The Snow Puppy and Other Christmas Stories

by Jenny Dale

  “Jenkins isn’t a local,” Maggie said. “So where is he staying?”

  Neil sat up in his seat. “He must be somewhere close, so he can pick up the ransom. And it must be somewhere he could hide Prince . . .”

  Max glanced up from stroking Princess, suddenly starting to look hopeful. “You really think we could find him?”

  “What about a hotel?” Maggie asked.

  “There’s only the Ainsworth Arms in Beckthwaite,” said Adrian.

  Lord Ainsworth shook his head. “He wouldn’t risk being seen with Prince.”

  “So where is he?” Penny asked.

  “Just a minute,” said Neil. “What about that weird make-up girl? She knows something about Jenkins, I bet she does!”

  “What make-up girl?” asked Maggie.

  “We don’t know her name,” Emily explained. “But she was doing Jenkins’s make-up when he wasn’t supposed to be on set, and when we asked her about him she was really nasty!”

  “Is she staying here?” asked Penny.

  “She should be,” said Adrian.

  “There’s one of the make-up assistants, called Shirley, in the room next to mine,” said Maggie. “She’s been very snappy ever since we arrived.”

  Neil sprang to his feet. “What are we waiting for?”

  But when Maggie took them to Shirley’s room, Shirley wasn’t there, and when they asked some of the other make-up girls no one knew where she was. Their only link to Harry Jenkins had disappeared.

  “We’re going home tomorrow,” Emily said gloomily, winding her scarf round her neck.

  “No, we’re not,” said Neil, as he clipped Jake’s lead onto his collar. “I’m not going anywhere until Max has Prince back.”

  As Neil got ready to walk Jake the following morning, he felt depressed. His brilliant idea had fizzled out. This morning Shirley hadn’t turned up for work. That was enough to make Neil certain she was involved with Harry Jenkins, but it didn’t help in tracking either of them down.

  The trail to Prince had gone cold, and without him filming had come to a complete stop.

  “But tomorrow’s Christmas Eve,” Emily pointed out. “We can’t stay here for Christmas unless we’re invited. Besides, Mum and Dad will go spare!”

  “I don’t care,” Neil said determinedly. “I’m not leaving Max. Anyway, could you manage to enjoy Christmas knowing Prince isn’t safe?”

  Emily shook her head. “I don’t think anybody’s going to enjoy Christmas!”

  Neil pushed open the heavy oak door and looked out. Thick icicles hung from the lintel; the steps and the courtyard were covered by a fresh fall of snow. At his feet, Jake whined uneasily, and tugged against the lead.

  “Oh, no,” Neil said. Even though he thought he’d overcome his own fear of water, he wasn’t going to risk Jake on the ice again. “You’re not running free today, boy. You’re not going anywhere near that lake!”

  He and Emily were venturing out into the snow when Max came along the passage, with Princess on a lead. Neil was glad to see that the little pup was trotting along beside him, looking as perky as if the day before had been a dream.

  “Hello, there!” Emily said, crouching down to fondle the dog’s long ears. “How is she, Max?”

  “She seems fine. She’s been whimpering a bit, though. I think she misses Prince, and can’t understand why he’s not here.”

  Emily ruffled the pup’s golden fur. “We’ll find your dad, Princess, I promise!”

  “What about the filming?” Neil asked.

  Max shrugged. “Brian’s talking about getting a stand-in for Prince, so we can carry on. But it won’t be the same. I don’t want to work with another dog.”

  Neil clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s tough.”

  Max shrugged again. “Are you going out?” he asked. “I’ll come with you. Maggie said it would be OK to take Princess out for a bit.”

  Before he had finished pulling on his thick jacket and boots, they were joined by Penny, with both King and Fred beside her.

  “I feel like harnessing these two to the sledge,” she said, laughing.

  Neil couldn’t help grinning, even though he was worried. “With a sack and a Father Christmas outfit! That’d be really worth seeing!”

  Penny put both the huge dogs on their leads, and handed Fred’s to Emily. They were heading out towards the lake shore, when Princess suddenly tugged on the lead and started whining.

  “Maybe she’s scared to go down there,” Emily suggested.

