The Forgotten Puppy

Chapter Seven

“Alex, come on, it’s time to get off.”

“But Mummy, the dog… He’s still there.”

“There isn’t a dog, Alex. I checked,” the woman said, as she fastened up the baby’s snowsuit. “Come on, everyone else is off the train already. If there was a dog, he’ll have gone with his owner, won’t he? This is the last stop. The dog’s going home, too.”

Rina saw the little boy lean down, peering under the seats. She almost wriggled further out to see him, but then a man in a dark uniform came hurrying down the train and she stayed hidden. She remembered that other man on the station platform shouting at her.

The little boy followed his mother off the train, still looking round every so often. “Bye, dog!” he whispered, as he stepped off.

Rina poked her nose out from under the seats and looked up and down. No one else was left. The man had gone and the train was empty. Perhaps she should get off, like the little boy? The train had stopped a couple of times before, but then only for a minute or so and more people had got on. This seemed different.

She crept out into the gangway and went to look out of the doors. It was cold out there and starting to get dark. The station looked as empty as the train and it didn’t seem familiar at all. For some reason, Rina had thought she would be back where she had started, but this was a completely different place. And where was Emi? This was all wrong! She had come to find her owner and instead she had just got herself lost.

Rina whimpered and peered out at the station, the lights bright and yellowish in the grey of the winter afternoon. Perhaps she had better get out and look for Emi. After all, Emi definitely wasn’t in this train, so there was no point staying here.

Just as she made the decision and stepped forward, the doors beeped suddenly and then slid shut with a thump.

She was trapped.

“Emi, don’t panic. It’ll be all right, we’ll find her,” said Dad.

“But Mum said she’s asked everyone! She says she doesn’t know where Rina’s gone!” Emi gasped. She turned to her brother, who looked equally worried.

“Well, we’ll go and help her look, then,” said Dad. “Come on. You were going back tomorrow morning anyway and you’re not going to have a good time here this afternoon when you’re worrying about Rina. I’ll come with you and we’ll all search for her. We’ll get the train back, it’s a lot quicker than going in the car. Pass me the phone, Emi. I’ll call your mum and explain. Go and pack up your stuff. And don’t forget to look in the bathroom!” Dad called after her, but Emi had already disappeared to find all her things.

It was the fastest packing she and Ben had ever managed, and they were ready to go only ten minutes later. Dad had checked the timetable and he said there was a train very soon, but he wasn’t quite sure they’d make it, with the walk to the station, too. Emi was determined that they would, though. She didn’t care that there was another train not long after. She wanted to get back home at once.

Rina sat by the train doors, whining. What was she to do now? The lights had gone off when the doors slid shut and she was all alone in the dark train. She could still see, of course, but the train felt odd in the dark – too quiet. She didn’t understand what was happening. Emi was supposed to have been on the train and now she had lost everybody, even Mum.

Rina lay down next to the doors, resting her nose on her paws and whimpering miserably. What if she was stuck here?

Then a sudden beeping noise made her sit up. The doors! The doors made a noise like that! Rina looked up, but the doors didn’t move. The noise was from further down the train.

She got up and went to look. A lady had opened a set of doors at the other end of the carriage and climbed on, with a big black bag. The lights came on again and Rina watched as the lady closed the doors and then moved down the train, humming to herself and picking up all the rubbish that had been left behind.

Rina didn’t care if the lady saw her or was cross. She just wanted to get off the train now. The puppy padded down the gangway towards the lady and then stood next to her and barked.

The cleaner had earphones in and she was humming along to her music. She only half heard the bark and then she looked down and noticed a dog right next to her – a dog that had appeared out of nowhere.

The cleaner was so shocked that she dropped the rubbish bag. She didn’t like dogs all that much, especially when they crept up on her. She darted down the carriage and unlocked the doors, hurrying off the train to catch her breath and tell one of the platform staff that there was a fierce dog on the train and it had tried to bite her.

Rina stared after the lady in surprise. She had no idea why she had run away. But she had left the doors open and that was what mattered. Rina raced forward and jumped off the train at once, before they could shut on her again.

She stood on the empty platform, looking around uncertainly. Where should she go? Could Emi be here somewhere? Wearily, she walked along the platform, avoiding the patches of snow, and started to climb the steps at the end. She didn’t really know where she was going. But Emi definitely wasn’t on that train, so she would just have to keep looking.

She padded along the tunnel-like footbridge to the other platform and then looked worriedly at the steps on the other side. They were quite steep, not like the stairs at home. She was used to those now and she could run up and down them without thinking. These steps were metal and open at the back, and they looked slippery. Rina picked her way down them carefully, wishing her lead wasn’t dangling down. It kept getting tangled in her paws.

At the bottom of the steps was a ticket office and a waiting room, which looked warm and bright. But its glass door was tightly closed against the cold and Rina couldn’t see how to get in. She sniffed at the door sadly and then trailed past, looking out at the busy road that ran in front of the station.

A tall man came hurrying in, glancing up at the clock outside the ticket office. He didn’t see Rina, but he tripped over her lead. He yelled as he almost fell over in the greyish snow that had been brushed to the side of the walkway.

Rina didn’t stay to be shouted at again. First the man in uniform at the other station, then the lady with the rubbish bags and now this. Mum and Emi and Ben didn’t shout at her – or only the time that she’d chewed Ben’s trainers, and then Emi had given her a hug, even though Ben was cross. She scurried round the corner of the building and hid behind a ticket machine. There was a little gap there, just wide enough for a very small dog. She would stay there and wait for Emi, out of the cold wind.

Rina wriggled herself comfortable – as comfortable as she could – and peered out, watching the people arrive for the next train. But the thud of feet and the muttering of the announcements blurred together and she rested her nose on her paws and fell asleep.