by Holly Webb
For Tom ~ H.W.
For Jennie and Sam ~ K.P.
CONTENTS
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
Copyright
“Off the lead training…” Ellie murmured, looking down at Rascal and chewing her bottom lip. He was in a very bouncy mood this evening, and so far he’d tripped her up in walking to heel, and managed to snatch the whole bag of dog treats she’d brought to give him if he was good. She’d had to borrow some spare ones from her friend Jack. Jack’s enormous Great Dane puppy, Hugo, was looking quite annoyed.
Reluctantly, Ellie undid Rascal’s lead. They hadn’t been doing off the lead work for very long, but Rascal had been starting to get the hang of it. He just didn’t seem to be in the mood to behave today… She glanced anxiously over at Dad. Dad gave her a thumbs up, and Ellie tried to look confident. Their instructor, Jo, was always saying that if they were nervous, their puppies would pick up on it and be naughty.
Rascal wagged his tail happily as Ellie unclipped his lead. They were supposed to be practising recalling the puppies, so Ellie let him wander off to weave in and out of his big friend Hugo’s legs, and then called, “Rascal!”
She smiled with relief as Rascal turned immediately, and pattered back to her, looking hopeful. “Good boy!” she told him happily, giving him one of Hugo’s treats. “Well done!” Just then, Ellie noticed out of the corner of her eye that Amelia, who was in Year Six at her school and was always rude about Rascal, wasn’t doing so well. Her pretty little spaniel, Goldie, had got into a scrap with one of the other dogs, and was completely ignoring Amelia. Ellie tried not to look smug as she sent Rascal off again.
Then she put her hand to her mouth in horror. They’d taken Rascal for a run round the park before dog training – Jo had suggested they always did that, so the puppies could do a wee before they came into the class. But obviously Rascal had had a lot to drink today. He was looking around thoughtfully in a way that Ellie recognized…
“Rascal! No, wait!”
Ellie blushed scarlet and rushed over, but she was too late to stop Rascal lifting his leg against one of the big old radiators that kept the village hall warm in the winter. He left rather a large puddle, and Ellie could hear Amelia sniggering behind her.
“Oh, dear!” Jo came over. “I’ll nip and get you some kitchen roll, Ellie!”
Ellie nodded, crouching down next to Rascal so as not to see everyone else giggling. “Oh, Rascal,” she muttered. “And we were doing so well!”
“Don’t worry, Ellie. No one minded,” Dad said soothingly, as they walked home, but Ellie still felt embarrassed. When was Rascal going to become one of those perfectly trained dogs, like Jo’s golden Labrador, Emma?
They let themselves into the house, and Rascal raced into the kitchen to see if anything had magically appeared in his food bowl since he last looked.
Mum, Lila and Max were sitting at the kitchen table, and Mum had paper and a pen in front of her. She was clearly making one of her “lists”, and Ellie sighed. Mum liked lists, but they always meant lots of work for everyone else.
“So you need to make sure that any clothes you want to take are in the basket, so I can get them washed before it’s time to pack. Oh, you too, Ellie.”
“Pack for what?” Ellie asked.
“We’re going to Gran and Grandpa’s! Gran just rang up and said it was definitely OK!” Max told her excitedly.
“Really? Brilliant!” Ellie beamed. Their grandparents lived by the sea, in a little town called Green Bay. It was a proper old-fashioned seaside place, with gorgeous sandy beaches, a pier and the best fish and chip shop ever. “Hey! It’ll be the first time Rascal’s been to the seaside! I bet he’ll love it. When are we going, Mum?”
“The first week of the summer holiday – so straight after you break up from school at the end of the week,” Mum said, but she was looking worried. “Ellie, I’m not absolutely sure we’re going to take Rascal…”
Ellie stared at her. “But we have to! We can’t just leave him behind.”
“No, of course not, but he might have to go to kennels. You know how fussy Gran can be – she worries about the mess you and Lila and Max make, let alone a puppy.”
