Princess Phoebe (4 page)

Once the puppies have gone to their new homes and Queenie has taken off with Margaret, Jan and I can begin our new lives as proud dog owners. At last, I have my own dog that I can love and train, and who can become my best friend in life. I can't afford a collar or lead, but I find a bit of rope in a corner of the allotment that Margaret says I can have. I walk home with Princess, feeling like a princess myself with such a beautiful greyhound walking beside me through the town. Well, not quite walking.
I need to do a bit of training there
, I think, as Princess hauls me down the hill at twenty miles an hour.

When I get home, Dad's there at the gate.

‘Everything's ready for her,' he says, pointing to the open shed. ‘I've put down some bedding and water.'

‘What do you mean, Dad? She's not sleeping in the shed!'

‘Of course she is,' he says, ‘you surely didn't think she'd be coming into the house? She's a
greyhound
, Ellie, she'll expect to be out of doors. You'll have her all day to play with.'

‘She's my dog, Dad, she needs to be with me!'

‘Ellie, don't be silly. She can't possibly come indoors, what with Tag and all you kids. Now don't start being difficult or she's off down the rescue this minute. And don't go crying because it'll do no good.'

Dad takes the rope from me and pulls poor Princess towards the shed. With one movement, he slips her neck free and pushes her in with his leg, shutting the door after her. ‘She'll be just fine in there. Now, come in and help your mother.' He takes me by the arm and raises his voice as I pull back.

‘
That's enough, Ellie
!'

I'm not strong enough to get away from him and I can hear Princess starting to howl and scratch at the shed door. It's not how I'd imagined my first evening with my dog.

When Dad goes out with his gun I sit outside with her until late, just as I used to with Queenie, stroking her and telling her not to worry, that I'll sort it out. But when I leave she starts to howl and scratch again.

‘Mum,' I plead, despite knowing that it is a waste of time, ‘
please
let me bring Princess indoors.'

Mum's watching telly, and for once Jack and Patrick are both asleep. She doesn't even look in my direction.

‘You must do as your dad tells you,' she says.

I wait until Dad comes home and everyone's in bed, and I creep out to the shed and bring Princess in anyway. It's after midnight, but she's waiting for me in the dark. She comes in to the house and climbs the stairs so quietly it's as if she knows what's going on. She lies on my bed as silent as a mouse. I feel her comforting weight on my feet and know that she's going to be the best thing in my life. And if they won't let me keep her indoors, I'll leave home.

One good thing about my family is that, because there's always so much chaos, it's easy to go unnoticed. I come downstairs the next morning to Mum shouting at the top of her voice, as usual, trying to get the twins up and ready
for school. They're fighting in the bedroom. Meanwhile, Patrick is trailing around the living room with his little cart of bricks, hoping for some breakfast, and baby Jack is screaming his head off because he's hungry and needs his nappy changing. Mum's trying to balance her ciggy on the end of the draining board in between shouts, telling me to sort Patrick out while she gets a bottle ready for Jack.

No one sees that I've brought Princess down with me, and let her out into the yard. Dad's gone out early, which is a help, and Nick's long since left for work. I get some cereal for Patrick and quietly let Princess back in again. She lies down behind the sofa on a pile of washing, and that's where she stays.

I keep my promise to help, and wash up before I collect my stuff for school. Dad comes in just as I'm going. He doesn't look very happy as he goes to hang up a couple of pheasants on the back of the door. I see him go to the cupboard where Mum keeps a jar with money in, but when he takes it down there's no rattle of change and he sighs and puts it back. Then he catches sight of Princess behind the sofa.

‘That dog should be in the shed,' he says, but I can tell that he can't face another battle with me at the moment. That's the thing with Dad: he makes a big fuss and tries to tell everyone what to do, and then gives in really quickly.

‘Bye Dad,' I say, giving him a kiss. ‘Princess has promised to be good while I'm at school.' I give him another kiss and look at him hopefully.

He gives an extra big sigh and says, ‘Go Ellie, before I change my mind.'

So from then on, Princess lives in the house with the rest of us, and sleeps upstairs on my bed.

It's great having my own dog. Princess loves going up to see Queenie and Jade at the allotment, and Margaret lets us play up there in the evenings, even though the puppies make a mess everywhere. We can't wait for the summer holidays to start.

‘Let's make a bonfire tomorrow and have fish and chips to celebrate the last day of term,' Margaret suggests.

