Echo Come Home

by Megan Rix

  ‘Gone now.’

  Everyone clapped when Tony finished his presentation about search-and-rescue dog Rip. But Jake’s stomach churned. It was his turn next.

  ‘You’ve all done so well,’ Miss Dawson said. ‘I’m learning such a lot about dogs today. Now let’s hear from you, Jake.’

  The moment Jake had been dreading had arrived. He always hated standing up in front of everyone, apart from the time he’d told the class about sign language. That had been different because Echo was there and he’d felt like he could do anything.

  Jake stood up and pressed his fingernails into the palms of his hands as he walked to the front. He was determined to give the best presentation that he possibly could. It was all about dogs like Echo and he wouldn’t let him down.

  ‘My project is about hearing dogs and all the amazing things they can do …’ he said. His voice cracked but he kept on going anyway.

  He told everyone about Helen Keller, a famous American lady who was both deaf and blind. She’d had a dog called Kamikaze-go or Go-Go for short.

  ‘Whenever she went out on stage in public, she took her dog with her. I think Go-Go helped to give her confidence the same way having a hearing dog gives hundreds of deaf people confidence today. This was my hearing dog Echo’s favourite toy,’ Jake said, holding up the squeaky ball Tony had given him. ‘He loved playing with it and making it squeak. Thank you for giving it to him, Tony.’

  Tony looked up at Jake and smiled.

  Jake squeezed the ball. And Echo, who was trotting down the corridor with his nose to the ground as he tried to pick up Jake’s scent, heard the familiar squeak and raced towards the sound of it. He nudged the classroom door open and came bursting in, tail wagging.

  Everyone started talking and shouting and laughing at once. But neither Echo nor Jake were listening.

  ‘He came back!’ Tony shouted.

  ‘It’s Echo!’ squealed Chloe.

  ‘But how …?’

  ‘Echo!’ Jake cried, as the little dog ran across the room, jumped up on to a desk and into his arms. He licked and licked his face as Jake laughed and cried.

  ‘You came back,’ Jake said, as he hugged the little dog. ‘You came home.’

  CHAPTER 28

  ‘Echo came home,’ Jake typed into the computer on the kitchen table.

  Vicky was in the kitchen, making Echo some dog treats. Mum was on the phone to Dad.

  ‘I’m turning the lorry round and coming home right now,’ he said.

  Then she was on the phone to Lenny at Helper Dogs: ‘Yes, he just walked right into Jake’s classroom!’ She brushed away a tear and smiled, as she looked over at Jake and Echo together.

  It wasn’t easy for Jake to type with the little dog on his lap, but he didn’t want to let him go ever again.

  Within seconds of Jake’s Facebook post, there were Like buttons pressed and comments posted.

  ‘So pleased …’

  ‘Congratulations!’

  ‘Made my day.’

  Jake’s mum watched over his shoulder as more messages came in.

  ‘We should have a party,’ Jake said, and his mum’s eyes widened in surprise. Jake had never wanted a party before, not even for his birthday.

  ‘That’s a great idea,’ she agreed.

  ‘A party for Echo,’ said Jake as he stroked the little dog that was now fast asleep on his lap.

  He started to make a list of everyone they should ask. Everyone who’d known Echo before he went missing and everyone who’d helped in the search to find him.

  When his dad got home and saw how long the list was, he said maybe they should make the party a whole-day event at the weekend and everyone agreed.

  ‘Are you sure you really want to invite all of your class?’ he asked Jake.

  Jake looked down at Echo and remembered how pleased the children had been when he came running into the classroom.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Jake should invite the whole school if he wants all of Echo’s friends to be there,’ Vicky said. ‘Everyone at school loves him.’

  The next morning more toys and balls and treats and home-made dog blankets started turning up for Echo. He already had two boxes full. But none of them could compete with the first squeaky ball that Tony had given Jake.

  ‘Too many toys for you to play with or blankets to sleep on,’ Jake told the little dog. But then he had a good idea: there were other animals that might like these gifts very much.

  On the day of the party, Dad and Jake strung balloons and lights all round the house. Vicky and her friends made a WELCOME HOME, ECHO! banner and had been busily preparing food since the night before with Echo as the chief taster.

