The Secret Puppy Page 2

  The puppy stalked over, his tail wagging from side to side. He hoped that the bird would come down, so he could get a better look. The blackbird stared back, its head on one side, but it showed no sign of coming any closer. The puppy crept towards the bird, and then made a mad little dash up to the wall, jumping and scrabbling at the bricks and barking hopefully. The blackbird fluttered its wings in fright, squawked and flew away.

  “I think you have to sneak up on them a bit more to catch them,” Daisy said behind him. At the sound of her voice, the puppy forgot about the blackbird, and raced over to her, his tail wagging madly. He planted his fat front paws on her knees, and did his best to lick her face all over.

  “Hello there!” Daisy smiled. They were nearly a week through their holiday, and she had visited the puppies every day so far. Oliver had been off doing canoeing and raft-building on the river, but although Daisy had gone to a couple of the craft sessions, she by far preferred playing with the puppies.

  Daisy’s dad had come to find her the day before, and he’d apologized to Julie for Daisy hanging around the puppy pen all the time.

  “Not at all – it’s great to have someone else to play with the puppies,” Julie had explained. “Most of them are going to family homes, so they need to get used to being around children. Daisy’s helping me out! And the puppies love her. She’s very patient.”

  Daisy glowed when Julie said that. She really wanted Mum and Dad to think of her as someone who was good with dogs – someone who could be helpful if they got a dog. But most of all she was pleased that Julie thought the puppies liked her. Especially her favourite puppy, the one with the flop-over ear. When no one was listening, Daisy had secretly named him Barney. It seemed to suit him – it sounded cheeky and matched the clever glint in his eyes. She did play with the other puppies too, but Barney always came over to her and if she sat down in the pen, he would snuggle up with his nose on her lap. He’d even fallen asleep like that a couple of times.

  Lucy, the puppies’ mother, wasn’t in the pen with them today. She still spent a lot of time with the puppies, but as they were completely weaned from her milk and eating puppy food she liked a bit of time off now and then. Julie said that all she did when she wasn’t with the puppies was flake out in her basket, next to her sister Sally, looking exhausted. Occasionally she’d get up to have a big drink of water. Daisy thought she must be grateful to do this without three or four puppies coming to see what she was doing and then joining in and splashing her.

  That morning, Daisy and Oliver had gone for a walk with Dad down to the nearest village, as they both had some holiday money to spend. Oliver had bought a water pistol, and Daisy had spent some of her money on a pack of puppy treats. It was bulging in her shorts’ pocket now. She’d asked Julie if it was OK to give them to the puppies, and she had said it was fine, as long as it was only a few at a time.

  Just then, Julie came up to the door of the pen. “I was thinking, Daisy, if you like, you could take one of the puppies out for a little walk round the yard for me,” she suggested. “I need them to get used to seeing lots of people, and walking on a lead too. They’ll all be going to obedience classes as soon as they get to their new homes, and it’ll be good if the lead isn’t a complete surprise.”

  Daisy nodded. That would be amazing – like having her very own dog! “Which puppy do you want me to take?” she asked, hoping it would be Barney.

  “You can choose, as long as I know who’ve you’ve taken – that way I can make sure they all get a turn. Don’t take them out of the yard, though, and only walk them for a few minutes. They need to start small and build up.”

  Daisy glanced at Barney. She was sure he would love the yard. He was such a curious little dog. Maybe people would think he belonged to her, she thought. He could be her secret puppy, just for a short while.

  Julie gave her a collar and a lead to put on Barney, and showed her how to fasten it so that it would stay on, without being too tight.

  Barney wriggled and whined with excitement as Daisy tried to put the collar on him. He wasn’t really sure what was happening, but it was definitely new and different. And Daisy was there. He loved it when she came to play with him. She would spend ages rolling a ball back and forth for him to chase, or stroking his ears.

  Eventually Daisy managed to get the lead on him, and she led Barney out of the pen, and then out of the door on to the yard, with the puppy waltzing joyfully around her feet. “Careful, Barney!” Daisy laughed. “You’re going to trip me up.” She glanced round to check that Julie wasn’t listening. She didn’t want her to know that she’d named the puppy – he wasn’t hers to name, after all. “We’re going on our first walk!”

  Barney stared at the people in the farmyard, eating ice creams from the shop, visiting the piglets in their stall, or stroking the two shire horses. Children were running around, laughing and shouting. He’d never seen so many people at once. He was used to Julie and the occasional visitor, but that was all. He stopped frisking about and twitched his tail in a nervous sort of wag.

