by Holly Webb
“He looks OK,” said Izzy hopefully. “Just wet. And a bit muddy.”
“Yeah, I think he was lucky.” Poppy shivered. “Let’s get home.” She looked Izzy up and down, and then glanced at her own school uniform. “I think he wiped the mud off on us. You look awful!”
“So do you!” Izzy sighed, holding out the skirt of her summer dress – all muddy and torn.
“I can lend you something.” Poppy gave her a hug. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain to your dad.”
“What happened?” Poppy’s mum shrieked, as they let themselves in. They’d been hoping to sneak upstairs quietly, and say that Izzy just fancied getting out of her uniform, but unfortunately Poppy’s mum had been coming down the stairs as they came in.
“Billy fell in the river,” Poppy admitted.
“He was chasing a rat – it wasn’t Poppy’s fault,” Izzy added quickly.
“Are you all right?” Poppy’s mum shot down the stairs. “Did you fall in too? Are you hurt?”
“Just wet. Billy splashed all over us,” Poppy explained.
“That dog!” Poppy’s mum glared at him.
“He got stuck in an old bike someone had thrown in,” Izzy told her, hoping to make her less cross with him.
“Oh dear, it’s such a mess down there. You’ll have to stop walking him by the river, Poppy. Ugh, look at him, he’s covered in mud.”
“Shall we put him in the bath?” Poppy suggested. “And please don’t say we can’t go down there, Mum, it’s his favourite walk.”
“It could have been his last walk, if you couldn’t get him out,” her mum snapped. “Yes, you’d better bath him. And then you two can have showers. I’ll go and make you some hot chocolate. Do you like chocolate, Izzy?”
“Please.” Izzy nodded. Even though it was June, she still felt cold and muddy and horrible. Hot chocolate and a shower sounded excellent.
“OK. Once we get close to the bathroom, I’ll pull, you push,” Poppy instructed, running up the stairs and leaving Izzy staring after her. “Billy! Come on, boy!”
Billy bounded up the stairs – his paw had had a miraculous recovery on the way home. He’d been able to bark himself silly at a fat black cat, and it seemed to have cheered him up no end.
“Shut the door!” Poppy shrieked, as Izzy hurried after her. “He’s going to notice where he is in a minute, shut the door!”
Izzy slammed the bathroom door shut just as Billy clocked the bath, and tried to exit his collar backwards. He stood in the corner of the bathroom staring reproachfully at Poppy and Izzy.
“Your fault for going ratting in a river,” Poppy said sternly. “We have to get the mud off you, or Mum’ll have you living in the garden. It’s Top Gear tonight, Billy, you want to be allowed on the sofa.”
“He likes Top Gear?” Izzy laughed.
“Yup. His favourite programme. He even knows the music, he rushes in when he hears it’s on.”
“How are we going to get him in the bath?” Izzy asked doubtfully, as Poppy began to run the water. “And what’s that you’re putting in the water?”
Poppy was adding drips of something from a little bottle. “Lavender oil. To calm him down a bit. And it smells nice,” she added sensibly. “He stinks of river. You can’t put bubble bath in, it isn’t good for dogs’ skin. We could probably use Mum’s expensive organic stuff, but she’d recognise the smell on him, and then she’d kill me. And we get him in by picking him up and putting him in, of course.”
Izzy looked at Billy, backed stubbornly into the corner of the bathroom. Then she looked at herself and Poppy. Billy was huge. And heavy. “Umm…”
“He isn’t really that heavy,” Poppy assured her.
“But will he let us pick him up?”
“He’ll wriggle like mad, but we can do it. Then once he’s in, one of us just has to hold on to his collar, and he’ll stay still while we wash the mud off. OK. That should be enough. He doesn’t like too much water round his legs.” She giggled. “So who knows why he decided to jump into a river. Stupid dog.”
Billy saw Poppy approaching, with a meaningful look in her eyes, and moaned. Izzy had never realised dogs could moan, but that was definitely what it was.
“You’re filthy,” Poppy told him sternly. “We have to get the mud off. Right, Izzy, I’ve got the front, you’ve got the back – that’s the lighter end,” she added encouragingly.
Izzy thought it was more important that it was the end without the teeth, but she didn’t say so. Even though Bull Terriers had a fierce reputation, Billy seemed quite friendly and gentle. But that was before they’d tried to heave him into a bath.
