by Megan Rix
Patch gave Squeaker a hello gnaw on the ear and then held him in his paws on the short journey home. The puppy’s eyelids felt heavy and he closed them.
‘Here we are,’ Joe’s mum said, opening the boot and waking Patch up.
Patch blinked.
‘Oh, you do look sleepy,’ Mum smiled. ‘Come on, how about some food and then you can have a nice long nap.’
Even though he was very tired, Patch managed to gobble up all of his puppy-food lunch and have a big drink of water before he went out into the garden.
Joe’s mum came out into the garden with a sandwich and a cup of tea. But she’d only taken one bite when her work phone rang upstairs and she had to run back to her bedroom office.
Patch had never been left alone in the garden before. He sniffed at the leaf-sweeping brush and tried a bit of bird food that had fallen off the bird table.
Next to the bird table there was a shady bush and Patch lay down under it. Almost as soon as his eyes had closed he was fast asleep. Even the metallic sound of Mr Humphreys clipping his hedge in the garden next door didn’t disturb him.
But the shouting did.
‘Get out of it. Go on – scat, cat!’
Patch opened his eyes and raised his head a little off the ground, but he didn’t get properly up. He could see a pair of shears waving wildly above the top of next-door’s hedge, but suddenly there was an almighty crash, and a black and white cat came running into Patch’s garden.
Patch sprang to his feet and wagged his tail, but the cat didn’t want to play and jumped up on to the back wall and scuttled away.
There was more shouting from next door. Patch sniffed at the spot behind next-door’s hedge where the voice was coming from and started to burrow and scrape at the bottom of the fence.
When Joe came home from school later, he was surprised to find that, once more, Patch wasn’t waiting for him. He was usually at the front door, but not today.
‘Patch,’ he called. ‘Patch, where are you?’
But the puppy didn’t come running to him.
‘Mum, have you got Patch with you?’ he called up the stairs.
‘He’s in the garden,’ she called back.
But when Joe went out into the garden Patch wasn’t there either. His stomach churned with worry. He couldn’t have wandered off, could he? Could Patch have somehow got out? He didn’t know what he’d do if –
He didn’t let himself think about the possibilities. He had to find the little pup!
Joe ran back inside and upstairs to his bedroom, but Patch wasn’t in there, nor was he in the bathroom.
‘Patch has gone!’ he shouted to his mum as he ran back downstairs again. He checked in the front garden and the lounge, and then went out into the back garden again, getting more and more desperate all the time.
‘Patch, Patch, where are you?’ he yelled as loudly as he could.
‘Over here,’ Mr Humphreys called from behind the hedge. ‘Your puppy’s over here with me.’
Joe scrambled over the fence at the end of the garden, hoping Patch hadn’t caused too much trouble. But he couldn’t believe his eyes when he found Mr Humphreys lying flat on his back on the grass with Patch lying beside him. Patch jumped up and ran over to Joe.
‘What’s happened? Are you OK? I’m so sorry …’ Joe said as Mr Humphreys let out a loud groan of pain. ‘I won’t let Patch in your garden again. I’ll board up wherever he got in and maybe put some plants in front of it to stop him –’
‘It wasn’t Patch’s fault,’ Mr Humphreys said. ‘If it wasn’t for him, I’d be in a much sorrier state than I’m in now. I think my leg or at least my ankle’s broken. Blasted cat.’
Then Joe noticed the stepladder that had toppled over on the ground.
‘Joe?’ Mum called from their back garden. ‘Joe, are you OK? Did you find Patch?’
‘He’s here,’ Joe called. ‘But Mr Humphreys is injured.’
‘Better call an ambulance,’ Mr Humphreys said as Patch lay back down again beside him to comfort the old man.
Mr Humphreys stroked Patch’s soft fur as they all waited for the ambulance to arrive. ‘He’s a good pup,’ the old man said to Joe. ‘He knew I was in trouble and came to help me. Been stuck out here all afternoon waiting for you to come home, and he didn’t leave my side once. He’s a good dog, he is, and he’s welcome in my garden any time. My Billy would have liked him.’
Chapter 18
Mr Humphreys had been gone in the ambulance for an hour when the doorbell rang.