  “It’s OK,” Max said, stooping to pick up the little dog. Princess evaded his hands, and started snuffling at something by the side of the path.

  “Hang on a minute,” Neil said. “Let’s see what she does.”

  The spaniel pup kept her nose down for a minute, and then pulled on the lead in the direction of the medieval village. Neil and Max looked at each other.

  “Do you think she knows something?” Max asked, as if he could hardly dare believe it.

  “She can’t be tracking Prince,” said Emily. “She’s too little.”

  “Cocker spaniels have really good scenting skills,” Neil said. “I reckon we should follow her.”

  They started to move down the path to the village, with Princess scuttling along in the lead, tail waving wildly. Then as they approached the set she hesitated, trotted back to Max and away again to sniff at Jake.

  “She’s lost it,” Max said, disappointed.

  “Maybe, but I haven’t,” said Neil. “I’ve just remembered something . . . I think I know where Harry Jenkins is!”

  “Where?” Max’s voice was sharp with anxiety. “What do you mean?”

  “The trailers by the medieval village.” Neil pointed down the path to where the trailers were just in sight. “Look, Princess has brought us nearly there. One of them is being used for make-up on the set. I bet Shirley’s letting Harry stay in it!”

  “We saw him in the woods that day,” Emily added. “He could have been on his way there.”

  “And he was lurking round there when we met him yesterday,” said Neil. “It’s worth a try. Come on!”

  10

  They set off at a run towards the medieval village, the dogs bounding alongside. No one was on set this morning, and the trailers looked quiet and deserted. As they paused on the edge of the village, Princess started barking, and danced around on the end of her lead.

  “She knows her dad’s here!” said Emily.

  “Now what do we do?” asked Penny.

  “I’m going to see who’s in there,” Neil said.

  “No, wait . . .” Max sounded panicky, but Neil was already marching out into the clearing and across to the make-up trailer.

  He rapped on the door. There was a moment’s silence, then a scuffling noise from inside, and the door opened a crack. Shirley, the make-up girl, peered out.

  Neil hadn’t thought what to say, but now that he was faced with her, his mind worked fast. “Hello,” he said. “I’ve got a message for Harry Jenkins. He is here, isn’t he?”

  Shirley looked terrified. She said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” and shut the door firmly.

  Neil stepped back and scanned the trailer. He was sure that Jenkins and Prince were there, but he couldn’t see anything through the blinds that covered the windows. Slowly, he walked back to his friends.

  “We’ve got to get in there somehow,” said Penny.

  “But if we try anything, he’ll kill Prince,” Max protested.

  “No, I don’t think he will,” said Neil. “I don’t think he would hurt a dog, whatever he says. If we—”

  Princess interrupted him. She was still tugging at her lead, and now she burst out into another flurry of excited barking.

  “Good girl!” said Neil. “You can smell your dad, can’t you?”

  Before he had finished speaking, an answering bark came from the trailer.

  “Prince!” Max exclaimed. “That’s Prince!”

  “All right!”
said Neil.

  “Listen, Max.” Penny was speaking quickly. “We’ve got to tell the police now. We know he’s got a stolen dog in there. I know the sergeant at Beckthwaite. He won’t do anything stupid. I’m going to phone.”

  Taking King with her, she headed back towards the castle. Max watched her go, and then stooped to pick up Princess, who was still barking furiously. He hugged her to him. “It’ll be OK,” he promised. Neil thought he was trying to convince himself.

  He took a few steps out into the clearing. Raising his voice, he called, “Mr Jenkins! We know you’re in there. Bring Prince out now and you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble.”

  Emily whispered behind him, “Don’t mention the police.” Neil nodded. There was no answer from the trailer except for more barking from Prince. The noise set Jake off as well, and Fred added a deep woof too.

  Neil had to calm Jake down before he could make himself heard again. “Mr Jenkins! Let Prince come out. You’re only—”

  The door of the trailer opened. Harry Jenkins appeared, with Prince on a lead.

  “Prince!” Max called. “Here, Prince!”

  Prince pulled towards him to the full length of his lead, barking louder than ever. Harry Jenkins hesitated, as if he might decide to hand the cocker spaniel over, and then wrenched on the lead and dragged Prince away. Prince was still barking, trying to resist and go to Max, skidding and slithering through the snow as Jenkins jerked on the lead.