The bathroom door opened suddenly, and Poppy shrieked as Billy attempted to make a quick getaway.
“Alex, stop him!”
Billy was attempting to shoot between the legs of one of Poppy’s twin older brothers. But Alex squashed his knees together, so he was almost riding Billy, and grabbed his collar.
Izzy laughed. “You look like you’re in a rodeo,” she said shyly, as Alex stared at her.
He snorted. “Oh. Yeah, Billy would make a good bucking bronco. Aww, Poppy, he’s covered in mud, it’s all over my trousers now.”
“Durr,” Poppy said unsympathetically. “That’s why we’re trying to bath him, idiot.”
“You two’ll never get him in there,” Alex said. And he grabbed Billy round the chest, groaning with the effort, and dumped him in the bath so quickly that Billy didn’t have time to realise what was going on. Even though there was hardly any water, a tidal wave still splashed over the edge of the bath.
Billy’s claws scrabbled frantically, and he howled, and tried to jump out, but Alex had hold of his collar. “Hurry up then! Wash him! I’m getting soaked here,” he growled to Poppy.
“Thanks, Alex!” Poppy started rubbing the mud off Billy’s legs, and Izzy tried to swoosh water over his back, while Billy moaned miserably. The smell of wet dog rapidly overpowered the lavender oil.
“I think he’s clean,” Poppy said at last. “Or at least the water’s so dirty there’s no point washing him any more.”
“Do we have to lift him out now?” Izzy asked, looking anxiously at Alex. He was going to get even wetter, heaving a soaking wet dog out of the bath.
Alex laughed. “Nope.” He let go off Billy’s collar, and stood back, pulling Izzy with him.
Billy took about two seconds to realise he no longer had to be in the bath, and launched himself out with an expression of great joy on his face. Water slopped everywhere, and as soon as he hit the bath mat, he shook himself madly, spraying more all over the place.
“Now you see why there was no point changing first,” Poppy pointed out, holding her arm across her face. “Have you stopped yet, Billy?” She smothered him in an old towel that she’d pulled out of the bottom of the airing cupboard. “Mum keeps the worst towels just for him.”
They rubbed him dry all over and eventually a spotless and offended-looking dog burst out of the bathroom, and hurtled down the stairs.
“He’s going to hide in his basket,” Poppy explained. “Look, I’ve rinsed the mud out of the bath now, you have a quick shower. I’ll just go and find you some stuff to borrow.”
“Thanks.” Izzy eyed her school dress and cardigan – they were even wetter now.
Ten minutes or so later, she headed downstairs, still damp, but much warmer, and wearing Poppy’s jeans and a cute purple T-shirt.
Poppy’s mum pushed a mug of hot chocolate towards her.
“Thanks. Poppy is just having her shower. Alex might want some chocolate too, Billy got him really wet.”
Billy heard his name, and glared suspiciously over the edge of his basket.
The door opened, and another teenage boy clumped into the kitchen. Poppy’s mum sighed. “Between you lot and the dog, I’m going to be spending the weekend cleaning mud out of this house. It’s all very well taking your boots off, but look at your socks, Jake!”
“Sorry, the field was a bit mudd
y,” he admitted.
Izzy stared at him over her mug. If Poppy’s mum hadn’t called him Jake, she would have been sure he was Alex, somehow muddied up. They looked exactly the same.
“This is Poppy’s friend, Izzy,” Poppy’s mum added. “Billy jumped in the river, you’ll have to queue for a shower after your sister.”
“Is he OK?” Jake peered at Billy, who was huddled up in his basket, as if he didn’t want anyone to notice him.
“I think he’s sulking because he had to have a bath,” Izzy said, feeling quite amazed at herself. She hardly ever spoke to people she didn’t know. But there was something about this mad, muddy house that made her feel less shy than usual.
Jake nodded. “He would be. He hates baths. See you later, Izzy.”
“Usually, he’d take off all his football stuff and just stuff it in the machine,” Poppy’s mum whispered to Izzy as Jake went upstairs. “He’s being polite because you’re here.”
Izzy giggled, and tried not to spit chocolate everywhere.
