The Rescued Puppy

by Holly Webb

  Georgia frowned. “But we wouldn’t be able to take Lucky! Woolbridge Beach doesn’t allow dogs in the summer, Mum said.”

  “Anyway, it’s not such nice weather today,” Mum put in. “It feels more like a day for walking along the cliffs than going to the beach. We’ll do that another day, Adam.”

  Adam muttered something under his breath, but Mum managed to distract him by passing him chocolate spread for his toast, which was a holiday treat.

  After breakfast, they set off along the path that led from the cottage, winding through the bracken and brambles along the top of the cliff. Lucky danced ahead, tugging on his extending lead, and winding himself in and out of the brambles as he investigated all the interesting sandy holes.

  “Let’s take him off the lead,” Georgia suggested, after she’d unwound him from the bramble bushes for the third time. “There’s no one else up here.”

  But before Dad could answer, Lucky uttered a sharp little woof and looked round at her excitedly.

  “What is it?” she asked, and then she gasped. “Oh, look! A rabbit!”

  A small sandy-brown rabbit was peering back at them from the middle of a bramble bush. It looked terrified.

  “Poor thing!” Georgia whispered. “It’s so scared. Lucky, you mustn’t chase it!” But Lucky was already darting forwards, the cord of his lead getting longer as he raced after the rabbit, which turned tail and dived down a nearby hole.

  “Oh, Lucky!” Georgia tried to pull him back, but he had his nose in the hole, and was barking frantically. He’d been within a metre of a real rabbit, and now it had disappeared! He could smell it still, but he couldn’t see it. He dug and scrabbled, but he couldn’t get any further in, the hole was too narrow. Eventually he gave up and slunk sadly back to Georgia. For some reason she seemed cross, but he had no idea why.

  “That rabbit was terrified! You shouldn’t have chased it, Lucky!”

  Adam snorted. “Come on, Georgie, he’s a dog! That’s what dogs do! Spaniels were bred for hunting.”

  “But Lucky’s a pet, not a hunting dog! What if he gets to like hunting things and starts chasing cats?” Georgia snapped back. “Then he’d be in real trouble. Imagine Mrs Winter next door if he chased Percy!” Percy was Mrs Winter’s enormous fluffy Persian cat. Georgia sighed, looking down at Lucky, who was watching her with confused eyes and slowly wagging his tail. “Oh, it isn’t your fault, Lucky. I’m not really cross. It was such a cute rabbit, that’s all.”

  “Anyway, that answers the question about letting him off the lead,” Dad pointed out. “Have you noticed how close we are to the edge of the cliff?” He crouched down, pushing aside some clumps of yellow flowers to show the animal holes dotted around between them – and the little sandy slope trailing down to the edge. “If a rabbit popped up in front of Lucky and ducked into one of those holes just there, he’d be over the side of the cliff before you could even call his name.”

  Georgia shuddered. “I suppose you’re right. OK, we’ll keep the lead on.”

  Lucky wandered on, sniffing hopefully for more rabbits, but they all seemed to have hidden themselves away. For the rest of the walk he had to make do with leaping at the butterflies, lots of tiny little blue ones, which kept flying around his nose in a most unwise manner.

  Chapter Five

  The next couple of days were sunny again, and the family spent them on the beach. Lucky and the children were in and out of the sea most of the time, as it was so hot that it was the only way to cool down.

  The group of boys who’d been on the beach before were back again on the Wednesday, playing football, and Adam watched them hopefully for a while, before the ball happened to come past him. He kicked it back expertly, and they invited him to come and join in. Georgia didn’t mind being left on her own with Lucky, and Mum and Dad. It was far too hot for football, and it was fun reading her book with Lucky snoozing next to her in the sun.

  “Mum! Dad! Josh and Liam’s dad’s taking them to Woolbridge Beach this afternoon, and they’ve asked if I want to go too. Can I? And can I take my holiday money for the rides?”

  Dad got up, and went to talk to Josh and Liam’s dad.

  “What about you, Georgia?” Mum asked. “Dad and I could take you, if you wanted to go over to Woolbridge?”

