Playtime for Rascal

  For Tom ~ H .W .

  For Fi and Morris ~ K .P .

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  About the Author

  Copyright

  “Go on, Ellie! Chase it!” Max shouted. “Just jump up and grab the Frisbee!”

  Ellie did her best, racing across the grass, but Max had thrown the bright yellow Frisbee as hard as he could, and it was curving round. She looked behind her anxiously, trying to see where it would land.

  “Wrong way!” Lila yelled, starting to dash after the Frisbee too. “Ellie, you can get it if you run!”

  Ellie could hear Max behind her, muttering about how useless she was, and her cheeks went pink. Why did her older brother and sister have to be so sporty? Max took it all so seriously too, when it was only meant to be fun!

  Then she started to giggle. Rascal, her Jack Russell puppy, was galloping after the Frisbee too.

  He launched himself into the air and grabbed the Frisbee in his jaws, while he was half a metre off the ground. He landed on all four paws, looking very pleased with himself.

  “Wow, Ellie, your dog’s a lot better at catching than you,” Max teased. “Here, Rascal, give it up, boy.”

  Rascal looked up at Max, the Frisbee hanging out of his mouth. It was almost as big as he was, and his shiny black eyes sparkled over the top of it. He shook his head wildly, swinging the Frisbee back and forth.

  “I think he might be trying to kill your Frisbee, Max.” Lila giggled.

  Max bent down and grasped the Frisbee – but Rascal came with it, hanging on by his teeth.

  “Put him down, Max, you’ll hurt his mouth!” Ellie cried. “Rascal, come on, let’s play some more. Give it to me!”

  Back on the ground, Rascal eyed Ellie thoughtfully, and spat out the Frisbee into her hand. Then he stood there wagging his tail hopefully and staring up at them.

  Max grinned. “OK, Rascal, this one’s for you, boy!” He flicked his wrist, sending the Frisbee curving out over the grass. Rascal hurled himself after it. He managed to grab it just as it was about to hit the ground, and then scampered back, dragging it along behind him in his teeth.

  “He’s so good!” Lila said, and Ellie glowed with pride. Her older brother and sister loved Rascal, but they spent a lot of time moaning about how naughty he was. Rascal was a monster for chewing things, shoes especially.

  “That was excellent,” Max said, as Rascal trotted off, the Frisbee still in his mouth. “We just need to explain to Rascal that he’s supposed to give the Frisbee back…”

  Ellie told her best friend Christy all about the Frisbee session at school on Monday. “Have you ever tried playing Frisbee with Bouncer?” she asked. Bouncer was Christy’s gorgeous Labrador.

  Christy looked thoughtful. “He’s ace at fetching, but he only really likes chasing sticks.”

  “It was really funny.” Ellie laughed. “Rascal turned himself right over in the air to get one catch.” She put her chin on her hands. “It stopped Max and Lila moaning about how bad I was at catching it, anyway. I wish I was better at sporty things!”

  Christy shook her head. “You can’t be good at everything, Ellie! You’re an arty person.”

  Mrs Harley finished the register. “Now for some exciting news, everybody. Mr Turner’s just been telling all the staff about Sports Day!”

  Ellie stared at Mrs Harley in horror. Sports Day! She’d almost forgotten it would be that time of year soon. “Oh, no…” she murmured.

  Christy put her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. “Sorry!” she whispered. “But it is funny that you’ve just been saying how much you hate sporty stuff!”

  “So over this week and next week, we’ll be doing lots of Sports Day practice,” Mrs Harley went on. “And this year, with the Olympics coming up soon, we’ve got a special project too!”

  Ellie looked up at their teacher anxiously. Not more sporty things?

  “I’d like you to create something really special round the theme of the Olympics. It could be a piece of writing, a painting, some music – whatever you like.”

  Christy stuck her hand in the air. “Mrs Harley, can we do it together?”