“Shall we go and watch a film?” Poppy arrived, and grabbed her chocolate. “Thanks, Mum.”
“You won’t have time for a film, dinner won’t be long,” her mum pointed out.
“Mmm, washing Billy took ages. OK. We’ll just put the TV on.”
They curled up on the sofa happily, and Izzy thought how nice it was not to feel guilty about watching a stupid girly soap. Sometimes it was what she felt like, but she knew Dad hated them, so she hardly ever put them on.
They were just happily criticising one of the girls’ hairstyles when Poppy frowned, then turned to Izzy with her finger to her lips. “Listen!” she whispered, turning the sound on the TV down a little.
“What is it?” Izzy whispered back, a little anxiously.
“Alex! On the phone, ssshhh!” Poppy tiptoed closer to the garden door.
Alex was sitting outside on a bench – he obviously didn’t realise that the door was open, and the girls could hear him.
Izzy felt a bit guilty eavesdropping, but Poppy clearly didn’t. Perhaps it was a brother/sister thing that you just didn’t understand if you were an only one? Poppy’s eyes were glittering with gleeful excitement.
“He is! He’s talking to a girl!” she hissed to Izzy. “And I’m practically certain it’s not Lucy. She lives up the road, he’s been seeing her on-again off-again for ages.”
Alex was talking very quietly so the girls found themselves leaning dangerously round the door to hear. But he was so intent on his conversation that he didn’t notice them at all.
“OK. Yeah. Tomorrow night, then. Bye, Maddy.”
He finished the call and jumped up so quickly that he caught Poppy by surprise, and she fell backwards into the doorway giggling, and half squashing Izzy.
“Oi! Poppy, were you listening?” Alex stopped staring happily down at his phone, and advanced on Poppy looking menacing.
“Of course I was!” Poppy kept laughing. “Who’s Maddy, Alex?”
“No one!” he snapped.
“OK, I’ll just ask Jake.”
“Don’t you dare!”
“Hang on. Maddy…” Poppy stared at him, her eyes widening. “It’s not that girl from your canoe club that he’s fancied for ages?”
Alex went red. “He never even spoke to her,” he muttered. “I gave him loads of time. We just got talking…”
“He’ll kill you!” Poppy stood up, folding her arms, and shook her head sadly. “You are dead.”
“She doesn’t belong to him,” Alex muttered, but he looked guilty. “Don’t tell him, Poppy.”
“Why not? He’s going to find out anyway.”
“Yeah, well, I want him to find out gradually. If I get together with Maddy, I’ll tell him then, OK?”
“You really owe me, if I don’t tell him,” Poppy pointed out.
“I helped you bath the dog!”
“This is worth way more than bathing the dog!” Poppy squeaked. “And I’m holding you to it. Just wait.”
Alex stomped out of the living room, muttering, and Poppy hugged Izzy.
“Oh, that was so funny. Now we just have to wait till we need a big, big favour…”
“Izzy! Your dad’s here!”
Izzy and Poppy were upstairs in Poppy’s room, listening to some music after they’d had dinner, and plotting ways to call in the favour Alex owed them.
Izzy picked up her damp, muddy school dress and cardigan, and shook them out – she’d been trying not to think about them, and she’d almost forgotten.
“Is your dad going to be annoyed?” Poppy asked apologetically. “I’ll tell him it was my fault. And Billy’s.”
“I shouldn’t think he’ll mind that much,” Izzy said hopefully. But it was quite a new dress, and she’d torn it on the sharp mudguard of the bike. Dad wouldn’t shout at her or anything, but he would sigh, in that tired sort of way.
They galloped down the stairs, and found Izzy’s dad making a fuss over Billy. He was scratching the big dog behind the ears, and Billy was leaning against his legs with a blissed-out look on his face.
“Wow, he likes you!” Poppy said in surprise. Billy looked so relaxed he was about to fall over.
“My dad used to have one of these – Grandad Pete, Izzy. His was called Patch, he looked like a pirate. That was when I was your age, though.” Her dad hugged her. “Oh, you got changed!” he said, sounding surprised.
“We got a bit wet –”
“Billy was chasing –”
“The girls had an accident –”
Izzy, Poppy and her mum all tried to explain at once.
“An accident? Are you OK?” Izzy’s dad looked worriedly down at Billy, as though he thought the Bull Terrier might have hurt Izzy.
