There hadn’t been much more than that in there to start with, Amy remembered. He’d been saving for a new guitar. Before everything had happened with Jim, she’d hoped they might be able to top up his savings so he could buy it for Christmas.
No chance of that now.
‘He took it all?’ she asked.
Jack nodded.
‘And he didn’t even have Henry.’ Claire’s words were muffled by the way she was pressed against Amy’s side, but Amy could still hear the tears in her voice.
She looked up at Jim, who stared back with an expression of frustration, waning anger and disappointment. Never a good mix.
‘Come on,’ Amy said. ‘Let’s all get home.’
‘I’ll drop you off.’ Jim’s words were a stark reminder that they weren’t a whole family any more. They were broken – a broken home.
And Amy just wasn’t sure they’d ever feel complete again. Not without Henry there.
HENRY
‘Where are you going?’ Willow asked, as I jumped down from my basket that evening. A nice little post-dinner snooze had set me up for the night, I reckoned. And I had plans.
‘Out,’ I told her, unhelpfully.
Willow looked lazily over at me as I padded to the door. ‘Out of the room, out of the Palace, or out of our lives?’ She made it sound like it didn’t much matter to her which one it was.
‘I’ll be back later,’ I replied. ‘Sorry to disappoint.’
Remembering the route to the Palace cinema took some work. I knew we’d gone there from the Post Office, so I headed there first so I could retrace my steps.
As I got closer, though, I realised I could have just followed the buzz of noise. There was already a host of Palace staff queuing up to find their seats, all chatting and eating popcorn. Apparently cinema night was a big hit, even when they were showing an old film.
Weaving through the legs of the crowd, I followed my nose to try and find Oliver and Sarah, although the competing scents of popcorn and other people were confusing.
Finally I found them towards the front of the queue, just making their way inside. I brushed up against Sarah’s legs, and she looked down at me in surprise, then giggled.
‘Looks like we have a chaperone,’ she said. Then her eyes widened. ‘Not that we need one! I mean, not that I’m expecting—’
Oliver reached down and picked me up in his arms. ‘None of the other Palace dogs would let me do this, you realise? They won’t be touched by anyone except the Queen, unless it’s strictly necessary.’
‘Henry’s a special case,’ Sarah said. ‘I think he’s adopted us.’
‘I think he has, too.’
They stared at each other over my head, until I stretched up to lick Oliver’s cheek to remind them I was still there.
‘Looks like we’re going in,’ Oliver said. ‘Henry, you planning on watching too?’
I barked, and Oliver placed me back on the ground so I could trot in ahead of them.
Inside, the cinema was dark, with rows of deep red seats. I’d never been allowed in a real cinema – dogs aren’t, generally – but from what I’d seen on the TV programmes Claire watched sometimes, it looked about right.
Oliver led Sarah towards a row somewhere in the middle, and I hopped up onto the seat between them. I twisted around a few times to get comfortable, then settled down with my head on my paws. I was looking forward to a good Christmas movie, but I figured I could enjoy the film and still keep an eye on my friends.
But before I was even properly comfortable, the whispers started. My ears pricked up as I listened to the chatter from the rows behind us. And in front of us, actually.
‘Who’s that Oliver’s with?’
‘Why would he bring her!?’
‘Have you heard her talk? Her accent is hilarious.’
‘I don’t think she’ll last six months here.’
And then, somewhere in the middle of it all:
‘Hang on, have they brought one of Her Majesty’s Corgis with them?!’
Sarah shifted uncomfortably in her chair, and Oliver reached across my back to take her hand.
‘Ignore them,’ he murmured.
‘That’s getting harder.’ Sarah gave him a small half-smile. Even in the darkness of the cinema, I could tell she was sad.
‘Are they holding hands?’ I heard from behind me.
Oliver turned round in his seat, his expression hard. ‘I’m sitting right here, you realise. And I have ears. So, if you have any questions … go ahead and ask.’
Nobody said a word after that.
