Playtime for Rascal Read online

  “Hello, Rascal!” she said sleepily.

  “You found her!” Christy squealed. “Rascal, you clever, brilliant dog!”

  Christy hared off at top speed, and soon her mum and Ellie’s mum and half the school were all gathered round the shed.

  “Ah, isn’t she sweet?”

  “And that clever dog found her?”

  “You should be very proud of Rascal, Ellie,” Mrs Harley told her.

  Christy’s mum handed Ellie fifty pence. “Once you’ve had your last race, go and buy Rascal a reward from the cake stall. They had some nice ham sandwiches earlier.”

  Ellie picked Rascal up. As she walked back to the field, loads of people reached out to pat him, like he was a hero. She felt so proud she couldn’t stop smiling.

  “Are you ready?” Christy asked seriously. “Ellie, stop laughing! Remember, Max said we had to concentrate.”

  Ellie nodded, but she still had a silly smile on her face. She wasn’t sure she could concentrate on the three-legged race. She didn’t mind if she lost all the events now. Rascal was a hero, and he was hers!

  “GO!”

  “Middle, side, middle, side!” she and Christy muttered, and they stomped their way down the course, staying in rhythm.

  Ellie risked a quick glance over her shoulder. They were winning! Max was running alongside them, with Rascal safely on the lead. “Come on, Ellie, come on, Christy! You’re nearly there!” he shouted.

  But Jessie and Lydia were gaining on them. “Faster!” Christy hissed. “Middle, side, middle, side! Yes!”

  They’d done it! She and Christy had actually won the three-legged race!

  They collapsed in a giggling heap by the finishing line. Max dashed over and gave Ellie a lightning-fast hug, in case any of his friends noticed. “You did it!”

  Mrs Harley laughed. “Well done, girls! That was the last race. Time to give out the prizes now.”

  “Excellent!” Christy grinned.

  “Greedy! You’ve already won two races!” Ellie laughed. They stood listening to Mr Turner as he read out his long list of winners. All the way through Reception, Year One, Year Two…

  “And in Year Four we have a special mention for Ellie Thomas, and an honorary member of the class, her dog, Rascal. Well done to Rascal for finding little Jade, who was lost earlier on. Big clap for Rascal, please!”

  Ellie’s mum held him up, and Rascal barked with excitement.

  “And I’m delighted to say that Ellie and Jade’s big sister Christy have won the three-legged race. So well done to Ellie and Christy!”

  As the list of races went on, Ellie cheered for Christy winning all those races, and Max winning practically everything in sight. She didn’t mind at all. She had Rascal, and he was a rescue dog.

  “Come on, let’s go and buy him a sandwich!” Christy suggested.

  The mums running the cake stall had heard all about Rascal, and insisted that Ellie needed some fairy cakes for being so clever, and that Christy had better take some to cheer Jade up, too.

  The girls raced back with their piled-up plates.

  “Here you are, boy.” Ellie tore the ham sandwich up into little pieces, and placed them on the paper plate. Rascal gulped them down delightedly, and then looked round, hoping for more.

  “We should make him a medal,” Christy’s mum said.

  Ellie laughed. “I think he’d rather just have another sandwich.” And she picked him up, whispering, “I’ll make you one at home. You’re a star, Rascal!”

  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.

  Copyright

  ST RIPES PUBLISHING

  An imprint of Little Tiger Press

  1 The Coda Centre,

  189 Munster Road,

  London SW6 6AW

  Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2010 Illustrations copyright © Kate Pankhurst, 2010, 2012

  First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2012.

  eISBN: 978–1–84715–283–1

  The right of Holly Webb and Kate Pankhurst 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

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