The Puppy who was Left Behind

Chapter Six

“But we can’t stop looking!” Anna stared up at them all in horror.

“It’s too dark,” Dad explained. “We can hardly see, even with the torches, sweetheart.”

“Someone could trip over. If you put your foot in a rabbit hole you could break an ankle,” Mum added, putting her hands on Anna’s shoulders.

“I know you want to find Fred, and I’m really sorry. But we just aren’t going to find him like this,” said Gran.

Anna shook her head, looking back out at the dark trees. “We can’t leave him out there all night. He’ll be scared!” She took the torch out of Dad’s hand, and started to flash it around the path again, calling for Fred. Her voice sounded hoarse and her throat hurt, she’d been shouting for so long. “There’s a noise!” she gasped, starting forward excitedly. “A rustling, can’t you hear it? It has to be Fred!”

But when the creature came out from between the trees, it stopped in surprise, instead of running to greet them. Anna’s torch flashed on to a pair of frightened, glowing eyes. She rushed to hug it, but the fox whisked away, its red bushy tail nothing like Fred’s beautiful feathers.

“It wasn’t him,” Anna whispered miserably.

“It was only a fox,” Gran nodded, as Anna sagged with disappointment, her shoulders drooping. “Anna, it’s so late, you’re exhausted. We’ve been searching for two hours now. You need to go to bed. We all do. Your mum and dad have still got to drive back.”

“But Fred…”

“I think he’s upset and he’s hiding,” Dad explained, hugging her. “We can start looking again tomorrow. We’ll get up really early and come straight here. I’ll just have to go into work late. Fred’s not used to the dark, is he? When it’s light he’ll feel better and come out. He’ll want to come back to us then.”

“I want him back now!” Anna sobbed. She hated the thought of Fred being too scared to come and find her.

“We all do,” Dad said, but Anna couldn’t help thinking he was only saying that. If he really wanted Fred back, they’d keep looking all night.

“Just one more look,” she begged, pulling away. Then her feet seemed to wobble underneath her and everything went blurry. Someone grabbed her and she heard Mum’s voice. It seemed to be coming from a long way away.

“Anna, you’re asleep on your feet! Come on.”

Anna lay in her little bed, worrying. Even though she’d been almost asleep out in the wood, now she felt horribly awake. She kept putting her hand out to stroke Fred to make her feel better, and then she’d realize all over again that he wasn’t there.

The boat rocked a little, and she sat up, looking hopefully at the door. “Did you find him?” she gasped, as Gran and Grandad came in. She had been so upset when they took her back to the boat that Grandad had promised to go and have one last look if she would be sensible and get into bed.

“No, Anna, I’m sorry,” said Grandad. “But I was thinking – Irish Setters are good trackers, they were bred for hunting. I’m pretty sure Fred will find his own way back. We’ll probably see him sitting in the front of the boat, watching the ducks in the morning!”

“Or he’ll wake us up at four o’clock scratching at the door,” Gran put in, perching on the end of Anna’s bed.

“You really think so?” Anna sniffed.

Gran hesitated, just for a second, but Anna had felt it.

“What I think is that you need to get to sleep,” Gran said quickly. “If we do have to go looking for Fred tomorrow morning, you’ll want to be up early. We’re going to bed now, too.”

Anna listened to them fussing around getting ready for bed, and gradually everything grew quiet. But she still couldn’t sleep. If only Sunny and Fred had got on better, this would never have happened. But now poor Fred had been driven away.

Everyone had tried to tell her that it would be fine – that Fred would be back soon, or that they’d at least find him tomorrow morning. Anna wanted so much to believe that they were right, but she couldn’t help thinking about what might happen if they weren’t.

Where was Fred? What if he’d run all the way through the wood to the road? Mum and Anna had been through the wood and seen the cars roaring past…

Anna shivered. Surely Fred wouldn’t have gone out into the road, would he? He was used to walking in town, and they’d been careful to train him to stop and sit at the edge of the pavement. But what if he didn’t see what it was in the dark? It was a country road, with a grassy verge and no kerb. He might not realize it was a road at all.

Anna rolled over and buried her face in the pillow to try to stop herself crying. But she couldn’t hold back the tears seeping out of the corners of her eyes.

Fred could get run over. What would she do if she never saw him again?

Fred stuck his muzzle out of the gap under the tree roots and sniffed cautiously. He’d never been out this late before. He wriggled out of his hiding place and shook himself. His legs felt strange, cramped up and wobbly. He walked slowly around in a little circle, sniffing for the scent trail back to the boat. He was jittery and upset, and it seemed harder to find a scent than it usually was. But at last he found it and began to trot back through the wood.

He wriggled under the fence and came back out on to the canal bank. He could see the boat, looming up out of the canal like a darker patch of shadow. Fred slunk across the grass towards it, not sure what to do. The boat was quiet and all the lights were out. Everyone was asleep, perhaps. They might shout at him again if he woke them up. He went up closer, standing on the edge of the bank, his ears twitching as he tried to listen for Anna.

Quietly, carefully, he jumped into the deck well at the bow of the boat. He could stay here till the morning, he thought. And Anna would see him when she woke up. But then he heard a shifting, creaking noise from inside, and paws padded over towards the door.

He had forgotten about Sunny.

There was a low, uncertain growl from the other side of the door and Fred backed away miserably, bumping up against the side of the boat.

He jumped back on to the bank, his paws scrabbling a little against the damp, slippery grass, and padded away. He needed Anna, but he couldn’t get to her without going past Sunny first. He would have to wait until morning, he decided wearily. All of him ached after the hours curled up in that uncomfortable hole. And he was so tired.

Fred wandered along the bank, sniffing at the other two boats on the mooring. He couldn’t smell any dogs on either of them. Cautiously, he put his paws up on the side of the hull of the last boat and looked in at the stern well. There was a canvas awning folded up, and he jumped lightly down into the boat, wriggling under it and curling up, fidgeting to settle his aching paws.

Then, at last, he fell asleep.