A Home for Molly

Chapter Four

Molly pattered along the seafront, sniffing for food. A little boy had given her half a sandwich at lunchtime, but then his mum had told him off and shooed her away. Half a sandwich was not enough to fill her up and now she felt empty and miserable.

There was a delicious smell coming from somewhere up ahead – so good that Molly couldn’t stop her tail wagging in delight. She hurried along, sniffing hopefully and trying to work out where the food was.

A family were sitting outside one of the beach huts, eating their fish and chip dinner out of the paper. It smelled so good that Molly felt herself begin to dribble a little. She crept up closer, her tail trembling from side to side in a shy wag. She sat down next to a girl who was sitting in a canvas chair and looked up at her. She glanced between the girl and the chips, her dark brown eyes pleading. Please can I have some?

The girl giggled, peeked over at her mum and dad to check they weren’t looking and sneaked Molly a chip.

“You’re so cute,” she whispered. “I bet you’re not allowed those though. Where’s your owner gone? Did you slip your lead?” she added, giving Molly another chip.

“Is that a dog, Ella?” her mum called over.

“Yes, look, isn’t she lovely?”

“I hope you’re not feeding her!”

“Oh no, course I’m not.” Ella grinned down at Molly. “Our secret,” she whispered. “But they’ll see if I give you any more, sorry.”

Suddenly, there was a wild flurry of barking and a big golden Labrador surged out from under one of the chairs, almost overturning the man who was sitting in it. He yelled loudly, and Molly backed away in horror, turning tail and running as the huge Labrador raced after her. He was much bigger than she was and his legs were a lot longer, too. Even though he’d got caught up in all the chairs, he was soon right on her tail, barking and growling furiously. She had been bothering his people.

Molly raced along the promenade as fast as she could, but she didn’t have very much energy – not like the Labrador, who was fit and well fed. He caught her, knocking her down with one of his massive paws and rolling her on the concrete. He stood over her, growling and showing his massive teeth, and Molly whimpered with fear, her paws in the air, trying to show that she wouldn’t fight. She was sorry – he was in charge.

“George! Get off!” The man who’d nearly been tipped over and the nice girl came racing up.

“Get off that poor little dog!” the girl shrieked.

“Bad dog, George!” The man grabbed George’s collar and dragged him away from Molly.

“Awww, she’s so scared, poor little thing,” the girl said, crouching down by Molly. “Where’s your owner, hey? We’d better go and take you back and say sorry that George chased you.”

“I’m not sure she’s got an owner,” the man said, still trying to hold George back. The big dog was growling and trying to lunge at Molly. “George, stop it! No!” he said firmly, and George edged away, with muttery growls. “I think I saw her the other day by the ice-cream kiosk. Maybe she’s a stray? But she’s such a nice little dog. I’d be surprised if people weren’t looking for her.”

Molly peered sideways at the big Labrador and realized that he wasn’t about to chase her again. She sprang up, trembling, and backed away, step by step.

“Oh no, come back!” the girl cried. “We need to find out who you belong to!”

But Molly was already gone. As soon as she’d got far enough from George, she whipped round and ran away down the promenade, darting behind a row of beach huts so that she was hidden. She could hear the girl calling behind her, but that big dog was there, too. She couldn’t go back.

Anya sat at the kitchen table with her bead kit, listening to Jessie fussing upstairs and worrying about the puppy.

“Oh no,” she muttered, looking at the bracelet she was threading.

She’d done it wrong again – for about the third time. She just couldn’t concentrate. Anya was sure it had been Molly she’d seen on the beach. She kept wondering if the little dog had got home yet. Maybe Rachel and her family were out looking for her – if only she could go and tell them where she’d last seen Molly, it might help. But she didn’t even know where Rachel’s holiday cottage was.

Anya stood up and went over to the window. At least it was still light. The only time that she remembered being lost herself was a few years before, when she had been Christmas shopping with Mum. She had stopped to look at a beautiful window display, with a toy Father Christmas that waved. She had been transfixed – and then she’d turned round to point Father Christmas out and her mum had gone.

It had been late afternoon and getting dark – just the right time to see all the sparkling Christmas lights, but the darkness had made Anya feel even more scared.

Mum had found her, of course. She had only gone on a few steps up the street before she realized that Anya wasn’t right beside her any more. She’d come dashing back and scooped Anya up and hugged her. But Anya still remembered that panicked moment in the dark when she thought that she was lost forever. Now she wondered if Molly was feeling the same way.

She turned round from the window and marched determinedly up the stairs. Mum and Dad were trying to give Jessie some Calpol, but she kept spitting it out.

“Oh, hello, love.” Mum looked up at her worriedly. “Are you all right, Anya? Do you want to grab an apple, or some cheese biscuits, or something? I’m really sorry – we haven’t even started making dinner yet. It’s going to be a while.”

“It’s OK, Mum, I’m not hungry. I was just wondering if I could walk down to the beach and look at the sea? I won’t be long – it’s gone this beautiful blue colour and I want to see it closer.”

Their cottage went straight out on to the path along the top of the cliff, so there were no roads to cross. Anya crossed her fingers hopefully behind her back. She hated lying to Mum and Dad, but she wasn’t really lying, she told herself. The sea was that lovely colour and she would look at it – it was just that she would be looking for a little curly-haired dog more. If she’d said that she was going out to search for Molly, she was pretty sure Dad would say no – he hadn’t been that pleased when she’d made him spend ages looking for her earlier on.

“I’ll be back by the time you’ve got dinner on – or I could come back and help make it. Do you want me to turn the oven on, or anything?” Anya suggested.

Dad sighed. “At this rate we’ll be heading out to the fish and chip shop, Anya. Don’t worry. Be back soon, all right? And no talking to strangers.”

“I promise.” Anya nipped into her room to grab a cardigan and raced back downstairs and out of the door before they could change their minds.