  Georgia looked thoughtful, but then she shook her head. “Actually, I’d rather stay here, Mum.” She wasn’t that keen on rides and things, and she was really enjoying spending her holiday time with Lucky.

  Adam went off with the other boys after their picnic lunch, and Georgia set off on a long walk up the beach with Lucky. She hunted for shells and sea glass, and Lucky found a dead fish. He was quite cross when Georgia threw it back into the sea and wouldn’t let him fetch it. It had smelled delicious.

  On the Thursday morning, Georgia and Adam were hoping to go to the beach again, but Mum pointed out that they really needed to go and do some food shopping.

  “Do we have to come?” Adam groaned.

  “Well, you can’t go to the beach by yourselves.” Mum shook her head. “Dad or I need to be there if you’re going in the water.”

  “We could just stay out of the sea,” Georgia suggested. But then she shook her head. “Actually, I don’t see how we’d explain to Lucky that he couldn’t go swimming. It probably isn’t a very good idea.”

  “What about a walk though?” Adam asked. “You did say before we came that we’d be allowed to go out on our own and we haven’t yet.”

  “Yes, and Lucky really needs a walk too,” Georgia added, exchanging an excited glance with Adam.

  Mum and Dad looked thoughtfully at each other. “I suppose you could,” Dad said slowly. “We won’t be more than a couple of hours. As long as you take one of our mobiles, and you promise not to do anything silly.”

  “Brilliant!” Adam cheered, and Georgia reached under the table to stroke Lucky. She could hardly wait for them to take their puppy out on their own for the first time ever.

  After breakfast, Adam tucked Mum’s mobile phone safely away in the pocket of his shorts, and he and Georgia filled a little bag with suncream, snacks, dog treats, water and Lucky’s special folding dog bowl. It was so hot he was bound to need a drink.

  It felt like a real adventure, setting off on their own with Lucky, and they were determined to make it a really long walk.

  “We could go all the way round the top of the bay,” Adam suggested, as he hurried along holding Lucky’s lead. “The cliffs further round towards Woolbridge looked really interesting from the beach. There might be caves and things in them. And we could look for fossils!”

  But by the time they’d fought their way through the brambles as far as they’d gone on that first cliff-top walk, Georgia and Adam were so hot they decided to stop for a break. Georgia filled up Lucky’s bowl, and he drank greedily. He’d walked more than twice as far as Georgia and Adam, as he kept running backwards and forwards. He lay there in the cool shade of the bracken, occasionally snapping lazily at hoverflies as they buzzed past. Adam sat on the lead, just in case, but it didn’t look as though Lucky wanted to run off anyway.

  “My turn to take Lucky now,” Georgia said, as she packed his bowl away in the bag and got up. “You can carry the bag.”

  Adam scowled. “Why should you always get to hold his lead? I’m having him for this walk. You had him all yesterday afternoon!”

  “What? For the whole walk? That isn’t fair!” Georgia yelled. “I only had him yesterday because you wanted to go off to Woolbridge! You didn’t care about Lucky then, did you?”

  Lucky looked up and whined worriedly.

  “Oh, it’s OK, Lucky … don’t be scared.” She turned to her brother. “Now look!” she hissed. “You’re upsetting Lucky!”

  “I’m not the one arguing!” Adam spat back in a whisper. “Just let me hold him! This walk was my idea, remember!”

  “No! It’s my turn!”

  Lucky whined again, but they weren’t listening. He backed away, the le
ad pulling out behind him, and his tail held close against his legs. He didn’t want to be near them when they shouted at each other. It frightened him. He’d go and find somewhere safe to hide until they’d stopped, he decided. He headed a little further down the path. His extending lead was quite long, so he could get a good distance away from the loud voices. The delicious smells in the undergrowth soon distracted him from the squabble he’d left behind, and he pottered around the bushes, sure he could smell a rabbit somewhere near.

  There was no rabbit to be found, however there was a huge butterfly, a brown one that swooped temptingly right in front of his nose. He barked happily, and chased after it as it fluttered away. He’d never actually caught one before, but he was so close to this one, surely it couldn’t get away this time. He ran on, barking excitedly and snapping at the butterfly, sure that Georgia and Adam would be pleased if he finally caught one.

