Henry the Queen's Corgi

by Georgie Crawley

  And in this case, the similarity.

  Amy leant closer, peering at the photo, noticing that the dog’s name tag had been twisted so she couldn’t read the name. ‘It does look a lot like him …’ Like, exactly like him. But then, she’d never really been great at telling one dog from another, unless they were lined up next to each other. She’d once almost taken the wrong corgi home from puppy training class, when Henry was little. She probably shouldn’t be trusted on this one.

  Amy shook her head. ‘It can’t be him, Claire. It’s just not possible.’

  ‘Why not?’ Claire asked. ‘These are the Queen’s Corgis – and we lost him at Buckingham Palace. Of course it could be him!’

  ‘Don’t you think the Queen might have noticed if she suddenly had an extra dog?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Maybe not! It’s a big Palace …’ Claire was clutching at straws, and everyone knew it.

  Well, everyone except Claire.

  ‘I’m going to write to her. Ask for my dog back.’

  ‘Write to who?’ Amy asked. ‘Wait, you’re going to write to the Queen?’

  ‘Yes!’ Claire jumped down and ran to the junk drawer where they kept the envelopes and stamps (along with used batteries, torches that didn’t work and half-used birthday candles). ‘No, that’s stupid.’

  ‘Very stupid,’ Jack agreed, as he tucked into a plate piled high with pancakes drenched in maple syrup.

  Claire shot him a sharp glare. ‘I meant because it’ll take too long to get a letter there and read. Christmas post and all. I’ve got a much better idea.’

  ‘Which is?’ Amy asked, suddenly nervous.

  ‘I’m going to do what everyone does when they need to get the attention of a big company or important person,’ Claire said, happily. ‘I’m going to tweet her!’

  HENRY

  I was just about to bite David on the ankle when Sarah pushed him away.

  ‘No.’ She wiped at her mouth as she stumbled back. Her hair was rumpled out of its usual neat ponytail, and her cheeks were flushed pink – but more with anger than with passion, I realised.

  I should have had more faith in Sarah. Of course she wasn’t going to take this idiot back. Why would she? Especially now Oliver and I had shown her that she was worth so much more.

  ‘No? What do you mean?’ David looked completely dumbfounded by the word. His cheeks were bright red too, but I was pretty sure that was with embarrassment. Served him right.

  I sat right at Sarah’s feet, stopping David from getting close enough to try again, and smirked at him.

  Sarah wasn’t his any more. She was ours.

  ‘I mean no,’ Sarah said, her voice clear and strong. ‘I’m not going to kiss you. I don’t love you any more – in fact I’m not even sure I ever did. How could I love someone who told me I wasn’t good enough, that I was fat and useless and a waste of space?’

  ‘I didn’t—’ David protested.

  ‘Yes,’ Sarah snapped, ‘you did. I know because they’re carved in my brain and my heart. I remember every awful thing you ever said to me – and I remember them a hundred times more often than anything kind you ever said. Not that there were so many of those to remember in the first place.’

  ‘I was trying to help you!’

  ‘Help me?’ Sarah’s eyebrows shot up so high they almost disappeared into her hair. ‘How on earth was that supposed to work?’

  ‘Well, you know … I was giving you motivation. Trying to stir up some ambition in you. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,’ David tried, but even I could see that this was a lost cause. Sarah wasn’t going to buy his justifications any more.

  In fact, she laughed right at him. ‘Don’t you see? That only makes it worse! You thought so little of me that you could say those terrible things to me without even worrying for a moment how they would make me feel.’ She shook her head. ‘You don’t love me, David. You just hate the fact that I’ve escaped from you, that I’m here living my own life, making my own future – doing all the things you told me I never would. You hate the fact that I’m proving you wrong, every moment of every day. Just by living my life the way I choose to.’

  Sarah’s face was pink with the cold – or with righteous anger, I wasn’t sure. Either way, she looked magnificent. Her pale hair shone around her face like a halo, and her eyes blazed with surety.

  While David’s watery blue eyes looked more uncertain with every passing second.

