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  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?”

  STRIPES PUBLISHING

  An imprint of the Little Tiger Group

  1 Coda Studios, 189 Munster Road,

  London SW6 6AW

  First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2017

  Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2017

  Illustrations copyright © Sophy Williams, 2017

  Author photograph copyright © Nigel Bird

  eISBN: 978-1-84715-857-4

  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.littletiger.co.uk

  Excerpt From: Holly Webb. “Monty the Sad Puppy.” iBooks.