Lucy the Poorly Puppy (4 page)

When school started the next week, Lauren had to share lifts with Sam, as 
her mum had arranged, but Lauren hardly talked to him. She didn’t really know what to say, and Sam seemed shy of her. She supposed it was because of the way she’d told him off in the orchard.

It was great being back at school and seeing all her friends again, but she really missed Lucy and the other puppies.

“Are they big enough for new homes yet?” Millie asked, at break.

“Mum’s got people coming to see them already, and they can leave Bella after next week, she says. People have already chosen six of them. Not Lucy, though, she’s still too little.”
Thank goodness
, she added silently. At the weekend, a family had come to see the puppies, and the little girl had picked up Lucy, saying she wanted her. Lauren 
had felt sick watching. Luckily, Mum had seen her horrified face, and explained that Lucy was too little to go for a few more weeks. The family had chosen two girl puppies named Daisy and Danni instead. But afterwards Mum had sat down with Lauren and hugged her, and explained that she was going to have to let Lucy go sometime.

“You’ll really miss her, won’t you?” Millie said, putting her arm through Lauren’s, and Lauren nodded.

“Couldn’t you ask your mum and dad if you can keep her?” Millie suggested.

“I wish I could,” Lauren whispered. “They’ve always said we can’t, that we already have Bella. But I just can’t bear to think of Lucy belonging to someone else.”

Chapter Six

Lucy watched the strange boy cuddling Buster and wondered who he was. There were lots of other people in her kitchen too, but they all seemed friendly. Everyone who had come to the house over the last two weeks had wanted to stroke her and her brothers and sisters, and play with them. It was fun, but it was confusing too. She had
a feeling that this boy was going to take Buster away. He had been before, and this time he had picked Buster up straight away, and Buster had wagged his tail and yipped happily, the way Lucy did when Lauren cuddled her.

If Buster went away with this boy, then she would be the only puppy left. Daisy and Danni had gone with a little girl the day before. The girl’s mother had put them in a special box with a wire front, and Lauren had taken her out to see Daisy and Danni drive off in a car. Lauren had hugged her extra tight, and seemed really sad, although she’d cheered up and giggled when Lucy licked her ear.

Lucy missed rolling over and over with all the others, now that it was just 
her and Buster. She still had Lauren to play with, of course, and that was her favourite thing. But was she going to go somewhere too, like all her brothers and sisters? She didn’t want to. She wanted to stay here with Lauren.

The boy snuggled Buster under his chin, and then turned to put him into a carrier like the one Daisy and Danni went away in. Lucy watched them go out into the yard, and then she looked around the puppy run, with its rumpled blankets and scattered toys, and howled a big beagle howl.

“Oh! Did Buster go today?” Lauren asked in surprise when she got home – she had been to Millie’s house for tea.

“Yes, it’s only Lucy left,” her mum answered. “Did you have a good time?”

“Yes, it was great,” Lauren replied, only half listening. She was looking at Lucy curled up asleep on the fluffy bed at one side of the puppy run. She seemed so tiny and alone.

Lucy woke up and stared around her at the empty run, looking confused. She let out a tiny whimper, and staggered to her feet, sniffing around the pen. Bella leaned over and licked her gently, and Lucy stopped whimpering, but she still looked uncertain. 

Mum put her arm around Lauren. “She’s got so much bigger, hasn’t she? And you can really see all the brown coming out on her now. She’s going to be so beautiful. You did really well with the hand-rearing, Lauren, it was such hard work. Dad and I are very proud of you, you know.”

“Thanks,” Lauren muttered. She was proud of what she’d managed with Lucy too, but she had a horrible feeling that she knew what was coming next.

“I know you’ll miss her, sweetheart, but she’s ready to go to a new home, isn’t she?” Mum said gently. “She’s hardly bothering with her bottles, and she’s having dry food now.”

Lauren nodded, and sniffed. It was all true, but that didn’t make it any 
easier. She pulled away from her mum with a muttered, “Sorry!”, picked up Lucy, who squeaked in surprise, and fled upstairs.

Lauren was really looking forward to Friday and the start of the weekend. She enjoyed being back at school, but she missed Lucy so much – and she wasn’t sure how much more time they had together.

Her dad had picked up her and Sam as usual, and they sat in the back seat while Dad tried to ask cheerful questions about how Sam was settling in, and Sam kept saying things like, “OK,” and, “Fine thanks.” 

They dropped Sam off, and then Lauren ran inside to say hello to Lucy.

The phone was ringing as she went into the kitchen, and her mum yelled from upstairs, “Can you answer that, Lauren? I’m just making the beds!”

Lauren grabbed the phone, hoping it wasn’t an order for her parents’ camping supplies company, as she always worried she’d get them wrong.

“Hello?”

“Is that Mrs Woods? With the beagle puppies?”

“Oh! Yes – I mean, I’m her daughter,” Lauren explained.

“Oh good. Do you have any puppies left? I’ve only just seen the website.”

