Timmy in Trouble

Chapter Three

A couple of days later, Katie was kneeling on the window seat in the living room, waiting for her dad to come home from work. As soon as she saw him walking down the road, she shot out of the front door and raced towards him.

“Hurry up, Dad, you’re so late! I’ve been waiting ages!”

Her dad looked at his watch. “It’s only six o’clock, Katie, that’s my normal time. Has your mum made a special dinner or something? What’s the rush?”

“Oh, well, it feels later,” Katie said excitedly. “We have to have dinner really quickly – we’re going to see some cocker spaniel puppies! Mum found out about them, the breeder only lives twenty minutes away!”

Luckily, Dad was as excited as she was, especially when he heard that Katie had seen pictures of the puppies on the breeder’s website, and one of them was brown and white, exactly like the one in Katie’s book. They both finished dinner ages before Mum and Jess, and Katie glared at Mum when she started making a cup of coffee afterwards.

“Mu-um!” she wailed. “We have to go! We said we’d be there by now!”

Jess was still slowly finishing her yoghurt, making each spoonful last, and Katie scowled at her, too. “You’re doing that on purpose!” she said accusingly. “You don’t even like yoghurt all that much, you don’t have to scrape the pot clean!”

“Go and put your coat on, Katie,” Mum said. “We’re obviously not going to get any peace until we go! Hurry up, Jess, you really are taking ages.”

Jess huffed, but put the pot in the bin and went to get her coat, too. She looked like she was about to have a spelling test, not going to see a litter of gorgeous puppies.

“What’s the matter?” Katie asked her in the back of the car. She was so excited about seeing the puppies, but Jess was sending out a black cloud of gloom right next to her. Katie couldn’t ignore it. “Are you jealous?” she whispered. “You’re being so grumpy.”

Jess looked like she might snap back, but then she sighed. “No. I’m just worried about Misty, that’s all.”

“She might like having a dog to make friends with,” Katie suggested hopefully.

But Jess looked doubtful. “We’ll see,” she murmured.

The puppies were just as lovely as Katie had imagined they would be. The breeder’s house had a conservatory at the back, which was being used as a puppy room. Katie could hear the puppies squeaking and yapping as soon as they got in the front door.

Mrs Jones, the breeder, laughed at Katie, who was hopping up and down with impatience as Mum and Dad followed her into the hall. “Come and see them,” she said, leading everyone through to the conservatory. The door was blocked off with a board at knee height to keep the puppies in their own space. They were tumbling around all over the room, while their mother watched them from a comfortable cushion.

Katie couldn’t see the little brown and white puppy she’d loved from the website. “There was one brown and white boy puppy in the photos. Has he gone already?” she asked anxiously.

Mrs Jones looked around the room. “Goodness, where has he gone? He’s the cheekiest of them all. Ah!” She smiled, and pointed. “Look! See that big cardboard tube?”

Katie nodded. The tube was wriggling, and as she watched, a little brown nose appeared at one end, followed by some stubby whiskers and a pair of sparkling dark-brown eyes. The brown and white puppy popped out of the tube and stared curiously at the visitors.

“Oh, he’s gorgeous!” Katie giggled.

“Do you want to go in and play with them?” Mrs Jones asked.

“Yes, please!” Katie said eagerly.

“Are they happy with strangers?” Dad asked.

“They’re quite friendly,” Mrs Jones replied.

“Well, remember to be really gentle, Katie,” said Dad.

Soon Katie’s whole family was sitting on the floor, with puppies sniffing and licking and climbing over them. Even Jess couldn’t resist the cuddly little things. There were only five puppies, but there seemed far more as they all wriggled and darted around so quickly. The brown and white puppy was definitely in charge – or at least he thought he was. Katie watched him hopefully. She really wanted to pick him up, but she didn’t want to scare him.

The puppy gave her an interested look. She smelled nice. Very friendly.

Katie gently held out the back of her hand for him to sniff, and he crept up to her, his tail wagging gently. He sniffed her fingers, then butted them lovingly with his nose.

“Your nose is cold,” Katie whispered. She ran her fingers over his silky, domed head. His fur was so soft.

The puppy closed his eyes blissfully, and rested his chin on Katie’s knee. That was very nice.

“He’s a beauty,” Dad murmured. “What do you think, Katie? Is this the one?”