  Mum said it was just as well they’d started early because the house and garden were soon full to bursting with Echo’s friends.

  Everyone Jake knew from the deaf and hard-of-hearing club came and lots of the children from school did too.

  ‘This is for Echo,’ Amos said, and he gave Jake a dog coat that he’d made from the sleeve of his dad’s old camo jacket.

  ‘Thanks!’ Jake said. It was too warm for Echo to wear now, but in the winter it would come in very handy. He was looking forward to his first Christmas with Echo and playing with him in the snow.

  Bruno arrived with Heather and a welcome home card. There were almost a hundred other cards dotted round the house on windowsills already. Echo and the older dog touched noses and wagged tails before Bruno spotted Pippa and went to say hello to her too.

  Li brought along a bucketful of Echo’s favourite chicken fried noodles.

  ‘Good for people and dogs,’ he grinned as he set the bucket down. Echo gave him a pointed look.

  Frank, Mary and their children came along too. They were delighted to see Waggy safe and sound.

  ‘How’s Whiskers?’ Jake asked them.

  ‘Comes and goes,’ said Ben.

  ‘But he’s very lovely when he is visiting us,’ Abby said.

  ‘He’s a cat who likes to do his own thing,’ Frank added.

  ‘Just like Jasper at the Helper Dogs centre,’ Lenny said, giving Echo a stroke. He’d always had a suspicion that Jasper and Echo had gone exploring late at night when no one was around to see what they were up to. He’d never had any proof though, apart from the odd packet of treats being torn open by what looked like teeth.

  Louise arrived with Hercules, and Echo wagged and wagged his tail at the sight of the old dog. As they sniffed at each other and touched noses, he could smell the scent of Gloria and the baby goats on Hercules’ fur.

  ‘Would you like these?’ Jake asked her, pointing at the two boxes of blankets and dog toys that had been sent for Echo.

  ‘Oh yes, please,’ Louise said, looking inside.

  A soft blue kangaroo toy fell out of one of the boxes and Hercules wagged his tail, went to pick it up, but stopped and looked up at Jake and then back at the toy as if he weren’t sure if he could have it or not.

  ‘Can he?’ Jake asked Louise.

  ‘Of course,’ she smiled.

  ‘Go on then,’ Jake said to Hercules, pointing at the toy.

  Hercules picked up the blue kangaroo gently between his teeth and went to lie down with it behind the sofa.

  Echo alerted Jake that someone else was at the door; he’d forgotten none of his hearing helper dog training while he was away. When Jake opened it, he found Tony and Tara there.

  Echo put his paw out to Tara and she bent down to give him a stroke.

  ‘But I thought you were allergic to dogs,’ Jake said. He’d assumed it would mean she didn’t like them but apparently not.

  ‘I’m fine if I take an antihistamine – which I’ll need lots of when Tony gets his dog.’ She grinned at Tony whose mouth was gaping open in surprise.

  ‘What … but Mum and Dad … am I really?’ he gasped.

  ‘It’s supposed to be a surprise for your birthday,’ Tara said as Tony punched the air with happiness.

  ‘We’ve got lots o
f puppies as well as all sorts of older dogs, big and small, looking for good homes at the rescue centre,’ said Karen, who’d overheard them as she came in. She and the dog warden had brought three dogs that Echo had met while he was at the centre.

  ‘Maybe we could have a dog or two at the hostel,’ George said as Echo hopped up on to the sofa beside him. ‘They make a place into a home.’

  Jake, his dad and Echo had gone to the Fresh Start Hostel to invite all of Echo’s old friends and Mr Cooper to the party. They were thrilled to see Echo home safe and sound and had brought a bone for him for old times’ sake.

  ‘Got a good home now, Bones,’ George said as he stroked the little dog. ‘Just like the rest of us.’

  ‘Or we could have a cat,’ Mr Cooper said to George as he gave Echo a stroke as well. ‘A cat makes a home too.’ He had always wanted a cat and one would be very welcome at the Fresh Start Hostel.

  ‘Or both,’ said Karen. ‘We’ve so many dogs and cats desperate for a home at the rescue centre and lots of them get on very well together.’

