Buttons the Runaway Puppy

Chapter Eight

Sophie’s mum put down the phone, and came slowly back to the table, where everyone was finishing lunch.

“Who was that?” Sophie asked.

“It was Mr Jenkins. He’s asked us all round for a cup of tea this afternoon.” Mum looked at Sophie, whose face had suddenly crumpled, and Tom and Michael, and said firmly, “I told him of course we would love to. It will be nice to see him.”

Sophie stared at her fruit salad, and knew she couldn’t eat any more. “Please may I leave the table,” she muttered, getting up. She wasn’t sure she could be brave enough to go and see Buttons in her real home. Not when she kept imagining her back here.

Her mum sighed and let Sophie go. She looked worriedly at their dad. “It’s going to be especially hard for Sophie to see Buttons. She hasn’t been in the garden when we’ve walked past, and I’ve been grateful. But I suppose it has to happen sooner or later.”

Sophie trailed behind the others as they went round to Mr Jenkins’s house, walking as slowly as she could. She was desperate to see Buttons, of course she was. And she felt guilty about not going to visit Mr Jenkins sooner.

But she hadn’t been able to make herself go. It had been two whole weeks, and she was only just starting to miss Buttons a tiny bit less. If she saw her again, Sophie knew it would be worse than before.

Mr Jenkins answered the door, and there was Buttons, tail wagging furiously, gazing up at Sophie, her big, brown eyes full of love. Sophie had to look away. But she made herself look back and smile. She didn’t want Buttons to be miserable too.

Mr Jenkins sent them all to sit down while he made tea and got juice, and then he asked Tom to carry the tray in for him. He seemed a lot better, although he still had his stick. Buttons stayed right next to him the whole time, so when he sat down she sat by him, but she stared at Sophie.

Sophie stared back, sadly.

Buttons edged slightly closer, wriggling on her bottom to where Sophie was sitting next to her mum on the sofa. She wanted to cheer Sophie up. She could try, at least. Inch by inch, she travelled the short distance to the sofa, and leaned her nose lovingly against Sophie’s leg.

Sophie stroked her, her eyes filling with tears. “Oh, I’ve really missed you,” she whispered to Buttons. Then she realized that Mr Jenkins was talking, now that he’d made sure everyone had a drink. He sounded very serious.

“I need to ask you all an enormous favour.” He looked at Buttons, her head in Sophie’s lap, and sighed. “All the time I was in the hospital, I was so keen to be at home, back to normal, with my dog. The same as things were before. But since I’ve been back home I’ve realized that what I suspected was right. I wasn’t looking after Buttons well enough before. I can’t keep up with her!” He smiled sadly. “It’s going to be a huge wrench – I’ve always had a dog, always had big dogs – but I’m going to have to give her up. I couldn’t even manage to train her properly!”

He looked at Tom and Michael and Sophie, who were staring back at him wide-eyed. “You three did what I just didn’t have the energy to do – turned Buttons into a beautifully behaved dog. Since she’s been back with me, she hasn’t pulled on her lead, she hasn’t barged into me. She’s been a treasure. But it isn’t fair on her, having to live with a doddery old man. She needs to be able to go racing up to the common. So I’ve decided. She’s going to have to go to the shelter. Unless…”

Sophie gulped.

Mr Jenkins smiled at her. “Unless you can take her. I mean, keep her. Have her as yours. She’s missed you, you know. Every time she goes into the garden, she goes and stands by the back fence. She’s listening out for you in your garden.”

Sophie looked up at her mum, her eyes pleading, and saw that she was laughing.

“We’d told the children they could have their own dog, because they’d looked after Buttons so well. We even went to the shelter to look for one. But none of us could find the dog we wanted, we missed Buttons so much. Of course we’ll have her!”

Sophie slipped off the sofa, and hugged Buttons round the neck. “You’re coming home with us, Buttons! You’re really our dog now!” Then she looked up at Mr Jenkins, frowning. “But what will you do without her? Won’t you miss her?”

Mr Jenkins nodded. “Of course I will. But it isn’t fair to make her miserable, just to keep me happy.”

“I could bring her to see you…” Sophie suggested, and Mr Jenkins smiled gratefully.

They finished their tea, and Mr Jenkins found all Buttons’s things for them to take home. He was trying to be cheerful, but Sophie could see he was really upset about giving Buttons away. He was going to be so lonely without her.

Sophie was watching him stroke Buttons lovingly as they said goodbye, when it suddenly came to her.

“Oh! I’ve just had the most brilliant idea! When we went to the shelter, there was a greyhound, a gorgeous brindled one, called Fred. The card on his pen said he was quite old, and he wanted a quiet, loving home! That’s you!”

Mr Jenkins stared at her, frowning thoughtfully as he leaned against the doorframe. “A greyhound … I’ve never had a greyhound before. I hadn’t thought of going to the shelter, but they do want homes for older dogs, don’t they…” He smiled. “Do you think you and Buttons would let an old man and an old dog tag along on your walks sometimes, Sophie?”

Buttons looked up at Sophie’s glowing face, and Mr Jenkins’s smile, and even though she stood beautifully still, her tail waved joyfully. Buttons could see they were happy and she was, too – she was going home.