  ‘But the card you sent …’

  Sarah cut him off. ‘I sent a Christmas card to your mother because she, unlike you, has always been kind to me. I didn’t want her thinking that I’d forgotten that, just because I’d moved away. I’m not that kind of person.’

  ‘And you didn’t send me one because …?’ If ever there was a stupid question …

  ‘Because to be honest, David, I’ve hardly given you a second thought since the moment I arrived at Buckingham Palace.’

  He was getting it now, that much was clear. But he couldn’t help but give it one last try. ‘Sarah, I—’

  She didn’t let him get any further. ‘No. Whatever you have to say, I don’t have to listen any more. You treated me badly, and I know now that I deserve much, much better than you. And I’m going to get it. Which means that it is time for you to leave.’

  If I could have cheered, I would have. As it was, I gave a happy bark and jumped to my paws.

  But then I remembered Jessica’s gleeful face as she’d run back to the palace, and I realised that the job wasn’t done yet. I had something else to fix.

  I persuaded Sarah to let me off my lead and back into the Palace by means of dragging her off course towards the nearest door. Shaking her head at me, she unclipped my lead and I raced inside, leaving her to show David the exit. Fast, I hoped.

  I didn’t want to spend a moment longer in his company, any more than Sarah did.

  Racing up the stairs, I made my way to the staff quarters. I had to find Jessica and keep her away from Oliver. I dreaded to think what she would tell Oliver. Hopefully, he was busy working and she hadn’t been able to talk to him yet.

  But I was too late. I knew that the moment I entered the staff corridor and I heard her voice.

  ‘You should have seen them, Oliver,’ Jessica said, sounding disgusted. ‘They were kissing, right there in the Palace gardens. Making a complete show of themselves. If they’d been seen by one of the Royals …’ She shuddered.

  ‘I don’t need to know this, Jessica.’ Oliver’s voice was clipped.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Jessica asked. ‘Only, you did seem to be getting very close to our Sarah. This must be very hard for you to hear, I’m sure. But I thought it was important that you know.’

  ‘Why? Why on earth—?’ He leaned back against the wall, rubbing a hand over his neatly styled hair.

  ‘Because she was playing you, Oliver!’ Jessica sidled up to him and pressed herself to his side. ‘She let you think she was one of us, that she was going to stay and be here with you. But it was a lie. She was only ever here to make her boyfriend jealous. And now that plan has worked, she’ll be leaving to go back with him.’

  ‘She said that?’ Oliver asked. ‘You actually heard her say that?’

  Jessica shook her head sadly. ‘Oh, Oliver, I didn’t have to. It’s blindingly obvious to everyone except you. Sarah never fitted in here – and maybe she didn’t want to. Maybe she never bothered because she knew she wouldn’t be staying. It was all just part of her plan.’

  ‘But she worked hard to get this job,’ Oliver said. ‘She wanted it, I know she did.’

  ‘Perhaps. But perhaps she never wanted it as much as a happy ever after with her boyfriend.’

  Suddenly, I remembered a conversation between Sarah and Oliver. One where she’d told him all the things she’d wanted, before she came to the Palace. A home, a family, a husband, all back in her home village. I had a feeling he was remembering the same one.

  He honestly believed that she’d gone back to all thos
e old dreams, the ones she’d left behind when she applied to be a housemaid for the Queen.

  And I didn’t know how to tell him that he was wrong.

  ‘Oliver, you know what it’s like, working here,’ Jessica said, still standing far too close to him for my liking. ‘It takes a special sort of person.’

  ‘I thought Sarah was that sort of person,’ Oliver said, sounding forlorn. ‘She’s … I thought she was special.’

  Jessica pulled a face. Oliver didn’t see. ‘Maybe she wasn’t as fantastic as you seemed to think.’

  ‘Maybe.’ But Oliver still sounded doubtful. Good.

  ‘You need to stick with the sort of people you know you can trust. People you know belong here.’

  ‘People like you?’ Oliver guessed.

  Jessica smiled. ‘Exactly.’

  But as she leant in towards him, Oliver pushed away from the wall. ‘To be honest, Jessica, I think what we both need to do is get to work. Don’t you?’