  Just then, Georgia grabbed at the lead, yanking it away from Adam. As she reached for the lead’s bulky plastic handle, she overbalanced and it slipped out of her hands. She dived after it, and so did Adam – but it was too late. They watched the lead sliding away as Lucky raced after the butterfly.

  “Lucky!” Georgia yelled, scrabbling after the lead as it disappeared down the path. She could just see Lucky’s golden tail, wagging excitedly as he chased after something up ahead. Georgia set off to catch him – just as Lucky made one last desperate lunge after the butterfly, and tumbled over the side of the cliff, his lead bouncing uselessly behind him.

  Chapter Six

  Lucky scrabbled and scrambled down the steep slope, trying frantically to stop himself by clawing at the reddish side of the cliff as he fell. Sharper rocks were sticking out of the sandy earth every so often, and he whimpered as one of his paws caught against a particularly large stone.

  At last, he landed on a tiny ledge, about five metres down the side of the cliff. He sat there cowering and shivering, holding up his bleeding paw and howling with fright. What had happened? All he had done was follow the butterfly! It had disappeared, and the path had gone with it. Where were Georgia and Adam? He wanted Georgia to look after his paw and stroke him, and get him out of this horrible place.

  “Lucky!” Georgia screamed, racing along the path to the spot where he’d disappeared, with Adam dashing after her. “Where is he?” She flung herself down at the edge of the cliff to peer over, and felt suddenly sick, her head swimming as she looked at the sea so far below. When they were on the beach the cliffs had looked so pretty, pinkish-red with sandy streaks, but now they seemed menacing and sinister, and very, very tall. The sea was right in at the bottom now, foaming and rushing about in clouds of bubbles. Even though Lucky was a good swimmer, she didn’t see how he could have survived such a terrible fall.

  “Can you see him?” Adam asked, his voice quiet and miserable. Georgia shook her head. “No. He must be – under the water…” she said, her voice choked with tears.

  But then there was a pitiful wail from below, and Georgia gasped. “Adam, look! He’s there, he’s there!”

  She pointed to a tiny ledge below, where a clump of bushes and straggly bits of grass had somehow managed to find some soil to grow in. It was just above the tumble of rocks rising out of the sea at the base of the cliff. Sitting there, staring up at them mournfully, was Lucky.

  “Lucky, stay! We’ll come and get you – or – or something…” Georgia’s voice trailed away.

  “He’s all right. He’s actually OK…” Adam murmured, gripping tightly on to two handfuls of grass, and leaning as far as he possibly could without going over too. “I can’t believe he managed to fall down there and still be OK.”

  Georgia gulped, and tears welled up in her eyes. Adam put his arm round her. They were both shaking.

  “He’s moving, definitely. But I think he’s hurt his paw – it’s so hard to see,” Georgia murmured. “I shouldn’t have tried to grab the lead off you. I’m really sorry.” She stared down at Lucky. “How are we ever going to get him back? It’s such a long way to that ledge.”

  Adam looked worriedly at Lucky. “I think you’re right, he’s holding it in a funny way. There’s no way he’ll be able to climb back up here! I wonder if I can scramble down to him.”

  Georgia grabbed his arm tightly. “Are you crazy? Look how steep it is! You’ll fall!”

  Adam shook his head. “Look. Just along a bit – it’s almost like a path, down to where Lucky is.”

  “Well, I can’t see it,” Georgia said stubbornly. She sort of could, but it didn’t look like much of a path, and she was scared that Adam was going to fall too. It was only a very thin sort of ledge, weaving its way towards the bigger ledge that Lucky was on.

  Lucky howled again, and Georgia called down to him. “It’s OK, Lucky! Don’t be scared!” She looked back up at Adam. “Are you sure you can get down there?”

  Adam shrugged. “No. But I want to have a go. It was my fault this happened too.” He went over to the little break in the cliff edge where the tiny path started and gazed at it, chewing his lip. “I’ll sit and wriggle along, I think.” He edged himself down, very slowly, and Georgia watched, her heart racing.

