The Lost Puppy

Chapter Eight

Ruby trailed across the car park, tears still trickling down her cheeks even though she kept wiping them away. Dad had his arm around her, but it wasn’t making her feel any better.

Dad was just unlocking the car when Ruby heard someone calling behind them, and running footsteps.

“Wait a minute!” Lucy, the centre manager, was chasing them across the car park, looking excited. She spoke into the phone in her hand, “Yes, I’ve caught them. A brown-and-black dachshund? That’s wonderful!”

Ruby turned round to look at Lucy, her eyes wide with sudden hope. “Someone’s found him!” she whispered.

Lucy nodded at her, smiling hugely as she listened to whoever it was on the other end of the phone.

Ruby felt like grabbing the phone. She wanted to know where Toby was – now now now!

Finally Lucy ended the call, and grinned at Ruby and Dad. “Thirty-six Elm Lane. A very nice-sounding man called Jake Harper went jogging in Norbury Copse last night, and found a little brown-and-black dachshund puppy, with no collar or lead. He rang us, but we’d closed, so he tried again just now to ask if it was OK to bring the puppy over.” Her grin got even bigger. “I told him we’d save him the trouble and send you there instead! I hope you don’t mind…”

“Thank you!” Ruby flung her arms round Lucy, and hugged her tight. “Oh, that’s the best news!” She let go and looked up at Lucy worriedly. “It has to be Toby, hasn’t it?” she asked. “There couldn’t be another dachshund in the woods…”

“Jake was sure it was your puppy. The age sounded about right, and dachshunds aren’t that common. Now go and get him!”

Dad smiled at Lucy. “Elm Lane, right? Thanks for all your help. Come on, Ruby!”

“Bye!” Ruby jumped into the car, fighting with her seat belt. She was suddenly so nervous that her fingers seemed to have stopped working. It had to be Toby, it just had to. She couldn’t bear to be disappointed again.

Toby was lying in the middle of the cushion, with his head on his paws, watching as Mickey ate his breakfast. It was dog food from a tin this time – different to the biscuits Toby had at home. He quite liked the smell, but somehow he wasn’t very hungry, even though there was also a big helping for him.

“You’re quiet this morning.” Jake crouched down by the basket. “I hope you’re not sickening for something. Especially as I think I’ve found your owner. A young lady’s very worried about you, apparently. Maybe you’re just missing her, mmm?” He stood up. “Well, it won’t hurt you to miss one breakfast, I suppose, if you don’t feel like it. Do you want to go out? Quick sniff round the garden? No?” He patted Toby’s smooth head. “Not long now, pup. Cheer up.”

Toby had lifted his head to look at Jake while he was talking, but now the big man was walking away, he let it flop back down. He didn’t want food, and he didn’t want to go out in the garden. He wanted Ruby.

He wanted Ruby pouring out his dog biscuits, and watching him lovingly while he wolfed them down. He wanted to race up and down the garden with her and Anya. He liked Jake, and Mickey was good to share a bed with for one night. But he didn’t want to stay here. He’d never really known another dog before. Especially not one that stood on his ears! This was Mickey’s house, and Jake was Mickey’s special person. Mickey had made that very plain, and Toby didn’t mind. He just wanted to be back home with Ruby.

Elm Lane wasn’t far from the shelter, and Ruby and her dad pulled up outside number thirty-six about ten minutes later.

They could hear barking from inside, even before they rang the bell, and Ruby looked up at Dad with shining eyes. It was a squeaky sort of bark. A bossy little dog’s bark…

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Ruby whispered, and Dad nodded, beaming.

On the other side of the door, Toby scrabbled and yelped, clawing at the wood panels. He could hear Ruby! She’d come to find him!

As the door opened, a small brown-and-black ball of fur hurled itself at Ruby, barking and yapping.

She picked him up, laughing and crying at the same time. “Toby! Where did you go? We looked everywhere for you! Oh, I missed you!”