“We’re fine, Dad. But Billy chased a rat into the river, down by the park, and then he got stuck in an old bike that someone had thrown in! We had to rescue him, and I tore my school dress. A little bit.” Izzy held it up apologetically.
Her dad frowned at the tear. “I reckon I can probably mend that. You didn’t get hurt? And Billy didn’t?”
Poppy shook her head. “He was lucky, though. He sort of caught his paw in the bike wheel, but we managed to pull it out without hurting him.”
“There’s so much junk in the water down there,” Izzy explained. “Three shopping trolleys, Dad! And there was a TV.”
“And a fridge on the bank,” Poppy added.
“Is that the bit of the river that runs through Illroy Park?” Izzy’s dad asked. “With a footpath along it?”
“Yes, but the footpath’s where loads of the rubbish is,” Poppy explained.
“I’ve told Poppy she’s going to have to stop taking Billy down there,” her mum said apologetically. “I’m really sorry – I shouldn’t have let the girls go.”
“No, don’t worry about that, you couldn’t have known Billy would go diving in.”
Poppy’s mum sighed. “You don’t know Billy. I should have guessed!”
Izzy’s dad grinned, and scratched Billy’s ears again. Billy groaned happily, and slumped further to the floor.
“It’s a real pity that it’s in such a mess, though. I haven’t been there for years, but it used to be a great place for walks – your grandad and I used to take Patch down there, actually, Izzy. It’s such a shame. Anyway, we’d better get going. What do you say to Poppy’s mum, Izzy?”
Izzy rolled her eyes. She wasn’t six. “Thanks for having me,” she said. “And see you on Monday, Poppy.”
“So, did you have a good time?” Izzy’s dad asked her as they were driving home. He was looking at her worriedly, she could tell.
“Watch the road, Dad!”
“Sorry, sorry. I was thinking about you – while I had my tea all on my own.”
“Oh, Dad!” Izzy gazed at him guiltily.
“I don’t mean it! I just wanted to know that you were all right. You were, weren’t you?”
“I had a fab time,” Izzy promised him. “I’m real
ly sorry about the dress, though. It was one of the newish ones, too.”
“Well, like I said, I think I can mend it. Or if I can’t, I’m sure your gran could.”
“Was the river really a nice place to go, before?”
Her dad nodded. “Beautiful. Still a bit wild, but that was good. I saw a kingfisher down there once. And there were some rare plants, I’m sure. I’m really surprised it’s been left to get into such a state.” He glanced down at Izzy. “How about we go down there on our bikes tomorrow? Ride through the park and along the river?”
“You don’t have to work tomorrow?” Izzy asked delightedly.
“Nope, got my invoices done while you were at Poppy’s tonight. I fancy a bike ride. And maybe a picnic.”
“Whoa.” Izzy’s dad stopped in the middle of the pathway, and stared around. “I didn’t realise it would be this bad.”
Izzy braked, and slid up beside him. “I know, it’s a mess, isn’t it?”
“It looks like a junk yard.” Her dad sighed, staring around at the rubbish scattered all over the path, and in the water. “It used to be so beautiful here, Iz. It’s probably hard to believe, but it really did…” He got off his bike, and leaned it up against one of the benches, and went wandering through the mess, kicking at things here and there. “Who dumps a whole load of old newspapers by the side of a river? Why not just put them in the recycling? I don’t understand some people.” He stopped, looking down at an old piece of wood. “I thought so. Look at this, Iz.” He swept the grass away from the board with one hand, and Izzy came to see over his shoulder.
“Illroy Riverside Nature Reserve,” she read out. “Please keep dogs on the lead.” She laughed sadly. “We did, but it didn’t help much. That’s really sad. What can have happened to let it get like this?”
“I should think people just forgot about it, and it was too expensive to keep it properly looked after.” Her dad shook his head.
“Could your Rescue group help sort it out, Dad?” Izzy asked suddenly.
Her dad looked round with a sigh. “I’d really like to suggest it to them, but we’re a bit short of money right now. Buying all those trees for that little green patch behind the old people’s home cost us a lot. We’d need to do some fundraising first to get this all sorted, and we’ve already promised to do some clean-up over in the woods close to your school too.”