  Mrs Harley nodded. “No more than three in a group though, please. And your project needs to be handed in next Thursday, the day before Sports Day. Then Mr Turner will pick the best one from each year, and they’ll be on display at Sports Day.”

  Ellie looked at her friend hopefully. At least Christy was sporty! If they did their project together, it might not be so bad… It was just a shame they couldn’t team up for Sports Day!

  Mum brought Rascal with her when she came to pick up Ellie. Max was staying for football and getting a lift later, and Christy was coming home with them for tea.

  “We can start on the project!” Christy said excitedly.

  Ellie pulled a face.

  “What’s the matter?” Mum asked. “What sort of project is it?”

  “A sporty one.” Ellie sighed. “Because it’s going to be Sports Day at the end of next week. We’ve got a note asking if you want to come and watch. You don’t, do you?”

  “Of course I do!” Mum gave her a sympathetic smile. “Are you really not looking forward to it?”

  Ellie shuddered. “You can watch Max. I don’t want anyone watching me come last at everything.”

  “You won’t!” Mum laughed.

  Ellie gave her a look. She had the year before – it had been awful.

  “But it isn’t really a sporty project,” Christy put in. “It just has to be about the Olympics. Maybe we could do a comic about it. I’ll write and you can draw.”

  Ellie nodded. “That sounds quite fun.”

  “Or we could make a model?”

  “Oooh, yes!” exclaimed Ellie.

  Rascal looked up, his tail wagging madly. The girls’ voices were making him feel jumpy and excited, and he suddenly shot off down the road, pulling Ellie along with him.

  Ellie raced behind him, panting, “Rascal, stop!” But he didn’t, not until they reached the corner, where there was a good lamp post to sniff. Then he looked up at her, his dark eyes glinting naughtily.

  “You can run really fast when you’ve got Rascal pulling you!” said Christy, as she caught Ellie up. “Maybe you should ask Mrs Harley if we can have a race with our dogs at Sports Day.”

  Ellie looked down at Rascal thoughtfully. She couldn’t see Mrs Harley agreeing to that, but perhaps Rascal could help her to practise. He was definitely better at running and catching things than she was!

  “So what kind of model shall we make?” Ellie asked, setting out her drawing things on her desk. She looked down at Christy, who was sitting on the floor, tickling Rascal.

  “You tell me!” said Christy. “I know it’s a sports project, but you’re the one that’s brilliant at making things.”

  “We could make the Olympic stadium in London,” Ellie suggested. “I’ve got some sheets of card; they were in this fab craft kit that Auntie Gemma gave me.”

  “That’s a great idea,” said Christy, jumping to her feet. “Let’s ask your mum if we can look up the stadium on the net.”

  A few minutes later, Christy and Ellie were staring at the computer screen in Ellie’s mum’s little office under the stairs.

  Christy wrinkled her nose. “You’re sure if we make a model of that it won’t just look like a huge doughnut?” she asked.

  Ellie shook her head. “Not if we p
aint it all silver.”

  “Your tea’s ready, girls!” Mum called from the kitchen.

  Max had just got home from football and was sitting at the table looking hungry, as the girls came in with Rascal trotting after them.

  “Heard about Sports Day?” he asked Ellie, smirking. He loved Sports Day, and usually won at least two races.

  Ellie went pink. “Yes,” she muttered. The look on Max’s face made her even more determined to practise with Rascal. She was going to try and win something this year! Or at least not be last…

  Lila wandered in reading a magazine. “Hello, Christy… Oh, have you got Sports Day, Ellie? They ought to do dancing and things as well, it’s totally unfair on people who don’t like running.”

  Ellie nodded. She definitely agreed.

  “Hey!” Christy squeaked, making Ellie jump. “Where did my sausage go?”

  Ellie leaned down to look under the table. Rascal looked back at her and gave a huge gulp, the last of Christy’s sausage disappearing swiftly between his white teeth. He eyed her guiltily.

  “Sorry, Christy! You can have mine, go on. How did he even get up there without us noticing?” Ellie asked.