Lauren swallowed. This lady might end up being Lucy’s owner. All of a 
sudden her eyes filled with tears. “There is one puppy left,” she said, making her voice sound very doubtful.

“Right – is there something wrong with it?” the lady on the phone sounded worried.

“We-ell… She was the smallest of the litter, you see, much smaller than the others. We had to hand-rear her.”

“Oh dear. Well, if she’s not healthy I think I’ll try someone else. Thanks, anyway.”

Lauren pressed the button to end the call with a shaky hand, and put down the phone.

But she couldn’t answer the phone every time someone called…  

Still feeling really guilty, Lauren took Lucy out into the garden to play. She threw a ball for Lucy to chase, and she raced up and down the garden with excited squeaks.

“Lauren!” Mum was calling from the little bit of garden round the side of the house, where the washing line was. “Can you help me hang the washing out, please?”

Lauren sighed. Hanging out the washing was one of the jobs she did to earn her allowance. “Sorry, Lucy,” she said, picking her up. “You go in the run, OK? Back soon.”

Lucy stared after her, whining. Lauren had left the ball on the grass, and there were no toys in the run. Lucy ran up and down, sniffing at the wire, then 
scratched at it, wondering if she could get out and fetch the ball. She stuck a small paw through the wire fence, but the ball was too far away to reach.

Yapping crossly, Lucy scratched at the wire again, standing up on her hind paws. Her claws caught in the wire. She looked at them thoughtfully, and unhooked them. Then she stretched up higher, clinging on tight. She was climbing! Wriggling and scrambling, she worked her way up the side of the run. She teetered on the top, not quite sure what to do next. All at once, she let go and scrambled down the other side, landing in a little heap. 

She sprang up and shook herself excitedly. There it was – her ball! She chased after it, scrabbling it along with her front paws, and followed the ball as it rolled through the garden gate, and out into the yard.

Ten minutes later, Lauren dashed back, eager to go on playing with Lucy, only to find that Lucy wasn’t there.

She stood staring at the run. The fence was about thirty centimetres high – surely Lucy was far too little to climb out?

“Lucy! Lucy!” Lauren cried, as she ran all round the run.

But the little puppy was nowhere to be seen.

Chapter Seven

Lucy pattered across the yard, and set off exploring around the other side of the orchard wall. She’d abandoned the ball in favour of all the other interesting things she could smell. Perhaps she’d find Lauren if she went down here, too. She spotted a snail climbing up the wall and watched it round-eyed. She went closer and sniffed. It had an odd smell, 
and she decided it wasn’t for eating.

“Hey! Lucy!” Lucy jumped, and looked up. That wasn’t Lauren’s voice.

It was the boy, Sam, holding a big ball. She’d seen him before when he came to the house to fetch Lauren in the mornings. She sniffed his fingers in a friendly sort of way. Maybe he would play with her? 

“Are you supposed to be out here on your own?” he asked. “I bet you’re not.”

“Lucy! Lucy!” There was a distant voice calling, sounding worried.

“You’re definitely not,” Sam told Lucy. “That sounds like Lauren looking for you.”

Lucy could hear Lauren too, but she wasn’t quite sure where she was. She whimpered anxiously.

“It’s OK. Let’s find Lauren, yes?” Sam looked down at her, and Lucy pawed his foot eagerly.

“Come on then. Good girl,” Sam put down the ball, and picked up Lucy. He walked quickly down to the yard. “Hey, Lauren, I’ve got her!”

Lauren came dashing out of the garden gate. She grabbed Lucy, hugging 
her tightly while Lucy whined with delight. “Oh, you star, Sam! I was really worried. She must have climbed out of her run. Thanks!”

“Beagles are really good at escaping.” Sam nodded, and Lauren looked at him in surprise. “I really like dogs,” he explained. “We can’t have one, because Dad’s allergic, but I’ve got loads of dog books. And I once saw a video on a website of a beagle climbing out of a massive pen.”

“Oh.” Lauren suddenly felt really ashamed. She’d been going to school with Sam every day, and she hadn’t asked him anything about himself, or said a single friendly thing. “It’s brilliant that you found her. What if she’d gone on to the road?” 

Sam nodded. “I can’t imagine losing a dog like that,” he agreed. “It would be awful.”

Lauren’s eyes suddenly welled up.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry!” Sam said, looking horrified.

“It’s OK,” Lauren gulped. “It’s just – you don’t understand…” She wiped her hand across her eyes, while Lucy licked at her cheek anxiously. 

“Lucy isn’t mine. Not for ever. She’s going to have a new home, just like the other puppies. And I can’t bear the thought of not having her any more.”

“Oh wow,” Sam muttered. “I thought you were keeping her, when she stayed and all the others went. And she’s with you all the time.”

“I’ve always known she’d have to go, like her brothers and sisters,” Lauren whispered. “I still have Bella, and of course I love her, but I’ve spent so much time with Lucy, because we
hand-reared
her. It’s going to be awful when she leaves. It was bad enough when people came for the others, but Lucy’s special.” She opened the orchard gate, and gently shooed Lucy in. “Want to come and play with her?” she said. 

