The Lost Puppy Read online

  For Max, and for Georgie Dog

  For more information about Holly Webb visit: www.holly-webb.com

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  About the Author

  Other titles by Holly Webb:

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  “Ruby! Happy Birthday!” Auntie Nell rushed down the garden path to hug Ruby, with Maisie the dachshund galloping after her.

  “Hey, Maisie, where are the puppies?” Ruby asked. Ever since Maisie had her puppies, she’d been curled up in her pen in the kitchen with them, as though she didn’t dare let them out of her sight.

  Auntie Nell shook her head. “I think she’s getting a bit fed up with them now they’re so much bigger. They spend all their time climbing over her, and nipping each other’s ears, or Maisie’s. They can’t get over the board we’ve got across the kitchen door, but their mum can, and she’s left them behind to have a bit of a break.”

  “Can we go and see them?” Ruby asked. She’d always loved playing with Maisie, but the puppies were even more gorgeous than their mum, and she hadn’t seen them for a week. She was sure they’d have changed. They were eleven weeks old now, but they still seemed to be growing so fast she could almost see it happening.

  “Puppies!” her three-year-old sister Anya demanded, stomping up the garden path. She loved the puppies as much as Ruby did. Ruby actually wondered if sometimes Anya thought she was a puppy. She curled up in their basket almost every time they came to visit Auntie Nell. Once she’d even tried their puppy food, but luckily she hadn’t liked it.

  “And hello to you too, Anya.” Auntie Nell grinned, as Anya hurried past her into the house. Ruby chased after her little sister – if she wasn’t quick she’d probably find Anya sitting in the water bowl.

  “So are you having a good birthday?” Auntie Nell asked. “Does it feel odd that you’ve already had your party?” Ruby had shared her birthday party with her best friend Beth the previous weekend. Beth was two weeks older than Ruby, so they’d split the difference.

  “No, it’s great!” Ruby beamed at her. “It feels like I’m having two birthdays!”

  “Well, I’ve got a present for you, in the house.” Auntie Nell was looking a bit smug and secretive, Ruby realized. She started to feel excited about the present. She looked round at her mum and dad, wondering if they knew what it was. Mum had exactly the same expression on her face as Auntie Nell, which Ruby supposed wasn’t that strange, as they were sisters.

  “What is it?” she asked curiously.

  “Why don’t you come and see the puppies before you open your present?” Auntie Nell suggested. “Otherwise we’ll find them all nibbling Anya’s toes. It’s nearly their lunchtime.”

  The puppies were still having lots of small meals. “Is it porridge?” Ruby asked hopefully, as they went through to the kitchen. The last time they’d visited, the puppies had eaten milky porridge, and all of them had dangled their big ears in the bowl – and came out with porridge-crusted ears afterwards. It was really funny!

  Auntie Nell laughed. “No, sorry, it’s just biscuits. Very boring. But they like them. Now they’re old enough for their new homes, I’m weaning them off the milky stuff.”

  “Are they really big enough to leave Maisie?” Ruby asked, peering round the kitchen door at the seething mass of brown and black puppies wriggling around in their pen. Maisie hopped elegantly over the board in the doorway, and headed back to her babies. The puppies saw her coming and flung themselves out of the pen, then scampered across the floor to their mum. Ruby giggled. She was sure that she saw Maisie duck her head and dig her paws in as she was hit by a wave of puppies.

  Auntie Nell nodded. “A couple of people have come to see them already.”

  “Six babies,” Ruby murmured to Dad, as she crouched down to get closer to the pups. “You always say me and Anya are enough!”

  Dad nodded. “Quite enough!”

  “I think she’ll miss them when they’re gone,” Auntie Nell said. “But right now I don’t think she’s going to mind that much. And I am keeping one puppy.”

  “Oh, which one?” Ruby asked, crossing her fingers behind her back.

  “The little black girl puppy. I’m calling her Millie. She gets on well with Maisie, I think. And I like the names both beginning with ‘M’.”

