by Holly Webb
For William ~ H. W.
For Six ~ 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
“Wait there, Rascal. Good boy.” Ellie patted Rascal’s head, and he looked up at her, his bright eyes hopeful. There were yummy smells around here, and he was hungry. Rascal was always hungry, and the delicious whiff of bread wafting out of the supermarket door was actually making him dribble.
Ellie followed her mum, glancing over her shoulder at Rascal. “We won’t be long,” she called back to him, hoping he’d be all right. He wasn’t used to being left alone, but Mum wanted to pop into the shop on the way back from their walk in the park.
“Perhaps I’d better stay with him,” Ellie said anxiously.
Mum smiled. “He’ll be fine, Ellie. We’re only going to be quick. And I need you with me – they’ve got some lovely birthday cakes on show. I thought you could choose one, and then we can order it in plenty of time for your birthday.”
Ellie nodded excitedly. “Back soon, Rascal!”
Rascal stared after Ellie, and gave a little whine. Where was Ellie going? He pulled at his lead, trying to follow her, but Ellie had tied it to a metal ring on the wall.
Ellie and her mum went into the shop, and headed for the cakes at the far end.
“Ooh! Look at that one!” Ellie admired the display of cakes, pointing out one with a mermaid on the top, her tail trailing around the side of the cake. “And there’s a gorgeous dog one – but it’s a Dalmatian.
Do you think they’d make a Jack Russell one, just like Rascal?”
Mum looked doubtful. “I don’t know, I suppose we could ask.”
“A chocolate cake – with brown and white icing,” Ellie added hopefully.
But Mum was frowning. “What on earth’s going on over there?”
Two shop assistants, followed by a security guard calling into his radio, went running past the end of the aisle. Ellie turned round and tried to see where they were going.
“No, apparently he’s not very fierce – but you never know…” the guard was saying into his radio.
Ellie looked up at Mum, her eyes wide with horror. She had a dreadful feeling that she knew who “he” was.
“You tied Rascal up, didn’t you, Ellie?” Mum asked.
“Yes, of course!” Ellie said quickly. “But you know what Rascal’s like…” she added.
Mum nodded grimly. She certainly did. Ellie and her family had only had Rascal for three months, but he’d managed to get into an awful lot of trouble in such a short time.
Ellie still half-hoped that all the fuss was nothing to do with them, and that her puppy was sitting outside, as good as gold. But then a sharp bark echoed round the shop, and Rascal raced joyfully up the aisle to her, his lead trailing along behind him, and the remains of a packet of expensive-looking biscuits in his mouth.
Rascal dropped the biscuits and leaped into Ellie’s arms, licking her delightedly all over her face. He hadn’t known where she was, and he was very glad to see her.
“Let’s get him out of here, Ellie,” Mum muttered, picking up what was left of the pack of biscuits. Just then, the security guard caught up with them.
“I take it he’s yours then?” he asked, frowning at Rascal.
“I’m very sorry!” Ellie gasped. “I left him tied up outside, I really did! He must have managed to pull his lead undone somehow, and then he came looking for me.”
“We just popped in for a moment,” Mum murmured. “We’ll take him home … and of course I’ll pay for the biscuits…”
“Don’t let it happen again!” the security guard told them sternly, and as Ellie and Mum hurried off, he added, “And buy a book on knots!”
“Honestly, Ellie! I’ve never been so embarrassed.” Mum’s face was scarlet as she quickly paid for the biscuits. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to come here again!”
Rascal leaned over Ellie’s shoulder, looking wistfully back into the place with all the good smells. He was glad he’d found Ellie, but why did they have to leave so soon?
Ellie and Mum walked home rather fast, with Rascal scampering beside them. Mum was still pink-cheeked with embarrassment, and Ellie was wondering if this meant she wouldn’t be getting her birthday cake after all. But Mum would get over it – wouldn’t she?
