by Katy Cannon
“Boomer! Quiet.” The redheaded girl spoke firmly, and the barking stopped. “Now sit.” The dog whimpered a little, but lowered his hindquarters to the floor. “Good boy.” The girl bent down to reward her pet with a treat and a cuddle. “I’m glad I’ve got you with me today, Boomer.”
The boys and their puppies had scampered away across the room by now, and Abi went over to the girl and her dog.
“He’s very well trained,” Abi said, kneeling down and holding out a hand for him to sniff. “Can I pet him?”
The girl nodded. “His name is Boomer,” she said. “And I’m Rachel.”
“Hi, Rachel. Hello, Boomer.” Abi ran a hand over the little dog’s soft coat, and stared at the wrinkles and folds on his face. He was about the same size as Lulu, maybe a little smaller, but otherwise the two dogs were completely different!
“What sort of dog is he?” Emily asked, kneeling beside Abi. Emily was holding Lulu by her lead and the little bichon frise stayed close to the girls. She didn’t like a lot of barking – unless she was the one doing it!
“He’s a pug,” Abi said. She looked up at Rachel. “Right?”
Rachel nodded. “Yep! You can tell by the wrinkles.”
“They’re kind of weird,” Emily said. Cautiously, she reached out with a finger to stroke Boomer’s face. “But soft! Hello, Boomer.” The dog pressed up against her hand.
“He’s very friendly, really,” Rachel said. “Those boys were just teasing him. They took the toy he was playing with, so he got a little territorial.”
Abi looked over to where the twins were holding out a chew toy for their puppies, then pulling it away again. They all seemed to be enjoying the game, but Abi knew that some dogs didn’t like that kind of teasing.
“I just hope Auntie Nina didn’t hear him barking,” Rachel went on, sounding nervous.
“Auntie Nina?” Emily asked. “Nina Grace is your aunt?”
Rachel nodded, and Emily turned to Abi with a grin. “Sorry, Abi, but that’s even cooler than your aunt Tiffany owning a dog-grooming salon.”
Abi laughed. She’d still prefer Pooch Parlour to a clothes shop any day. “Is that how you and Boomer got to be in the show?” Abi asked.
“We auditioned along with everyone else,” Rachel told her. “Apparently it was a close thing, but they wanted a pug in the show – they’re very popular, you know – and Boomer was the cutest. But I had to promise Auntie Nina that I’d keep him close and wouldn’t let him start barking at everyone.”
“Does he do that a lot?” Emily asked. “I mean … he was kind of loud.”
Abi gave her friend a sympathetic look. Emily liked dogs, but she hadn’t spent much time around them and sometimes the louder ones made her uncomfortable.
“He used to,” Rachel admitted. “He barked at everything. Squirrels in the park, other dogs, strange people, and every single time the phone rang – it drove Mum and Dad up the wall.”
“What did you do?” Emily’s eyes were wide as she asked the question, as if she couldn’t imagine one small dog making so much noise.
Abi smiled to herself. Wait until her friend helped out with bath time at Pooch Parlour – some of the dogs went wild in the water!
“Dad made me take Boomer to a training class,” Rachel said. “They taught me how to speak to him to make him pay attention – firmly but calmly. And they helped me train him out of barking all the time. Now it’s just sometimes, and I know how to stop him.” She glared across at the twins. “Unless someone provokes him.”
“That’s good,” Abi said. “I’ve done some training with Lulu – it takes ages!”
Lulu lifted her fuzzy head at the sound of her name, red hat still in place, and Rachel beamed. “She’s gorgeous! Look, Boomer, a new friend for you.”
Abi watched as Lulu cautiously approached the pug. Lulu was a very sociable dog and it was always fun to watch her making new friends. Boomer shuffled back a little, but let Lulu sniff around.
Rachel pulled out some more toys from the basket Aunt Tiffany had set up in the temporary Doggy Daycare and placed them in front of the dogs. Soon they’d picked one each and were chewing on them happily.
“I bet you’re excited about being in the show,” Emily said to Rachel.
Abi had a feeling that her friend would rather be on the catwalk than helping with the dogs backstage.