  Harvey nodded as he pulled a pencil from behind his ear and started to draw the dogs on the back of his paper plate.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Violet asked as the two nurses helped her into the home’s minibus. And where was everyone else? The minibus only had her in it. She never usually went on a trip by herself.

  ‘You’ve been invited to a party,’ one of the nurses said.

  ‘I have?’ Violet asked in surprise. She hadn’t been to a party, other than the small ones they had for the residents at the home, in years.

  Jake looked out of the window and smiled as a minibus with SUNNY VIEW CARE HOME written on the side of it drew up outside the house. Two nurses helped a very, very old lady to get out.

  ‘I can walk, you know,’ Violet said.

  But one of the nurses said it was safer for her if she stayed in the wheelchair for today.

  ‘Safer?’ said Violet. What sort of party was she going to? She’d never been to the house they were wheeling her up the path to in her life, or at least she didn’t think she had.

  When the front door opened, Violet couldn’t believe her eyes. The little dog who’d saved her from the fire came running out, wagging his tail.

  Violet patted her lap and he jumped up into it, nimble as a sprite, and licked her face.

  ‘His name’s Echo,’ Jake told her. ‘We’re having a welcome home party for him.’

  ‘Are you indeed? Well, I’m very glad to be invited,’ Violet said. ‘He saved me, you know.’

  ‘The home sent Jake a Facebook message about it,’ Vicky said, coming to the door too. ‘He wanted to invite all of Echo’s friends.’

  Violet’s eyes twinkled as she looked down at Echo. ‘I’m very honoured to be called your friend,’ she said.

  ‘Come and have some cake,’ said Jake’s mum, and the nurses wheeled Violet, with Echo still on her lap, inside.

  An hour later, Jake looked around at everyone and smiled. Dad was chatting to his lorry-driving friends, Frank and Bill. George and Violet had their heads together and were laughing about something. Miss Dawson, Chloe and Louise were chatting about the possibility of a class project at the Home to Roost sanctuary. Vicky and Tara were comparing hairstyles. Mr Cooper was stroking Nora the Labrador, while Roxy, the chihuahua cross, munched on a home-made dog treat as Amos measured her for a dog coat, and Peter the collie played tug-tug with a Dog Lost volunteer and one of Echo’s new toys.

  Echo had so many friends and now they were Jake’s friends too.

  He squeezed the squeaky ball and Echo immediately looked up at him and wagged his tail as they headed out into the garden to play.

  Acknowledgements

  Echo’s story has been an absolute pleasure to write, from the positive response to my initial idea until the final proof-copy read-through. During the writing of it, I was very fortunate to work with some amazing people, and spend time with many incredible animals. Special thanks must go to my wonderful editors Anthea Townsend and Carmen McCullough, editorial managers Samantha Stanton Stewart, Wendy Shakespeare and Nikki Sinclair, copy-editor Jane Tait, proofreaders Jennie Roman and Bea McIntyre, editorial assistant Natasha Brown, and cover designer Emily Smyth and illustrator Richard Jones. On the PR and marketing side there have been the brilliant Jessica Farrugia-Sharples and Hannah Maloco, as well as sales champions Tineke Mollemans and Kirsty Bradbury; and never forgetting my lovely agent, Clare Pearson of Eddison Pearson.

  Books need readers and huge thanks to the booksellers, book clubs, librarians and teachers who’ve been such advocates of my books. And even bigger thanks to the children who’ve read them and sent letters and emails to say how much they’ve enjoyed them. ☺

  Researching hearing dogs, both those that have been formally trained and otherwise, and seeing the work they do and the difference they make, has been a fascinating and a joyous delight!

  I wear hearing aids myself and tried teaching Bella how to find my mobile phone. She’s almost grasped running to it when it rings, but she would really rather chase her ball or be swimming in the river. However, she has taught herself that a good way to wake me up when I’m sleeping, and don’t have my hearing aids in, is to give my arm a nudge with her nose.

