Harry the Homeless Puppy (6 page)

Mrs Jameson just didn’t know what was wrong with Harry and when her husband got home from work she told him how upset Harry seemed. “I want him to be happy here, but he doesn’t seem to be settling in at all,” she admitted.

Mr Jameson sighed. “I’m not sure this is working out either…”

Mrs Jameson nodded sadly. “I know.
We can’t just keep shutting Harry in the kitchen, and your allergy’s getting worse every day.”

Mr Jameson gave her a hug. “I’m sorry, I know you really wanted a dog…”

His wife smiled. “But it isn’t fair on either of you. I’ll ring the shelter and arrange to take him back there tomorrow.” She sniffed. “Poor little Harry…”

Chapter Six

Maya and her sister were waiting outside for Grace when she and Danny and Mum arrived on Saturday afternoon. Maya was going to stay for a couple of hours and then her sister was coming back to pick her up. Grace was delighted to have someone to show round, and Maya loved meeting all the dogs. They were just saying hello to
Jake, the Westie, when Grace heard a familiar yap from the next pen. She turned slowly to look. Could it be…

“Harry!” Grace cried, and he bounded up to the door of the pen, leaping and barking delightedly.

“Oh, it’s really you, what are you doing back here, you lovely boy?” Grace murmured, stroking him through the wire.

“He seems very pleased to see you,” said Sally, coming up behind Grace. Sally was smiling, but she didn’t sound too happy, and Grace suddenly realized that if Harry was back, it meant his new owner must have been a mistake.
“Did the people not want him after all?” she asked, gazing fondly at Harry.

Sally sighed. “Harry didn’t settle very well, unfortunately. I’m sure he would have been fine, given time, but the husband turned out to be allergic to dogs, too. Poor Harry, back here again, aren’t you, sweetheart?”

Grace looked at Harry lovingly. She slipped into his run, and sat down, letting him climb all over her, and lick as much of her as he could. She was so glad to see him again. But then a horrible thought struck her. Harry hadn’t settled at his new home – was that her fault? Because she’d been spending so much time with him? If he was too fond of her, he might not want to go to a new owner.

“What’s the matter?” Maya asked. “Aren’t you pleased he’s back?”

Grace sighed. “I am pleased. But Sally said he didn’t settle at his new home. What if that’s because he’s spending too much time with me?”

Maya looked confused, and Grace tried to explain. “He’s going to be rehomed again – what if I spoil another new home for him, too? Maybe I just shouldn’t see him any more.”

Harry lay blissfully in Grace’s lap, his paws folded on his stomach, eyes closed. The only thing that could make this better would be some food. He was fairly sure dinner would be here soon…

“Harry… Harry…” Grace was whispering to him. “I’ve got to go, sweetie. It’s time for you to be fed.” She lifted him gently off her lap.

Harry slid sleepily off, and looked up at her, puzzled. She was going? Again? But she’d only just come back! Grace was opening the door of his pen, and he flung himself at her, howling. No! He didn’t want her to go, she might not come again!

Grace shut the door of the run, her fingers trembling. Harry was howling so loudly, everyone in the shelter was looking round, wondering what was happening.

Sally walked quickly towards them. “Don’t worry, Grace, I’ve got some food for him; hopefully that’ll help
calm him down. You go. See you soon, OK? Don’t worry about Harry, he’s just had a hard couple of days.”

Grace nodded, blinking back tears. It was really hard to leave him when he was so upset. Maya and Danny were hurrying up the corridor towards her, looking worried.

“Maya told me Harry was back. Was that him howling?” Danny asked.

Grace nodded and sniffed. Danny gave her a hug and they headed for the door. Mum was waving to them from reception, telling them to hurry up.

Maya had just opened the door when there was a sudden crash, and they turned back to see that Sally had dropped Harry’s food bowl. It looked like he’d jumped at the door of the pen
as she’d opened it, and knocked into her. Now he was racing down between the pens, barking madly, with Sally chasing after him.

Harry settled at Grace’s feet, his tail wagging desperately. Other people were allowed to take him home. Why couldn’t she? She was the one he wanted to go home with!

Hopefully, he held out one paw, the way she’d been teaching him. Grace’s eyes were full of tears as she crouched down to take it. Harry gave a triumphant little bark. He’d done it right. There. Surely she couldn’t send him back to his run now.

Grace picked him up, and rubbed her cheek against his smooth fur. Then she handed him back to Sally, and ran.
She couldn’t bear to see him like this.

Danny, Maya and Mum found her outside the shelter, leaning against the wall and crying.

“Oh, Grace…” Mum said worriedly. “I’m sure he’ll be all right in a minute.” Grace gave her a disbelieving look, and Mum sighed. “Well, maybe not straight away, but I’m sure he will get over it.”

“But it isn’t fair!” Grace sobbed. “He’s always having to get over things. His first owner had to leave him, and now this one’s given up on him, and he just wants to be with me and I can’t have him!”

Mum put an arm round her shoulders comfortingly, and Danny asked, “Mum, isn’t there any way we
could have him? You know how hard Grace has worked.”

“I do know, and I’m really proud of you, Grace. But Harry needs lots of space to run around. And he’d hate being shut up while we’re all out during the day. I’m sorry, Grace, I wish things were different, but you know we can’t have a dog at the moment.”

Chapter Seven

“He’s as bad as he was when he first came,” Mandy said sadly, looking at the little brown-and-white ball in the basket. It was all they’d been able to see of Harry for days.