  Ruby nodded, a little sadly. She had been hoping that Auntie Nell would keep her favourite puppy, the gorgeous boy with the black back and russety-orange paws. He’d spotted her coming in, and now he trotted over to her eagerly. In her head, she’d named him Toby, although she hadn’t told anyone. There was no point naming him really, as he would be going off to live somewhere else, horribly soon. But Ruby hadn’t been able to help it. Toby was just the perfect name for him.

  He was such a funny little dog, always bouncing about. Ruby rolled a jingly ball across the kitchen floor for him, and he skidded after it eagerly, his paws slipping around on the tiles. He was dashing after it so fast that he overshot, and had to screech to a halt and snatch it out of Millie’s paws. His sister growled at him crossly, and stomped away.

  Toby picked up the ball in his sharp little teeth, and marched triumphantly back to Ruby, his ears swinging jauntily. Then he dropped it at her feet, wagging his tail and nosing it towards her, asking her to do it again.

  Ruby stroked his glossy fur. “Oh, you’re so gorgeous.”

  Anya, who had been lying on the kitchen floor so as to be on the same level with the puppies, wriggled her way over to Ruby and Toby, and nuzzled him, nose to nose. Toby looked slightly shocked, but he nuzzled her too, and then licked her generously all down one cheek.

  Anya squealed with delight, and was about to lick him back when Mum grabbed her. “No licking the puppies!”

  Mum glanced worriedly at Dad, but he was laughing.

  “It’ll be fine,” he told her.

  Ruby frowned at them. What did they mean? She was sure Toby licking Anya just once wouldn’t do her any harm.

  “Why don’t you pick him up?” Auntie Nell asked her. “He won’t mind.”

  Ruby gently slipped her hands under Toby’s smooth tummy, and snuggled him against her. He had climbed into her lap before, but she had never actually picked him up properly. He was so good to cuddle. She sighed quietly as she rubbed her cheek against his warm head, wondering if this was the last time she would see him.

  Toby sighed too, but happily. He dug his nose under the shoulder of Ruby’s jumper, which made her giggle and squirm, then he scrabbled his claws against the fabric lovingly.

  Auntie Nell smiled at her. “So, do you like your present?”

  Ruby looked up, confused.

  Dad laughed, and Mum smiled at her, then eyed Toby meaningfully.

  “Toby? The puppy, I mean?” Ruby stared at them all, her mouth falling open in surprise.

  “I told you she’d already named him!” Auntie Nell said. “He’s always been the one Ruby liked best. A lady wanted to choose him yesterday, Ruby, but I told her he was reserved for you!”

  “You’re giving me Toby for my birthday?” Ruby sounded dazed. “Can we take him home?” she added hopefully. “Or is he mine but at your house?” Mum and Dad had always said no to a dog before, because Anya was too young. She looked up at them uncertainly. “You said not while Anya was little…”

  “But he’s not going to get big enough to knock Anya over, is he?” Dad pointed out. Toby was a miniature dachshund – he’d never be bigger than about thirty centimetres tall. �
�And yes, he’s coming home with us. Mum and I have decided you’re both old enough now. He’ll be yours mostly, Ruby, but Anya’s allowed to cuddle him too, OK?”

  Ruby nodded. She didn’t mind sharing at all. She was still gobsmacked that they were actually getting their own dog! “Are we taking him home today?” she asked Auntie Nell.

  “Absolutely. But you have to eat lunch first. And I made you another birthday cake!”

  “Oh wow! Oh, I have to call Beth and tell her we’re really getting a dog,” Ruby whispered. But then she looked worried. “Don’t we need stuff? A basket … and bowls … and … loads of things…”

  Auntie Nell held up one finger. “Just a moment.” She disappeared into the utility room, and came back out with a huge cardboard box. “One perfect puppy parcel. This is your present from me, Ruby. Toby is from your mum and dad, so I said I would give you all the things you’d need to look after him properly.” She dumped the box down in front of Ruby. “It’s heavy!”