So the next day Jan gets a lift with her dad, who's too fussy to want two dogs in his car at once, and I end up walking on my own to the allotment. I decide to cut through the park.

‘That's a nice-looking bitch you've got there,' says a voice from the shadows just as I'm nearly at the far gate. It's Frank, smiling at me through his stumpy brown teeth. The stubble on his chin has got bits of old cigarette ash stuck in it, and he's wearing a red t-shirt pulled tight over his fat stomach. He's with his own greyhound, a huge black dog called Martin. It's the first time I've seen Martin up close, as he's usually left in the van when Frank makes his visits. He looks scary but, like almost all greyhounds, he's gentle and friendly, and Princess thinks he's just great as she sniffs him enthusiastically.

Before I realise what I'm saying, I've answered. ‘She's one of Queenie's,' I say, ‘that you didn't want. Dad's let me keep her.'

‘Has he now,' drawls Frank, his eyes narrowing as he looks Princess up and down. He pulls Martin away from her and I feel Princess start to tremble as she backs towards my legs to lean safely against them. Dogs never forget someone who has frightened them. ‘Does Charlie work her then?'

‘Oh no!' I say. ‘She's my dog. She's not for working.'

‘Is that right,' Frank smiles, and with that he and Martin go off down the footpath.

I don't dare turn round to watch him go. I can feel his eyes on us.

I hurry on and am glad to get to the allotment to join Jan and Margaret. I tell them about Frank but Margaret, who doesn't know him, says not to worry, just to forget about it. She takes her car and goes off to buy the fish and chips, while Jan and I keep the fire warm and open some cans of cream soda. It's great, and as we sit round the fire and eat our supper, the memory of Frank's face gradually fades from my mind.

When the holidays begin, I start a training programme with Princess. I learn as I go along but manage to teach her to walk on the lead, trotting along like greyhounds do. Margaret gives me a proper collar and lead for a present, so now we look really smart.

Jan and I go to the park nearly every day, and Mum gives up trying to get me to Val's. She seems happy enough that I'm doing something that keeps me out of trouble. And, thankfully, the arguments with the twins just about stop. They've got into fishing and go off down the river on their bikes for hours, carrying about five tons of equipment they bought from a car boot sale. They never seem to catch anything, but they tell us they've thrown some massive fishes back.

So Jan and I are free to take Princess and Jade for walks, or to lie on the grass under the trees while the dogs play or sleep beside us. Margaret's supposed to be keeping an eye on Jan over the holidays, but she's especially busy at the allotment and often tells us to go away, saying that if we aren't going to help, she'll have to trust us to go somewhere else as she has work to do. I find out that even grandmothers have their limits.

One evening in August, about three weeks into the summer holidays, Princess and I are in the park on our own. I'd be in trouble if Mum knew I wasn't with Jan, but she's gone somewhere with her dad and I don't want to go home early. Princess is about five months old now, strong and gorgeous, and very fast and agile. Someone at school whose dad is into dogs says that hare coursers often have some Saluki bred into them, but I wouldn't know about that. To me she's just my Princess. She can turn in a flash, and running flat out she's as fast as the wind.

She's just completed a long dash around the edge of the grass, when I notice a large figure standing watching over by the trees. He's in shadow but I recognise his shape. Fat ugly Frank. He's staring at Princess and, as she comes back to me to go on the lead, he follows her over.

‘Hello Ellie,' he says, ‘how's the dog?'

‘All right,' I say. I don't want to talk to him.

‘And how's your dad? I haven't seen him in a while. Maybe I'll call round and see him one of these evenings. Tell him I was asking after him.'

I don't answer, but just shrug and hurry off. I feel his eyes on my back as I reach the park gate and turn down the hill towards home.

Next evening, we're all sitting round the telly and Dad's taken the night off. He's looking tired, and worried. He and Mum spend their lives talking about money and how there isn't any. Mum's trying to get more hours at the hotel, and she's been on at the twins to make less of a mess. She keeps telling Dad to get the council to give us a bigger house.

So when there's a loud bang on the door, we all groan at once.

‘That's Frank's knock,' says Dad. ‘Why can't he pick a night when I'm out?' He gets out of his chair and goes out into the hall.

‘All right Frank?' I hear him say, and a cold feeling starts to work its way through my whole body. I know what's coming next. ‘Haven't seen you for a bit. How's it going?' asks Dad. There's no enthusiasm in his voice though, making Frank's loud greeting sound hollow in contrast as the two of them come into the room.