Echo Come Home

by Megan Rix

  Jake soon found out that a trip to the supermarket with Echo in his hearing helper dog coat was completely different. Usually no one spoke to him, but they did now.

  ‘What’s his name?’ the other customers asked Jake.

  ‘What a poppet!’ they said, as Echo wagged his tail.

  ‘A hearing dog – I’ve never met one of those before.’

  Echo had stopped in the dog-treat aisle and was staring at the gravy-bones boxes on the bottom shelf. Jake was just about to pick up a packet for him when Echo took the initiative and nudged one off the shelf and on to the floor.

  ‘OK, OK,’ Jake said, picking it up. ‘You can have it.’

  He dropped the box of gravy bones in the trolley when they caught up with his mum.

  ‘Echo wants these,’ he said, and his mum smiled.

  After they’d been to the supermarket, his mum dropped Jake and Echo off at the club for deaf and hearing-impaired children.

  Jake liked going there because there wasn’t as much pressure as there was at school. Everyone there understood each other and they used a mixture of speech and lip-reading and signing. As soon as he walked through the door, he always felt like he could stop holding his breath.

  ‘See you later,’ Mum said, as Echo and Jake got out of the car. ‘Do you want me to pick you up?’

  ‘No, we’ll walk,’ Jake said. He loved walking with the little dog and he knew Echo would alert him if need be.

  Heather’s hearing dog, Bruno, was much older than Echo, almost thirteen. Mostly he liked to lie on his soft padded mat and snooze, but he flapped his tail up and down and staggered to his feet to say hello to Echo when Jake and the little dog came in. Heather had been offered a new hearing helper dog, as Bruno was getting too old to do all he needed to, and was getting a little bit deaf himself, but Heather didn’t want a new dog and so she and Bruno managed as best they could together.

  ‘Just having him around makes all the difference,’ Heather said.

  Jake smiled as he stroked both dogs at the same time. He knew exactly what she meant. He’d only had Echo for a few days, but his whole world had been transformed. He was smiling all the time now. Echo wasn’t only his hearing dog – he was his furry best friend too.

  ‘A thousand times better,’ he signed and Heather nodded.

  All the other children at the club made a huge fuss of Echo and Echo’s little tail wagged non-stop. The morning whizzed past and, before Jake knew it, it was after twelve. Time to head home.

  But when they got outside it was pouring with rain and Echo whimpered as he cringed away from it. There was a bus stop just outside and a bus heading towards it. The bus route went past Jake’s house, but he’d never been on one by himself. He didn’t like going on buses, or any public transport, alone because he couldn’t always hear what the bus driver said. But Echo really hated the rain. His hearing helper dog coat was already soaked through and Jake didn’t want him to catch a cold. So he held out his arm and the bus pulled up.

  ‘One for me and one for my dog,’ he said.

  The ginger-bearded driver looked at Echo’s hearing helper dog coat and then back at Jake. Sometimes beards made it much harder to lip-read a person because the beard covered their lips. But the bus driver’s beard wasn’t too bad.

  ‘Hearing dogs travel for free,’ he said, and Jake and Echo carried on down the bus to take a seat.

  Jake picked Echo up and let him sit on his lap for the short journey home. Everything was so much better with Echo. Things Jake would have avoided doing, like getting on the bus and worrying he wouldn’t understand the driver, didn’t seem such a big deal when he needed Echo to stay dry. He buried his face in Echo’s wet fur.

  ‘He’s a good little dog,’ the woman who came to sit next to Jake said, but Jake didn’t hear her so she touched his arm and when he looked up she said it again.

  ‘Yes, he is,’ Jake agreed. ‘His name’s Echo and he’s super smart too.’

  ‘How did it go?’ his mum asked him, as she made him a sandwich when they got home.

  ‘Brilliant!’ Jake told her. ‘We went on a bus.’

  ‘Re-ally?’

  Jake grinned at his mum’s surprised face. He felt like there was nothing he couldn’t do with Echo beside him.

  Echo looked pointedly at Jake’s cheese and ketchup sandwich. But Lenny had warned them not to overfeed him.

  ‘He’s only a little dog and his eyes are bigger than his belly,’ he’d said.