  Neil took off in pursuit. Harry Jenkins was floundering up the slope which led to the road, stumbling in unseen hollows and slipping backwards as the snow gave way under his feet. Prince, still hanging back, managed to get his lead caught up in a bramble bush. As Jenkins stopped to unwind it, Neil hurled himself at him and grabbed him round the waist. Jenkins fell backwards with Neil on top of him.

  Prince tugged himself free, and dashed off in a flurry of snow, back down the slope towards Max.

  As he struggled to hang on to Harry Jenkins, Neil could hear wild barking from the dogs as the others forced their way through the snowy undergrowth. Jenkins threw Neil off, but before he could get to his feet Emily had caught up and grabbed him, and Neil heard another voice shouting his name from lower down the hill.

  He got a grip on Harry, and looked back to see Lord Ainsworth, Penny and Maggie Brown hurrying towards them through the trees. At the bottom of the slope, Max was kneeling in the snow with Prince in his arms. Princess danced around them madly, yapping at the top of her tiny voice.

  Harry fought to stand upright, but with both Neil and Emily hanging on to him, and Fred and Jake both standing by, he couldn’t run. Panting, he faced Lord Ainsworth. “Get them off me!”

  “I think they’re doing a splendid job.” Lord Ainsworth’s voice was cold. “Maybe you’d like to explain what you’re doing with a stolen dog?”

  Harry Jenkins opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He sagged in Neil’s grasp.

  Neil called to Max, “Is he hurt, Max?”

  Max was looking Prince over carefully. “No, I think he’s fine.”

  “I wouldn’t have hurt him,” Jenkins protested. “I’d have given him back.”

  Lord Ainsworth snorted disbelievingly. “Maybe. In any case, you can explain all that to the police.”

  As he spoke, there was the sound of a car engine, and a police car slowly nosed its way down the track that led to the clearing, and parked beside the trailer. A police sergeant got out of it. Lord Ainsworth grabbed Harry’s shoulder and propelled him back towards the car.

  Neil and Emily followed. Beside the trailer, the make-up girl was sitting on a fallen log, crying quietly.

  “Shirley, what are you doing mixed up in all this?” Maggie asked her.

  Shirley looked up at her. “He’s my brother,” she said. “I didn’t want anything to do with it. And I didn’t know he was going to steal the dog.”

  “That’s right, she didn’t,” Jenkins said. “She let me sleep in the make-up van and made me up – but that’s all.”

  “I’m sorry, miss,” the police sergeant said. “You’ll have to come with us and make a statement.”

  Shirley got up, wiping her face with a handkerchief. “It’s all gone wrong,” she said. “And now I’ll lose my job as well.”

  “I’ll talk to Jeff,” Maggie promised, but as Shirley got into the police car she didn’t look as if she thought that would do much good.

  Harry Jenkins glanced back to where Max was still crouching beside Prince. Princess was touching noses with her dad. Harry opened his mouth to say something but as Max caught his eye he looked away and got into the car in silence. The sergeant drove off. Neil watched the car edge its way back up the track, wheels spinning to get a grip on the snow as it vanished among the trees.

  “Let’s hope that’s the last of him,” he said with satisfaction.

  “Yes,” said Penny, “and now we can get on with the film.”

  “There’s only one problem,” said Maggie. “Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve. Jeff told me this morning that we can’t possibly finish filming before Christmas. If we have to strike the sets and then come back afterwards, it’s going to cost the earth.”

  “You mean the film might still be ruined?” Max asked, dismayed.

  Neil and Emily looked at each other. They couldn’t believe that after all their efforts Harry Jenkins might have done what he set out to do.

  “Just a minute,” said Lord Ainsworth. “What’s all this about striking the sets? Is there any reason why you can’t stay here and finish?”

  “But it’s Christmas,” said Maggie. “You can’t want the castle full of film people over Christmas.”

  Lord Ainsworth’s face, reddened from the cold, broke into a beaming smile. “Why not?”

  Maggie gaped at him. “Why not . . . well . . .”