Now probably wasn’t the moment to ask about her party again, though. She was really hoping to have a sleepover, but Mum didn’t seem all that keen on the idea. When Ellie had first asked Mum had said she’d think about it, and she still hadn’t said yes or no. Mum wasn’t sure if there was space in Ellie’s tiny room for anyone except Ellie, although Ellie reckoned they could just about fit in her best friend Christy and her other friends Jessie and Lydia – although they might not be able to breathe, all squashed together on Ellie’s bedroom floor.
“I really did tie him up, Mum,” she said quietly.
Her mum looked down at her and sighed. “I know, Ellie. It wasn’t really your fault. I shouldn’t have suggested leaving him on his own outside a shop. He’s still only little – he didn’t understand what was going on.”
Ellie looked down at Rascal. He glanced back up at her, his eyes sparkling, and she couldn’t help but smile. Sometimes she suspected that Rascal actually liked being naughty – but she loved him anyway.
“It felt like everyone in the shop was staring at us!” Ellie told Christy, kicking her heels against the wall where they were sitting in the playground before school. “It was so embarrassing. I’ve been keeping Rascal out of Mum’s way ever since.”
Christy sighed. “I don’t suppose you’ve asked about your party then?”
Ellie shook her head. “And it’s only two weeks away now, no one will be able to come if I don’t hurry up.”
“Ooh, I forgot to tell you, I had an idea!” Christy bounced up from the wall. “You know your mum’s worried about fitting us all in? Well, why don’t we sleep in the living room instead? There’s lots of space on the floor in there.”
Ellie nodded slowly. “And then I could use my sleeping bag too!” she agreed. It had sounded a bit boring being in her normal bed when everyone else was snuggled up in sleeping bags. “That’s a fab idea. I’ll ask Mum after school.”
“That’s what I did with my cousins when I went to stay with them, it was really fun.” Christy giggled. “I didn’t go to sleep until midnight, though.”
Ellie wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think my mum would let us get away with that.”
Christy grinned. “You never know. If she’s upstairs, she might not be able to hear us.”
Everyone was chatting before registration when Mr Turner came in with a strange girl in a Chase Hill uniform.
“Must be the new girl!” Christy whispered. “I forgot she was starting today.” Mrs Harley had told them the week before that someone new was joining their class, and they had to make a special effort to look after her as it was hard to move schools near the end of the year.
“She looks nice. She’s got pretty hair,” Ellie murmured back. The new girl had very long curly dark hair in two bunches, with pink ballet shoes on her hairbands. She also looked very shy – she was almost hiding behind the headmaster.
Mrs Harley stood up and introduced her. “Everyone, this is Lucy, who’s joining our class. I’m sure you’ll all do your best to make her feel welcome. Who’d like to help look after he
r?” She looked round the class, as lots of the girls waved their hands excitedly. Ellie put up her hand too – it would be fun to show someone new around. “Ellie, yes, perfect. Make sure you take good care of her, won’t you? Come and ask me if there’s anything you need help with. Lucy, this is Ellie, and her friend Christy. They’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
Ellie and Christy nodded, and Lucy came to sit next to Ellie. Her face was bright pink, as though she hated everyone looking at her.
At break, Ellie and Christy took Lucy outside with them. “Have you just moved here?” Ellie asked.
Lucy nodded. “Last week.” Her voice was hardly more than a whisper.
“Do you like ballet?” Ellie asked, trying hard to think of something to say.
Lucy smiled. “Yes, I love it. I really want to find a dance class to go to here.”
“There’s a ballet class at the village hall,” Ellie said thoughtfully. “I go there to take my puppy to training, and I’m sure I’ve seen a poster.”
“Christy! Do you want to play Chain-It?” someone called from across the playground.
“Coming,” Christy yelled back. “Do you want to play, Lucy?” she added politely.