Sarah smiled gratefully, and I settled back down again, happily watching as the credits rolled. But then Sarah was stroking my fur, and the warm room and that familiar popcorn smell made it feel almost like I was back home again. Home, and warm, and safe, and loved. With my family.
I smiled, and let my eyes close as I enjoyed the sensa-tion …
‘Henry. Henry …’ Sarah’s gentle voice woke me, and I realised the lights had come up again. The film must be over. I’d missed it. That was a shame. But it looked like Sarah and Oliver had enjoyed it; they were both smiling down at me.
I shook my head a little as I stood up. Apparently cinemas were really good places for naps, even unintentional ones.
‘We should get this guy back up to the Corgi Room,’ Oliver said. ‘They’ll be missing him.’
I didn’t think that was very likely, but I followed them out, anyway, listening to them chatter about the film.
‘I’d forgotten how much I loved it,’ Sarah said. ‘I mean, I remembered that it was great – one of my favourites when I was little, even. But there were all sorts of details I’d missed or forgotten.’
‘It’s a classic,’ Oliver agreed. ‘I think sometimes, when we see something after a long time, it’s like we see it in a whole new light. Appreciate it anew, maybe.’
‘I think you’re right.’
‘And sometimes it works the opposite way with people.’ Oliver’s voice was a little darker as he said it, and Sarah turned to look at him with concern.
‘Is that what happened with your ex?’ she asked.
Oliver shrugged. ‘Sort of.’
‘Tell me?’
For a moment, I thought Oliver was going to say no. Then he sighed. ‘We’d been dating for almost three years when I proposed. She said yes immediately, and we started the wedding planning right away. But … she had this trip planned, with a few of her friends. They were heading off to Australia for a month, while I was hoping to be doing my pilot admissions training. Obviously, you know how that turned out. But when she got back from Australia …’
‘You didn’t see her the same way any more?’
‘The other way round, I’m afraid.’ Oliver gave her a small smile. ‘She didn’t see me the same. She’d seen the world, and it was a much more exciting place than anything I’d shown her. She decided she didn’t want to be tied down, even if it meant not being with me any more. She gave back the ring a few days before she headed off to Thailand.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Sarah said. ‘You didn’t want to go with her?’
Oliver shook his head. ‘That wasn’t the life I wanted. I didn’t know what was at that point, but I knew I wouldn’t be happy just following her around the world. I wanted to make something of myself. Do something I enjoyed and that I found meaningful.’
‘And you are.’ Sarah smiled up at him.
He smiled back. ‘I am. So really, I think everything worked out for the best. Don’t you?’
‘Definitely.’
I agreed. If Oliver had run off to Thailand, he wouldn’t have been here to meet Sarah. And that would have been no good at all.
‘So, now you know all my deepest darkest secrets, what about you?’ Oliver bumped his elbow against Sarah’s arm as he asked.
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, I don’t believe you only came to the Palace because you realised you were never going to win the pub quiz …’
/>
Sarah gave a quick smile as she looked down at the carpet we were walking along. ‘No, I didn’t suppose you would.’
‘So? Do you feel ready to tell me the real reason you left home?’ Oliver’s voice was kind and gentle, and I could tell he wasn’t just asking from idle curiosity. He wanted to know so he could help Sarah. Just like me.
Sarah obviously heard that in his question, too, because she started to talk – the same way she’d talked to me, when she’d been cleaning around the Palace.
‘I mentioned my ex, David, when we met at the Post Office?’
‘You said things didn’t end well,’ Oliver said.
‘Yeah. Well, they weren’t all that great in the middle, either, as it happens. The beginning … that was good. In the beginning he was romantic, kind, generous. I really thought he loved me. I could see our whole future laid out before us.’
It sounded like me and the Walkers, I realised. Before Jim left. Before I got lost.
