by Gill Lewis
Pip tried again.
All morning, Pip learned new skills. He learned how to open drawers and cupboards. He learned how to take socks off someone’s feet and undo zippers on coats. There was so much to know.
“Try the pedestrian crossing button,” said Colonel Custard. “You might not be tall enough yet.”
Pip did a high leap and a turn and slapped the button with his paw.
“Well done,” cheered Colonel Custard. “You’re a very fast learner. I think you will make an excellent assistance dog.”
Pip puffed out his chest in pride.
Colonel Custard rubbed his chin. “In fact,” he said, “I know a human who might be your perfect match.”
“Really?” said Pip. He could hardly believe it.
“Yes,” said Colonel Custard. “You would still have to complete your training at the academy, but I may be able to introduce you to your human tomorrow.” He held up a photograph. “This is Kayla. She needs an assistance dog.”
Pip stared at the photo of a young girl in a wheelchair. “A human of my very own?”
Colonel Custard hurriedly put the photo away. “It all depends, of course,” he said, his voice sounding very serious, “if you can forget all about pawball and ball games. Do you think you can do that?”
“I’ll try,” said Pip. “I’ll try my very best.”
* * *
“Did you sleep well?” asked Colonel Custard over a bowl of Crunchie Munchies the next morning.
“Yes,” lied Pip. He hadn’t slept well. He’d had dreams of tennis balls and custard creams and Kayla, all whirling in his head.
“Good,” said Colonel Custard, “because today we’re going to help you to resist tennis balls, footballs, and soccer balls. You name it, we’ll get you to resist it.”
“But how?”
“As you know,” said Colonel Custard, “I have a fondness for custard creams. I can hardly resist them. So when I want a custard cream, I try to imagine something really big and scary between myself and the custard cream.”
“Like what?” said Pip.
“Well … like a crocodile.”
“A crocodile?”
“It doesn’t have to be a crocodile … just think of something scary.”
Pip thought hard. He thought of Exterminator on the MadDogz team. He thought of Exterminator’s huge fangs and wild eyes.
“Here we go,” said Colonel Custard. He rolled a ball across the ground. Pip imagined Exterminator standing in front of him. But all Pip wanted to do was get the ball himself. He launched at the ball and dribbled it away.
“No, no, no!” said Colonel Custard. “You need to think of something really terrifying.”
Pip closed his eyes and thought hard. He tried to imagine the most frightening thing. And then he realized what it was. The thing that scared him most was the thought of never meeting Kayla.
“I’m ready,” said Pip.
Colonel Custard rolled ball after ball across the ground, but Pip didn’t chase one of them. He pictured Kayla in his mind and knew that if he chased just one of the balls, he would never get the chance to be her assistance dog.
* * *
“Well done.” Colonel Custard beamed. “I think you are ready to meet Kayla.”
At the end of the afternoon, Pip sat in Colonel Custard’s office, munching on a custard cream.
“Kayla will arrive any minute now,” said Colonel Custard. “I think you’ll be perfect together. I’ve paired assistance dogs to their humans for many years, and I’ve never gotten a match wrong yet.”
Pip’s paws tingled with excitement. He wondered what Kayla would be like.
There was a knock on the office door.
“Come in,” woofed Colonel Custard.
The door pushed open very slowly, and in came a young girl using a wheelchair, followed by a tall woman.
“Pip, this is Kayla and her mother,” said Colonel Custard.
Pip bounded over to meet Kayla. She was going to be his human! The girl threw her arms up in the air. Surely this meant she wanted to meet him. She wanted him to jump up and lick her face.
Up Pip bounced, again and again, springing higher and higher.
Kayla flapped her hands in the air.
“HELLO, HELLO, HELLO!” Pip barked.
But Kayla couldn’t understand his woofs and barks. All she heard was, “WOOF, WOOF, WOOF!”
“Take him away!” she screamed. “Take that dog away!”
Pip ran from the room, his tail between his legs. Kayla didn’t like him. Somehow he’d messed things up. But how?