Lucy looked doubtful. “I’m not very good at running…”
“Me neither.” Ellie laughed. “Christy’s super-fast, she loves running. She beat all the boys at Sports Day a couple of weeks ago. We’ll watch.”
Christy shrugged, and ran off to join the game.
“Thanks,” Lucy said. “I always get stuck being ‘It’ for ages, I hate that.”
“Me too,” Ellie agreed. “I’m just not very sporty.”
“Do you like dancing?” Lucy asked hopefully.
“I like dancing at parties and things, but I’ve never done lessons.” Ellie looked thoughtful, remembering her birthday. She wondered if Lucy would like to come to her sleepover – if she was allowed one. She’d only known Lucy for a morning, but the new girl seemed really nice. And she was supposed to be making her feel welcome.
Ellie checked the poster in the village hall that night when Dad took her and Rascal to dog-training. She carefully wrote down the phone number.
“Are you going to do ballet?” someone said scornfully behind her.
Ellie tensed up, recognizing the voice. Amelia was in Year Six at her school, and she was horrible.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Ellie,” Amelia went on. “Not going by how often you fall over in dog-training.”
Ellie opened and shut her mouth, desperately trying to think of something to say back, but Amelia just snorted and went on into the hall, with Goldie, her pretty spaniel, trotting behind her.
“Do you think we could ask Jo if she does another class we can go to, just to get away from her?” Ellie’s friend Jack had come in behind Amelia. His huge Great Dane Hugo stood there patiently while Rascal jumped up and yapped as if to say “hello”.
Ellie sighed. “Goldie’s so perfect, I’m just hoping Amelia’s mum decides she doesn’t need any more training.” She giggled. “Somehow I don’t think that’s ever going to happen with Rascal!” She told Jack about the supermarket incident as they went into the hall, where Jo, their instructor, was welcoming everyone.
“We’re going to start training the puppies off the lead tonight,” she explained. “It’s really important that when you let your dog loose they come back when they’re called, whatever else is going on around them. It’s a tricky thing to learn, and I have to say, some dogs are just never going to be safe off the lead.”
Amelia smirked. “Goldie always comes when I call. I let her off the lead in the park all the time.”
Ellie and Jack rolled their eyes at each other. But Ellie couldn’t help wondering whether Rascal would ever learn.
Ellie went home from dog-training feeling that she and Rascal still needed lots more practice.
“Did you have a good time?” Mum asked.
Ellie nodded. “Rascal didn’t do anything too bad,” she promised. “We’re doing training off the lead. He was OK while I was close, but he got distracted really easily. I’m going to practise with him at the weekend. Oh, and I got this phone number for Lucy, the new girl I told you about. She’s looking for a ballet class.”
Mum smiled. “That’s nice. Maybe she’d like to come to your party.”
Ellie looked up at her hopefully. “Does that mean I can have a sleepover?” She’d told Mum Christy’s idea when she got home from school.
“Yes. But only four friends.”
“Thanks, Mum!” Ellie picked up Rascal and hugged him. “It’s going to be brilliant! I can’t wait to tell Christy! You can sleep on my sleeping bag, Rascal!”
But Christy was late to school the next morning. Ellie strode up and down the playground fence, desperate to tell her best friend the exciting news.
“Hi, Ellie,” someone said shyly behind her, as she checked her watch for what seemed like the hundredth time.
Ellie turned round. “Hi, Lucy.”
“Are you OK?”
“I was just waiting for Christy. I wanted to tell her, my mum’s said I can have a sleepover for my birthday.” She smiled a little shyly at Lucy. “Would you like to come?”
“Really?” Lucy’s face lit up with excitement. “I’d love to. Um, when is it?”
“Two weeks’ time. Not this Saturday but the next one. Oh, there’s Christy!” Ellie grabbed Lucy’s hand and towed her towards the gate. “Christy! Christy! Mum said yes! Can you come? Lucy’s coming too!”
Ellie was so excited about her sleepover that she didn’t notice that Christy wasn’t quite as pleased as she ought to have been.