Sally called gently, “Harry! Here, boy!” but he didn’t even twitch. “It’s so sad. He really adored Grace, but I can understand why she doesn’t think she
should visit him any more, and it’s probably for the best.”

“Still, there’s a family coming to see him this afternoon,” said Mandy. “They saw him on the website, and they think he looks perfect. If they like him, and they can give him the time to settle down…”

They stared at Harry, still curled up silently, and Sally sighed. “Well, you never know…”

Grace didn’t go to the shelter at all that week. She just couldn’t bear it. She had made Harry’s life even harder by falling in love with him. He had to find a new home, and she was stopping him.
She just had to let him go, the sooner the better.

She supposed she could have gone back to the shelter and kept away from Harry, but that would be so difficult. Danny didn’t even try to persuade her this time. Mum had phoned the shelter to talk to Sally and explain. Grace had listened to what Mum was saying, and she could tell that Sally was sad, but that she agreed with Mum. It was the best thing for Harry.

Life felt very flat without the shelter to go to, though, Grace thought, lying on her bed listening to her favourite CD. School, more school, hanging around at home. She’d gone to Maya’s for tea yesterday, which was nice, but
she still missed Harry, and all the other dogs, so much.

“Grace!” Mum called from the kitchen. “Time to go!”

Grace sighed, and rolled off her bed. Another flat to go and see.

Grace smiled politely as the lady who owned the flat chatted to her about whether she liked the bedroom that would be hers. She just wished Mum and Dad would stop fussing about the bathroom and get on, she was so sick of flat-hunting. They’d already seen this flat anyway, yesterday, when Grace and Danny were at school. Why did they need to look at everything again?

They finished at last, and Sheila, the owner, led them back towards the kitchen. “I’ll just show you the garden,” she said over her shoulder. “I’ve had a bit of a tidy-up since you saw it yesterday, but I’m afraid I’m not much of a gardener.”

Grace gasped. “A garden! There’s a garden?”

Sheila turned back and smiled. “Yes, didn’t your parents say? The garden goes with this ground-floor flat, you see.”

Grace looked at Mum and Dad, her eyes wide with hope. “So could we…?”

Mum nodded and laughed. “Yes! I mean, it’ll take a little while before we can move in, of course. But your dad and I have talked this over and, yes, we can have Harry.”

Grace flung herself at her mum and hugged her. “You planned all this, I can’t believe it!”

Her mum laughed and led her over to the window. “When we saw it, we realized how perfect it would be for you and Danny. You’ve both worked so hard at the shelter. Now you get to have your own dog.”

They looked out at the garden. It was messy, full of weeds, but Grace could just imagine Harry bounding up and down, barking joyfully as she threw a ball for him to chase.

Danny stared out too, his face split by an enormous grin, but then he frowned. “What about us all being out in the daytime? You said we couldn’t leave Harry alone all day.”

Dad nodded. “It’s OK. I’ve spoken to the people at work, and they’re happy for me to take Harry into the office with me some of the time. And when I have a heavy day of meetings, your mum should be able to pop home and give him a walk in her lunch hour.”

“Oh, Dad!” Grace hugged him, and then her mum again. “Thank you
so much! Can we go home and ring the shelter now?”

When they got back, Grace was standing hopefully holding the phone before anyone else had even got their coat off. She’d even found the number on the kitchen noticeboard.

“All right, all right!” Mum laughed and took the phone.

Grace waited with her fingernails digging into her palms, listening to the ringing at the other end.

“Oh, hello, could I speak to Sally, please? Oh, it is you, hi, Sally. This is Amanda Winter, Grace and Danny’s mum. Yes, we’re all fine, thank you, we’ve missed you, too. But actually, we’ve got some good news. We’re moving, and we’re going to have more
space in our new flat. We think we might be able to adopt Harry after all.” Mum smiled excitedly at Grace, but then there was a long pause, and the smile faded. Her voice had flattened when she next spoke. “Oh. Oh, I see. Yes, well, that’s good. Yes. We should have expected it. I’ll tell her. Thanks. Bye.”

“Someone else has taken him, haven’t they?” Grace asked, her voice shaking, and Mum nodded.

“Oh, Gracie, I’m so sorry.” She sighed. “Sally said he’s gone to a family this time. The children aren’t too young for a dog, and they’re all keen on having him. He’ll be having a lovely time…” But she couldn’t make the words sound happy.

“If only we’d found the flat sooner,” Grace wailed.

“It’s terrible luck,” Mum agreed. “We’ll just have to try and be happy for Harry. I know it’s hard.”

Dad picked up Grace and hugged her, even though he was always saying she was too big for him to do that now. Danny sat at the kitchen table with his chin on his hands, staring out of the window. “I can’t believe we just missed him,” he muttered. “It isn’t fair…”

“You probably don’t want to think about this right now,” Dad said slowly. “But – there are other dogs. Loads of dogs at the shelter who need a home.”

“Not yet,” Grace interrupted. “We couldn’t just yet.”

“No, I know. But think about it. Harry’s found a lovely home. But we could give a home to another dog.”

Grace nodded, and sniffed. At last she said slowly, “Maybe. We could have Finn, he’s your favourite, isn’t he, Danny? The one who ate your mints?” Her voice was shaking.

Danny nodded. “But I think he’s too big, even for a flat with a garden. Harry would have been perfect…”

“He would, wouldn’t he?” Grace tried to smile. “I suppose at least now I can go and help at the shelter again, without worrying about upsetting Harry. Oh, I do hope he likes the new people! He deserves a better chance this time!”