  “You’ll all be very welcome. Max, your parents are on their way already – they’ll be welcome to stay too. We’ll all have a real medieval Christmas in Ainsworth Castle!”

  Neil thought it was a great idea. The only problem was, he and Emily were due to go home. He was trying not to feel too disappointed when Penny came and grabbed his arm.

  “Dad, we can invite Neil and Emily’s mum and dad, can’t we? And their little sister?”

  “What?” Lord Ainsworth peered down at Neil and Emily. “Yes, of course we can. Let them all come!”

  Lord Ainsworth got to his feet and rapped the table for silence. As he waited, Neil looked around the Great Hall of Ainsworth Castle. Snow was swirling past the windows, but inside logs blazed up in the enormous fireplace. Bright lights shone on the Arthurian weapons and tapestries, and on the tables set for a magnificent Christmas dinner.

  Penny had suggested using the Round Table for the Christmas feast, but the props master had refused to risk damaging it, so long tables had been set up in a huge square, with white linen cloths and red candles in holders made from holly and pine cones. Silver cutlery and crystal glasses sparkled at each place setting.

  Verity the wardrobe mistress had surpassed herself to find costumes for everyone. Neil wore a blue velvet tunic instead of his peasant outfit, and both Emily and Penny wore long dresses. Penny’s brother Rick, just home from music college, was dressed as a medieval minstrel. Even the guests were in costume. Neil thought Carole, his mum, really suited her long, trailing gown of red velvet, though Bob Parker, his dad, looked a bit uncomfortable in a knight’s heavy robes. Five-year-old Sarah, dressed as one of Morgan le Fay’s imps, had hardly been able to stop twirling around to admire herself, and was wriggling excitedly in her chair.

  It wasn’t often that Bob and Carole left King Street Kennels, but Carole had told Neil that with help from Kate and Bev, the kennel maids, they’d arranged to stay at the castle overnight and go home the next day.

  King and Fred were sprawled in front of the fire, just like the hounds in a real medieval hall, but Jake sat beside Neil’s chair, and Prince beside Max. Neil wasn’t sure where Princess had got to. He’d been
about to ask Max when Lord Ainsworth called for silence.

  Gradually everyone was quietening down. Neil grinned across the table at Max and his parents, Fred’s owner Bill Grey, and the rest of the actors and film crew who were sitting nearby. Everyone looked happy except Brett Benson. Maggie had told Neil that he was sulking because he’d planned to jet off to the Bahamas for Christmas and had to cancel it because of the filming. Serves him right, Neil thought.

  The only member of the film crew who wasn’t there was Shirley. Jeff Calton had pulled her off the film, but Maggie had persuaded him not to sack her. She had gone home for Christmas with her brother Harry who was out on bail until his case came up for trial. No one knew what his sentence would be, but one thing was certain: his career with dogs was finished. Neil thought there couldn’t be a worse punishment.

  “Before we start to eat,” Lord Ainsworth began, “I’d like to say a few words. First, to welcome all of you to Ainsworth Castle. It must be hundreds of years since a Lord Ainsworth sat down to eat with such splendid company.”

  So let’s get on with it, Neil pleaded silently. I’m starving!

  “I’d also like to wish you a very happy Christmas, and to our friends from Prince Productions a successful conclusion to their filming. I’m sure we’re all glad to hear that Prince is safe and well, and I for one am looking forward to seeing Ainsworth Castle on the screen as Camelot.”

  Scratching his moustache and smiling a little, he went on, “One of you film people told me that it was King Arthur’s custom never to sit down to a feast before he’d heard a piece of wonderful news. I think we ought to stick to these old customs, and so I’ve got some news I’d like to share with you. Adrian . . .?”

  “What’s all this about?” Neil asked Emily.

  Emily just shrugged, but Penny’s eyes were sparkling, as if she knew something they didn’t.

  Adrian had gone scarlet, and looked embarrassed as he got to his feet and cleared his throat. “Er . . . yes . . . well, I’m delighted to announce that Verity, who some of you know is wardrobe mistress for Prince Productions, and as you can all see is doing a marvellous job . . .” He paused, and gave up the tangled sentence. “I asked Verity to marry me, and she said yes.”