The Secret Puppy Read online

  Amelie knew it was the right thing to do but she still didn’t like it. Their walks seemed to have hardly got going before they had to turn round again.

  “I suppose…” Josh agreed. “At least he’ll be nice and hungry for his dinner. Come on then, Monty! Let’s go to the field!”

  Monty pranced along happily. He loved going out in the afternoons with Amelie and Josh. In the morning he went out with their dad, who did too much stopping to chat to people while he walked round the lake. Amelie and Josh raced about and threw sticks, and they usually brought toys for him to chase. He pulled eagerly at his lead, making for the gate out to the field.

  “Heel, Monty,” Amelie said, pulling him back gently. She and Josh had been taking Monty to puppy training classes, and they’d been told not to let him pull when they were walking to heel.

  Monty dropped back obediently and Josh fumbled a treat out of his pocket. “Good dog!”

  “You wouldn’t think he’d only been going to training for three weeks, would you?” Amelie said proudly, as she opened the gate.

  Josh grinned. “He’s a greedy pig. He’ll do anything for those treats.”

  “Yes, but some dogs never learn to do things like that. I mean, what about Daisy? Grandad can’t ever get her to sit and stay, and she only walks to heel when she feels like it. Think about last week!”

  “Yeah…” Josh shook his head, remembering. Grandad had come with them on a walk to the park with Daisy, his little dachsund. They’d walked past a girl eating a biscuit and Daisy had nibbled it right out of her hand. Her mum had been really cross, even though Grandad had said sorry loads of times. He had felt awful about it but Daisy hadn’t been bothered at all…

  “I reckon that’s because she’s a dachshund, though,” Josh pointed out. “They’re not very easy to train. Labradors like Monty are good at this sort of thing. I mean, you don’t ever get dachshund Guide Dogs, do you?”

  Amelie giggled. “Daisy would be a useless Guide Dog. Maybe you’re right about all Labs being good but I do think Monty’s extra-clever. Here, you can take his lead for a bit, if you like.”

  Monty was staring up at them both hopefully, waiting for the chance to dash off into the field. Amelie patted his head, then passed the lead to Josh.

  “Come on, Monty,” she called, jogging backwards on to the long grass around the edge of the football pitch.

  Amelie loved Newland Park. She remembered going there when she was tiny. Dad had taken her for walks round the lake almost every day and let her throw food to the ducks. But it was only now they had a dog that she realized how lucky they were to have the park so close by. All the houses in their street backed on to it.

  Josh and Monty raced past Amelie, Monty barking and yipping with excitement. She ran after them and then stopped to look through the wire fence as she reached their back garden. Sometimes Dad came out to drink a cup of tea if he was having a break from work. She peered past the apple tree, trying to see further up the garden, but he wasn’t there. She waved, just in case, before chasing after her brother and Monty. The puppy was so excited that he was dashing around in circles.

  “Watch out, Josh!” Amelie cried but it was too late.

  Monty had seen Amelie coming and decided to race towards her, pulling the lead tight around Josh’s legs and yanking his feet out from under him. Her tall, skinny brother fell like a tree, collapsing into the long grass with a groan.

  “Catch him!” he called. “Amelie! The lead!”

  “I’ve got it!” Amelie yelled, snatching at Monty’s trailing lead as he danced around her. “Here, Monty. You silly dog,” she said lovingly. “What did you think you were doing, hmm?”

  “I’m fine, thank you for asking,” Josh muttered, heaving himself up out of the grass. “Uuurgh. I think I landed in something disgusting.”

  Amelie peered at the brown patch down the side of Josh’s jeans. “It’s only mud,” she said reassuringly. “You are OK, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.” Josh sighed. “No thanks to you, Monty. Well, I’ll know not to let him wind me up in the lead like that again. I wouldn’t have thought he was that strong!”

  Monty sat at Amelie’s feet, gazing up at them both and panting happily. He had no idea what Josh was talking about but he was hoping it didn’t mean the end of the walk.

  Amelie had thought Josh would be able to sneak upstairs and change before Dad spotted him when they got home. But their dad was in the hallway when they returned – and so was Mum, which was really unusual. She was hardly ever home early from the shop where she worked.

  Amelie unclipped Monty’s lead and he dashed off to the kitchen for a drink of water. Mum gave Amelie a hug but Amelie looked up at her anxiously – she had a serious expression on her face.

  “What’s wrong?” Josh asked, forgetting about his jeans.

  Mum took a deep breath. “It’s Grandad…” she started and Amelie’s stomach clenched. Their mum’s dad hadn’t been well for a while. A few months ago he’d had a stroke and been in hospital for a few days. But Amelie thought he’d been getting better now he was back at home again. He’d seemed fine when they’d last seen him.

  “What’s happened?” she whispered, her eyes suddenly hot with tears.

  Mum put an arm round her shoulders. “It’s another stroke. Don’t panic, Amelie, it looks like he’ll be all right. But it’s going to take longer for him to recover this time. He’s probably not going to be able to look after himself at home, even once he’s allowed out of hospital. He’ll need to be in a nursing home for a bit, where there are staff who can help.”

  “Oh…” Amelie leaned against her, relieved. For a moment she’d thought Mum was going to give them much worse news. “Poor Grandad,” she said.

  Josh frowned. “Do you mean he’ll always need to be looked after, Mum?”

  “We’re not sure.” Mum and Dad exchanged a worried look. “It’s only just happened, Josh. I haven’t even been to see him yet. But from what the hospital said, it’s more serious this time. Grandad will probably have to move permanently to some sort of sheltered housing. Somewhere there’s lot of support.”

  “What’s going to happen to Daisy?” Amelie asked, looking up. “Will Grandad be able to take her with him?”

  Mum stared at her. “Oh my goodness. I’d forgotten about Daisy. Grandad’s neighbours fed her the last time he was in hospital.”

  Dad ran his hand through his hair. “That’s not going to work this time, though. She’s going to need a proper home.” He looked thoughtfully round the hallway, as though he was imagining another dog trotting down it. Amelie caught her breath.

  “Your mum and I talked about this a while ago,” Dad went on. “After all, Daisy already knows us, doesn’t she?”

  Mum nodded. “We mentioned it to Grandad, too. That Daisy could come and live here with us.”

  Monty wandered back into the hallway, looking curiously at them all still standing there. Amelie crouched down to stroke him and he nuzzled against her, licking her cheek. Amelie thought maybe he could taste that she’d been crying. His tail was waving, just a little, the way it did when he was worried.

  “Oh, Monty…” Amelie murmured. “How would you feel about sharing your home with another dog?”

  Copyright

  STRIPES PUBLISHING

  An imprint of the Little Tiger Group

  1 The Coda Centre, 189 Munster Road,

  London SW6 6AW

  First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2017

  Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2012

  Illustrations copyright © Sophy Williams, 2012

  eISBN: 978-1-84715-469-9

  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 t
ransmitted, 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.

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