  But Jake didn’t want Echo to be hungry so he gave him a few gravy bones instead.

  From upstairs came a shriek and the thump of someone jumping off a bed.

  ‘Vicky and her friends are doing karaoke,’ said Mum.

  Jake rolled his eyes as the music was turned up and pounded out from above.

  When the gravy bones were gone, he and Echo headed up the stairs to Jake’s bedroom and closed the door, but it was still noisy and he wanted to do his homework so he took his hearing aids out. That was much better, although he could still feel the vibrations of the music through the floor.

  Echo hopped up on to the bed, not bothered by the sound of the music at all, and Jake went to join him. Jake did his homework while Echo fell asleep beside him. It had been a long morning for the piccolo canaglia.

  Without his hearing aids, Jake couldn’t hear when Vicky called Echo. But he knew she must have done when Echo jumped off the bed, put one paw on Jake’s leg and looked towards the bedroom door.

  ‘I want Echo to come with me,’ Vicky said, when he opened it. ‘Why does he always have to be with you even when he’s not on duty? It’s like the two of you are superglued together.’

  ‘He can go where he likes,’ Jake told her, but secretly he didn’t want Echo to spend too much time with Vicky. It was nice that they both loved Echo, but she had lots of other friends.

  Jake held his breath as he lip-read Vicky’s words. ‘Come on, Echo … tre-ats!’

  Jake looked at Echo. How was any dog supposed to resist the word ‘treats’? But somehow Echo did. He gave an involuntary whine that Jake didn’t hear before hopping back on to the bed and resting his chin on his paws.

  ‘Good dog,’ Jake said, joining Echo on the bed and giving him a stroke as Vicky stomped off to her room and the karaoke music started again.

  CHAPTER 15

  Jake opened his eyes and smiled at the feel of a lick on his face.

  ‘Morning, Echo,’ he said sleepily, and Echo rolled over on to his back so Jake could give him a tummy rub.

  Today Echo was coming to school with him so everyone there could meet him for the first time.

  ‘He probably won’t be allowed to come in with you every day,’ Jake’s mum warned him, as she dropped Jake and Vicky off at the gate. She was going to bring Echo to the school once all the children had gone inside.

  But Jake secretly hoped that once the Headmaster had met Echo he’d say he could be there every day, especially if Jake promised that the dog would be no trouble at all.

  Echo tried to get out of the car with Jake.

  ‘No, Echo, you wait,’ Jake said, as Vicky ran off to join her friends.

  ‘Otherwise everyone will want to stroke him at once and it’ll be too much for him. It’d be too much for any dog,’ Jake’s mum said.

  Echo whined and put out his paw to Jake.

  ‘I’ll see you soon,’ Jake told him.

  But that wasn’t enough for Echo. He barked at Jake not to forget him and then he barked some more and put his paws up on the car window – his eyes never leaving Jake as he walked away.

  ‘It’s OK,’ Jake’s mum said. ‘Hush now.’ But Echo wouldn’t be distracted.

  Tony was waiting for Jake at the gate. ‘How’s Echo?’ he said.

  ‘You’ll be able to see for yourself in a minute.’ Jake grinned, as he explained that Echo was going to come into school for the day.

  ‘Brilliant!’ Tony said, and they walked into the classroom together.

  ‘He’s di
fferent,’ Chloe said, when Tony and Jake had been in the classroom for a few minutes, laughing about Echo and the Chinese noodles.

  ‘Course he’s different,’ Tony told her. ‘He’s got a dog now.’

  But Chloe shook her head. ‘It’s not just that – he even looks different,’ she said.

  ‘I am standing right here!’ Jake told her.

  ‘You wouldn’t have said that for a start,’ Chloe said, only now she was talking directly to him and looking him in the eye. ‘It’s like you’ve grown five centimetres and you don’t look down at the ground any more. Your shoulders used to be all hunched up, but now your head’s high.’

  After Miss Dawson had taken the register, they all headed to the hall for a special assembly. Miss Dawson stood at the front and when all the classes had arrived she told them a hearing dog was going to be visiting them.

  ‘His name’s Echo and you’ll know who he is because he’ll be wearing his light blue hearing helper dog coat. Plus he should be the only dog here,’ she joked. Miss Dawson loved making jokes. ‘He’s going to be with Jake in my class. Wave your hand, Jake, so everyone can see you.’

