The Unwanted Puppy

Chapter Six

Zoe sat on her bed, with her mum’s laptop balanced on the pillow. All day at school she’d been thinking about her conversation with her dad – the amazing idea that perhaps they could have a Bernese mountain dog of their own!

Zoe had been hoping to meet up with Scout and Jack and Lauren in the park after school and take him for a walk – she’d thought maybe she’d also get the chance to ask Lauren about a fun agility class or something like that for Scout. It might help to wear him out and keep his brain busy. She’d been sort of looking forward to asking about it, and sort of not. She didn’t want Lauren to think she was sticking her nose in…

Zoe sighed. She hadn’t realized until today quite how much she looked forward to seeing Scout – she’d been so disappointed to miss him. Meeting up with him in the park was one of the highlights of her day. Zoe was almost sure that her mum and dad felt the same. She’d noticed that she and Mum both speeded up as they went in the park gates on the way home from school. They’d hurry along the paths, scanning the park to see where Scout was. Dad was just the same, always looking hopefully for the big puppy on their walk to school.

Today they hadn’t seen him at all – Zoe had met Jack and Lauren and Tilly hurrying through the playground, and Lauren had explained that she hadn’t had time to go home and get Scout that afternoon. She’d even been a bit late picking Jack up, she said. Zoe felt as though she’d missed out on something special. She sighed again and peered thoughtfully at the list of websites on the screen. There seemed to be loads of links to pages about Bernese mountain dogs – some were the websites of breeders and some were clubs for owners. She chose one of the club pages and clicked on Things to Know. If Dad was really serious about them getting a Bernese one day, she wanted to be prepared.

Zoe found herself nodding thoughtfully as she read down the page. A lot of the information seemed to tie in with what she’d noticed about Scout. She’d seen him start to look worried and jumpy when Tilly was crying, and it said here that some Bernese could be sound-sensitive – that high-pitched noises almost hurt their ears.

Zoe nibbled her lip worriedly. Lauren had said Tilly was teething and crying a lot. That definitely wasn’t going to help Scout settle down. There were common-sense things the website said to think about, too – a big dog was more likely to accidentally hurt a small child. Scout was big, but he was still a puppy, so he was clumsy and not really in control of his paws…

Zoe went on reading, giggling to herself at some of the funny bits. Apparently most Bernese didn’t really like playing fetch, because they just didn’t see the point. The owner would throw a ball, and the dog would fetch it the first couple of times and then give up, because honestly, why? She could easily imagine Scout dropping a ball at her feet and glaring at her, his gorgeous ginger eyebrows twitching. Now, look. You keep dropping it, and I keep bringing it back for you. Don’t do it again! Oi! I said don’t do that… It would be so funny.

Zoe looked up from the laptop, her eyes widening. Then she turned herself round on the bed, sinking her chin into her hands. She’d just realized something – something awful.

Dad was all excited about getting a puppy, but she didn’t want just any Bernese mountain dog.

She wanted Scout.

Scout raced down the pavement, ignoring the shouts behind him. It was so good not to be cooped up in the house! His paws pounded on the tarmac and his ears were flapping as he bounded along. It was a chilly evening and a little bit drizzly, but he didn’t mind. The dampness felt good on his fur.

He paused for a moment at the end of the road, sniffing thoughtfully. Ben usually took him out for a short walk just before bed, so he was used to the dark. Yes, the park was this way. He trotted on, eager to go racing over the grass and to find Zoe. As he saw the park gates ahead he sped up and his tail started to wag with excitement. He darted in, loving the scents of cut grass and tree blossom and other dogs. He bounced on to the wide stretch of grass, enjoying the feel of the soft ground and cool grass under his paws.

For a couple of minutes he just ran, feeling the stretch in his legs as he snapped at imaginary butterflies and chased his own tail round and round. Then he slumped down into a happy, panting heap and started to wonder where Zoe was.

He had expected to find her – or rather, he’d expected her to find him. She always did. He looked round eagerly, hoping to see her hurrying down the path towards him, excited and waving. But there seemed to be no one in the park at all. It was eerily quiet.

Scout sat up, and gazed around worriedly. He hadn’t thought about what he might do if he couldn’t find Zoe. He had just expected that she would be there. She always was…

Except, maybe this time she wasn’t? His ears twitched at the strange sounds of the birds rustling in the trees and he stood up, pacing around in a tiny circle. Zoe was in the park when he was there with Jack, Scout realized. Now it was the wrong time – it was dark, closer to the time he went out for a last walk before bed.

Zoe wasn’t here. He was all alone.

Tucked away under the little climbing wall that led up to the playground slide, Scout gazed out at the damp morning, wondering if he should try to find his way back home. He was sure he could do it – he’d done this walk so many times. But something was stopping him. He kept remembering Jack howling when he’d knocked him over by accident and then Lauren’s sharp voice. They had both sounded so angry and upset.

Somehow his home wasn’t a place he felt happy in any more and Scout didn’t really understand how that had happened.

A few times during the night the cold had woken him and Scout had wanted to go home. But the padding of strange paws past his hiding place had made him tuck his tail between his legs and wriggle further under the leaves in the corner, and he wished he’d never run away. He knew home. He was safe there, at least, and warm. A couple of times he’d got as far as the gate of the little playground before he remembered how cross everyone was and how he hated being shut up in the kitchen on his own. Each time, he’d turned back from the gate and gone to curl up by himself again.

Now Scout’s tail thumped against the dry leaves as he heard voices in the distance. Zoe! She’d come to find him at last! He wriggled out of his hiding place just as a dad with two little girls pushed open the gate. Scout’s tail drooped again as one of the little girls raced towards the climbing wall and then stopped dead.

“A dog!” she squeaked. Scout came out from under the sloping wall, his tail beating nervously from side to side.

“Hey, Olivia, come away!” the little girl’s father said sharply. “Don’t touch the dog. We don’t know if it’s friendly. It must be a stray – there’s no one else here.”

The little girl ran back towards her father, and he shooed her and her sister out of the way. Then he came closer to Scout, crouching low and flapping his hands. “Come on. Out!”

Scout tucked his tail down, crouching. He’d done something wrong again, he could tell. These people were angry with him, too. He scuttled forward, trying to avoid the cross-sounding man, and darted out of the gate.

Now that he was up and walking, Scout realized how hungry he was. Perhaps he should just go home after all? But the path back to the gate led past the playground again. He didn’t want to go that way and be shouted at. So he kept on, wandering along the path that led to the other side of the big park and another gate. He didn’t usually come this way with Lauren and Jack and he stood uncertainly in the opening, wondering where to go and what to do.

He felt more alone than ever.