by Holly Webb
One thing Sam was certain of was that he should never have let that lady with the red gloves feed him dog treats. When she had opened the garden gate, he had thought she was meant to be there, especially when she had the same dog treats that Emily used for when he did well at dog-training. She’d called him, and known his name, and the dog treats smelled so good – but he should have known! She didn’t smell right, and then she’d grabbed his collar, and hauled him out of the garden and shoved him in the boot of that big car. Sam had barked, and tried to tell Jack to get help, but Jack had just watched, looking confused. The really scary thing was, he didn’t know how to get out of this pen, or the big wooden shed where he and all the other dogs were shut in. He didn’t know how he was supposed to get out and find Emily again. All he could do was call her – but how was she ever going to hear him?
Emily was finding it hard to believe that Sam had gone. She kept expecting to see him pop out from behind the sofa, with his tail whirling round and round, as if it was all just a silly game.
Every evening after school, she, Mum and Jack went out searching for Sam. Emily had used the computer to make some posters, with one of her favourite photos of Sam, and she’d put their phone number underneath.
They went into all the shops on the high street and asked if they could put them up in the window. Most of the shop people were happy to help, but no one phoned. Emily put one up at school too, and told everyone to look out for Sam. Some of her friends took posters to put in their windows as well.
Even with all this to do, the week seemed to drag on for ever. The policeman had promised he’d be in touch if there was any news, but it had been obvious that he didn’t think they’d be getting Sam back. Sam seemed to have vanished into thin air. Emily didn’t care. She was not going to give up – how could she, when everywhere she looked in the house reminded her of Sam? His food bowl, his red lead, his basket. The worst thing was the Sam-shaped emptiness at the end of her bed every night.
On Saturday, Dad took Emily to dog-training. He’d been a bit surprised when she asked if they could go, but she explained that she wanted to warn everyone in the class to watch out for the dog-nappers, and ask them to keep an eye out for Sam too.
It was horrible walking into the park without Sam. Dad squeezed Emily’s hand as they walked through the gate, and she blinked back her tears. She wouldn’t be able to talk if she started crying.
Lucy, the instructor, looked confused when she saw them. She was obviously wondering where Sam was, and that made Emily want to cry even more. But when Dad explained, she gathered the class together.
“I’m afraid Emily’s got some terrible news about her lovely puppy, Sam.”
Emily gulped. “Sam’s been stolen,” she gasped out. Her voice was wobbling, but everyone looked so sympathetic, she took a deep breath and went on. “The police say there’s a gang stealing puppies, so please, please don’t let them get any of yours. And please look out for Sam – just in case.” Then she really did start to cry.
Everyone gathered round, promising to search for Sam, and saying they were sure he’d be found. Lots of the dogs licked Emily lovingly. Eventually Dad said they should go, so Lucy could get on with the class.
Just as they were walking back to the gate, Emily stopped, her heart thudding. It was that couple again! They’d been watching the class.
“What’s the matter, Emily?” Dad asked gently.
“It’s those people! The ones who were asking all the questions about Sam!” Emily stared at them. They had the pointer with them again, and he was plodding along with his tail drooping. No one who really loved dogs could have a dog who was so unhappy, Emily thought. Wasn’t it suspicious that Sam had disappeared just a couple of days after those people had been so interested in him? So keen to find out if he was a valuable pedigree dog? She glared angrily at the woman, not caring if she was being rude. The woman caught her looking, and said something to the man. Emily was sure she looked guilty.
Suddenly Emily’s breath caught in her throat. She tugged Dad’s hand urgently. “Look! Look!” she managed to gasp.
“What is it?”
“She’s wearing red gloves!” Emily hissed. “Don’t you remember? Jack said the lady who took Sam had red gloves! It all fits, it was them, they’re the dog-nappers!”
“Emily, I know you’re upset, but you can’t accuse someone of stealing Sam just because of their gloves.” Dad sounded embarrassed. He was pretty sure the man and woman had heard what Emily said.
Emily watched furiously as the couple neared the gate. How could Dad not understand? It was so obvious!
The woman smiled sympathetically as they came past. “We heard some of the people from the dog-training class saying that your puppy had been stolen,” she said, looking straight at Emily. “I’m so sorry. He’s a darling. I really hope you get him back.”
The man shook his head. “I can’t imagine how we’d feel if someone took Bertie.”
They really sounded as though they meant it. Emily just stared at the ground. She felt so confused. She’d been sure that this was the lady Jack had described, but maybe Dad was right. Was it stupid to decide somebody was a dog-thief, just because they had red gloves?
Chapter Five
That night, it took Emily ages to fall asleep. She sat up in bed, hugging her knees and worrying to herself. What if it was the suspicious couple who’d taken Sam? It made her shudder, thinking about him being with them. They seemed nice – but then she’d seen them be horrible to Bertie the pointer, and there was just something about them that felt wrong. Sam had definitely sensed it too, and people said dogs always knew. Anyway, shouldn’t she do something? The problem was, what? She wondered about ringing the policeman, but honestly, why would he believe her? She didn’t have any real proof, and she wasn’t absolutely certain herself.