  Lucky stared up from his ledge and wagged his tail hopefully. Adam was coming to get him! He stood up, wincing as he tried to put his hurt paw to the ground, and then he had to flop down again. There was definitely something wrong with his leg.

  He could see Georgia too, just her face, peering over the edge of the cliff, so very far away. Lucky let out a miserable howl. He wanted to be back up there with her!

  “It’s OK, Lucky, ssshhh!” Georgia called out, trying to make her voice calm and comforting. Their obedience class teacher had said that voices were really important. If she sounded frightened and upset, Lucky would be frightened too. She had to keep him calm. He always listened best to her in obedience classes; Adam got him too excited. Now it was more important to keep Lucky calm than ever before. The little ledge he was on was so narrow. If Lucky got frightened and scrabbled about, he could so easily fall into that treacherous-looking sea. And with an injured leg, he might not be able to swim.

  Georgia watched nervously as Adam inched down the path towards Lucky. He was going as slowly and carefully as he could, but the path was very steep. Suddenly, Georgia gasped as Adam’s feet went out from under him, and he slid down in a rattle of sand and tiny pebbles. She caught her breath, jamming her knuckles into her mouth to stop herself crying out.

  Adam yelled in panic, and grabbed hold of a bush, hanging on even though it scratched his hands.

  “Adam!” Georgia called down. “Are you all right? You have to come back up, it isn’t safe. We’ll phone Mum and Dad.”

  Adam nodded. “Sorry, Lucky,” he called down sadly. “We’re going to get help, I promise.” He dragged himself back up, going hand by hand and holding on to the scrubby plants that lined the path.

  Georgia grabbed him as soon as he got near the top. “We should have called Mum and Dad straight away. Are you OK?”

  Adam nodded. “Just a bit scratched.” He showed her his grazed hands. “But it was really scary. Poor Lucky. He fell loads further than me.” He reached into his pocket for the phone, and pressed the menu button to bring the screen on.

  Nothing happened.

  Georgia and Adam stared at it in horror. “Try again!” Georgia said hopefully, but the phone remained stubbornly lifeless.

  “I must have hit it on something when I fell. Mum’s going to be furious…” Adam murmured.

  “That doesn’t matter now. What are we going to do?” Georgia looked around, hoping that there might be somebody else walking along the cliff top. But they were all alone.

  “I’ll have to run back down to the road – there’s a phone box, isn’t there? I’ve got some money left from yesterday. You stay here with Lucky. You really need to keep him calm, you’re good at that. We don’t want him trying to climb up and falling even further.” Adam frowned. “Georgie, I can’t remember Dad�
�s mobile number, can you?”

  Georgia shook her head miserably. “No. But it doesn’t matter,” she added suddenly. “Dad wouldn’t be able to get down the cliff either. It’s just too dangerous. You’ll have to call the coastguard.”

  Adam nodded nervously. He’d never made an emergency call before – but this was definitely an emergency.

  Chapter Seven

  Georgia watched as Adam raced off down the path, leaving her all alone on the cliff top, with only the seagulls shrieking around her. Then she leaned over the edge again, digging her toes into the sandy earth so that she felt safer wriggling out a couple of centimetres further over the edge. She felt quite sick staring down at the water, which seemed to be crashing against the cliffs harder and harder every time she looked.

  Lucky was curled up in a little ball now, with his nose tucked in next to his tail. He looked so tiny that Georgia wanted to cry.

  “Lucky!” she called down to him.

  Lucky glanced up and barked delightedly. He’d thought that Georgia and Adam had both gone and left him here. He had no idea how he was ever going to get back up the cliff. He’d looked down at the water on the rocks just below, and wondered if he should jump in and swim till he found the beach, but the water looked very different to the sea he’d swum in before. His little ledge was just above the waves, which kept rolling in and sending cold spray up at him. And the rocks looked slippery and frightening. His paw hurt too, and he wasn’t sure he’d even be able to swim. He’d pressed himself back against the cliff wall instead and curled into a ball, whimpering sadly to himself, wishing someone was there to help him. And then he’d heard Georgia!