  Daisy crouched down next to him. “It’s OK, Barney. I know it’s a bit scary. Let’s just go round the edge of the yard a bit…” She coaxed him along, being careful not to pull on the lead, until they reached a bench. She sat down, snuggling Barney up against her knees. She wished she could pick him up and have him on her lap, but Julie had told her that the puppies weren’t allowed on the furniture when they went in the farmhouse, because they were going to be just too big when they were older. So she thought it was probably best if he didn’t go on benches either. But she could still cuddle him. And give him a reward, she suddenly remembered!

  Daisy pulled the foil pack of treats out of her pocket and tore it open, shaking a few into her hand. “Here, Barney!” She held them out to him.

  Barney sniffed the delicious treats and glanced round. He’d been staring worriedly at the horse that was leaning its head out of its stall and watching him. It was enormous! But the treats smelled so good, he soon forgot to worry. He crunched them happily, and Daisy giggled as his soft, whiskery nose nuzzled against her hand, followed by a wet, velvety tongue – Barney was making sure he hadn’t missed any crumbs.

  Daisy sat there enjoying the sunshine, and the admiring glances from the people passing by. She knew she ought to take Barney back and give one of the other puppies a turn, like Julie had said. But not just yet…

  “Daisy!”

  Daisy jumped. She hadn’t noticed her mum standing beside the bench. She smiled. “Hi, Mum! I didn’t see you.”

  “I was coming to check if you wanted to go to the craft session this afternoon – they’re making friendship bracelets. I thought you might like to take some home for Millie and Eva.”

  “OK.” Daisy nodded. “That sounds fun. Thanks.” She looked sideways at her mum, feeling slightly worried. Why was she frowning like that?

  “Daisy, this is the same puppy again, isn’t it?” Her mum sat down next to her, and gently rubbed Barney’s flop-over ear. He panted happily, enjoying the attention.

  “The same as what…?” Daisy said, stalling. She was pretty sure she knew what her mum meant, but she didn’t know why it mattered.

  “The one with the floppy ear – the one you’re always playing with.”

  “Yes… But Julie asked me to take him out and show him the yard. It’s to get him used to being on a lead.”

  “And did she say you could give him the treats too?” Mum asked her.

  “Yes! You know I wouldn’t feed him anything without asking!” Daisy protested.

  “Mmm. But I don’t think Julie would’ve meant you should give treats just to this puppy. Have you taken any of the others out like this?”

  “No, but…” Daisy trailed off.

  “Daisy, if you fall in love with this puppy, what’s it going to be like when we go home? We’ve got less than a week here now, sweetheart. I don’t want you to be sad when you have to leave him.” Mum sighed. “And actually, it’s n
ot very fair on him either.”

  Daisy looked up in surprise. “What do you mean? Barney really likes me! He looks forward to seeing me, I know he does!”

  “Exactly. Dogs get very attached to people, Daisy. Next Saturday he’ll be waiting for you to come and see him, and you’ll be on your way home!”

  Daisy’s eyes filled with tears. She’d known she was really going to miss Barney, but she’d been trying not to think about it. He was her holiday dog – her secret, special puppy, just for these few days.

  But she hadn’t thought about how he was going to feel when she’d gone.

  “You’ve even named him, haven’t you?” her mum said. “You called him Barney just then. Julie said she tried not to name the puppies.”

  “I didn’t mean to…” Daisy said quietly.

  “I think you need to stop spending so much time with him,” her mum told her gently. “He’ll be going to his new owners soon. He needs to love them, Daisy. Not you.”

  Daisy nodded slowly. Mum was right. She’d have to play with all the puppies, not just Barney, so that he didn’t think he was her special one… Daisy sniffed. She couldn’t do it, she knew she couldn’t. He was special!

  She’d just have to stop seeing the puppies altogether.

  She stood up, and Barney followed her, his ears twitching anxiously. Something was wrong. Daisy’s voice had changed, and her eyes looked all shiny. He whimpered, and Daisy patted him, but not the way she usually did. It was almost as though she didn’t want to touch him any more. Barney laid his ears back, and looked up at her worriedly. But Daisy wasn’t looking at him.

  “I’ll take him back,” she whispered. “Sorry, Barney…”

  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.

  By the next day, Barney was sick of waiting by the front of the pen. Why had Daisy stopped coming to see him? What if there was something wrong? He prowled around the run all day, sniffing the edges of the pen and trying to find a way out. He needed to go and find Daisy. He was sure she was still somewhere close.

  Barney hardly ate any of the meals that Julie gave him. As usual, she brought the puppies their last meal of the day through from the farmhouse at about nine. As she put the bowls down in the pen, Barney didn’t race over like the others. He just went on sniffing carefully at the wire.