The Secret Puppy

Chapter Four

Barney sat by the wire front of the pen, watching the door out to the yard. The top half of the stable door was open, and two of his brothers were dozing in a patch of warm sun, while the others played. But Barney didn’t want to leave his watch to join in. It was hard to tell when someone was going to open the door, because there were footsteps going past all the time, people wandering across the yard to the café and the craft workshops. But he was listening anyway, waiting for Daisy to come back.

She hadn’t been to see him for ages, and he didn’t understand why. Until a couple of days ago, she’d come to the puppy pen every day to cuddle him, or play games with all the puppies. But specially with him. She really loved him, he could tell from the way she looked at him.

It had all changed after they’d gone out for their walk in the yard. He didn’t know what had happened, but everything had gone wrong.

Barney slumped down by the fence, resting his head on his paws and watching the other puppies tumbling about, chasing after a rope toy. Suddenly, his ears twitched. There was a scuffling noise at the door. Was someone coming? Perhaps it was Daisy!

The door opened, and Barney sprang up, jumping at the wire and scrabbling at it with his paws.

It wasn’t Daisy after all – just Julie, with a man and a boy he hadn’t seen before. “Oh, that one’s excited!” the man said. As soon as he saw them, Barney dropped down, and stood gazing sadly out through the wire.

“He’s a very sweet puppy, very friendly,” Julie said, smiling. But as she opened the pen, Barney slunk away into the corner, leaving his brothers and sisters to be fussed over by the visitors.

“I think I saw his picture on the website!” The little boy pointed to Barney. “He’s the one with the floppy ear. Please can we have him?”

“Is he all right?” the dad asked, as his son crouched down to look at Barney. “He doesn’t look very friendly. Don’t get too close, Davey.”

Julie was frowning. “He’s usually very affectionate,” she murmured.

“Can I stroke him?” asked Davey.

Julie smiled. “Of course you can.”

But when Davey tried to stroke Barney, the puppy wriggled further into the corner of the pen.

“I don’t think he likes me,” Davey said sadly. Just then, one of Barney’s sisters rubbed her head against his knees, making him laugh. “But this puppy’s nice, Dad!” He sat down on the floor to make a fuss of her, and she climbed into his lap, licking his hands excitedly.

His dad laughed. “I think she’s chosen you, Davey.” He glanced over at Barney. “I hope the other puppy’s OK.”

Julie smiled. “I’m sure he’s just having an off-day,” she said. But she couldn’t help feeling surprised. This little one was usually so friendly – maybe he was missing Daisy? Daisy’s mum had explained that she thought Daisy was getting too attached to the puppies and it would be better if she didn’t spend so much time with them. Julie had agreed – but she hadn’t realized that this puppy had already bonded with Daisy, too.

Daisy’s mum did all she could to cheer her up, but she wasn’t having much success. Everything seemed to remind Daisy of Barney. She wouldn’t go back to see the puppies at all. She said it made her too sad. Her mum almost wished she hadn’t said anything, but then the end of the holiday would have been heart-breaking if she’d let Daisy go on falling in love with Barney.

“I’ve booked a treat for you today,” Mum told her, as she passed her the box of cornflakes on Wednesday morning. They were just about used to eating in folding camp chairs by now – it was a weird juggling act, trying to pour cereal and milk, and not tip the bowl into your lap. Dad said that if they came camping again, they’d need a folding table, too.

Daisy was pretty sure she didn’t want to come again. Even to a different campsite. It would remind her too much of Barney. Still, she was trying not to be a misery, and ruin the holiday for Mum and Dad and Oliver. “What is it?” she asked, making herself sound interested.

“Pony trekking!” Mum said, smiling. “I saw a leaflet in reception.”

“I don’t want to go horse-riding, Mum.” Oliver looked up from his cereal. “I said I’d go and play football with Liam and Tom.”

Mum frowned. “Which ones are Liam and Tom?”

“Mu-um!” Oliver sighed. “They’re in the red tent at the other end of our row.”

“Well, that’s good because I didn’t book the riding for you anyway.” Mum grinned at him. “I didn’t think it was your sort of thing. Daisy and I are going together.”

Daisy smiled at her. She knew how hard Mum was trying to make her happy. She did love horses, and she’d wanted to try riding for ages.

“Actually, we should finish up breakfast quickly,” Mum said, checking her watch. “We’re booked in for ten.”

The stables were about ten minutes’ drive from the campsite. Somehow, Daisy felt a bit better once they’d driven out of the Riverside gate. She was still really missing Barney – especially as she kept wondering if he was missing her too. But she could squash the sadness down inside her, and be just a little bit excited about going to the stables.

The pony trekking was brilliant. Daisy’s pony was a grey called Billy, who was very well-behaved. He also seemed to know the paths they were trekking down, so Daisy didn’t feel as if she had to worry about where they were going. Mum’s chestnut pony, Cracker, was a bit more of a handful. She kept trying to stop and eat mouthfuls of grass, which made Mum slide forwards. At one point Mum had had to hang on round Cracker’s neck to stop herself falling into a prickly-looking hedge!

Carly, the riding instructor, kept telling Mum to pull Cracker’s reins so that he would leave the grass alone. By the time they got back to the stables, Mum told Daisy that she thought she might have pulled her arms out of their sockets!

They helped to untack the ponies and rub them down, and they were just saying goodbye when Daisy gasped.

“What’s the matter?” Mum asked.

Daisy didn’t say anything. She was staring at a beautiful German shepherd, who was standing at the door to one of the stalls. A dark bay horse was leaning out, and it looked as if they were talking to each other.

“That’s Frankie,” Carly said. “He’s our stable dog. Isn’t he gorgeous? He goes on the rides sometimes too. He really loves Pepper, the bay horse over there. If Pepper’s out, he follows along.” She smiled at Daisy and her mum. “Actually, you’re staying at Riverside, aren’t you? That’s where he came from.”

Daisy tried to smile. “Really?” she whispered. Frankie was probably related to Barney somehow. “Can we go now?” she muttered to Mum.

Mum hugged her. “Course we can. Oh, Daisy. I’m really sorry…”

All the fun of the pony trek was swallowed up by how much Daisy was missing Barney. She was never going to see what he looked like when he was all grown up, like Frankie. She brushed her arm across her eyes to rub away her tears. Why was she being so stupid? She’d known all along they’d never be able to take Barney home. Mum and Dad hadn’t even said for definite that they could get a dog, just that they were going to talk about it. And Barney almost belonged to someone else anyway. But seeing gorgeous Frankie had made it all seem so much worse.

At least they only had two more days at the campsite. This was the worst holiday ever, Daisy thought miserably as she trudged back to the car. And only a few days ago, she’d thought it couldn’t get any better.