  Toby wriggled in Ruby’s arms, curious to see what was in such a huge box. Ruby laughed. “I think you and Anya are going to be fighting over it,” she told him. “Anya loves boxes.” She hugged Toby gently. It was still hard to believe he was really hers!

  Chapter Two

  Toby travelled the twenty-minute journey to Ruby’s house in a special cardboard box with flaps and a handle on top, which Auntie Nell had given them. But Mum had said that Ruby could get him out as soon as the car pulled up at the house.

  When Ruby opened the flaps, Toby was squashed into the corner of the box with his special blanket in his teeth, looking very worried. He really didn’t understand what was happening, and he didn’t like all the lurching about. The box smelled strange too, sort of new and biscuity. He was glad he had the blanket, which smelled of home, and the other puppies, and his mum. But he dropped it when he saw Ruby and wagged his tail, just a little. He didn’t stir out of his corner though.

  “Hey, Toby…” Ruby whispered. “Are you OK? Was it scary being in the car?”

  Toby edged closer to her and stood with his front paws on the side of the box, looking up at her hopefully. He didn’t like it in here. He wanted to be stroked and fussed over. And fed. He was starving.

  Ruby laughed as she picked him up and he nibbled at her jacket. “Are you hungry? Auntie Nell didn’t want to feed you before we drove home – she said you might be sick. And she thought it would be good to feed you here, you see. Then you’ll have good first memories of being with us. In your new home!”

  Toby barked – a sharp, demanding, “Feed me!” bark. He was sure he knew what Ruby was talking about. Auntie Nell always talked to the puppies. Shall we feed you now, hmm? That was what she said when she was getting the yummy biscuits out.

  “Come on then!” Ruby followed Mum inside, and Dad staggered after them with the huge box, while Anya danced around them, singing a little dog-song she’d made up.

  “We’ve got to do a bit of unpacking and then you’ll get your dinner,” Ruby explained to Toby, as she put him down gently on the kitchen floor. “Your bowls are in here, and a big bag of the food you like.”

  But Toby was distracted from food for a moment, as he looked around the kitchen. Dad quickly closed the door. “We’ve got to keep him in here for a few days, remember,” he told Ruby. “Auntie Nell said to get him used to one room first.”

  “And it’s tiles in here,” Mum added. “So we can wipe up if he makes any puddles. I know Auntie Nell’s started house-training him, but he’s bound to be a bit confused, and he might forget he has to go out to wee. We’d better put some newspaper down too, just in case.”

  Ruby carefully unpacked the box, admiring the cute bowls Auntie Nell had got, with little bones painted on them, and the soft red padded basket.

  “Look! There’s a collar and lead!”

  “Oh yes. We’ll have to get a tag with our phone number put on that.” Dad nodded. “Here’s the food, shall I open it, Ruby? Then you can give him some.”

  Ruby carefully used the measuring cup to fill the bowl with food – Auntie Nell had explained about measuring out the right amount of puppy biscuits for Toby’s size. As she put it down, Toby immediately stopped sniffing his way along the kitchen units, and raced for the food bowl like some sort of trained sniffer dog. He gulped down the biscuits in huge mouthfuls, licking all the way round the bowl in case he’d missed some. Then he had a long drink of water.

  “His tummy’s nearly touching the ground!” Ruby pointed out. It was true. Toby’s little dachshund legs meant he wasn’t that high off the ground anyway, and now his stomach looked like a small balloon underneath him. He gave a huge yawn, licked round his mouth again, and then looked around for somewhere to collapse and sleep off his enormous tea. He stomped over to his basket, where Ruby had put the special blanket Auntie Nell had given them. She’d explained that it had been in the pen with Maisie and the puppies for the last few days, so that Toby would have something that smelled familiar.

  “Oh, Anya!” Mum sighed.

  Toby’s new bed was already occupied. Anya was curled up in the soft basket, fast asleep. Toby looked at her doubtfully, and then turned to look up at Ruby, with his ears hitched up just a little in a, Well, what am I supposed to do about this, then? sort of way.

