The Abandoned Puppy

Chapter Eight

Zoe watched, smiling, as Becca hugged Biscuit. He wriggled delightedly in her arms. So it would be a stranger who would be taking Cookie home, she realized sadly. She wouldn’t see her gorgeous little puppy grow up into a beautiful dog after all.

Cookie patted her paws hopefully at Zoe’s leg, asking to be picked up. She could tell that Zoe was sad, but Cookie knew that she could make her feel better. When Zoe lifted her up at last, Cookie stood up in her arms, rubbing her whiskery nose against Zoe’s cheek. That always made her laugh.

“You’re so lovely,” Zoe murmured, but she didn’t sound much happier.

Cookie watched interestedly as the girl cuddling Biscuit gave him some crunchy treats, and carefully lifted him into a sort of box, like a small pen with a wire front. She shivered a little, burying her nose in Zoe’s neck. It reminded her of the box they’d all been shut up in. It felt like a very long time ago now.

Biscuit looked confused, and whined, but the girl fed him some more treats through the wire, and then the man with her picked the box up, and carried him away down the passage to the door.

Cookie gave a little whimper of surprise. They could go away? Biscuit was going with that girl, and the other two people? She didn’t understand. If they were allowed out of the shelter, why didn’t Zoe take her when she went? Perhaps she would! Perhaps they were all going! Cookie’s tail started to flick back and forth with excitement.

“Well, that was good, wasn’t it?” Auntie Jo said, sounding really pleased. “And I meant to tell you, Zoe, a really nice-sounding family called me asking about puppies, and they were interested in getting a boy puppy – so that would be you, Choc.” She looked down at the puppy in her arms, who’d barked when he heard his name. “Yes, you! They’re going to come and see you tomorrow, aren’t they, sweetie? So we’re getting there.”

Zoe nodded. So that would leave just Cookie. And she wouldn’t be there for much longer either, Zoe was sure.

“Oh, look, there’s your mum and Kyra,” Auntie Jo pointed out, and she turned to open the front of the pen, and put Choc back in.

Zoe sighed, and walked towards the pen to put Cookie in too. She’d forgotten that Mum was coming to pick her up early. She wanted them to go and do some shopping – Zoe needed new school shoes. Zoe had tried arguing that Mum could just buy them for her, but Mum had said no.

Cookie twisted in her arms, struggling frantically, and whining. She wasn’t going back in the pen – she wanted to stay with Zoe! Someone had already taken Biscuit away. Only Zoe could take her.

“What’s the matter?” Zoe gasped, holding the puppy tightly, and backing away from the pen, as that seemed to be what was upsetting her.

“Is Cookie OK?” Mum asked worriedly. She and Kyra had just come into the passage between the pens, and now she was hurrying towards Zoe.

“She got really upset when I was trying to put her back in the pen.”

Zoe cuddled Cookie close against her shoulder. She could feel the little dog’s sides heaving, she was shaking so badly. “Perhaps she’s sad about Biscuit going?” She wrinkled up her brow. “It’s OK, Cookie. It’s OK,” she whispered. But then her eyes filled with tears. “I’m telling her everything’s going to be all right, but it isn’t,” she said miserably, looking between Auntie Jo and Mum. “Biscuit’s gone to a new home, and Choc will probably go too, tomorrow, and then it’ll be just Cookie left. And someone will choose her really soon, and we’ll never see her again.”

Auntie Jo frowned. “I wonder if she does know what’s happening. Some dogs really do seem to understand, far more than you’d think they could. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t want to go back into that pen.”

“But she has to,” Zoe said dismally. “What are we going to do? Do you think she’d be better if we moved her into a different pen?”

Auntie Jo glanced at Mum, and shook her head. “No, to be honest, I think it would just be better if she went back with you.”

“But then it would just be harder for her to come back.” Zoe blinked, not really understanding what her auntie was saying.

“Or we could keep her?” her mum said, putting an arm round Zoe’s shoulders, and gently patting Cookie.

Zoe looked puzzled. “But there’s no one to look after her in the daytime.”

Her mum glanced at Auntie Jo. “We’ve been talking about that. I told your auntie I was worried about how much you were falling in love with Cookie. That you were going to be really upset when she went to her new home.”

“And I said you were so good with dogs, you really deserved to have one of your own,” said Auntie Jo.

“So we’ve come up with a plan,” said her mum.

“I’m going to have her here at work with me in the day, Zoe,” Auntie Jo explained. “She can have a basket under my desk, and I’ll take her for a walk at lunchtime.”

“And Kyra?” said Zoe, flashing her sister a look.

“I don’t feel scared of Cookie,” said Kyra. “She’s a little sweetheart. Mum told me how much you’d bonded with Cookie – it was actually my idea we should have her. That’s why I wanted to meet her last week.”

“Really?” Zoe stared round at them all, her eyes like saucers. “You mean it? We can have Cookie? So – so we could take her home now?” Zoe whispered, hardly daring to hope that they’d say yes.

Auntie Jo smiled. “Well, she obviously doesn’t want to go back in that pen. I can stay here and make a big fuss of poor old Choc, so he doesn’t mind being on his own. And you can borrow some food bowls and things, until you can get your own.”

Zoe nodded, thinking how much pocket money she had saved up, and how she was going to spend all of it at the pet shop on the little puppy. Cookie was going to have the nicest things she could find.

“You’re coming home with us,” she whispered to Cookie. “You really are.”

Cookie nudged Zoe’s cheek with her damp black nose, and looked hopefully at the door.

“Look at them! They’re having such a good time,” Zoe said, laughing at the two little brown-and-white dogs – Biscuit and Cookie. Who would have thought it? They were standing at the bottom of a huge tree, right at the end of their extending leads. And they were both jumping up and down, barking themselves silly.

“I wonder if Choc likes chasing squirrels too?” Becca said thoughtfully. “Maybe we’ll see him in the park one of these days.”

Zoe nodded. “I bet he does. And I bet he never catches them either.”

The squirrel was sitting high up in the tree now, looking down at the two dogs in disgust. They hadn’t come anywhere near getting him, and he clearly wasn’t very bothered. He almost looked like he was yawning.

Eventually, Cookie and Biscuit gave up on the squirrel and wandered back to Zoe and Becca.

“Cookie’s catching up on him,” Becca commented. “She’s nearly as big as he is now. She might even end up being bigger!”

“Maybe,” Zoe agreed. “They probably won’t finish growing until they’re about nine months. Perhaps even a year. They’re four months old now, so they’ve got five months more growing to do, at least. You’re going to be a huge dog one day, aren’t you?” she told Cookie affectionately, crouching down and ruffling her ears and stroking her back.

Becca giggled. Cookie might get bigger one day, but she and Biscuit were still tiny at the moment. Not that they seemed to think they were little at all. They strutted through the park as though they thought they were the most important dogs there.

“They wouldn’t fit in that box now,” Zoe said suddenly, looking up at Becca.

Becca shook her head. “I still don’t know how someone could have left them like that. But I’m just glad it was you and your Auntie Jo that found them.”

Zoe nodded, scratching Cookie under the chin, so that she closed her eyes blissfully, and her tail thumped on the ground.

“I know. Me too.”