Sam the Stolen Puppy

Chapter Five

That night, it took Emily ages to fall asleep. She sat up in bed, hugging her knees and worrying to herself. What if it was the suspicious couple who’d taken Sam? It made her shudder, thinking about him being with them. They seemed nice – but then she’d seen them be horrible to Bertie the pointer, and there was just something about them that felt wrong. Sam had definitely sensed it too, and people said dogs always knew. Anyway, shouldn’t she do something? The problem was, what? She wondered about ringing the policeman, but honestly, why would he believe her? She didn’t have any real proof, and she wasn’t absolutely certain herself.

Eventually Emily dozed off, but she was still worrying in her sleep. She seemed to be able to hear Sam, and he was crying for her! It wasn’t just Sam, either. Lots of dogs were barking and whining and scratching to be let out of their cages. Yes, they were shut up, and they were all so upset. Emily shuddered, kicking the bedclothes off. Those people were there again. They had stolen Sam, she was sure of it. Just at that moment, she woke up, gasping. She felt so scared. Without thinking, she reached down to the end of the bed to call Sam for a cuddle, and of course, he wasn’t there. Emily sat there, shaking and crying quietly. She had to do something. She was certain now that the couple from the park were the dog-nappers. She just knew.

Now she had to work out what to do about it.

Somehow, it was easier to sleep once she’d made her decision, and Emily woke up feeling much better. But she wasn’t really any closer to getting Sam back. The only clue she had was that she thought the dog-napping couple must live quite close, because she’d seen them on the way to school, and in the park. But how was that going to help? She couldn’t wander the streets looking for them.

“I’ve seen them twice at dog-training,” Emily muttered to herself. Maybe that would be the place to find them? Then she gulped. Of course! She’d seen them at dog-training because that was where they found the puppies they were going to steal! It was the perfect place to find lots of dogs, and have friendly chats with their owners. Most people at dog-training loved to talk about their dogs, and how special they were. They wouldn’t think it was odd that a nice couple with their own dog were interested. They probably went round lots of different dog-training classes, so that people didn’t make the connection.

A plan began to form in her mind. Maybe if I went back to dog-training, they’ll be there too, and I can follow them home, Emily thought, excitedly. And if I can find out where they’re keeping Sam, Mum and Dad will have to believe me!

Lucy had a Sunday class in the park too, in the afternoon. Now she just had to work on Mum and Dad to get her there. She wasn’t going to admit her real reason, there was no way her parents would let her go off “bothering those poor people”. She could just imagine Dad saying it. No, she would have to be a bit sneaky.

It wasn’t hard to sit in the corner of the sofa and look as if she was moping – Emily felt a bit better now she had a plan, but she could easily drag up miserable thoughts about Sam. She could hear Mum and Dad muttering in the background. They’d noticed!

“Ought to get out and get some fresh air,” she heard her dad murmur. He strode cheerfully over to the sofa and announced in an over-bright voice, “Time for a walk, you two!”

Jack looked up crossly from his toy cars. “Don’t want to walk,” he grumbled.

Dad’s bouncy attitude didn’t slip. “Football!” he half-yelled, making Jack jump. “Come on, grab the ball, grab your coats, we’re going to the park!”

Emily shook her head in disbelief. How easy had that been? Maybe she ought to try being sneaky more often. Although it was a pity they had to take Jack too, especially a grizzly Jack who moaned about being cold all the way to the park.

Actually, having Jack in tow was probably a good thing, Emily thought to herself, as she watched Dad try to jolly Jack along as they kicked the ball about between them in the park. Dad was having to spend so much time getting Jack not to lie down on the grass and sulk, that he wasn’t really watching her. “Just going to practise dribbling,” she called. Gently, she kicked the ball over towards the dog-training class, pretending to be using a line of trees for markers. Jack was now jumping up and down, swinging from Dad’s hand and howling.

Emily lurked behind a big chestnut tree with a fat trunk, and peered round at the dog-training class. The sight of so many beautiful dogs, lots of them only puppies, made her stomach lurch, and she felt her eyes go hot with tears again. She shook herself firmly. If she wanted to get Sam back, she had to do something. Crying wouldn’t help.

Carefully, Emily watched the class. It was a cold February day, and hardly anyone had stopped to watch. A few people were gathered up at the far end – but it was hard to see… Then someone moved, and she spotted Bertie the pointer sitting sadly by the man, who was talking with another dog-owner. The woman was standing next to him, wearing her red gloves, laughing at something. They were there! It couldn’t be a coincidence. Emily felt her fingers curl into fists at the sight of them chatting so nicely. They were probably trying to pick up information about a new dog to steal.

Suddenly, the man hauled on Bertie’s lead, and they started to walk away from the dog-training area, waving to the people they’d been chatting with.

Emily watched in horror from behind her tree. Now what was she supposed to do? Her plan had only gone as far as getting to the park. Quickly, she looked back round the tree. Eeek! Now Dad and Jack were coming over. Jack’s bottom lip was sticking out, but at least he wasn’t yelling any more.

“Sorry, Emily,” Dad said, still trying to be super-cheerful. “Come on then, Jack! Let’s see if Emily can get the ball past us, hmm?”

Emily looked over at the class in panic. The couple was heading for one of the side gates to the park now. What was she going to do? There was no way she could convince Dad to follow them, and even if she said she wanted to go home, they wouldn’t use that gate.

It was time for a desperate move. Emily made a big thing of running up to the ball, faking a couple of times to get Dad and Jack in the mood, then booted it completely the wrong way – over towards the gate.

“Whoops! Sorry!” she giggled breathlessly. “I’ll get it!” She raced off after the ball, which was still rolling feebly. There was a clump of big bushes close to the gate, and Emily made a big thing of rooting about in them after the ball. Then she simply nipped through the bushes and out of the gate.

Dad was going to go mad when he worked out what she’d done, but right now Emily didn’t have time to think about that.

She was going to rescue Sam.