  He raised an eyebrow at her until she blushed. ‘Right. Yeah. I’ll see you later, though?’

  ‘I imagine so.’ He watched Jessica walk away, then looked down at where I was sitting, watching.

  I barked at him, willing him to understand everything I couldn’t say.

  Don’t give up on Sarah, I thought, as hard as I could.

  But Oliver didn’t get the message.

  He sighed. ‘Not now, Henry, okay? I’ve got a Christmas card I need to write. Now, before I lose my nerve.’

  Day 10

  Monday 23rd December

  HENRY

  I didn’t see Sarah or Oliver again before the end of the day. And by the next morning, the Palace was far, far too busy for me to even think about getting them together for a quiet talk to sort things out.

  ‘What on earth is going on here today?’ I asked Willow, as we watched staff members hurrying about the Palace, carrying furniture and silverware and who even knew what else. I’d come down from the Corgi Room for my usual morning explore, and found the State Rooms in absolute chaos. Men and women in Palace uniforms were all bustling about cleaning and arranging tables and chairs. One was even measuring the distance of the table mats from the edge of one of the tables. Another was polishing glassware, before setting out several of them at each place.

  This was definitely not just another day at the Palace.

  ‘Today is a day for staying out of the way,’ Willow said, shifting back a little to sit against the wall behind us.

  ‘I thought you told me that the rule at the Palace was that the staff had to always get out of our way,’ I reminded her.

  ‘Usually, yes,’ Willow agreed. ‘But tomorrow is the day of the Buckingham Palace Christmas Lunch. So today, everyone will be more than a little bit crazy getting ready for it. It’s usually safest to just keep out from underfoot for once.’

  As if to prove her point, a housemaid came bustling through with a giant silver serving platter – not dissimilar to one of the ones I’d sent flying on my first day in the Palace – and almost stood on me. I gave a sharp bark, and hurried out of the way.

  Willow and I retreated to a quiet spot under the curve of the grand staircase, where we could still watch all the comings and goings without risking life and paw. From there, I saw a couple of footmen ferrying in a parade of suitcases. They were followed by a smartly dressed older couple who were carrying nothing.

  ‘So, what’s the deal with this Christmas lunch?’ I asked. ‘I thought Candy said that the Queen usually went to the Sandy Palace for Christmas?’

  ‘Sandringham,’ Willow corrected me. ‘And yes, She does, along with us and certain other members of the family. This is a sort of pre-Christmas celebration, for the whole extended Royal Family, before She leaves for Sandringham.’

  Of course. Hadn’t Candy said something about a Christmas lunch here at the Palace? This must have been what she was talking about.

  ‘It’s normally held earlier than this, I feel,’ Willow went on. ‘Presumably it had to be held up until She returns from her current trip.’

  The Queen. ‘So She’ll be back for it, then?’ I felt a tight knot forming in my stomach at the thought.

  ‘Oh, most certainly.’ Willow gave me a knowing look. ‘She’s never once missed it. And once She’s back …’

  ‘I know.’ The moment the Queen returned, it would be time for me to learn my fate. Would I continue forever as a Palace dog? Or would I be sent away – and if so, where to? The streets? A dogs’ home?

  I could hardly bear to think about it.

  So I decided not to. At least, not until I had to.

  ‘Are there good scraps for us to eat at this lunch?’ I asked, instead.

  Willow rolled her eyes. ‘You know the rules. No scraps from table.’

  I sighed. I did know. But it was Christmas! Amy always let me have a few special bits at Christmas. Some turkey, maybe some stuffing. Gravy, of course – not as good as the Queen’s, but still very tasty. I knew things were different at the Palace, but surely there were allowances?

  Besides, despite Willow’s insistence on the no scraps rule, Candy had let slip that the Queen sometimes let them eat scones at afternoon tea. I couldn’t help but hope that maybe I’d get to experience that before I left the Palace …

  ‘So, who will be here tomorrow then?’ I asked, allowing Willow to let loose on her favourite subject – listing all the Very Important People in the Royal Family that I had never met, and would never be as important as. I zoned out after the first few. It wasn’t like the names meant anything much to me, anyway.