Sam nodded and followed her. “Has anyone come to see Lucy?” he asked.

Lauren shook her head. “Someone rang earlier, and I sort of mentioned how Lucy was the runt of the litter and made this lady think she wasn’t very well…”

She glanced at Sam, not sure what he’d think, but Sam looked impressed.

“I felt really guilty afterwards,” Lauren admitted. “And I can’t keep putting people off.”

Sam looked thoughtful. “There must be something you can do. I’ll help you.” He looked at Lucy, who was destroying a windfall apple. “You can’t lose her,” he said firmly.

Lauren smiled. He sounded so certain it made her feel a little bit better. 

The next morning, Sam knocked at the kitchen door while Lauren was finishing her breakfast, and slipping cornflakes to Bella and Lucy, who were sitting on either side of her chair.

“Morning, Mrs Woods,” he said politely to Lauren’s mum. “Um, I was just wondering if Lauren wanted to come out and play.”

“I’m sure she does!” Lauren’s mum said, looking delighted, and Lauren rolled her eyes at Sam, who tried not to laugh.

“I’m popular then,” he said quietly, as they went across the yard with Lucy and Bella on their leads.

“Mum thinks it’s really nice for me to 
have a friend living close by.” Lauren swallowed nervously. “Sorry I haven’t been very friendly. I was a bit cross when Mum arranged the lifts and everything – like I didn’t have a choice.”

“Me too!” Sam agreed. “My mum kept going on about how lucky I was, and I was like, she’s a girl and I’ve never even met her! Sorry,” he added. “Anyway, I’ve got a plan!”

“You have?” Lauren asked eagerly. “Tell me.”

Sam sat down on the rusty old tractor that had been abandoned on the edge of the field and beamed. “I think we should buy Lucy ourselves! I’ve got thirty pounds of birthday money left. I’d give you that, no problem, if I could sort of share Lucy. Take her for walks 
sometimes and stuff. It’s the closest I’ll get to having a dog, after all.”

Lauren nodded slowly. “I’ve got the money my gran gave me at the beginning of the holidays, but I’ve been so busy with the puppies I never got round to spending it. That’s fifty pounds so far. Puppies can’t cost more than a hundred pounds, can they? But how are we going to find the rest of the money?”

Sam grinned. “I thought we could pick the apples from the orchard, and sell them. We could set up a stall on that big patch of grass where the lane down to the farm ends. It’s close enough to the road for people to see us and stop.”

Lauren jumped off the tractor wheel. “That’s a brilliant idea! Mum and Dad 
never have time to pick them, they won’t mind. I’ll go and get some buckets.”

It took a while to pick the apples, as a lot of them had wasps in, and had to be thrown on the compost heap, but eventually they had three buckets of really nice-looking ones. Lauren grabbed a handful of freezer bags from the kitchen, when they went back home for lunch, and Sam found an old folding table in the big shed at the back of the cottage, and he borrowed one of the boxes from the move to make into cardboard signs.

Then Lauren had another brainwave. “You start selling the apples. I’ve just remembered, Mum’s always saying I ought to clear out my old soft toys. We can sell those, too. Here, you take 
Lucy, I’m going to sneak back home and get them.”

By the time she struggled down the lane with a bin bag full of bears and dogs, Sam was looking very pleased with himself. “I’ve sold three bags! That’s one pound fifty!” He’d made the signs as well, and tied a couple on to the hedges on both sides of the road. 

“Brilliant! Help me put out the toys on the grass at the front of the table. They’re bound to make people look.”

“Lucy and Bella have been making people stop too, they’ve had loads of petting.”

It turned out the toys were almost more popular than the apples. Lauren even had to go back and find some more soft toys that she hadn’t been planning to get rid of, but she didn’t mind giving up her Beanie toy dogs if it meant she could keep her real one.

“How much have we made?” Sam asked, as they packed up at teatime.

“Twenty pounds!” Lauren beamed. “So that’s seventy altogether. And there’s loads more apples we can pick. But I don’t think I’ve got any more old toys.” 

Lauren’s mum and dad were so pleased she was getting on with Sam that they didn’t ask what they’d been doing all afternoon. And they didn’t mind at all when she and Sam and the dogs disappeared off again the next morning.

It was the middle of the morning, and they were doing quite well, when a car pulled up by the stall.

“Would you like some apples?” Sam asked, sounding very professional, and the man smiled and dug around in his pockets for some change.

“Actually, I’m looking for Redhills Farm,” he explained, as Lauren handed the apples through the car window.

“It’s down there.” Lauren pointed down the lane. 

“Thanks. I’ve come to look at a beagle puppy – is that the mum? She’s beautiful.” He nodded at Bella, who was sitting by Lauren’s side. He couldn’t see Lucy, as she was curled up asleep, half inside Sam’s hoodie top.