Ellie felt like crying. She had been imagining showing Rascal all her favourite places in Green Bay. Maybe he’d even want to go in the sea with her! “I don’t want to go without him…” she said, her voice all sniffly. “Please, Mum! He’d hate being in kennels, away from all of us.”
“It’s true, Mum,” Lila put in. “He’d be really miserable.” Max nodded too.
“I know.” Mum got up and gave Ellie a hug. “I’ll talk to Gran about it. After all, Rascal’s so much better behaved now, isn’t he?Was he good at training tonight?”
Ellie swallowed, and glanced over at Dad. “Well, most of the time…”
Mum was still really unsure about taking Rascal on holiday, especially after Ellie had told her about him weeing during dog training. She’d phoned Gran, and they’d talked about it for ages, while Ellie had sat on the stairs listening, and watching Rascal rolling over and over down the hallway with his squeaky bone. He was so cute – how could Gran not love him?
Ellie told her best friend Christy all about it as they waited in the playground for the morning bell on Friday – the last day before the holidays.
“Mum said that Gran’s agreed, but she’s still really not keen on having a puppy to stay, so we’ll all have to make sure he behaves,” she explained.
Everyone was tearing round excitedly, making sure they all had phone numbers for meeting up during the summer. Ellie, Christy and their friend Lucy had clubbed together and bought a lovely mug with dogs on for their teacher, Mrs Harley, who liked dogs too. They were going to give it to her at the end of school.
“I bet your gran will like him when she gets to know him,” said Christy.
Ellie sighed. She hoped so, but she just wasn’t sure. Gran was one of those people who always looked perfect – her hair was styled like she’d just come out of the hairdresser, and she never, ever spilt anything on her clothes. Her house was the same – always tidy, with a lot of small and very breakable china ornaments dotted around. It really wasn’t the best sort of place to take Rascal. “She’s just not a dog person…” Ellie said. “But at least we’ll be out on the beach most of the time, so he won’t be getting under her feet.”
“Actually, that’s a good idea,” Christy agreed. “Why don’t you take him for loads of long walks along the beach? That way, he’ll be too tired to be naughty.”
Ellie smiled. “Good plan, and I’m going to try and get him to come swimming with me. That’ll definitely wear him out. Jo said that Jack Russells usually love swimming. I’m just so glad Gran said yes in the end. He would have hated going to kennels, and I’d really miss him!”
Christy nodded. “Bouncer’s going to stay with my uncle when we go away to France. We did send him to kennels once, but he was really grumpy when we picked him up. He went down to the end of the garden and sulked for a whole day.”
Ellie giggled. Bouncer was Christy’s gorgeous golden Labrador, and he was so happy and friendly that she couldn’t imagine him having a strop.
“You’re really lucky getting to take Rascal with you,” Christy said enviously. “You’ll have such a good time.”
“I should think Rascal would probably tear a boarding kennel apart,” E
llie said, shuddering. “He’d be banned from kennels for life!”
There were already bags and bags piled up in the hallway when Ellie and Max got home from school, and Mum was looking a bit harassed. “Hello, you two! Ellie, I’ve just looked in your room, and you haven’t even started packing! You do know we’re going early tomorrow morning, don’t you?”
Ellie nodded. “It’s OK, Mum, I’ll go and do it now.” She stuck her school bag in the cupboard under the stairs – she didn’t even have to think about school for six whole weeks! Then she raced upstairs to pull out her suitcase from under the bed and decide what she was taking.
Rascal dashed up the stairs after her, although it took him a bit longer – his legs were a lot shorter than Ellie’s, and he had to scrabble for every step.
“Oh! Sorry, Rascal!” Ellie came halfway down again to pick him up. “I’m just really excited about going on holiday! I mustn’t forget to pack for you, too. Your dog-bed, and your bowls – we’ll take the nice ones I painted for you; I want to show them to Gran. And lots of food and dog treats and your toys.” She frowned. “I hope Dad’s remembered he’ll need space in the car for all your stuff, and you in your pet carrier.”