  The charity Dog Lost has been part of our lives ever since we found an old dog wandering along a busy main road and took her home with us. Fortunately, with Dog Lost’s and the police’s help (she wasn’t microchipped), we were able to reunite her with her family over two hundred miles away. The volunteers at Dog Lost do an incredible job and whenever I see on their website that a dog’s been reunited with its family it makes my day.

  Some dogs, of course, don’t have a home to return to, and as Karen in the book says there are so many wonderful dogs and cats waiting for their forever home in rescue centres around the country. The animals at Thrift Farm were a huge help when I was writing the farm sanctuary scenes – especially the lively baby goats.

  In 2015 I was invited to start off a story for children to continue for the PDSA children’s writing competition ‘Pet Tales’. The winner, Francesca, has two Border terriers, Roxy and Eddie, who I’m sure would have loved playing with Echo. Jasper, the Helper Dogs cat in the book, is actually an RSPCA rescue cat who loves dogs, and appears thanks to a kind donation to Authors for Nepal.

  Thanks as always must go to my husband who brought Bella along to schools to meet lots of children this year. Our own dogs, Traffy and Bella, are a constant source of writing inspiration. They very much enjoyed being the official taste testers for the dog treats Jake and Vicky make in the book. Some of the recipes they tried can be found below.

  Dog-treat Recipes

  There are lots of great dog-treat recipes available to choose from, but a basic one I often use is Traffy’s Cheese Stars. Even if you don’t measure the ingredients exactly, it will still work, and it doesn’t matter if you or your dog tastes it when it’s still raw.

  I usually make mine using either cheese or easy-peasy home-made peanut butter. All you need to do is blend together a few handfuls of shelled peanuts and a couple of teaspoons of groundnut oil for one to three minutes. It tastes extra delicious and creamy for both humans and dogs! If you do use peanut butter from a jar, make sure it doesn’t list xylitol as one of the ingredients as it’s very bad for dogs.

  Cheesy Marmite treats are delicious too – with just a little bit of Marmite as it’s salty. I’m sure you’ll be able to think of lots more. Let me know if you come up with a good recipe because I’m sure my dogs would love to try it too. ☺

  Traffy’s Cheese Stars

  (These are also irresistible to humans.)

  You will need:

  200 g flour

  30 ml water (add more if necessary)

  60 ml olive oil

  100 g Cheddar cheese

  How to make them:

  Set the oven to 180°C or gas mark 4, so it can heat up while you’re making the mixture.

  Mix
all the ingredients together in a bowl to make a dough.

  Roll it out as thin as you can. The thinner the dough is, the crunchier the treats will be. Use a star pastry cutter (or any shape cutter, or just squash a ball of dough into a flat circle if you don’t have a cutter).

  Place the treats on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly greased silver foil so they don’t stick, and pop them in the oven to bake.

  Check after ten minutes. The treats should be lightly browned.

  You can put the treats back inside the oven and turn the oven off now. They’ll get crunchier as they cool. But I don’t usually do this because there are two pairs of doggy eyes staring pointedly at me as soon as I take the treats out of the oven.

  Wait until the treats have cooled down and enjoy. ☺

  Bella’s Peanut-butter Bones

  These use the same method and most of the same ingredients as Traffy’s Cheese Stars – only you’ll be using peanut butter instead of cheese this time. I find I need a little bit more water with these than with the cheese ones.

  Bella was in the kitchen with me when I cooked up my last batch of dog treats. She made her funny little grumbly mmm-mmm sounds as I took them out of the oven. Once they were cool enough, I tried to see which she liked most, peanut butter or cheese, by offering her one of each and seeing which one she picked first. But she seemed to like them both the same!

  You will need:

  200 g flour (any sort)

  60 ml water

  30 ml olive oil

  2 tbsp (or more) peanut butter

  How to make them:

  Set the oven to 180°C or gas mark 4.

  Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl to make a dough and roll it out. (If you don’t have a rolling pin, you could just squash the dough as flat as you can with your hands.)

  Use a bone-shaped pastry cutter to make the treats, place them on a baking tray and cook for ten minutes. (If you don’t have a pastry cutter, you could break the dough up into little balls or tear off little bits instead and place them on the baking tray. Most dogs won’t mind if their treats are a bit misshapen!)