Authors: Susan Gates
The Wolf Cupboard
Susan Gates
Chapter One Little Brother Lost
Chapter Three All About Wolves
Chapter Four Danny's Wolf Stare
Chapter Eight The Truth About Wolves
Little Brother Lost
Leon was in big trouble. He had lost Danny, his little brother.
That morning, Mum had dropped them both off at school.
She had told Leon: “This is Danny's first day at school. Make sure he knows where the toilets are. Make sure no big kids bully him.”
And Leon had said, “Don't worry, Mum. He'll be all right with me.”
Leon had meant to check on Danny at morning break. But he forgot. He played football with his friends instead.
When the bell rang for home time, Leon went running out of the school gates. Then he suddenly remembered. He was supposed to be walking Danny home!
He ran back to find Danny.
The babies' class had already come out of school. Mums, dads and carers were taking them home.
Leon looked around for his little brother's cheeky grin.
But there was no sign of Danny anywhere.
“Mum will kill me if anything happens to him!” thought Leon.
Everyone went home. The playground was empty and quiet. And still no Danny.
Then Leon really started to panic.
“Where are you, Danny?” he whispered, his voice shaky.
He felt sick. What if Danny had gone home without him? There was a busy road between school and home. Danny was only four years old. Leon had scary pictures in his mind, of Danny getting run over.
Or what if some bad person took him away?
Leon couldn't even
think
about that. He blocked it out of his mind.
Then he heard a noise. A kind of whimper, coming from behind the school bins.
Leon ran over. “Danny? Danny? Is that you?”
Leon shoved the big, heavy bin out of the way. And there was Danny, hiding behind it.
Leon was really pleased to see his little brother. But he was angry too because he had been so scared that Danny was lost.
“Danny!” he yelled. “I nearly had a heart attack! I thought you'd gone home without me!”
Danny looked up. His face was covered with snot and tears. He looked really scared.
“What's the matter, Danny?” asked Leon. “Has someone hurt you?”
The Wolf Cupboard
Danny gave a big sniff and wiped the snot from his nose with his sleeve.
“Hurry up and tell me!” said Leon.
“This big boy⦔ Danny began.
“What!” yelled Leon. “Did a big boy hurt you? Tell me his name!”
“I don't know his name,” said Danny. “He was just some big boy.”
“Did he hurt you?” asked Leon again.
“No,” said Danny. “He told me about the wolf cupboard.”
“The what?” said Leon. “What wolf cupboard?”
Danny began to cry again. “That big boy told me if you're bad at school they shut you up in the wolf cupboard. And there's a big, bad wolf in there. And he eats you all up.”
Leon felt his fear rush away, like water down a plug hole. He burst out laughing.
“Danny!” he grinned. “There's no such thing as a wolf cupboard!”
“Yes there is a wolf cupboard!” said Danny, still crying. “That big boy showed it to me. It's outside my classroom.”
“He was just trying to scare you,” said Leon. “Look, Danny, wolves don't live in cupboards.”
But Danny wasn't listening. He gave a big shiver.
“I hate this school,” he told Leon. “And I'm never, ever coming back here again!”