Ellie’s suitcase was full long before she had fitted in all the stuff she thought she’d need, and then Mum pointed out that she hadn’t packed any pyjamas, and she had to take everything out and start again. It took ages, and Rascal got bored halfway through and went back downstairs. At last, Ellie sat down on her suitcase, and just about managed to zip it up.
She sighed happily and eyed the pile of stuff that was still on her bed. Mum might not agree that it was better to take just one cardigan and fit in six books and her favourite pencils, but it would be OK if Ellie didn’t tell her.
She raced down the stairs, making for the kitchen. She was sure she could smell tomato pasta sauce, and she was starving. But she stopped dead in the hallway, staring at the pile of stuff that was waiting to go in the car.
Rascal was curled up fast asleep inside Max’s yellow fishing net. It probably still smelled of the crabs Max had used it to catch the last time they’d been to the seaside, Ellie realized as she went closer. She didn’t think Rascal had ever had crab – it wasn’t a popular flavour for dog food. But he seemed to like it – or maybe it was just that the net was nice and chewy. At any rate, it now had several extra holes.
“Rascal!” Ellie cried. She had a feeling that her holiday money wouldn’t last very long. There was no way she was going to convince Max that nets were meant to have holes that big in them!
“Right! It’s all in, just about. Come on, let’s get going.” Dad was looking pleased with himself, and Ellie thought he deserved to be, after managing to squash that huge pile of stuff into the car.
“I hope Rascal’s going to be OK,” she said to Mum, as she picked him up and went over to his pet carrier. “He’s never been on a long car journey before.”
Mum tickled Rascal behind the ears. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. It’s only an hour and a half, and he doesn’t mind the car, now, does he? He’s been fine when we’ve driven to the woods. He’ll probably just go to sleep after a while.”
Ellie slipped Rascal into his pet carrier, which was surrounded by bags and boxes. He stood there looking rather confused. He didn’t go in the car very often, and he’d certainly never seen it this full. Dad had made sure he could see out, but it had been tricky.
“It’s OK,” Ellie told him. “It won’t take that long to get there, and we’re going to have the best time.”
But an hour later, Ellie felt like the journey was never going to end. It was all Max’s fault for bringing an enormous bag of fizzy chews. Ellie was sure that they were all fizzing away in her stomach, and she felt awful. Wriggling herself round to keep checking on Rascal hadn’t helped either.
“Are we nearly there?” she asked Dad, in a wobbly voice.
“About another half-hour.” Mum looked round at her. “Oh, Ellie, you’re very pale. Are you all right?”
“I feel sick…” Ellie moaned.
“Don’t be sick anywhere near me!”
Lila squeaked. “These are my new jeans!”
There was a funny little moaning noise from the boot behind them, and Max turned round to peer at Rascal. “Oh, dear. I don’t think Rascal’s feeling so good either,” he reported. “He’s just lying there, and he looks miserable.”
Dad sighed. “Well, I would stop to let you all get some fresh air, but I think if we allowed Rascal out of his pet carrier, we might never get him back in again. We really won’t be long. Can you hold on, Ellie?”
Ellie groaned, and Dad sped up a bit.
Twenty minutes later, Max yelled, “Look, I can see the sea! And there’s a sign for Green Bay.”
“Hurry up, Dad!” Ellie wailed. “I really think I’m going to be sick!”
Rascal joined in with more sad moaning noises from the boot.
“We’re just coming to Gran and Grandpa’s road now,” Dad promised.
He pulled up in front of a pretty cottage. “OK! Everybody out!”
Ellie stumbled out of the car and leaned against the front fence, trying very hard not to throw up. “Never, ever give me those things again,” she told Max, who looked unfairly bouncy and not carsick at all.
Max grinned at her, and waved the bag under her nose.
“Ugh!” Ellie wailed. “You’re so mean! Mum, is Rascal OK?”
Dad had just opened the boot to start unloading the bags, and Mum was undoing Rascal’s pet carrier. “He doesn’t look very happy…”
Ellie went over to help her. She was starting to feel a tiny bit better now she wasn’t in the car any more.
