Jess the Lonely Puppy

Chapter Five

Will smiled and shook his head as he spotted Chloe walking up the children’s ward, a big plaster on her knee. “I know you miss me, Chlo, but cutting your leg off so you can stay in hospital too, that’s just dim…Seriously, what did you do?”

Chloe grinned at him. “I took Jess for a walk! Well, me and Maddy did.” She looked down at the plaster and shrugged. “But Jess wanted to chase a squirrel, and I tripped…”

Will beamed. “That’s brilliant!”

“Hey!”

“Not your knee! Brilliant that you took Jess out. Thanks, Chlo. I’d been really worrying about her.”

Chloe sighed and glanced over at her mum, who was talking to the doctor. “I’m not sure Mum’s going to let me take her out again, though,” she whispered. “She was so cross. Jess has been really naughty in the last couple of days.”

Will thought for a moment. “Well, if you really can’t talk Mum round, perhaps you can wear off some of her energy in the garden. She loves playing fetch, and you could try hiding one of her toys and getting her to play hide-and-seek, that’s fun. Then maybe she’ll be a bit less mad.”

Chloe nodded. “Good idea. Anyway, I might still get Mum to give in.”

“You just need to stretch your legs, don’t you, Jessie?” Chloe murmured, stroking Jess’s silky black-and-white back, as they leaned against the sofa watching TV.

Jess let out a huge sigh, as if in agreement, then slumped down with her head in Chloe’s lap.

Chloe had spent ages persuading her mum that Jess had only tripped her up by accident. But Mum was still saying that she didn’t think it was a good idea for Chloe and Maddy to take Jess out again. Chloe was also worried about what her mum had said about not knowing what to do with Jess. What did that mean? She was scared that her mum might want to send Jess back to the breeder they’d got her from. Will would be heartbroken.

And it wasn’t just Will. Chloe would miss Jess so much, too, she realized now. She was determined to turn Jess into the most perfect dog ever, so Mum wouldn’t want to get rid of her. But that meant they had to go out for more walks. Chloe was sure that Jess was only playing up because she needed loads more exercise, and the occasional short walks she was getting with Grandad just weren’t enough. She’d spent the morning playing in the garden with Jess, like Will had suggested, but she was sure that Jess really wanted more space for a good long run.

Eventually, after a whole day of begging, Mum agreed to let Chloe and Maddy take Jess out. But she made Chloe take her mobile phone, so they could call home if anything went wrong.

Luckily, Jess seemed to know that she had to be on her best behaviour. She walked sedately all the way to the park, trotting along next to Chloe. Chloe and Maddy smiled at each other as a couple of old ladies commented on what a well-behaved dog she was.

“I wish we could get them to go and say that to my mum!” Chloe whispered, and Maddy giggled.

Chloe’s leg was still a bit too sore for her to run really fast, so Maddy took Jess’s lead when they got to the park.

Jess looked up at Maddy and Chloe, her ears pricked, but she didn’t race off.

“What’s up, Jess?” Maddy asked her gently.

Chloe leaned down to stroke her, and Jess nuzzled her gently, pressing her cool, damp nose into Chloe’s hand. She rubbed Jess’s ears. “It’s OK, Jess. You go! Run with Maddy!”

“But not too fast!” Maddy added, smiling.

Jess wagged her tail delightedly, swishing it like a flag, and sprinted away, but she kept coming back to check on Chloe, who was sitting on one of the benches.

“She’s really worried about you,” Maddy said, panting. Jess had just raced to the other side of the trees and back. “She’s such a sweetheart.”

Jess sat on the path, laid her muzzle on Chloe’s lap and stared up at her anxiously. Was Chloe all right? She swept her tail back and forth across the path when Chloe beamed at her.

Maddy flopped on to the bench too. “We should head back, shouldn’t we?” she asked, checking her watch.

Chloe nodded. “Let’s go home past the shops to give Jess a change,” she suggested. She took the lead from Maddy and got to her feet.

Jess looked up at them both, and her tail stopped wagging. Home? Already? But she wanted to run some more! That had hardly felt like a walk at all.

“Do you think your mum will let you take Jess out on your own next week, when I’m at pony camp?” Maddy asked, as they walked through the park gates.

Chloe frowned. She hadn’t really thought about that. “I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I can’t see her saying yes. She’d be too worried something might happen to us. Maybe I can ask Grandad to come with me…”

“Do you mind if I nip in and buy a magazine?” Maddy asked, as they went past the corner shop.

Chloe shook her head. “Course not. We’ll wait for you outside. Sit, Jess!”

Jess looked at Chloe doubtfully, and Chloe gently pushed her to sit down. She’d been reading up on the internet about dog-training, and she’d tried practising with Jess in the garden, but they weren’t very good at it yet. Eventually Jess sat, and Chloe fussed over her lovingly.

Maddy took ages. Chloe could see her through the window, dithering about which magazine to buy.

She gazed down at her feet, thinking sadly about pony camp and how cool it would have been. But then, if she’d gone Jess would have been really lonely without her, she supposed. Maybe it was all for the best.

Jess soon got bored of sitting still and watching people going in and out of the shop. Lots of them had interesting things in their bags, though. She sniffed hopefully. Delicious-smelling things.

Suddenly, Jess pulled sharply at her lead, and Chloe gasped as she dragged it out of her hand. Before Chloe could catch her, Jess was right outside the shop door, rooting in a big shopping bag which a lady had put down while she found her car keys.

“Jess, no!” Chloe squeaked, horrified, as the lady tried to pull her bag away.

“Is this your dog?” she demanded furiously. “What on earth were you doing, letting go of her like that?”

“I’m really sorry!” Chloe said, blushing scarlet. “Oh, Jess…” She finally managed to grab Jess’s lead and pull her out of the shopping bag, but it was too late. She had a biscuit in her mouth, and there was a packet sticking out of the bag, ripped open by her sharp little teeth.

“She’s eating my biscuits!” the lady shouted. Chloe thought she might explode, she looked so cross.

“I’m so sorry, I’ll pay for them,” she gasped, frantically digging in her skirt pocket for her purse, while trying to hold on to Jess’s collar with her other hand.

Jess had finished the delicious biscuit, but she was beginning to realize that she’d done something wrong. The lady with the bag was shouting at Chloe. Jess squirmed behind Chloe’s legs to hide.

Chloe quickly pressed a pound coin into the lady’s hand, muttering, “Sorry!” again. As she pulled Jess away, she could hear the lady behind her, telling everyone coming out of the shop that little girls shouldn’t be allowed to walk dogs they couldn’t control.

“What happened?” said Maddy, as she came out of the shop, clutching her magazine.

“Jess stole that lady’s biscuits!” Chloe whispered to her friend. “It was so embarrassing! I don’t think I’ll ever dare go in that shop again!”

When they got home, Chloe carefully avoided telling Mum about their walk – except that Jess had been good in the park. She went out into the garden and lay on the rug under the apple tree in the shade. It was so hot.

Jess lay down next to her, panting and wagging her tail as the bees buzzed past her nose.

Chloe reached out to stroke her. “What am I going to do with you, Jess?” she muttered. “Only two walks. One cut knee for me, one stolen biscuit for you. This isn’t working out very well, is it?”