Joe opened it and was surprised to find Charlie there. Patch was very excited to see her and put his paws up on her lap so she could stroke his head.
‘Hello,’ Joe said. He wondered what Charlie was doing here.
‘I thought of some more useful things Patch could do,’ Charlie said. ‘You know, to help Sam when he goes to live with him.’
‘Patch has already been helping our next-door neighbour who had a fall this afternoon,’ Joe told Charlie. ‘He stayed with him and comforted him until an ambulance took him away.’
‘Is your neighbour going to be OK?’ Charlie asked. ‘I always worry about falling out of my wheelchair.’
‘He fell off his stepladder when he was trimming the back hedge,’ Joe said. ‘He’s always up there trimming it.’
‘Hello,’ Mum said, appearing at the door behind Joe.
‘You met Charlie at my school,’ Joe said, and Mum nodded, then went to answer the phone, which was ringing.
‘Do you want to come in?’ Joe asked, but Charlie shook her head.
‘I’ve got to get home, but I just wanted to tell you some of my ideas,’ she said as she stroked Patch. ‘You could teach him to find a mobile phone when it rings.’
‘That’s a good idea,’ Joe replied, remembering how Ollie had done that at the training centre.
‘And the TV remote. And I’d like a dog who could help me pull off my socks and put on my shoes.’
Joe nodded.
Charlie bit her bottom lip and then asked the question she’d been wanting to know the answer to ever since she’d met Patch.
‘Do you think I could have a Helper Dog too?’
‘Maybe,’ Joe said. ‘Why don’t you ask Lenny at Helper Dogs? You could come along to one of the classes with me and Patch, if you like.’
‘Yes, please,’ Charlie said enthusiastically. ‘Where did you get Patch from? Was it far away?’
‘No, he came from Mrs Hodges. She only lives one street over,’ Joe replied.
‘I wonder if she’s going to have any more Helper Pups?’ Charlie pondered wistfully.
Joe didn’t know the answer to that, but he thought if he were Charlie he’d want a Helper Pup too. ‘She might be.’
Joe’s mum came back to the door. ‘That was the hospital. They said that Mr Humphreys will need to stay in for a few days. It was a nasty fall, especially for a man of his age, but thank goodness nothing was broken.’
‘Good,’ said Joe and Charlie at the same time.
‘Are you coming in, Charlie?’ Mum asked her, but Charlie shook her head.
‘Swimming practice tonight. See you at school tomorrow, Joe.’
She pressed the button on her chair and whizzed off down the street.
‘Come on, Patch. There’re lots more things for you to learn,’ Joe said. He knew he didn’t need to teach Patch any of the things Charlie suggested, but Patch so loved learning new things that he thought he’d give it a try. And Charlie did have some good ideas.
Joe sat on one of the dining-room chairs and half pulled off one of his socks like he’d seen Lenny do at the Helper Dogs class so that it was flopping about at the end of his foot. Patch ran over to see what it was.
‘Tug, tug, Patch,’ Joe said, pointing to the toe of the sock. ‘Tug, tug,’ and he pulled at the sock himself. When it came off by mistake he gave a big cheer as if that was what he wanted to do, while Patch watched him, tail wagging, head on one side, as he worked out how to pl
ay this new game.
Joe half pulled the sock back on and waggled the end of it and then stretched it out. ‘Tug, tug, Patch.’
Patch took hold of the end of the sock and Joe gave a cheer and made a big fuss of Patch when he managed to pull it off.
Patch picked up the sock and gave it to Joe to put back on so they could play again.
‘Tug, tug, Patch.’
Patch tugged and Joe cheered and laughed when the sock came off.
‘Good dog, Patch! Look, Mum! Look what Patch can do now,’ he said when she came down from her office.
Patch’s tail swayed at the sight of the sock waggling and Joe laughed as it came off once again. Working and playing with Patch made him so happy.
By bedtime, Joe’s sock was looking a bit raggedy, but he didn’t care. He patted the bed and Patch jumped up on to it and lay down beside him. Patch could now take off socks!
When Joe came home from school the next day, his mum led him to the kitchen and pointed out of the window. Patch and the black and white cat were lying together on the lawn. ‘The cat’s been here all day,’ she smiled.