‘What changed?’ Oliver asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Sarah admitted. ‘I don’t know if I changed, or he did, or if we were both always that way and just didn’t want to admit it. It happened so slowly it felt normal. But one day … it was like I woke up. Like I woke up from a terrible dream and realised that all the things he was saying about me weren’t true. That I didn’t have to stay and listen to it any longer. So I left.’
‘What sort of things was he saying?’ Oliver’s voice was tight, clipped, and he held his hands tight at his side as we walked. Like he was struggling to control himself.
I had a feeling he wanted to bite David the ex as much as I did.
Sarah shrugged. ‘Oh, you know. He’d complain about my weight, tell me I needed to lose a few pounds. Or stone. He’d tell me I was going nowhere, that I wasn’t ever going to make anything of myself. That I was holding him back. That I was …’ Her voice caught. ‘That I was nothing without him.’
‘But you are.’ Oliver grabbed her hands and held them tight. I jumped to one side to avoid being caught between them. Clearly, none of us were walking any more. ‘Look how far you’ve come.’
‘Dusting a lot of candlesticks?’
‘Finding a job that mattered to you, called to you, and doing everything you had to do to get it,’ Oliver corrected her. ‘And don’t forget what they say – once you’ve worked at the Palace, you’ll be in demand everywhere. You could work anywhere in the hospitality industry that you want, after this. Five-star hotels, millionaires’ mansions. The sky is the limit.’
‘And if I don’t want to leave?’ Sarah stared up into his eyes. She looked vulnerable in the dim lighting of the corridor. Even scared.
I wanted to jump up and protect her, but I knew I couldn’t. I had to trust Oliver to look after her as well as I could, otherwise I knew I’d never be able to leave her.
‘Then you could go far here, I’m sure,’ Oliver said. ‘You can do anything you can dream of. I just know it.’
‘No one has ever told me that before,’ Sarah whispered.
‘Then I’ll have to make sure I tell you often.’
Sarah smiled. ‘How can you have such faith in me? You barely know me.’
‘I have good instincts about people,’ Oliver said. ‘Well usually. And I can just tell, you’re someone special.’
‘I think you’re pretty special, too,’ Sarah said, smiling again.
Never mind the movie I’d missed; this was straight out of one of Amy’s DVDs.
Yeah, I was definitely the dog with the best plans ever.
Day 7
Friday 20th December
HENRY
I’d imagined that, after my late night at the cinema, I’d take it easy the next morning. Oliver and Sarah were grown-up humans. They could probably take it from here themselves. I deserved a morning off.
But apparently the Palace had other ideas for me.
‘Come on, you lot,’ a footman said, as he opened the door. ‘Quick breakfast this morning, and then we’ve got to get you all on the road.’
‘Where are we going?’ I asked Willow, while Vulcan was eating his breakfast.
Willow gave a lazy shrug. ‘Hard to say. We’re always in high demand, you know. Could be we’re needed for an event somewhere in the Palace, or outside. Road suggests outside, I suppose.’
‘Outside?’ That was where I needed to be. But only a very specific part of outside – the part where the Walkers lived.
I had a feeling that wasn’t where they’d be taking us.
‘Maybe She is back,’ Candy mused. ‘Or maybe we’re being taken to wherever She is! Normally She always takes us with Her.’
‘Except that Vulcan had that upset stomach,’ Willow said. ‘And She had to go and collect the New Dog.’
They all looked at me – the wrong new dog – then.
‘So maybe we’re all being taken to join them now?’ I asked. That sounded bad. That sounded like I might be about to be outed – and if they kicked me out on the street wherever the Queen was, I might never find my way home, and the Walkers would have no idea where to look for me.
Suddenly, I’d lost my appetite for breakfast.
I spent the morning panicking. We were loaded into a car in the most comfortable transport crates I’d ever experienced, before the car started pulling away from the Palace.
I put my paws up against the wall of the crate, and peered out of the car window through the bars. From the front, the Palace looked even more impressive – and familiar. I could almost imagine Amy and Jack and Claire standing out there by the railings, waving at our car as we passed.
But, of course, they weren’t there.