In spite of all Colonel Custard’s years of matching dogs and humans, maybe he’d gotten this match horribly, horribly wrong.
4
“Not to worry,” said Colonel Custard, patting Pip on the back.
“She hates me,” wailed Pip.
“She doesn’t understand you,” said Colonel Custard. “She’s never met a puppy before.”
“But I said hello,” said Pip.
Colonel Custard sighed. “Humans don’t understand everything we say with our woofs and barks. She thought you were attacking her, bouncing around like that. Humans have to learn what we say with our bodies. If we wag our tails, we’re happy. If our tails are tucked between our legs, we’re sad or frightened. Sometimes we have to tell them things with our eyes.”
“With our eyes?” said Pip. “What do you mean?”
Colonel Custard smiled. “There are no lessons for that, young Pip. You’ll just find out how yourself one day.”
Pip looked at all the people in the street. Humans were confusing. Maybe the lessons on how to get to know them would be the hardest lessons of all.
* * *
“Let’s try again,” said Colonel Custard. “We’ll be meeting Kayla in her house this time. When you greet Kayla, sit down, wag your tail, and wait for her to come to you.”
“Okay,” said Pip. He followed Colonel Custard along the streets to Kayla’s house, feeling smart in his fluorescent yellow training jacket and training collar.
“Remember, don’t jump up or bounce around,” said Colonel Custard.
Pip nodded, although he thought it would be hard to stay still for so long. “Can’t Kayla walk at all?” he said.
Colonel Custard shook his head. “Kayla was injured in an accident. That’s why she uses a wheelchair now,” he said. “She’s had many operations on her back, and she hasn’t been able to go to school for a long time.”
No school? thought Pip. He’d hate it if he couldn’t go to the Puppy Academy. He’d feel so lonely. “Doesn’t she miss her friends?” said Pip.
Colonel Custard sighed. “It’s been very hard for her to go through all those operations, and all that time in the hospital has made it difficult to keep in touch with friends. Her mother said she’s lost contact with most of them, and that’s been the hardest thing of all.”
* * *
“We’re here,” announced Colonel Custard.
Kayla lived with her mother in a small white bungalow. Out front there was a garden filled with pots of brightly colored flowers. A path beside the bungalow led to shops and the park beyond. Pip waited nervously for Kayla’s mother to open the door. Would they let him inside after yesterday?
“Come in,” said Kayla’s mother with a smile, leading them to the kitchen. She sat down next to Pip and stroked his head. “Look, Kayla,” she said. “Pip’s a friendly puppy.”
Pip wagged his tail even faster.
Kayla glared suspiciously at Pip. “I’m fine,” she snapped. “I don’t need a stupid dog to help me.” She turned her wheelchair around and left the room.
Pip didn’t know what to do. He stared after Kayla. How could he be an assistance dog if his human didn’t want his help?
Kayla’s mother looked at Pip and nodded after Kayla. “Go on, Pip,” she said. “Go and find her.”
Pip trotted through the doorway, following Kayla to her bedroom at the end of the hall. Kayla slammed the d
oor behind her, shutting Pip out.
Pip knew all about doors now. He stood up on his hind legs, pulled the handle, and let himself in.
Kayla was sitting at her desk. “Go away, puppy.”
Pip sat down beside her.
Kayla glared at him. “Have it your way,” she said, “but I don’t need your help.”
Pip watched Kayla take her pens and pencils out from the drawers on her desk. She had everything at hand. Maybe she didn’t need him. She’d managed so far without his help.
Pip lay down next to her and closed his eyes. It was warm with the sun streaming through the window. It was so warm that he began to drift into sleep.
Pip woke up to find pencils and paper raining down on him, and Kayla reaching to grab them back.
The pencils scattered across the floor and under the bed.
Pip picked up a pencil in his mouth and offered it to Kayla, but she crumpled up her picture and threw it in the trash can.
“It was a bad drawing anyway.” She frowned.