  Mum gently lifted Anya out of the basket, but Toby clearly wasn’t sure about it now. He stood at Ruby’s feet, staring up at her pleadingly, and she knelt down next to him. Toby gave a little sigh of relief and heaved himself on to her lap, scrabbling round her knees a couple of times, and then slumping down in a heap – fast asleep.

  Toby settled into his new home very quickly. And he was growing up, too. He was still small – he was never going to be a big dog – but over the next couple of weeks he stopped sleeping so much, and became more and more adventurous – and a bit naughty. He loved playing in the garden with Ruby and Anya, especially rootling through the flowerbeds. Then he would trot happily back to the girls, covered in leaves and bits of twig, and shake himself all over them.

  He was also terribly nosy. As soon as he was allowed out of the kitchen, after the first couple of days, he investigated the entire house. Every time Ruby wasn’t watching he would manage to find himself another secret hiding place, which he would get stuck in. Then he’d howl so she had to come and rescue him. Ruby didn’t understand how he actually managed to find half the spots, let alone climb into them. When he got trapped behind the washing machine Dad had to pull it right out from the wall for Toby to escape.

  For a dog with such short legs, he was a very good climber, although he was much better at climbing up than down. That never stopped him, though.

  About a week after they’d got Toby, Ruby let him out into the garden on his own for the first time. Up until now she’d always gone with him, but he needed a wee, and she was helping Mum do some cooking.

  Ruby had just set the oven timer for the chocolate chip cookies they were baking, when she realized he was still outside. She looked out of the kitchen window, but she couldn’t see him.

  “Maybe he’s sitting by the door, waiting to come in,” Mum suggested.

  But he wasn’t. Feeling worried, Ruby ran outside, hoping that Toby hadn’t found a gap under the fence. She and Dad had gone all the way round the garden checking it for holes when they’d first brought him home, but what if they’d missed one?

  She raced down the garden, calling anxiously. “Toby! Toby!”

  Mum stood on the patio, carrying Anya, and peered into the flowerbeds.

  Suddenly, Anya laughed and pointed, and Ruby heard a worried little whine somewhere up above her.

  “Toby! How did you get up there?”

  He was standing in the doorway of Ruby’s treehouse, staring down uncertainly. The treehouse had been Ruby’s birthday present the year before, and it had clever steps built round the tree trunk. Obviously Toby had managed to scramble up, but he wasn’t so sure about getting down again.

  “Oh, Toby! You aren’t sup
posed to go climbing!” Dachshunds’ long backs meant stairs weren’t good for them – Ruby was amazed that he had even managed to get up the steps. She reached for Toby, and he wriggled into her arms gratefully so she could carry him down. Then he ran all around the garden twice, as though he liked the feel of solid ground under his paws.

  Getting stuck in the treehouse didn’t teach Toby to be any more cautious, as Ruby had hoped it might. He was still only a very little dog, but he seemed to think he was enormous, and he had no fear at all.

  A few weeks after they had brought him home, once he had had all his vaccinations and been microchipped, Toby was ready to go out for his first walk.

  Ruby fetched his beautiful blue lead. They were taking Toby to the park – and she knew he would love it!

  “Toby, keep still!” She was trying to clip the lead on to his collar, but Toby kept wriggling. He’d never worn the lead before, but somehow he knew it meant something exciting.

  “Let me check your collar too…” Ruby whispered. Auntie Nell had told her that it was important to fit his collar properly – not so loose it would slip off, but not so tight it would rub. She was supposed to be able to put her finger between Toby’s neck and the collar. “I’ll open it up one more hole, it’s a bit tight on you. Toby, stop jumping!” She giggled as he wriggled again and licked her nose.

  Ruby was a bit worried that Toby would be nervous as they walked to the park – especially with the noisy cars speeding past. But he bounced along happily, sniffing everything they passed. His claws clicked busily on the pavement as he scurried from side to side, occasionally darting behind Ruby as he caught another interesting whiff. Ruby kept having to stop and unwind the lead from around her ankles.