  Lila shrugged. “He must have jumped on to Dad’s chair, and just popped his nose up and grabbed it. He’s a monster. Do you want some of my beans, Ellie, if Christy’s having your sausage?”

  “Yes, please.” Ellie peered back under the table. “Rascal, you’re a piglet!” Then she smiled to herself. He needed to keep his strength up for running!

  Back up in her room, while they were drawing a plan for their model Olympic stadium, Ellie told Christy her idea to practise for Sports Day with Rascal.

  “That’s a brilliant idea!” cried Christy. “Can me and Bouncer join in, too? We could all go to the park on Saturday.”

  “That would be fun,” Ellie replied. But secretly she planned to practise in her garden before Saturday as well, so as to make sure she didn’t disgrace herself.

  “What’s Ellie doing out there with Rascal?” Grandad asked, staring out of the kitchen window into the garden.

  Mum came over to look. “Oh! She’s preparing for Sports Day. She’s been practising with Rascal all week.”

  Out in the garden, Ellie and Rascal raced up to the lilac tree and back. As Ellie reached the patio, she looked up and spotted Grandad. She waved and trailed over to the kitchen door, Rascal trotting behind her. Even he looked tired.

  “Working hard for Sports Day then?” Grandad asked, as he gave her a hug.

  Ellie nodded. “I just want to get a bit faster. And we’ve been practising welly-throwing too – that’s one of the events.”

  “Don’t you get to practise at school?” Grandad asked.

  “Oh, yes!” Ellie went pink. “But at school I get really nervous because everyone’s watching, and that makes me even worse.”

  Grandad nodded. “I’m sure practising will help. But it’s not the end of the world if you don’t win, you know. I was never a very fast runner. I got better at it as I grew though. Perhaps when you get a bit taller, Ellie.”

  Ellie sighed. That was all very well, but she wasn’t going to get any taller by next Friday…

  “Anyway, I’ve got a present – look! A new lead for Rascal. It’s an extendable one, so you can go running in the park with him.”

  Ellie beamed and gave him a hug. “Thanks, Grandad! I’m going to the park with Christy tomorrow, we can try it out then.”

  “Rascal, stop pulling or I’ll drop everything!” Ellie was trying to hold Rascal, and carry all the stuff she’d brought for their Sports Day practice at the park. Of course, Rascal had chosen that moment to forget about walking to heel. It didn’t help that he was on his special new lead. It was very clever – the plastic handle had a lead inside that pulled out to eight metres long! Ellie was finding it a bit tricky though, because if she pressed the button by mistake it extended when she didn’t mean it to.

  “Here, I’ll take the water bottles.” Christy grabbed them just before they slipped out of Ellie’s arms.

  “Thanks! Oh, I’m glad we’re here,” Ellie said, as they went through the park gates. She put down the rest of her things and gazed round the park. Lots of people were doing sporty stuff. A couple of girls were rollerblading, and there was a man in luminous yellow trainers jogging along the path.

  Rascal growled quietly, and Ellie looked down at him. “What’s up, Rascal?”

  “I think it’s that jogger,” Christy whispered. “I don’t think Rascal likes his trainers!”

  Ellie crouched down to stroke Rascal and tell him it was OK, but Rascal wasn’t paying attention. His lips were lifting back from his teeth as he growled, making him look really fierce. As the jogger ran past them on the path, he suddenly barked loudly and shot after him. Ellie dropped the plastic handle of his lead, and then grabbed it again with a sigh of relief – but the button must have banged on the path, and the extending part started to unroll.

  “Oh, no!” Ellie gasped, as Rascal set off after the jogger and his trainers, barking wildly. “Rascal, come back,” she called out, chasing after him.

  The man looked round, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise. He started to run faster, but Rascal was gaining on him.

  Ellie was trailing behind them. Then she came to a stop, realizing that chasing Rascal just meant that he could chase the jogger! She set her feet firmly on the path, grabbed a handful of the extending lead, and tried to reel Rascal back in. Rascal yelped in surprise.