“Hey, Rascal…” Rascal lifted his head off his paws and gazed glumly up at Ellie. “Oh, you really do look sick. Come on, let’s get you out. Look, there’s Gran and Grandpa coming to see us!”
She lifted Rascal out of the car, clipped on his lead, and led him over to the front gate, where her grandparents were just heading down the path. She smiled happily at Gran and Grandpa – their house was so like them, old-fashioned and perfectly tidy. All the flowers in the front garden were in beautiful neat rows, and Grandpa had the shortest, most velvety lawn Ellie had ever seen.
“Hello, sweetheart!” Gran was just coming forward to give Ellie a hug, when Rascal stopped dead in the gateway, and was sick all over Gran’s path.
“Oh!” Gran stared down at Rascal like he was some horrible sort of beetle, and Grandpa laughed. “Poor little chap. Did he not like the car, Ellie?”
Ellie shook her head, wishing she and Rascal could go and hide. “I’m really sorry!” she wailed. “He never usually does that!”
Gran smiled, but Ellie could tell she was making a real effort not to be grumpy. “Never mind. We’ll put some sand over it and clean it up later. Come and have some tea, all of you!” She paused for a moment. “Bring the puppy too, Ellie…”
After the sick incident, Mum decided it would be best if Ellie got Rascal out of the way for a bit, so she sent her and Max down to the beach with Dad, while she and Lila stayed to unpack and help Gran clean the path.
The gorgeous, tangy sea air soon blew away Ellie’s carsickness, and it seemed to have cheered up Rascal, too. Gran’s house was just at the end of the road from the beach, and he stood at the top of the cliff path staring down at the sea, his tail a waggy blur of excitement. They rushed down the steep steps, and suddenly Ellie almost didn’t care that Rascal had thrown up right in front of Gran, it was just so exciting to see the sea!
The summer holidays had only just begun so there weren’t very many people on the beach. It was a long stretch of biscuity-looking golden-brown sand, with sweeps of pebbles here and there. Ellie looked around thoughtfully, and unclipped Rascal’s lead.
“Do you want to explore? Off you go!” she suggested, and Rascal dashed off at once, his nose to the sand, sniffing eagerly at all the interesting smells.
Ellie followed him, laughing
to herself at how excited he was. He tracked across the sand towards the sea, and then pulled up short, staring at the strange greenish-grey water … that was coming towards him!
“It’s OK.” Ellie crouched down next to him. “It’s just the sea. It does that.” She slipped off her flip-flops, and paddled in the seawater, wincing a little at the cold.
Rascal watched her curiously, and poked one paw towards the sea. It looked like water… It smelled a little strange, but he was very, very thirsty. As the tide crept in towards his paws, he leaned down and lapped at it, and then spat it out disgustedly.
He backed away, looking horrified. What was that stuff? It didn’t taste like water. He barked sharply to tell Ellie not to drink any. He wasn’t sure about this at all.
“Come on. It’s fun, look,” said Ellie, splashing about in the waves. But Rascal stayed safely on the sand where he was.
“I think it’s lunchtime,” Dad said, looking at his watch. “Shall we go back home?”
Ellie looked anxious. She hoped Gran wasn’t still cross with Rascal. And she’d been planning to impress her with how beautifully trained he was, too!
But Gran seemed to have recovered – she even patted Rascal and said how sweet he was, and Grandpa thought he was great. Ellie demonstrated how well Rascal would stay, sometimes even with a biscuit between his paws, and Grandpa was very impressed. Ellie was pretty sure she saw him feeding Rascal a sandwich crust under the table when Gran wasn’t looking, too.
After lunch, Grandpa took them outside to show off his garden. Ellie loved it. It wasn’t very big, but it was full of secret corners and surprises. Ellie always liked the family of stone frogs – Grandpa moved them around the garden, and when she was little, she was sure they’d moved by themselves when she wasn’t looking.