  But her distraction let me focus on all the activity without interruption. I watched as housemaids and footmen raced around getting everything ready for what must be a very grand lunch, and an awful lot of guests. Back at the Walkers, it was usually only the four of them, Grandma, Sookie and I for Christmas. Here, they looked like they were preparing for a guest list of a hundred!

  ‘Of course they won’t be invited again this year,’ Willow said, censoriously. ‘Not after last time.’

  I had no idea what she was talking about. But I also had something far more important to worry about: across the way, I spotted Sarah, hurrying about her business. Her eyes were red, all the way around, and her nose looked pink too. Like Claire, when she’d been crying about something some mean girl had said at school. (Amy never let me bite them, as much as I wanted to, though that didn’t stop me barking and growling at them.)

  ‘Excuse me,’ I said to Willow, cutting her off mid flow. ‘I have to do something.’

  I chased Sarah through several rooms – and what seemed like hundreds of pairs of legs – before I finally caught up with her.

  ‘Oh! Henry!’ She looked down in surprise as I brushed against her calves. ‘I’m sorry there hasn’t been time for a walk this morning. Everything’s rather busy and—’

  ‘Sarah!’ Someone yelled her name and she stopped, spinning round to attention. ‘Are you honestly wasting time talking to a dog? Today, of all days?’

  ‘Absolutely not,’ Sarah lied. ‘I’ll see you later, Henry,’ she whispered, as she bustled off again.

  I sighed, and slunk back against the wall, out of the way again.

  Clearly, corgis weren’t a priority today. For anyone.

  It was teatime before Sarah made it up to the Corgi Room. She still looked quiet and sad, and I just knew it had more to do with Oliver than a very busy day at the Palace.

  Sarah sank to sit down on the floor and I walked over to sit beside her, my head pressed against her leg reassuringly. ‘Oh, Henry. How did this get so messed up?’

  I rested my head in her lap and looked up at her, eyes wide. It was my best ‘tell me everything’ look. It always worked with my family. Even with Jack. Sarah was a pushover compared to that.

  ‘He sent me a card, you know? Oliver, I mean. Saying he was happy that David and I patched things up, and that he’d enjoyed being my friend at the Palace. My friend!’ She shook her head in astonishment.
‘And the worst thing is, David and I didn’t patch things up. No, wait, that’s the good part. The best part. I made the right decision and it didn’t change a single thing – except for the worse. I’m still here, all alone – and Oliver’s avoiding me.’

  She sighed, and scratched between my ears, but I couldn’t even enjoy it, I was too worried about Sarah and Oliver.

  ‘I really thought we were getting somewhere, Henry. I really did. But I should have known. I shouldn’t have got my hopes up. The likes of Oliver Kinchen-Williams was always going to be too good for me. Friends is more than I should have even expected.’

  She was wrong, of course. I knew she was wrong. But how did I make her see that?

  ‘Maybe I never should have come to the Palace.’ Sarah let out a sob, and suddenly I wasn’t alone on her lap. Candy darted down from her basket, pressing up against Sarah on the other side. And then to my surprise Willow jumped down, making her way across more leisurely, before placing her head directly under Sarah’s hand for petting.

  I glanced up at the only still occupied dog basket. Vulcan rolled his eyes at me, then hopped down to pad across to join us and I felt my heart swell towards these dogs, my friends.

  ‘Oh, you lot,’ Sarah said, her voice full of tears. ‘You four are my best friends at the Palace.’

  ‘She really is desperate, in that case,’ Willow muttered.

  ‘But this will help,’ Candy replied. ‘We always make people feel better.’

  ‘We hardly ever make people feel better,’ Vulcan said, rather more honestly.

  ‘Well, Henry does, anyway.’ Candy nudged me with her nose. ‘Henry always makes people feel better. It’s a talent he has.’

  ‘I don’t know how to make Sarah feel better,’ I admitted. I wished I did. I wished there was a way I could talk to her, make her understand that everything would be fine. Make Oliver understand too.

  Willow made a small, amused noise. ‘Seems to me the answer to that is obvious.’