“Oh, cool,” she murmured, and as the bell rang she followed Ellie and Lucy into school with a surprised, slightly hurt look on her face.
“FOUR? Four extra girls?” Max stared at Mum with his mouth open in horror. “All night?”
Mum nodded, and then thought for a moment. “Would you like me to arrange with Lewis’s mum for you to stay the night?”
Max nodded eagerly. “Yes, please!”
“Can I go too?” Dad murmured, grinning at Ellie, and she pretended to elbow him in the side.
“Why don’t I ever get to have four mates to sleep over?” Max asked, scowling down at his dinner plate.
Mum rolled her eyes. “Because I like my house the way it is, thank you. I’ve seen what you can do, five of you would be like a wrecking ball.”
Lila shuddered. “I don’t even want to think about it. Ellie, do you want me to help you decorate the house for your party?”
Ellie gazed at her delightedly. “Please!” She could feel Rascal wagging his tail against her leg under the table. She was sure he was as excited about the party as she was.
After tea, Ellie raced upstairs. She’d finished her homework when she got back from school, and now she got out her best paper and pens, and the pots of glitter that Auntie Gemma had given her at Christmas. Carefully, she began to design her party invitations, dabbing the glue on to make a glittery paw-print shape. Rascal sat on her lap, trying to lick the glue. Then he sniffed eagerly at the glitter, but it made him sneeze.
“Oh, Rascal!” Ellie was half-laughing, half-cross. “Look, it’s everywhere!” She tilted her head to one side, eyeing the purple and silver swirly pattern that Rascal had managed to create. “Actually, that’s quite nice, Rascal…”
The next morning, when the glitter had had time to dry, Ellie proudly tucked her invitations into envelopes that she’d decorated. She was really looking forward to giving them out to her friends. She carried the invitations downstairs and put them next to her on the kitchen table, so she wouldn’t forget them.
“You did remember to put the time on, didn’t you?” Mum asked.
“And ‘RSVP’.” Ellie nodded, pouring herself some cereal, while Mum yelled up the stairs to Max and Lila to hurry. Rascal pattered over from his breakfast bowl – which he had left sparkling clean – and looked up at her hopefully
. Sometimes Ellie dropped him a cornflake or two.
Ellie was dreamily eating her cornflakes, and she didn’t notice Rascal sneakily jumping on to the chair next to hers, and then lunging across the table for the little pile of cornflakes she’d accidentally spilled out of the box.
Suddenly, his back paws slipped on the chair. He scrabbled desperately at the table and sent the carton of milk flying. All over one of the invitations.
“Oh, no! Rascal, look what you’ve done!” Ellie wailed.
Rascal wriggled back on to the chair and looked up at her guiltily, his ears flattened against his head. He stuck his nose between his paws and whined sadly. He knew that he’d done something wrong.
Mum ran back in. “What happened?”
“My invitation!” Ellie snatched it up, and quickly moved the others out of the way of the spreading tide of milk, while Mum grabbed a dishcloth.
Mum looked closer and sighed. “Oh, dear. Which one was it?”
That was just the right word, Ellie realized sadly. It was an invitation, and now it wasn’t. It hung from her fingers like a limp rag. She peeled the envelope open, and read the blurry words. “It’s Christy’s. Oh, and I made it extra beautiful! What am I going to do?”
Mum frowned. “I really think you need to give them out today, time’s a bit tight, otherwise I’d say make her a new one this evening.”
“I can do you one on the computer if you like,” Lila suggested from the doorway, where she’d seen what was going on.
“Thanks, Lila!” Ellie hugged her.
Rascal whined again, from under the chair now, looking up at Ellie with his big brown eyes. He’d jumped down as soon as Mum came back in.
“Oh, Rascal.” Ellie crouched down to stroke him. “You’re a little menace, you really are.” She could never be cross with Rascal for long.