“Yes! But scared too,” Rachel said. “I’m so nervous my tummy feels funny, and I’m hot all over.”
“I bet you’ll feel better after the dress rehearsal,” Abi said. “It always helps me when I know exactly what’s going to be happening.” She’d feel a lot better about everything herself, she thought, once she and Emily had had a chance to practise dressing the dogs in their costumes.
“I hope so. What are you two going to be doing in the show?” Rachel asked. “I don’t remember seeing either of you at the auditions.”
“Oh, we’re not models,” Abi said cheerfully. “We’re here to help get the dogs in and out of their costumes.”
“Wow! That sounds fun,” Rachel said. “I can’t wait to see what all the outfits look like.”
“Me neither,” Emily said.
“Well, there’s not long to wait now,” Abi said. “Look, here’s Nina. The dress rehearsal must be about to start!”
As Nina Grace and her assistants began organizing all of the models in the dressing rooms, Aunt Tiffany and her team took charge of the dogs.
Abi helped Rachel get Boomer settled and listened as the groomer explained how they would clean the folds and wrinkles of the pug’s face using cotton buds. Then Abi waved goodbye to Rachel as she went off to get changed, and headed back over to where Mel was sorting through the rails of outfits.
“What do we need to do, Mel?” Abi asked, as Lulu trotted over to her. Emily had taken Lulu off her lead, now that things had calmed down a bit.
“We need to teach you girls to dress the dogs,” Mel replied.
“Um, about that,” Emily said, as Mel started sorting through the outfits. “How do you put clothes on a dog?”
Mel laughed. “Pretty much the same way you dress a child. Have either of you ever helped change a baby or toddler? No? Well, never mind! Come on, I’ll show you. Abi, do you want to see if you can find a few spare outfits that might fit Lulu, so that you can both have a trial go? I’ll see if Tiffany can lend us one of the other dogs for a little while, so you can get a feel for dressing bigger animals too.”
“Have you done this before?” Emily asked Abi.
Abi shrugged. “A bit. Lulu never really wore clothes until we came to Pooch Parlour this summer, but since then we’ve had masses of fun trying on outfits.” She frowned. “Maybe it’s a bit different when you’re trying to dress dogs you don’t know very well, though.”
“Especially if you’ve never done it before,” Emily said, nervously.
“You’ll be fine,” Abi reassured her. She flicked through the hangers on the rail, looking for things that might fit Lulu. “Besides, that’s what the dress rehearsal is for – so we can practise and get used to the dogs, and for the dogs and models to learn what they have to do.”
“Exactly right, Abi,” Mel said, returning with the beautiful Dalmatian Abi had spotted earlier. “For most of the dogs, this will be their first time in a fashion show and I’m sure they’re all just as nervous as we are.”
“You’re nervous too?” Emily asked Mel, although she sounded like she didn’t believe it.
Mel laughed. “Of course I am! This is a big night for all of us, and everyone wants it to go smoothly, so we can raise lots of money for the homeless dogs. That’s why we’re having a dress rehearsal – so we can feel confident tonight about what we need to do.”
“That makes sense,” Emily said, looking a little happier.
“Good!” Abi said. “We’d better get practising, then.”
“OK,” Mel said. “We’ll start with Lulu, since she knows us all. Then we’ll move on to Hero,” she added,
stroking a hand over the Dalmatian’s coat.
Abi called Lulu, and she came scampering over, a chew toy in her mouth. She stayed close to Abi when she spotted Hero, but the bigger dog lowered his nose to sniff at Lulu, and soon the little bichon frise was sniffing back.
“I wonder why’s he called Hero,” Emily said, watching the two dogs getting to know each other.
“He’s a fire station dog, I think,” Abi said. “I saw him with a man in a firefighter’s uniform earlier.”
Mel nodded. “That’s right. Lots of fire stations used to have Dalmatians as mascots.” She grinned at the two dogs as Lulu placed the chew toy down in front of Hero, happy to share with her new friend. “And now we’ve all got to know one another, we should get to work! Abi, which outfits did you find for Lulu?”