Eventually Emily dozed off, but she was still worrying in her sleep. She seemed to be able to hear Sam, and he was crying for her! It wasn’t just Sam, either. Lots of dogs were barking and whining and scratching to be let out of their cages. Yes, they were shut up, and they were all so upset. Emily shuddered, kicking the bedclothes off. Those people were there again. They had stolen Sam, she was sure of it. Just at that moment, she woke up, gasping. She felt so scared. Without thinking, she reached down to the end of the bed to call Sam for a cuddle, and of course, he wasn’t there. Emily sat there, shaking and crying quietly. She had to do something. She was certain now that the couple from the park were the dog-nappers. She just knew.
Now she had to work out what to do about it.
Somehow, it was easier to sleep once she’d made her decision, and Emily woke up feeling much better. But she wasn’t really any closer to getting Sam back. The only clue she had was that she thought the dog-napping couple must live quite close, because she’d seen them on the way to school, and in the park. But how was that going to help? She couldn’t wander the streets looking for them.
“I’ve seen them twice at dog-training,” Emily muttered to herself. Maybe that would be the place to find them? Then she gulped. Of course! She’d seen them at dog-training because that was where they found the puppies they were going to steal! It was the perfect place to find lots of dogs, and have friendly chats with their owners. Most people at dog-training loved to talk about their dogs, and how special they were. They wouldn’t think it was odd that a nice couple with their own dog were interested. They probably went round lots of different dog-training classes, so that people didn’t make the connection.
A plan began to form in her mind. Maybe if I went back to dog-training, they’ll be there too, and I can follow them home, Emily thought, excitedly. And if I can find out where they’re keeping Sam, Mum and Dad will have to believe me!
Lucy had a Sunday class in the park too, in the afternoon. Now she just had to work on Mum and Dad to get her there. She wasn’t going to admit her real reason, there was no way her parents would let her go off “bothering those poor people”. She could just
imagine Dad saying it. No, she would have to be a bit sneaky.
It wasn’t hard to sit in the corner of the sofa and look as if she was moping – Emily felt a bit better now she had a plan, but she could easily drag up miserable thoughts about Sam. She could hear Mum and Dad muttering in the background. They’d noticed!
“Ought to get out and get some fresh air,” she heard her dad murmur. He strode cheerfully over to the sofa and announced in an over-bright voice, “Time for a walk, you two!”
Jack looked up crossly from his toy cars. “Don’t want to walk,” he grumbled.
Dad’s bouncy attitude didn’t slip. “Football!” he half-yelled, making Jack jump. “Come on, grab the ball, grab your coats, we’re going to the park!”
Emily shook her head in disbelief. How easy had that been? Maybe she ought to try being sneaky more often. Although it was a pity they had to take Jack too, especially a grizzly Jack who moaned about being cold all the way to the park.
Actually, having Jack in tow was probably a good thing, Emily thought to herself, as she watched Dad try to jolly Jack along as they kicked the ball about between them in the park. Dad was having to spend so much time getting Jack not to lie down on the grass and sulk, that he wasn’t really watching her. “Just going to practise dribbling,” she called. Gently, she kicked the ball over towards the dog-training class, pretending to be using a line of trees for markers. Jack was now jumping up and down, swinging from Dad’s hand and howling.
Emily lurked behind a big chestnut tree with a fat trunk, and peered round at the dog-training class. The sight of so many beautiful dogs, lots of them only puppies, made her stomach lurch, and she felt her eyes go hot with tears again. She shook herself firmly. If she wanted to get Sam back, she had to do something. Crying wouldn’t help.
Carefully, Emily watched the class. It was a cold February day, and hardly anyone had stopped to watch. A few people were gathered up at the far end – but it was hard to see… Then someone moved, and she spotted Bertie the pointer sitting sadly by the man, who was talking with another dog-owner. The woman was standing next to him, wearing her red gloves, laughing at something. They were there! It couldn’t be a coincidence. Emily felt her fingers curl into fists at the sight of them chatting so nicely. They were probably trying to pick up information about a new dog to steal.
Suddenly, the man hauled on Bertie’s lead, and they started to walk away from the dog-training area, waving to the people they’d been chatting with.
Emily watched in horror from behind her tree. Now what was she supposed to do? Her plan had only gone as far as getting to the park. Quickly, she looked back round the tree. Eeek! Now Dad and Jack were coming over. Jack’s bottom lip was sticking out, but at least he wasn’t yelling any more.
“Sorry, Emily,” Dad said, still trying to be super-cheerful. “Come on then, Jack! Let’s see if Emily can get the ball past us, hmm?”
Emily looked over at the class in panic. The couple was heading for one of the side gates to the park now. What was she going to do? There was no way she could convince Dad to follow them, and even if she said she wanted to go home, they wouldn’t use that gate.
It was time for a desperate move. Emily made a big thing of running up to the ball, faking a couple of times to get Dad and Jack in the mood, then booted it completely the wrong way – over towards the gate.
“Whoops! Sorry!” she giggled breathlessly. “I’ll get it!” She raced off after the ball, which was still rolling feebly. There was a clump of big bushes close to the gate, and Emily made a big thing of rooting about in them after the ball. Then she simply nipped through the bushes and out of the gate.