Pip pushed the pencil onto Kayla’s lap.
“I don’t want it,” said Kayla. She turned away and stared out the window.
Pip collected all the pencils one by one. He had to reach beneath the bed for the last few. He pushed one into Kayla’s hand.
Kayla’s fingers wrapped around the pencil, and she turned to Pip. “You don’t give up, do you?”
Pip wagged his tail.
“So, you think I should draw another picture?”
“Yes,” woofed Pip. “Yes.”
Kayla sat and looked at Pip for a long time before she began another drawing.
When Kayla struggled to reach a pencil sharpener from a low drawer, Pip opened the drawer for her. When Pip felt Kayla’s hands were cold, he fetched her fleecy jacket from her closet.
All the time, Kayla worked on her drawing. When she finished, she held it up for Pip to see.
“What do you think?” she said.
“It’s me,” woofed Pip.
Kayla leaned forward and reached out her hand.
Pip pushed his head into her hand and let her gently stroke his soft ears. “Good pup,” she whispered.
Pip wagged his tail faster and faster. Kayla liked him. She was beginning to trust him, and it was the best feeling in the world.
For the rest of the day, Pip wouldn’t leave Kayla’s side. He fetched things she couldn’t reach. He helped pull her socks off and find her slippers. He even helped her taste some cookies she made. In the afternoon, he and Kayla played in the garden, and in the evening they cuddled up on the sofa and watched a movie together. At bedtime, Pip pulled the covers over Kayla to keep her warm and fetched her book. He jumped up on the bed and leaned against her while she read him a story about a girl named Opal and a dog named Winn-Dixie.
“Good night, Kayla, good night, Pip,” said Kayla’s mother. She kissed them both and switched off the light. Pip curled up beside Kayla on the bed. She was his very own human, and he’d do anything for her.
“Pip?” whispered Kayla.
Pip put his head in Kayla’s hand.
“I’m sorry I didn’t like you at first,” she said. “I was just scared, that’s all.”
Pip whined and licked her hand.
Kayla sighed. “It’s as if you understand everything I say.”
“I do,” said Pip. “You don’t know that, but I do.”
“You’re my best friend, Pip,” said Kayla. She hugged him tight and buried her head in his neck. Pip could feel her hot tears slide into his fur. “My only friend.”
5
“Excellent!” Colonel Custard smiled. “Excellent. Just as I’d hoped. A perfect match.”
Colonel Custard sat with Pip in Kayla’s kitchen the next day and ticked off the task boxes on his list. “Open doors … tick … remove socks from feet … tick … pick up dropped items … tick…” He looked up at Pip. “This is very good, indeed,” he woofed, ticking off box after box.
Pip wagged his tail. He was pleased he was doing so well. He knew that he would need more training and wouldn’t be able to stay with Kayla yet, but they would meet up again several times until he was old enough to be her full-time assistance dog.
“Just one more test,” said Colonel Custard, “to make sure you are the right dog for Kayla.”
“What test is that?” asked Pip.
Colonel Custard frowned. “It’s the most important test of all. It isn’t easy, but I think you are ready for it. You must take Kayla up the street, across the main road, past the shops, along the bottom of the park, and back home. You will be crossing busy roads, and you must help Kayla to stay safe. Do well, and you will be Kayla’s assistance dog for life. Fail this test, and I’m afraid we’ll have to find another assistance dog for Kayla.”
“I can do this,” Pip woofed.
Colonel Custard smiled. “I’m sure you can.”
* * *
“I’m not going anywhere,” shouted Kayla. “You can’t make me.”
“It’s only around the block. You’ll be fine.…” began Kayla’s mother.
“I’m staying right here,” yelled Kayla.
Her mother tried to hand her Pip’s leash. “Kayla…”
“I’m not going anywhere. Ever.” Kayla spun her wheelchair around and stormed to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Kayla’s mother sighed and sat down. She put her head in her hands. “I don’t know what to do, Pip. I just don’t know what to do.”