‘That cat made Mr Humphreys fall off his stepladder, according to Mr Humphreys,’ Joe said.
‘Thank goodness he wasn’t too badly injured,’ Mum said. ‘I really don’t think he should be climbing up stepladders at his age. Not that Mr Humphreys would listen to anyone telling him that!’
Joe was glad Patch had another friend. He went to say hello. Patch came racing towards him as soon as he opened the kitchen door, but the cat jumped on to the fence and scampered away.
Mr Humphreys came home from hospital a week later and he brought with him some puppy treats for Patch.
‘Don’t let him eat them all up at once,’ he said as he stroked the little dog. ‘Don’t want him getting sick. He’s one fine pup, he is. One fine pup.’
Chapter 19
As the summer turned to autumn, Patch gradually progressed from spending a morning at school with Joe to a whole day each week in the term leading up to Christmas. Joe thought the other children would take less notice of Patch after a while, but he was wrong. There were so many children at the school and only one Patch, so he was always treated like the star he was.
Charlie especially loved it when Patch came to school, which was usually on a Monday.
‘Monday is now my favourite school day,’ she announced.
‘Mine too,’ agreed Joe.
‘Apart from next Tuesday when we’re having our school trip. Then Tuesday will be my favourite day because that’ll also be Patch Day,’ Charlie grinned.
Joe had taught Patch to help Charlie get her jacket off by pulling gently at the sleeve, and he was always more than ready to pick up her pencil, or anything else she dropped.
‘Thank you, Patch,’ she said.
‘Patch is going to pick up a pencil or pull off my socks at the Helper Dogs Open Day in two weeks’ time,’ Joe said. ‘Lots of Helper Dogs will be there.’
‘I’d really like to see all the things they can do,’ Charlie told him as the bell rang and Miss Addams came in with the register. ‘It would be the best thing ever if I could have my own Helper Dog one day.’
‘You could come along this week, if you like,’ Joe suggested. ‘I bet Lenny wouldn’t mind. Provided you didn’t put the dogs off their work.’
‘Really?’ Charlie said, her eyes shining. ‘I’d soooo like to.’
‘I’ll check and let you know,’ Joe told her.
‘Text me,’ Charlie said, and Joe nodded.
‘Quieten down now, everyone,’ Miss Addams said. ‘I need to take the register and then I want to go over the arrangements for our day trip to Fridlington. It’s probably not going to be all that warm for a beach trip so make sure you wrap up well.’
‘Miss,’ Charlie said when Miss Addams had called out everyone’s names.
‘Yes, Charlie?’
‘I bet Patch could take that register back to the office in his mouth.’
Charlie was always thinking of things for Patch to do, but sometimes she forgot to ask Joe first. He tried not to mind, but it could be a bit annoying.
Miss Addams looked down at the register and then over at Joe.
‘I suppose we could give it a try,’ she said. ‘If it’s OK with you, Joe?’
Joe nodded and took the register from Miss Addams.
‘Hold it, Patch,’ he said, holding the register in front of Patch, who had never carried anything quite so large before.
Patch carefully took the register in his mouth and kept hold of it as Joe led the way along the corridor to the school office.
‘Thank you very much,’ said Mrs Hunt, the school secretary. ‘Do you think Patch would like a small dog treat? I’ve got some in my handbag for my own dog, Suki. She’s a poodle.’
Patch wagged his tail at the sight of the bag of treats.
‘Oh, does he like these?’ Mrs Hunt asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Joe said. ‘He’s never had those ones before, but so far he’s liked all the dog treats he’s tasted.’
Patch gently took the first small bone-shaped treat Mrs Hunt offered him, and then the second and the third.
Lenny had told them not to over-treat the dogs at their last Helper Dogs class.
‘Save some for Suki,’ laughed Joe.
When Joe asked if he could bring Charlie along to the Saturday morning class with him, Lenny said that would be fine.
Patch loved going to the classes, but Charlie was even more excited than him.
‘I’ve been waiting here for half an hour,’ she said when they arrived. ‘I didn’t want to be late!’ The November wind was freezing and Charlie shivered. ‘Hope it’s warmer inside.’
