Bella knew that she ought to talk to Megan, but Megan had said such mean things about Sid and about Sarah, too. She had started it all so Bella thought it should be up to her to make friends again. She didn’t sit on the same table as Megan in class, so it wasn’t as if they had to talk to each other. Bella just had to keep out of her way. And as it turned out, she managed to get as far as the day of the dog show without saying anything to Megan at all. It definitely was the Lace Hill Show that Megan and Coco were going to – Bella had heard her telling Lara more about it.

Bella and Dad had decided that they would just go for three classes – ‘Waggiest Tail’, ‘Dog the Judges Would Most Like to Take Home’, and ‘Best Trick’.

Sarah was coming with them to the show, so her mum dropped her off after breakfast. She had a bag with her, and she looked excited. “How’s Sid? Is he nervous?” she asked.

Bella shook her head. “No, he’s fast asleep in the kitchen. He hasn’t got a clue what’s going on. I am, though. I’m sure he’s going to do something awful, like wee up the judge’s leg, or something. What’s in the bag?”

“Just my purse – Mum said there might be fun stalls to look at. I can’t wait!”

Mum came into the hallway. “Hello, Sarah! We’d better hurry, girls. You want to get there and see what’s going on before the classes start, don’t you? And we’ve got to get Sid into his travel crate – you know how long that takes.”

Bella made a face.

“Doesn’t he like it?” Sarah asked.

“He goes all mad and wriggly as soon as he sees it, but I think it’s more that he’s excited about going to places. So far he’s only been to the woods in the car, and he loves it there, so it makes him a bit hyper.”

They walked out of the front door, and Dad opened the car boot. Sid’s ears seemed to go frizzier than ever, and he let out a string of excited yelps before whirling round and round on the end of his lead, nearly tripping Bella up.

“See?” Bella sighed. “I hope he doesn’t get this excited at the show.”

“I’ve got a secret weapon to get him in there.” Dad sprinkled a few dog treats on the floor of the travel cage. “Hey, Sid, look!”

Sid sniffed, and jumped straight into the travel cage. He sat, gazing out of the window and panting happily as they set off. He loved the car – and his crate now smelled deliciously of chicken-flavour crunchies.

“Gosh, it’s really big…” Bella murmured nervously. “So many people.”

“And dogs. Oh, look at that gorgeous sausage dog! In that lady’s bag, look!” Sarah pointed at the lady walking past, whose bag had a head sticking out one end, and a tail at the other. “We need to find the registration tent and put Sid’s name down.”

Mum set off towards a white tent, and the others hurried after her. Bella and Sarah couldn’t keep up – Sid wanted to stop and sniff everything.

“Bella, look! There’s Megan,” Sarah whispered, and Bella looked round.

“Oh, wow. And that’s Coco. She really is cute.”

Megan was standing by one of the fenced-off rings with her dad, and Coco on her pink lead. Coco looked beautiful, with her shiny golden coat and sparkly collar, but she was dancing about, and a couple of times she almost tripped people up. Megan had to keep pulling her back and apologizing, and her dad looked annoyed.

“Coco, sit!” Megan hissed, but Coco wasn’t listening at all.

Bella looked down at Sid proudly. He was naughty sometimes – especially about getting in the car – but now he was walking beautifully by her side.

Bella’s dad waved to Megan, and she stared back at him, looking embarrassed. But the two dads didn’t know that Bella and Megan weren’t talking, and they started chatting, while Coco sniffed at Sid in a friendly sort of way.

Sid looked up at Bella, not quite sure what he was supposed to do. He hadn’t met many other dogs since he’d left the shelter.

Bella patted him. “Good boy. Coco’s just saying hello.”

But Megan scowled and hauled Coco away from Sid, walking further down the fenced ring, with Coco pulling back on her lead all the way.

Bella looked at Sarah and shrugged her shoulders.

Bella’s dad raised his eyebrows at Bella and told Megan’s dad they’d better go and register for the classes.

“Why was Megan so off with you? What was all that about?” he asked Bella, as soon as they were out of earshot.

Bella shrugged, embarrassed, and Sarah explained for her.

“Megan and Lara were making jokes about Sid being odd, and not a proper pedigree dog like Coco. But did you see Coco getting into trouble? Sid’s way better behaved, Bella. You should be proud of him.”

“I noticed Coco messing about, too,” Dad agreed. “Anyway, I’m sure you and Megan can sort it out, Bella – you’ve known each other such a long time.”

“I know.” Bella sighed. “But it wasn’t just Sid she was mean about, Dad. She’s been cruel to Sarah, too. Oh, I’ll talk to her. But not today.”