Dad was going to go mad when he worked out what she’d done, but right now Emily didn’t have time to think about that.
She was going to rescue Sam.
Chapter Six
Emily threw a quick glance back over her shoulder as she set off out of the park. Jack was being difficult again, and Dad had his hands full. Good.
The couple with the pointer were about halfway down the road, walking quite slowly, and talking to each other. Bertie was plodding along beside them, his tail drooping between his legs. Emily had never tried to follow anyone before, and she didn’t really know what to do. She was pretty sure that they would recognize her if they saw her, so she needed to keep back out of sight. She jogged up to a nearby postbox and hovered behind it, jigging from one foot to the other nervously. As soon as Bertie’s black-and-white tail disappeared round the corner at the end of the road, Emily raced after them, skidding to a stop just before the corner, and peering round, helpfully disguised by a large but prickly rose bush.
She went on following them, lurking behind lamp posts and parked cars. Luckily not many people were around, and when someone did walk past, she just pretended to be doing up her trainers. It was weird. Emily felt silly hopping about behind trees, but scared at the same time. If she really was following the dog-nappers, what would happen if they noticed her? They weren’t going to be pleased to see her.
After about five minutes, Emily spied round the next corner and got a shock. They’d gone! Her heart thumping in horror, Emily dashed into the next street. She couldn’t have lost them. This was her only chance, because once Dad caught up with her, she was going to be grounded for life.
Suddenly, she heard voices.
“Come on, you stupid dog,” someone said crossly. It sounded as though they were in one of the front gardens.
Emily took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. Maybe the couple lived in one of these houses. Yes, that had to be it, because this was quite a long road. Unless they’d started running, they couldn’t have got that far ahead of her.
The street was full of big, old houses, and most of them looked neglected and shabby, some with boarded-up windows, as though they were empty. The gardens had quite high front walls, about shoulder height for Emily. She ducked down and scurried along to where she’d heard the voice coming from. It was a house on the end of a row, with a path running down the side, full of old rubbish. The garden was overgrown with bushes, so she peeped round the gate, hardly daring to breathe in case someone heard the air hissing in and out of her mouth. It was only now that she was so close that Emily started thinking about what might happen if she got caught. The grumpy man yelling at poor Bertie, who’d stopped to do a wee and have a sniff around halfway up the garden path, made her realize how much she did not want them to know she was there. The houses nearby looked as though they might be empty, with broken windows and gardens that were even wilder than this one. Emily shuddered. No one was around to help her out.
At last the man and woman went inside and slammed the front door. Emily was left crouching by the gate, feeling a bit stupid. She’d done it – found where the couple lived. But what was she supposed to do now?
In the back garden, the dogs heard the slam of the front door, and started to bark – wanting someone to bring them some food, wanting to go out for a run, wanting someone to stroke and cuddle and fuss over them. Woken from a miserable sleep on the ratty old blanket that was his bed, Sam barked too, calling Emily to come and find him. It had been at least five days since he’d seen her, but he was still sure she was going to come and find him. Almost sure, anyway.
The people who’d taken him weren’t exactly cruel, but they didn’t seem to like dogs very much. Sam couldn’t understand why they wanted so many, when they never even stopped for a pat or a hug. The man just shoved the food bowls down twice a day, scowling, and the woman with the red gloves never came into the dogs’ shed at all.
Sam missed Emily desperately. He was used to being loved, petted, talked to. Even when Emily was at school he had her mum and Jack. Now he had no one, and it was miserable. Surely Emily would come and find him soon?
Emily slumped down on to the pavement. “I’m so stupid,” she muttered to herself angrily. She felt tears burning her eyes. She’d got all this way, and now she didn’t have a clue what to do next. She was never g
oing to get Sam back!
But just as she was rooting in her pocket for a tissue, Emily heard barking. Lots of barking, from the back of the house. There was no way that was just Bertie. It sounded like five or six different dogs, and one of them had to be Sam!
Emily took a deep breath and stood up slowly. The house had an alleyway running down the side, and the fence looked really old and wobbly. Perhaps there was a way she could get round to the back garden and find those dogs. Maybe she could even squeeze through the fence? She couldn’t give up now she was so close!
Just as she was creeping along the fence, making for the alley, someone grabbed her shoulder. Emily froze, unable to move.
Then an irritatingly familiar voice chirped, “We found you, Emily!”
Jack!
And, more to the point, Dad. It was Dad who’d caught her, of course. Emily drew in a deep shuddering breath, and turned round. Dad was glowering down at her, the expression on his face half furious, half worried.
“Emily, what on earth are you doing?” he hissed. “You know you must never, ever go off on your own like that!” He sounded as though he was really having to hold himself back from shouting.
“Dad, please listen! I think I’ve found Sam!” Emily burst out. “That’s why I ran off, I was following those people with the pointer, they live here.”
Dad just stared at her, then at last he shook his head wearily. “Emily, how many times have Mum and I told you that those people had nothing to do with Sam being stolen? Look, I know you’re desperate to find Sam, but you’ve just picked this silly idea out of nowhere. Now come on, we’re going home.”