Max the Missing Puppy Page 4

  “Uuurgh, Lucky, no…” Jasmine gently pushed him away from the dead crab he’d found. “It’ll make you sick.”

  Lucky looked up at her reproachfully. But it smelled wonderful!

  Jasmine ran after him laughing as he darted about, but every so often a small, cold thought would surface. This is the last time. They were going home tomorrow, early, and when they took Lucky back to the vet’s later this morning, she would have to say goodbye. Unless, of course… Jasmine just couldn’t help feeling that Mum and Dad loved Lucky too. She glanced round, and saw them smiling at Lucky, who was squeaking as a wave came just a bit closer than he’d thought it would. Maybe in just a few more minutes it would be time to ask…

  Molly tramped slowly along the beach, a little way behind her mum and dad. Every so often she called for Max, but there was no hope in her voice any more. She was only doing it because if she didn’t, it meant she’d given up, and that meant she was never going to see him again. At least if she was still looking she could tell herself there was a chance.

  Her dad had stayed off work today so they could have a long weekend together, and he and Molly’s mum had been trying to cheer her up by suggesting a walk along the beach to Stambridge. Usually it was something she loved to do – it was exciting knowing that you were racing the tide, even though there were so many paths up the cliff that it wasn’t really dangerous. But today, all Molly could think about was that she’d wanted to do this walk with Max.

  Molly sighed miserably. Max would have loved the beach so much. She could imagine him so easily, scuffling through the sand, bouncing at the edge of the water, barking at the seagulls. Just like the little dog she could see way up the beach with another family, dragging a girl her own age along as he chased the waves. A sick, miserable tide of jealousy swept over Molly as she watched them. She blinked tears back from her eyes. The dog even looked like her Max.

  Molly sniffed determinedly and looked away. “Max! Max!” she called hoarsely. “Here, Max, come on!”

  Nothing happened. Molly wiped her arm across her eyes, and marched on after her mum and dad, staring at the stones. Maybe it was time to stop searching. She was just making herself feel worse.

  Further up the beach, Lucky stood listening intently, his black ears tensed. He leaned forward, pulling on his lead, gazing across the sand. There were people walking along the beach, and one of them looked like Molly.

  Forgetting that he was on a lead, and that his leg was still a bit sore, Lucky raced down the beach, barking excitedly, and dragging Jasmine stumbling behind him.

  “Jasmine! Are you all right?” her mum called, seeing her fighting to keep up. She and Jasmine’s dad hurried after them.

  Molly looked up when she heard the barking, and her stomach twisted miserably. The puppy sounded just like Max too. In fact… Molly narrowed her eyes, and stared. It looked like Max because that was Max, hurling himself down the beach towards her, towing that girl.

  Molly started to run, overtaking her mum and dad.

  Max raced towards her even faster, desperate in case he lost her again. In a flurry of fur and sand, he flung himself at her, barking and wagging his tail and climbing into her lap as she knelt down to hug him.

  “Max! You came back! Oh, where have you been? I can’t believe I’ve found you again!” Molly gasped into his fur.

  Max gave an overjoyed woof and licked the tears off her face.

  “His name’s Lucky,” a small voice said sadly.

  Molly suddenly remembered that Max was wearing a lead, and somebody else was on the other end of it. She looked up, to see a blonde, curly-haired girl staring down at Max.

  “Or that’s what we called him, anyway,” the girl said, and sniffed. “I suppose he’s yours, isn’t he…?”

  She looked like she was trying really hard not to cry, and Molly stood up slowly, cuddling Max close. “Um, yes. He climbed out of the window. Exactly a week ago. My mum left it open and he got out and we’ve been looking for him ever since.”

  “Oh.” Jasmine nodded. That explained it then. “He got hit by a car,” she told Lucky’s real owner. “We found him. We’re here on holiday.”

  Molly gasped in horror. “Hit by a car! Is he OK?”

  Jasmine showed Molly the cut on Max’s leg. “He was really lucky. The car just caught his leg, but it’s healing up really well. I’ve been visiting him every day.” She sniffed, again, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I’m glad you’ve got him back, because he looks happy being back with you … but I really wish we’d walked along the beach the other way!” And she turned and started stumbling away, feeling as though she couldn’t bear to watch that other girl cuddling Lucky, owning him.

  “Hey!” Molly called after her, but by this time both sets of parents had come hurrying up, and Jasmine’s mum had caught her and was holding her tight. Molly watched her hiding her face in her mum’s jacket, as everyone tried to explain what was going on all at once. Jasmine’s mum took her to sit on a rock a little way away from the others, and found some tissues, and her dad told Molly and her parents about how they’d found Max.

  “We really can’t thank you enough,” Molly’s dad said, shaking his head. “Max could have died.”

  “It was just so lucky Jasmine found him,” Molly’s mum said, stroking Max’s head gently. “I can’t believe we’ve got him back.”