Abi held out the three outfits she’d chosen, all designed for some of the smaller dogs in the show. They wouldn’t be a perfect fit, but they’d be close enough for practising.
“Great!” Mel took two and passed one to Emily. “OK. I’ll put Lulu in this outfit first, so you can both watch how I do it. Then Abi can take the outfit off and put the next one on. Then Emily can do the same.”
Abi was sure that Lulu would love the chance to try on so many outfits! “OK,” she said, and Emily nodded.
“Lulu! Come, Lulu,” Mel called, and the fluffy dog padded over. “Let’s get you into this pretty outfit.”
Abi watched carefully as Mel removed the red beret and eased Lulu’s head through the neck of the jumper, then lifted each front leg in turn to pull it through. Next, she smoothed the jumper down over Lulu’s springy coat, and finally added a matching hat to her head.
“See?” Mel said. “Easy. Abi, your turn.”
Abi took a breath. She wanted to get this exactly right. After all, if she couldn’t dress her own dog, what chance did she have with a dozen strange animals?
Carefully, she removed the hat and handed it back to Mel. Then she took the jumper off again by doing the exact reverse of what she’d watched Mel do.
“First the legs,” she muttered to herself, lifting Lulu’s left paw, then her right, to slip them out of the sleeves. Lulu gave a friendly little bark, as if to say, This is fun! “Good girl, Lulu. You like all this fuss, don’t you?” Abi tugged the jumper over her head. “And I promise you can have some treats when we’re finished.”
Jumper off, Abi turned to the second outfit, confident that she had the hang of it now. Except the next outfit wasn’t the same at all. When she’d chosen it from the rack, still in its hanging case, she’d thought it looked like a dress. But instead it was a navy blue jacket with a tie, just like Dad wore when he had an important meeting at work. Abi blinked at it for a moment, trying to figure out how on earth to put it on Lulu.
Then she spotted the Velcro fastener at the collar. She pulled it open, and placed it around Lulu’s neck before closing it again. She repeated the steps with Lulu’s legs, lifting each paw to put into the coat. Finally, she fastened the last closure under her belly.
“That’s great, Abi!” Mel moved closer, and held up a small elasticated loop at the back of the coat. “Where do you think this goes?”
“Under her tail?” Abi guessed.
“That’s right!” Mel said.
Abi tucked the loop under Lulu’s tail then sat back to admire her handiwork. Lulu looked very smart indeed in the coat. Maybe she’d talk to her mum about getting Lulu one of her own, she thought. A pink one, perhaps…
“Right, Emily,” Mel said. “Your turn. Do you know what to do now?”
“I think so,” Emily said.
Abi watched her take a deep breath and she silently cheered her friend on. Emily could do it, Abi knew she could!
But before Emily could even start to take off Lulu’s coat, there was a sudden scream from the dressing rooms…
Abi, Mel and Emily all looked at each other, then quickly got to their feet. Barking, Hero ran for the door, and they all followed, Lulu scampering behind them in her lovely blue jacket.
A crowd had already formed at the door to the girls’ dressing room but they let Mel through, and Emily and Abi slipped in behind her, Lulu weaving her way through all the legs. Abi hadn’t had time to put Lulu back on her lead in the rush to find out what was going on.
“What’s happened?” Mel asked, eyes wide with alarm.
One of the make-up artists looked up, her face pale. “Oh, I’m sorry for scaring everyone. It’s just… Look!”
She pointed, and the girl having her make-up done spun her chair around so she was facing them. Abi gasped! It was Rachel – and her face was covered in red spots!
Rachel stared back at the crowd miserably while the make-up artist chattered on. “She was fine when she sat down, I swear! Then all of a sudden these spots started appearing, one after another. A new spot, every few seconds. Do you think it’s my make-up? I’ve never had a problem before, I promise.”
Mel shook her head. “I don’t think it’s your make-up,” she said. “I’m afraid it’s much worse than that. I think it’s chickenpox.”