  The jogger put on a burst of speed and disappeared out of the park gates, casting a grumpy look at Ellie over his shoulder.

  “I’m so embarrassed!” Ellie hissed to Christy, as she joined her and Bouncer.

  Christy giggled. “It was definitely those trainers that caught his attention.”

  Rascal glared at the gate, as though he thought the jogger might come back.

  “Look at it this way,” Christy told Ellie. “You were running really fast!”

  Ellie sighed and stared out across the park. Just then, she spotted a boy whose dog was almost as big as he was. “Oh, look, Rascal, it’s Jack and Hugo!” She waved, and the boy waved back. Ellie turned to Christy. “That’s Jack, our friend from puppy-training. He’s the one with the Great Dane, look, over by the swings.”

  Christy’s mouth dropped open. “But that dog is huge! He can’t still be a puppy!”

  “Hi, Jack!” Ellie called, as Jack and Hugo loped over to them. “This is my best friend Christy, and her dog, Bouncer.”

  Hugo and Rascal sniffed each other in a friendly sort of way, and Bouncer eyed Hugo carefully. Bouncer probably wasn’t used to being the smaller dog, Ellie thought, but then anything was small compared to Hugo.

  “Hi, Christy.” Jack smiled, then looked at the welly in the girls’ pile of stuff. “Why have you only got one welly?” he asked. “Has Rascal been eating shoes again?”

  Ellie laughed. “No, we’ve come to the park to practise for our school Sports Day,” she explained. “One of the events is welly-throwing.” She didn’t add that welly-throwing was the one competition she thought she might have a chance to do well in. She didn’t find it easy to get the welly in quite the right place, but hopefully no one else would have practised as much as she was going to.

  “But Rascal is still mad on shoes,” she added. “Look.” She showed him the welly, which was chewed all round the top. “Mum says it still keeps the water out, so there’s no way she’s getting me new ones.”

  “You’re very keen, doing extra practice,” Jack said, and Ellie went pink.

  “Christy’s really good at sports, but I’m not,” she explained quickly. “I run lots faster when I’m chasing after Rascal, though.”

  Jack grinned. “Cool. You’ve got a secret weapon. Can I join in? I think our Sports Day’s later in the term, but it would be good to get ready.”

  Christy nodded. “Sure. We’re going to do a running race, a skipping race and a sack race too.” She pulled a bla
ck dustbin bag out of her rucksack. “I wanted to bring a pillowcase, but Mum said no, so this is the closest thing I could find to a sack.”

  Ellie took out a skipping rope from her bag. “We can use this to make the circle to throw the welly in,” she explained.

  Jack grinned. “You should have brought the other welly, to give Rascal something to chew on while he’s watching.”

  “Let’s start with running,” Christy suggested. “How about from here to that lamp post? That’s a hundred metres, ish.” Christy gave Ellie a stern look. “Stop looking so worried! Just pretend you’re out walking with Rascal and he’s seen a squirrel!”

  “OK.” Ellie nodded, and the three of them lined up. The dogs looked around excitedly, wondering what was going on.

  “Ready, steady, go!” Christy yelled, and she shot off really fast, Bouncer galloping beside her.

  “Come on, Rascal!” Ellie called, and Rascal gave a sharp yap and scampered after Bouncer. Hugo launched himself across the grass, and with his long legs he soon overtook Rascal, who went into a frenzy of barking. Then Hugo overtook Bouncer, too.

  Ellie reached the lamp post last, and sighed.

  “You weren’t last by much at all!” Christy said encouragingly, as the three of them sat down on the grass. “I wouldn’t have thought such a huge dog could run so fast, Jack. Hugo’s amazing!”

  Jack patted Hugo proudly, as the big dog lay down next to him, panting. “He is, isn’t he?”

  “But you should have seen Ellie running with Rascal earlier…” said Christy to Jack, giving Ellie a wink.