Toby licked her face lovingly, then went back to jumping and wriggling, and wagging his tail so hard his whole back end wagged too. He leaned dangerously far out of Ruby’s arms to lick Dad too, and even licked Jake.

Jake laughed. “Yes, you’re happy now, aren’t you, pup?”

“Thank you for finding him,” Ruby said shyly, so quietly that Jake could hardly hear her over the mad barking.

“That’s all right. He didn’t have a collar. I suppose he must have lost it.”

“He was wearing one.” Ruby nodded. “My little sister fell over, you see, and I was helping Mum cheer her up. I hooked Toby’s lead over a branch, and by the time we’d sorted Anya out, he was just gone!” Her voice squeaked with fright as she remembered it. “I bet you went off chasing squirrels, didn’t you?” she asked Toby. “The woods were full of them.”

Then her eyes widened, as Mickey lumbered into the hallway to see what was going on. “Oh! You’ve got a dog, too.” She looked worriedly up at Dad, and then at Jake. “I’m really sorry if Toby fought with him…”

Jake laughed. “Actually, he tried being a bit bossy, but Mickey stood on him. After that he was very good!”

“Stood on him?” Ruby gasped, looking at Mickey. He was huge. He looked like he could squash Toby.

“Just on one ear, just for a moment. His way of showing Toby who was in charge, I think. Has he been difficult with other dogs before, then?”

Ruby shuddered. “He barks at them. It’s like he thinks he’s as big as they are.” She looked down at Toby, who’d wriggled out of her arms and was dancing round Mickey’s legs, nuzzling him playfully. “But he’s being so nice with your dog now!”

Jake grinned. “Maybe he just needed a lesson on who’s in charge of the pack. Have you tried puppy parties?”

Dad shook his head. “I’ve not even heard of them. Is it like training? We’re booked in for a class that starts in a couple of weeks.”

“Oh well, the people running your training might do puppy parties too – you should ask. It’s like a safe place for young dogs to get to know each other. It teaches them how to get along, and work out who’s in charge. But you’re there to step in if there’s any problems.”

“You know lots about dogs,” Ruby said wistfully. She wished she knew as much. She felt like she’d let Toby down so badly, losing him in the woods, even if Mum had said it wasn’t her fault.

Jake smiled at her. “He really missed you, you know. Mickey distracted him last night, but when I woke him up to go out for a wee before I went to bed, he seemed miserable. And this morning, he just sat in the basket looking lonely – didn’t even want any breakfast. He didn’t want me, even if I have been a dog-owner for years. He’s your puppy.”

Ruby nodded, watching as Toby wove in and out of Mickey’s legs. Then he stopped suddenly, looking round, as if he was checking that Ruby was still there.

She crouched down, and he raced over to lick her hand quickly, before going back to his game.

“See?” Jake nodded at Ruby. “Your dog.”

Ruby smiled. It was true. And she was going to make sure she never lost him again.

Dad had called home to let Mum and Anya know that they’d found Toby, so Ruby wasn’t that surprised to find Anya in the front garden waiting for them. She was standing on the bottom of the gate, peering over the top, and she waved madly as soon as she saw the car.

For once, Dad had let Ruby carry Toby on her lap instead of putting him in his travel crate. Every so often, as they drove along, he turned and looked up at her, as though to check she was still there, and he kept giving her hands loving little licks.

“Toby, Toby!” Anya flung open the gate, and rushed over to them, with Mum chasing after her.

“Oh, Ruby, I’m so glad you’ve got him back,” Mum said, smiling through the car window.

Ruby got out of the car, and Toby licked Anya, very gently. He could see that the white patch on her face meant he had to be careful.

“Good boy,” Ruby whispered. She went in through the gate, expecting Toby to jump down and race around the garden, like he usually did. But this time he stayed snuggled in Ruby’s arms.

There was nowhere else he would rather be.