As soon as they went into the centre Patch raced round in circles. He was very excited to see his friend Ollie and even more excited when the other Helper Dogs-in-training arrived too and they could all play together freely instead of being tethered as they usually were.
Patch and the spaniel Hamish had a game of chase back and forth across the room.
‘It’s like a dog party,’ Charlie grinned as she watched Patch and the other dogs sniff, wag tails and play together.
‘What’s going on?’ Joe asked Lenny.
‘Next Saturday, as you know, we’re going to have our annual Helper Dogs Open Day to show people all of the hard work you’ve been doing over the past months, and the amazing things these chaps are capable of. So once everyone has arrived, we’re going to practise for it today.’
‘Come on,’ Joe said to Charlie. ‘I’ll introduce you to some of Patch’s friends.’
Just at that moment Joe noticed Ann come in with her dog Dora.
‘I don’t understand,’ he said in surprise. ‘What’s Dora doing here? I thought she’d gone to become a Helper Dog.’
‘She didn’t pass her final assessment and so she came back to me,’ Ann told him.
‘Do dogs that fail the assessment always end up staying with their puppy parents?’ Charlie asked, looking at Joe. ‘Or do they go to other people who’d like them?’
Joe’s heart was racing.
‘Usually the puppy parent,’ Ann replied. ‘The dogs know us and we love them. But the Helper Dogs charity can’t pay for anything any more if they fail. Lenny said Dora could still be part of the open day demonstration, even though she isn’t going to be living with a disabled person. I’ve decided Dora and I are going to start visiting schools, and old people’s homes and clubs, and anywhere else where they want to hear about the work that Helper Dogs do.’
‘That sounds great,’ said Charlie, ‘doesn’t it, Joe?’
But Joe wasn’t listening any more. He was looking down at Patch. He thought about the soldier Sam who Lenny had talked about, who was hoping to have Patch come and live with him. Even though he was sure Sam would love him, he couldn’t help really, really wanting Patch to stay with him forever and be his pet. But then he immediately felt bad for thinking that. He looked up and
noticed Charlie watching him.
‘Come on,’ Joe said quickly, ‘it looks like Lenny is ready to begin.’ And they gathered round Lenny.
‘Next Saturday I want each of the dogs to demonstrate individually one of the helpful jobs that Helper Dogs do. So what can your dogs do well?’ he asked them all.
‘Hamish likes to carry the newspaper home from the shop. He’s always very careful and there’s barely a mark or any dribble on it,’ Olivia said, as she stroked the spaniel who would be going for his final assessment soon.
‘Cody likes to pull the light cord. Stands up on his back legs to do it. Only problem is sometimes, if he wakes up in the middle of the night, he switches it on and then he wakes all of us up too,’ laughed Ted.
‘You can’t take your shoes off in our house without Minnie wanting to take your socks off as well,’ grinned David as Minnie nuzzled her head into his hand.
‘Dora’s very good at taking the washing out of the machine,’ said Ann. ‘Always has been, haven’t you, Dora?’
Dora looked at Ann and wagged her tail at the sound of her name.
Joe told Lenny about Patch picking up small items that got dropped on the floor.
‘He’s really good at it!’ chipped in Charlie.
Once everyone had their individual jobs to do at the open day they practised coming in and circling the room with their dogs.
‘All the dogs should be on a nice loose lead, of course. Come in as I call out your dog’s name. I’ll also say who you are and how old your dog is,’ Lenny explained.
‘But not how old we are,’ quipped Ann and everyone laughed.
Lenny rolled his eyes and continued. ‘Then you circle slowly round the room so everyone can have a good look at your dog, and then you join your place at the end of the queue.’
‘I feel really self-conscious walking round by myself,’ Joan said.
‘You’re not by yourself,’ Lenny told her. ‘And believe me, no one’s going to be looking at you. They’ll all be too busy staring at Busby!’
Once they’d practised circling the room they went over their individual sequences.
‘And that’ll be it really,’ Lenny said. ‘I’ll tell everyone about the dogs and say how we’re always looking for more volunteers. A piece about the event is going in the local press this week. Oh, and there should be a few people here who actually have fully trained Helper Dogs. I’m hoping they will say a few words about the difference having the dog living with them has made.