Pip picked up the leash in his mouth. He had an idea but wasn’t sure it would work. He trotted along the hallway and let himself into Kayla’s room. He found her sobbing by the window.
Kayla stroked his soft ears and buried her head in his fur. “No one understands, Pip,” she cried. “I’ve hardly been out of the house in the last few years, except to the hospital. I haven’t been anywhere on my own before. Not even to the park. What will I say if I meet anyone? What will I do? I’m too scared to face the world right now.”
Pip dropped the end of the leash onto Kayla’s lap and looked up at her. “Don’t be scared, Kayla,” he said with his deep brown eyes. “You’re not alone because I’m with you now. Trust me. We’ll go out and face the world together.”
Kayla wrapped her fingers around the leash and looked into Pip’s eyes for a long, long time. Then she wiped her eyes and smiled.
“Come on, then, Pip,” she said, giving his head a rub. “You and I are going out, together.”
“Woof!” said Pip. “Woof!” Maybe this was what Colonel Custard meant by talking with your eyes. Sometimes it seemed as if his human could understand everything he said.
* * *
“Be back before dark,” said Colonel Custard, tapping his watch. “Major Bones will be here to see you finish your test.”
Pip and Kayla set off together down the street. Pip could sense her excitement and worry through her tight hold on his leash.
It was busy. People moved aside to let them pass on the sidewalk. All Pip could see were people’s legs and tummies. It was hard to see their faces. He thought Kayla’s view from the wheelchair must be the same for her too.
Pip stopped at the crosswalk. The traffic was busy, whizzing past. Kayla let Pip leap up and pat his paw on the button, then they both waited until the green man showed that they could cross.
“Good, Pip,” said Kayla.
Pip looked up at Kayla to see she was smiling. They were both enjoying this walk today.
“Let’s go to the corner store, Pip, shall we?” said Kayla. “I’ll buy some cookies.”
“I like cookies,” woofed Pip, although he knew he wasn’t allowed too many of them.
Pip walked next to Kayla up the side ramp to the store. The door was stiff to open, so Pip put his paws up and helped to push it wide enough for Kayla’s wheelchair to get through. Inside the store, Kayla chose the packet of cookies she wanted. She counted out the money and let Pip put his paws up on the counter to pass her purse to the shopkeepe
r. The shopkeeper offered Pip a dog treat, but Pip didn’t take it. He was a working dog now. He walked with Kayla down the ramp toward the park, his head held high.
They were almost home. Pip could see Kayla’s house in the distance. There were no more roads to cross now. All they had to do was walk along the park to reach the path to the bungalow. Pip wagged his tail. He and Kayla were a great team.
The park was busy. There were people walking their dogs and others flying kites. On the far side, Pip could see a group of children playing a game on a rectangle of concrete. A ball bounced on the ground.
BOING … BOING … BOING!
Pip’s paws twitched. His tail tingled with excitement. The children were running around, bouncing the ball and throwing it between them. It looked a bit like pawball, except the children had to get the ball into netted hoops on the top of very high poles. Two of the children chased the ball as it left the court and rolled across the grass.
Pip stopped to watch, pulling at his leash.
“Basketball,” said Kayla. “Looks fun, doesn’t it?”
“Looks fun?” said Pip. “It looks BRILLIANT!”
BOING … BOING, BOING …
Pip bounded forward, pulling the leash from Kayla’s hand. “Come on, Kayla,” he woofed. “Let’s play!” He was off, racing across the park toward the ball. He scooped up the ball on his nose, spinning it in the air, and then he ran to the children, dribbling the ball between his paws. The children all stopped and pointed, then they charged after him. One boy flung himself on the ground, hitting the ball away from Pip. It flew upward and across the top of the hoop, missing it by inches.
The children threw the ball for Pip again. Pip stopped it with his paw and looked back toward Kayla. She was sitting where he’d left her. “Woof!” he barked. Why didn’t she want to join in too? “Woof!”