As the Palace began to disappear into the distance, I settled back down in the crate. If I was going to be out on the streets of some strange town by this afternoon, I might as well try to get some rest before then.
I might need all my energy just to survive.
‘So, Henry, where do you think we’re going?’ Candy pressed up against the side of her crate to talk to me through the mesh wire. She was practically panting with excitement at the idea of a day trip.
‘I wish I knew,’ I replied.
Outside the window, the streets of London passed us by. Shop windows, stations, a whole world I was no longer free to explore.
Then, suddenly, the car came to a stop. ‘We’re here,’ Candy whispered.
‘But where’s here?’ Vulcan pulled himself up to look out of the window, but the view didn’t seem to give him any answers.
I wished Sarah had been allowed to come with us. Or Oliver. Neither of them would let me be left in the middle of nowhere, all alone.
A nameless Palace staff member, dressed in an ordinary black suit and red tie, pulled open the back of the car, and we were all clipped onto leads and helped out. I glanced around, curiously. As far as I could tell, we were on just another London street. And there was no sign at all of Her Majesty.
For now, I was pretty sure that was a good thing.
‘Come on, then,’ the man said, and tugged across the pavement, towards a door that was painted a deep blue.
Above the door was a sign. I couldn’t read the words, but the picture of a dog in a bath tub were pretty clear.
Oh no. This was worse than even I’d dreaded.
We’d been brought to the Puppy Parlour.
Amy had tried taking me to our local Puppy Parlour a few times when I was smaller. When she didn’t know me so well. The one near us wasn’t half as nice as the parlour the Palace dogs used, though.
The moment we were inside, the person running the parlour flipped a sign on the door over – presumably to show that the place was now closed to any other customers. I couldn’t imagine that the Queen would want her dogs being primped and clipped alongside everyday dogs – or that Willow, Vulcan and Candy would stand for it.
‘Hi, Quentin,’ the owner said, smiling widely. ‘And hi, you four!’
‘Thanks for squeezing us in today, Jasmine,’ Que
ntin – the Palace staff member – said. He looked like a Quentin, I decided. I’d known a dog in the local park called Tiddles once, and he’d looked anything but – being a giant, hulking, slobbering Doberman. But Quentin was definitely a Quentin. ‘I know we’d normally arrange for you to come to us, but this was a bit last minute, for the photo shoot.’
‘It’s no problem at all,’ Jasmine said. ‘Always a pleasure to pamper Her Majesty’s prize pooches.’
‘Great. Well, I’ll just leave you to it?’ Quentin asked.
Jasmine nodded. ‘Give us a couple of hours, and these four will be sweet-smelling, coiffured and ready for their close-ups.’
Hmm. I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of this.
‘Don’t worry,’ Candy whispered, as she was led past me by another groomer. ‘You’ll love this. It’s great!’
For Candy, maybe. My experiences of groomers was of soap in my eyes, a rushed clip job, and someone complaining about the state of my nails – or claws, as I preferred to call them.
I should have known, though, that the Palace dogs would get a rather different experience.
Jasmine walked me to my own private room, where a fresh bath was being run. ‘Now, let me see,’ she said, as she perused a shelf full of bottles. ‘What sort of a dog are you? Citrus? Floral? No … woody, I think.’ She plucked one bottle from the middle of hundreds of others, and tipped some of the contents into the bath. A cascade of bubbles shot up immediately, covering the surface of the bath. ‘Don’t worry,’ Jasmine said. ‘We have matching shampoo and conditioner for your coat, too.’
I had to admit, I was rather more eager to hop into this bath than I had been previous ones.
‘Come on then,’ Jasmine said. ‘In you get.’
The water was just the right temperature, and the bubbles were soft and soothing on my skin. I even liked the scent – not too overpowering, unlike the one at the parlour Amy took me to. (After the first few times she gave up and just bathed me at home. Let’s just say I had made my displeasure known.) That one had made me stink of flowers for days, which Sookie had found hilarious.
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