  Jake waved his hand but not very high.

  ‘Higher, please,’ Miss Dawson said.

  Jake raised it a bit and waved again.

  ‘Echo is Jake’s hearing dog,’ Miss Dawson told everyone. ‘So if you see him and Echo about today don’t forget to say hello.’

  When Jake didn’t come back to the car, Echo whimpered.

  ‘Look, Echo. What’s this?’ Jake’s mum said, waggling a chew in front of him. But Echo wasn’t interested in chews today. He stood on his back legs with his paws on the window, willing Jake to return.

  Fifteen minutes later, Jake’s mum looked at her watch. It was time to take Echo into school. She opened her door and was going to get Echo out of the other side, but he nimbly jumped on to her lap and was almost out of the car before her. She only just had time to grab hold of his lead.

  ‘It’s lucky you’re a little dog,’ she said, as Echo dragged her in the direction Jake had gone, straining at the lead. Echo pulled her through the gate and into the playground. But there he lost Jake’s scent and looked up at Jake’s mum pitifully and whined.

  ‘Don’t worry, I know where he is,’ she told him, and then felt a bit embarrassed talking to a dog who couldn’t understand her. She was glad no one had seen her. She pulled open the swing doors and they went into the school.

  ‘Oh, isn’t he sweet?’ the receptionist said, coming out of the office. ‘I love dogs.’

  She reached down to stroke him, but Echo backed away and pulled Jake’s mum further down the corridor. He wanted to find Jake.

  ‘Sorry,’ Jake’s mum said over her shoulder, as she was dragged along behind him. He was very determined and surprisingly strong for a small dog.

  Echo sniffed at the floor and didn’t pay any attention to the people they passed – not the caretaker or the girl whose mum was taking her to the dentist. He was surrounded by the smell of lots of children, but every now and again there was a very faint scent that made his tail wag hard and his heart beat faster. He could smell Jake was close by.

  He dragged Jake’s mum into the art room where Jake had a picture on the wall. But the room was empty now and Echo whined.

  ‘This way, Echo,’ Jake’s mum said, and they headed on down the corridor.

  Echo’s nose caught the scent of the rat family that lived under the lockers, and the caretaker’s cat who sometimes came in with him at the weekends.

  As they passed the kitchens, there was the delicious smell of school dinners cooking and Echo’s tail gave an involuntary wag. And then suddenly the scent of Jake filled his nostrils and he knew he was close, very close, and his tail started wagging very hard.

  Jake’s mum pushed open a classroom door and thirty children looked round. But Echo was only interested in one of them. The little dog’s tail wagged and wagged as Jake walked over to him.

  He made happy, excited little noises and hopped from one paw to the other as Jake knelt down beside him and pressed his face into his fur. Then Echo licked his face over and over.

  ‘Yuck! That’s disgusting,’ Chloe said.

  ‘Not if you’re a dog,’ Tony told her.

  Jake took Echo’s lead from his mum and led him over to his desk and sat down. His desk no longer felt lonely now that Echo was here.

  Miss Dawson made sure all the children stayed in their seats while Echo got used to being in the classroom.

  ‘Just pretend Echo isn’t here,’ she told them.

  But of course that was just about impossible to do so Miss Dawson gave them a spelling test to make them all concentrate.

  Jake chewed on the end of the pen as he tried to work out the answers. Echo whined but when he saw Jake was busy, and Jake whispered the words ‘work time’, he lay down under the desk instead.

  An hour later, Echo heard the bell ring. Immediately he jumped up and put his paws on Jake’s leg, but then he lay down flat on his tummy just as he’d been taught to do.

  ‘It’s OK,’ Jake whispered, not sure why Echo was acting this way. No one else seemed to be reacting as if there was anything wrong. He stroked Echo’s furry head as Miss Dawson finished what she was saying and told the children they could go outside for breaktime once everyone else had come in.

  ‘I don’t want Echo being swamped by children on his first day here,’ she said.

  So they waited until the second bell rang and all the other children came back inside. Once again, Echo touched Jake’s leg with his paw when he heard the bell and then lay down. Once again, Jake told him there was nothing wrong. Echo whined.