“Are you all right?” Sarah whispered, as Bella stood at the edge of the ring.

“Just a bit nervous,” Bella gulped. “I’m glad it’s ‘Best Trick’ first. I’m not so worried about the others. I hope Sid isn’t scared by all the noise, though – we should have got Tom to play the guitar or something while we were practising.”

“He’ll be fab, you both will. Oh, I think it’s your turn.”

Bella heard her name called, and she grinned nervously at Mum, Dad, Tom and Sarah, who had really good places at the front to watch.

“And this is Bella Pascoe, with her cross-breed, Sid! And he really is a character – look at him!” The announcer sounded as though he was trying not to laugh, and Bella looked down at Sid in surprise. He didn’t seem to be at all worried about the audience.

Sid could hear people clapping and laughing and he glanced around the ring. This was nice! Lots of people were looking at him. He stepped out smartly, his tail swishing and his ears pricked at a jaunty angle.

Bella stopped in the middle of the ring and Sid looked up at her with hopeful eyes. He could smell that she had treats. He hoped they were going to do the walking on his hind paws – that meant lots of treats. It was his favourite game.

“Come on, Sid, up!” Bella said, holding a treat over his nose, and Sid stood up at once. The treat was just a little higher than his nose, but he knew Bella would give it to him in a minute. He skittered across the ring, and looked round in surprise as everybody started clapping.

“Good boy! And again.” Bella led him back across the ring, and this time they stopped in the middle to do a twirl, which made the audience laugh. The laughter was very loud, but it was a good noise and Sid panted happily. Just the last bit now, and then he was pretty sure Bella would give him the whole handful of treats. He watched carefully, waiting for Bella to pat her knees. If he did it too soon, Bella might fall over – that had happened once in the garden.

“Come on, Sid!” Bella patted her knees, and Sid launched himself at her joyfully, leaping into her arms for the big finish.

“Well done!” Bella whispered in his ear, as she fed him all the chicken flavour crunchies, and listened to everybody clapping. “You were great. But you’d better not get any fatter, Sid, or we won’t be able to do that last bit…”

“He looks so smart with a red rosette on his collar,” Sarah said admiringly. “He ought to have another one for the ‘Dog the Judges Would Most Like to Take Home’, though. You were robbed!”

Bella shrugged. “I knew there was no way he was going to beat that Golden Retriever,” she said, munching her sandwich and trying to ignore Sid, who was doing his best impression of a prizewinning dog who had never, ever been fed. “That was the soppiest dog I’ve ever seen.”

“Even more lovey-dovey than Sid when he wants sandwiches,” Dad agreed. “No, Sid. Not even for a champion red-rosette winner.” He chuckled to himself. “I still can’t believe you kept all of his tricks a secret, Bella. It was amazing.”

Mum nodded. “I was so proud of you. Oh, it’s nearly time for the ‘Waggiest Tail’ class.”

Bella hauled Sarah up off the picnic blanket, and Mum passed them Sid’s lead.

Bella looked thoughtfully at Sarah as they walked across to the ring. Her friend kept looking longingly at all the dogs they went past. Bella hadn’t realized until now how much Sarah must be missing her grandad’s dog. “Do you want to take Sid into this class?” she asked suddenly. “I know it’s not the same as having Alfie, but I think you should. You worked on training him, too. And it was you who suggested we should look for a show with fun classes!”

“Can I really?” Sarah asked, her eyes shining excitedly.

Bella nodded. “Definitely. Sid loves you, so it won’t bother him. Look, it’s that same nice lady calling out the names. I’ll explain to her – I’m sure she won’t mind.”

Bella pushed the lead into Sarah’s hand and hurried over to the lady sitting in the corner of the ring to explain. She could see Sarah crouching next to Sid and stroking him lovingly, so she was sure she’d done the right thing.

Bella dashed back. “She says it’s fine,” she told Sarah. “The class is about to start – come on. Over here.” Bella pushed Sarah into the right place in the line of dogs, and watched proudly as they all walked into the ring.

“Where’s Sid?” Tom asked, looking round worriedly as he and Mum and Dad came over.

“I let Sarah take him,” Bella said. “You don’t mind, do you? You did say you didn’t want to be in the show.”

Tom shuddered. “I definitely don’t mind. Sid looks like he loves all the attention, but I’d hate it.”

When it was Sarah and Sid’s turn Sarah rubbed the perfect spot on Sid’s spine, and he wagged his tail so hard he nearly fell over.

“And we have a clear winner there,” called the announcer. “Yes, the judges are going for Sid! Handled by one of his best friends – Sarah! Well done, Sid and Sarah!”