Abi peered closer at the spots on Rachel’s face. They did look a lot like the ones she and Emily had had when they were five. There was still a photo on Abi’s bedroom wall of the two of them together – they had both caught chickenpox at the exact same time. Mum said that’s when she knew they’d be friends for life.
“I’ll call the doctor,” Mel said. “Can someone find Nina? She’s your aunt, right?” she asked Rachel, who nodded. “She can call your parents.”
“But what about the show?” one of the twins asked from the doorway.
“Yeah, we want to be on the stage,” the other said.
“And you will be.” Nina Grace appeared at just the right time. “We’ll make sure Rachel is well looked after, but the show must go on! Someone else will have to wear Rachel’s outfits and lead Boomer out on to the catwalk. After all, he’s wearing the secret showstopper outfit in the finale! We can’t do it without him.”
Abi and Emily exchanged a glance at the words “secret showstopper”.
“First,” Mel said, looking around the room, “is there anyone here who hasn’t had chickenpox before? If you’ve already had it, you should be fine.”
Emily nodded. “That’s right. My mum is a doctor and she says it’s very rare to catch chickenpox more than once.”
“Just as well we had it when we were five, then,” Abi said, nudging her friend.
Emily rolled her eyes. “That was so unfair. I was covered in spots and you only had about five!”
Abi laughed. “Just lucky, I guess!” She watched as Nina led Rachel out to another room to wait for her mum. Rachel looked anything but lucky. “Poor Rachel.”
“Yeah. She said earlier she was feeling almost sick with nerves,” Emily replied.
“Guess it wasn’t nerves, after all.”
“She was so close to being in a real fashion show. How awful to have to go home at the last moment,” Emily said. “I wonder who they’ll get to replace her.”
Abi looked around. There weren’t any other girl models of Rachel’s age, as far as she could see. In fact, the closest girl was … Emily! Abi smiled a secret smile. Maybe her friend’s dream would come true after all!
“Right then,” Nina said, coming back into the room. “What’s next?”
“It looks like everyone else has already had chickenpox,” Mel told her. “So at least we don’t need to worry about anyone looking spottier than Hero on the catwalk.”
Everyone laughed, and Hero gave a sharp bark at the sound.
“So now we just need a replacement model for Rachel,” Nina said, gazing around the room. She stopped, looking at Abi and Emily. “Mel, I’m sure you don’t really need two assistants, do you?”
“What do you think, girls?” Mel asked. “Fancy trying out as models instead of dog dressers?”
Abi saw the excitement on Emily’s face, the way her friend clasped her hands tightly together. It wo
uld be fun to be out on the catwalk, but…
“Emily should do it,” Abi said. “She’s closer to Rachel’s height, and I know the dogs better so I’ll be more useful backstage.”
“She has a point,” Mel agreed, but Nina just narrowed her eyes at Abi.
“I think you should both try out,” Nina said, finally. “You can each take one of Rachel’s outfits for the dress rehearsal, and when you’re not on the catwalk you can help Mel with the dogs. Then whichever one of you is best can put on the showstopper outfit for the finale and take part in the show tonight. OK?”
The secret outfit! Abi hoped that they’d get a sneak preview.
“OK!” Emily said, grinning.
Abi nodded, feeling a little bit pleased. At least she could try on one of the outfits and see how it felt to be on a real catwalk, even if she didn’t get to be in the show!
“In that case, time to get to work! Dress rehearsal starts in fifteen minutes, everyone!” Nina clapped her hands, and everyone scurried off to where they were supposed to be, the dressing rooms buzzing with activity again.
Emily went first. Abi watched as her friend was whisked off to have her hair and make-up done. But Mel still had plenty of work to keep Abi busy! First, she practised getting Hero in and out of his outfits. It was trickier with a dog she didn’t know as well as Lulu – and especially one with much longer legs! But she managed and Hero was very well behaved.
“Good boy,” Abi told Hero, giving him a treat.
The big dog wolfed it down in a moment.
“Your turn,” Emily said cheerfully from behind her.
Abi turned to look at her friend. Emily looked very grown up with her hair pinned back and lipstick on. Abi’s mum was very strict about make-up, although she knew that Emily got to try on her mum’s sometimes.