  Jasmine’s dad smiled. “He’s a great little dog. I have to tell you, we’d pretty much decided that we were going to keep him.” He looked over at Jasmine. “Jasmine doesn’t know that. She looked after him so well. I think we’ll have to give her a while to stop missing him, but then we’ll think about getting a puppy of our own.”

  “Oh!” Molly gasped as a brilliant idea hit her. “Mum! Jasmine could have Max’s brother!”

  “Oh, Molly, I’m not sure…” her mum said doubtfully.

  “There’s another boy puppy in the litter Max came from,” Molly explained to Jasmine’s dad. “Couldn’t we take them to see him?” she begged her parents. “I bet Jasmine would love him. He really looks like Max.”

  Jasmine’s dad looked thoughtfully over at her and her mum. “I don’t know. I suppose we could see.” He walked towards them. “Jasmine, listen, we’ve had an idea…”

  Jasmine stood in Mrs Hughes’s kitchen, feeling totally miserable, and trying not to show it. She ought to be really excited. Lucky (she still couldn’t get her head round calling him Max) had found his real owners again, and wouldn’t have to go to a shelter. And her mum and dad had just told her that even though they couldn’t keep Lucky, they did want to get a dog, and Lucky’s brother was for sale. But it was like everyone was expecting her to adore this strange puppy straight away, after she’d spent a week falling in love with Lucky.

  Lucky had been left in Molly’s parents’ car with Molly’s dad, because it might confuse him to see his brother and sisters again. The three puppies who hadn’t gone to new homes yet were playing with a squidgy ball, romping all over their mum and dad, who were massive. Jasmine could see why Molly had thought of her plan – one of the puppies did look almost exactly like Lucky.

  “So what do you think, Jasmine?” her mum asked anxiously.

  “Um…” Jasmine didn’t know what to say. It was so awful. Molly and her parents were trying to be kind, and she felt really guilty. Trying to hide how she felt, Jasmine knelt down to play with the puppies, although she didn’t really want to. They looked at her inquisitively, their bright eyes questioning, their ears pricking up. Jasmine couldn’t help smiling a little. They were so sweet.

  The boy puppy with Lucky’s same pirate eyepatch gave a little bark. It was so clearly an invitation, or possibly even an order – play with me!

  Jasmine giggled at the bossy little dog, and rolled the ball towards him. He yapped delightedly and pounced, flinging his paws out to make a grab for it before his sisters did.

  Unfortunately the ball rolled away and he landed on his nose. He sat up and whined, not really that hurt, b
ut embarrassed and a bit cross.

  “Aww…” Jasmine picked him up and cuddled him.

  The puppy snuggled into her arms, the ball forgotten as he enjoyed being cuddled. He nuzzled his nose under her chin lovingly, and Jasmine laughed as his cold, wet nose brushed her ear.

  Then a sharp, shocking memory of Lucky doing just the same thing made Jasmine put the puppy down suddenly. Surprised, he whined, clearly wanting more petting, his big dark eyes pleading. “Sorry, little one,” Jasmine murmured, rubbing him behind the ears. “I didn’t mean to do that. I just…”

  The puppy clambered into her lap and licked her cheek forgivingly. His tongue managed to be soft and rough at the same time, and Jasmine wriggled and laughed. He was tickling! Suddenly something inside her that had frozen up when Lucky raced away from her on the beach melted, and she gave Lucky’s brother a big hug. Holding him tight, she stood up carefully, and looked round at her parents.

  “Do you think we could call him Lucky too?”

  About the Author

  Holly Webb started out as a children’s book editor, and wrote her first series for the publisher she worked for. She has been writing ever since, with over sixty books to her name. Holly lives in Berkshire, with her husband and three young sons. She has a pet cat called Marble, who is always nosying around when she’s trying to type on her laptop.

  Other titles by Holly Webb:

  Lost in the Snow

  Lost in the Storm

  Alfie all Alone

  Sam the Stolen Puppy

  Max the Missing Puppy

  Sky the Unwanted Kitten

  Timmy in Trouble

  Ginger the Stray Kitten

  Harry the Homeless Puppy

  Buttons the Runaway Puppy

  Alone in the Night

  Ellie the Homesick Puppy

  Jess the Lonely Puppy

  Misty the Abandoned Kitten

  Oscar’s Lonely Christmas

  Lucy the Poorly Puppy

  Smudge the Stolen Kitten

  The Rescued Puppy

  The Kitten Nobody Wanted

  The Lost Puppy

  The Frightened Kitten

  Copyright

  STRIPES PUBLISHING

  An imprint of Little Tiger Press

  1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road,

  London SW6 6AW

  Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2008

  Illustrations copyright © Sophy Williams, 2008

  First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2012.

  eISBN: 978–1–84715–265–7

  The right of Holly Webb and Sophy Williams to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved.

  Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  www.stripespublishing.co.uk