The Unwanted Puppy

Chapter Seven

“But I thought all dogs liked playing fetch? You mean they don’t even chase sticks?” Zoe’s dad sounded quite shocked, she thought. She grinned at him, shrugging. It was so exciting talking to him about Bernese dogs like this. It made it seem all the more possible that they might get another dog of their own soon. Even if it’s not Scout… a little voice said in the back of her mind. Zoe squashed it down again. Scout belonged to another family. He was Jack’s dog. She was going to have her own dog.

“That’s what this website said. I suppose chasing sticks might be different… I don’t know. It just said they think fetching is boring. I can see why, can’t you?”

“Mmmm. It really does sound as though they’re very intelligent.” Zoe’s dad glanced down at his watch. “We’d better walk a bit faster if we’re going to get to this dance class on time, Zoe. It’s almost ten!”

Zoe wasn’t listening. “Dad, look!” She grabbed his arm. “Look! Isn’t that Scout?”

“What? Oh, are they out for a walk?” Her dad looked up and down the street, obviously expecting to see Lauren or Ben.

“No, look, there behind that parked car. It is!”

Zoe stuffed her dancing bag into Dad’s arms and raced up the road. She was almost sure that the black and tan and white dog peering round the car was Scout, but he was all on his own. Lauren never let him off the lead, because he wasn’t reliable enough at coming back.

“Did you pull your lead out of her hand?” Zoe asked gently, stopping a little way from Scout and the car. He looked nervous and she didn’t want to scare him and make him run into the road. But he darted towards her, licking her hands and whining delightedly. “Hello! Oh, you’re such a lovely dog! But where’s Lauren, Scout? Where’s Jack?”

“Hello, boy,” her dad panted. “So it is you…” He crouched down to make a fuss over Scout, too. “Can you see Lauren or Ben, Zoe? Scout shouldn’t be out on the pavement like this.”

“I know,” said Zoe. “I thought he must have pulled his lead out of Lauren’s hand, but he hasn’t even got his lead on. Just his collar. And they don’t let him off the lead…”

“Ohhh… Have you gone walkabout?” Dad murmured to Scout, rubbing his ears. “Maybe he slipped out of their garden.”

“What are we going to do?” Zoe asked. “We ought to take him home, but I only know they live on the other side of the park. I think they go to the gate at the bottom of the hill.”

“Mmmm.” Dad looked thoughtful. “We could walk down that way; we might meet them coming to look for him. But then we’re not even sure if they know he’s gone… Oh! Dancing!” He looked at his watch again and made a face. “Zoe, it’s starting right now!”

“But taking Scout home is way more important,” Zoe said indignantly. “We can text Miss Julia. She won’t mind, Dad, honestly.”

“Mmmm. Well, I guess you’re right. We can’t just leave him here. Has he got a tag on that collar?”

“Yes, and there’s a phone number. We can call them.”

Dad sighed. “Except I haven’t got my phone with me. We’ll have to take him home and do it.” He unzipped Zoe’s dance bag. “Do you think we could tie your ballet tights through his collar? I don’t want to risk him running out into the road.”

Zoe laughed. “Yes, but we’d better not tell Mum. She said those tights were really expensive.”

Carefully, she looped the tights through Scout’s collar and turned to lead him gently back towards their house. “Come on, Scout…” She wasn’t sure if he’d want to follow her – after all, he didn’t know her that well and he wasn’t used to going in this direction. But he padded along beside her quite happily, every now and then looking up at her, as if to check that she was still there.

“He’s walking very well,” Dad said. “Not pulling at all. I was a bit worried he’d be too strong for you, but he’s being very calm.”

“He’s gorgeous,” Zoe said with a tiny sigh. She wished it was a longer walk home. As soon as they called the mobile number on his collar, Lauren or Ben would come and pick up Scout, and it was so lovely pretending that he was hers and they were just out for a weekend stroll.

She led Scout into their driveway and Dad unlocked the front door to let them in. Zoe’s mum obviously heard them from the kitchen. “Was dancing cancelled?” she called.

“No…” Zoe called back. “We found Scout! He’s run off, Mum. We’ve got to call Lauren to come and get him.” Quickly, she whisked her dancing tights off Scout’s collar and stuffed them back into the bag. Her dad winked at her.

“Oh, my goodness…” Her mum appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Hello, sweetheart! What were you doing, running about on your own? Thank goodness you two found him before he went into a road,” she added.

“I know. I didn’t have my phone though.” Zoe’s dad walked into the kitchen and picked it up from the counter. “There’s a mobile number on his collar tag.” He crouched down beside Scout, trying to read the tag and tap in the number while Scout licked his chin and tried to climb on top of him. “You daft dog… Oh… It’s not ringing. It says that number’s not in use.”

Zoe’s mum frowned anxiously at Scout, who’d followed Zoe into the kitchen. “Hmm… I suppose Jack’s dad has just changed jobs. Maybe that was an old work phone. Now what are we going to do?”

“We could call school,” Zoe suggested, almost reluctantly. She didn’t really want to help find a way to give Scout back. But Jack must be so worried about him. She could imagine how she would have felt, if it were Honey.

“That’s a good idea, sweetie, but I don’t think anyone’s in on Saturdays.” Mum sighed. “Oh! Are you hungry, puppy?”

Scout was sniffing hopefully at the edge of the table. He could obviously smell Zoe’s mum’s half-eaten piece of toast.

Zoe’s mum eyed it, and then the dog. “No… I’d better not send you home with bad habits. I bet you’re not allowed to eat from the table.” She went to the big kitchen cupboard and dug around in the back of it. “I thought so. I tried to throw it away a couple of times but it made me so sad…” She held up a bag of Honey’s food.

Scout bounced and woofed excitedly as he heard the dog biscuits rattling in their bag, and he practically danced when Zoe’s dad found Honey’s old bowl and they poured in a large helping. “After all,” Zoe’s mum murmured, “we don’t know when he got out. He might not have had breakfast.”

“He doesn’t look like he did,” Zoe said, giggling as Scout wolfed down the biscuits. “Here, you’d better have some water, too.”

Scout finished the food and licked thoroughly round the bowl, obviously trying to make sure he hadn’t missed any. Then he had a huge drink of water and sighed happily.

“He’s so lovely,” Zoe said, as he came to nuzzle against her knees and began to lick her fingers. “If we can’t find out their number, can we keep him until school on Monday?” For a tiny moment she imagined keeping him forever – not telling Lauren and her family that they’d found him. But she knew it was only a silly daydream. “I bet they’re really missing you,” she murmured to Scout.

“I’ve just realized something!” Mum brightened up. “He must be microchipped, mustn’t he? It’s the law. So all we need to do is nip down to the vet’s and get them to scan him – they’ll have his address on the computer.”

“Oh yes.” Zoe stared down at her feet. Of course, that was the sensible thing to do…