  ‘Now you can all go outside,’ Miss Dawson said.

  Jake clipped Echo’s lead to his collar as everyone stampeded for the door.

  ‘Don’t run! Be careful!’ Miss Dawson called after them.

  Echo watched Jake take his squeaky ball from his school bag and put it in his pocket. His tail wagged very fast as he looked up at him. It was time to play and he loved playing! Jake took off Echo’s hearing helper dog coat so he’d know he wasn’t on duty.

  There were lots of children to avoid as Echo ran after his squeaky ball that Jake and Tony threw for him. Plus it was much bouncier than when they usually played on the grass.

  Echo dived under a wooden bench to retrieve it from behind the dustbins that smelt of interesting things to eat.

  When the bell rang for the end of breaktime, Jake didn’t hear it but Echo did. He ran over to Jake and nudged his hand and then lay down flat on the floor.

  ‘What’s he doing?’ Tony asked him.

  ‘He’s letting me know there’s the sound of an alarm,’ Jake said, biting at his bottom lip. ‘But I don’t know why he’s doing it.’

  ‘That’s what the lesson bell sounds like,’ Tony told him. ‘They use the fire alarm.’

  ‘They do?’ Jake sighed with relief. ‘Good dog, Echo,’ he said.

  Echo stood up and wagged his tail as they went back indoors and headed for their seats.

  CHAPTER 16

  ‘This term we’re going to start a new topic in honour of our very special visitor, Echo,’ Miss Dawson said, when Jake had put Echo’s hearing helper dog coat back on him and everyone had sat down.

  When Echo heard his name, his tail flapped up and down and he looked up at Jake, but he didn’t get up because Jake was still looking at the front as he lip-read the words Miss Dawson was saying.

  ‘It’s going to be about dogs. Who thinks they know when we first had pet dogs?’

  ‘Fred Flintstone’s got a dog – I’d say Stone Age,’ said Tony.

  ‘He doesn’t have a dog!’ Chloe said. ‘He’s got a dinosaur called Dino that acts like a dog and everyone knows dinosaurs and people didn’t live at the same time in history.’

  Tony poked his tongue out at her, but Chloe just laughed. ‘They’d have had wolves not dogs,’ she said.

  Miss Dawson nodded. ‘Did you kno
w that a little dog called Robot found over six hundred cave paintings in a cave in France?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘How?’

  But Miss Dawson wouldn’t tell them. ‘Maybe one of you would like to find out for your project,’ she said.

  ‘I want to do my project on Robot,’ said Sahi.

  ‘Are all dogs really wolves, miss?’ asked Ben.

  ‘Another good question that could also be a project,’ Miss Dawson said. ‘Are pet dogs related to wolves or did they evolve from wolves? But then again are foxes a type of dog and what about hyenas?’

  ‘And jackals and coyotes, miss. Don’t forget them.’

  ‘Precisely. But your project doesn’t have to be about the history or genesis of dogs. It can be anything at all to do with dogs.’

  ‘I want to do one on dog fashion,’ Amos said.

  ‘Good idea.’

  ‘I’m going to do it on royal dogs …’

  ‘Parachuting dogs …’

  ‘Surfing dogs …’

  ‘Dog film stars …’

  ‘Police dogs …’

  ‘Do we have to write lots?’ Amos asked. ‘I’d rather make things than write about them, miss.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter as long as you work hard at it. I want everyone to give a short presentation on their chosen topic at the end of term.’

  Jake gulped. More than anything he hated getting up in front of other people, but he did like the idea of doing a project on dogs and the time until the lunch bell rang went very quickly.

  This time when Echo heard it and lay down flat on his tummy Jake knew the reason why.

  ‘Good boy, Echo.’

  Tony came to join him as he and Echo headed into the lunch hall. Jake wanted to get Echo some water, but he was too embarrassed to ask the dinner ladies.

  ‘I’ll ask for you,’ Tony said, and a few moments later he returned with an empty plastic bowl full of water. He put it close to Echo who had a long drink. He’d only just finished when one of the dinner ladies came over.

  ‘I wondered if your dog would like some chicken?’ she said to Jake, and when Jake said he would she brought a small paper plate full of meat over to Jake’s table.