Pip and the Paw of Friendship
Page 3
But Kayla turned her wheelchair around and started heading toward home.
“Woof!” barked Pip. He didn’t want to let go of the ball now that he had it, so he ran across the park toward Kayla, dribbling it between his paws. Behind him, he could hear the children chasing after him. Pip stopped in front of Kayla.
“You left me, Pip,” she said. “You left me to be with them.”
Pip could see tears in her eyes. “No,” said Pip. He looked at her with his deep brown eyes. “I came back because I want you to play too.”
“Is this your dog?”
Pip looked up. He and Kayla were surrounded by a sea of faces.
“He’s so cute!”
“Is he yours?”
“He’s cool.”
“Can I pet him?”
“What’s his name?”
“Did you teach him to play basketball?”
“Can he do other tricks?”
“How long have you had him?”
“Do you live around here?”
“I’m Haya.”
“I’m Ali.”
“I’m Jake.”
“I’m Cintra.”
“I’m Sophie.”
“I’m Luke.”
“What’s your name?”
“I’m Kayla,” said Kayla, stroking Pip’s ears. “And this is Pip.”
“Cool!” said Haya. “Do you want to play?”
Pip pushed the ball into Kayla’s hands. “Woof!” he said, answering for both of them.
Kayla and the children followed Pip across the grass to the basketball court.
“Kayla! Be on our team,” yelled Sophie.
The children spread out across the court. Kayla held the ball in her hands. She didn’t know what to do.
“Woof!” barked Pip. “Over here.”
Kayla flung the ball, and Pip was off, dribbling it forward. Cintra managed to get the ball from Pip and ran with it, bouncing it up the court, but she was intercepted by Luke, who flung it down the far side to Jake.
Kayla spun her wheelchair round and round, following the ball, hitting it in midair when it passed her, or catching it and passing it on.
“Hey, Pip,” yelled Kayla. “Catch!”
Pip jumped and spun the ball on his nose before passing it.
“You’re good, Kayla!” woofed Pip. “A natural!”
* * *
The children played basketball late into the afternoon, only stopping when Kayla shared her cookies with everyone. The sun was setting, and dark shadows slunk across the field.
“Last game,” Ali shouted.
He ran with the ball, dodging between the others, bouncing it close beside him. Pip leaped in and tapped the ball away.
“Hey!” called Jake.
But Pip was already bouncing down toward the other hoop.
Kayla charged after him, dirt flying up behind her wheels, faster and faster. “I’m with you, Pip,” she yelled.
Pip was almost there, the other team hot on his heels. Pip and Kayla raced together side by side.
“Woof!” Pip barked, sending the ball up into the air.
Kayla spun around.
Pip saw Kayla reaching for the ball, her wheels spinning beneath her.
Spinning, spinning, spinning.
She was going fast—too fast. Her hand punched the ball, and it flew in an arc in the air. Kayla lost control as her wheelchair flipped and toppled over. Kayla hit the ground as the ball fell right in through the hoop, winning them the game.
“PIP!”
Pip turned. In the gathering gloom, he could see Colonel Custard, Major Bones, and Kayla’s mother all running toward them.
Pip looked back at Kayla lying on the ground. He could see grazes on her elbows. He hadn’t gotten her home before dark. He hadn’t kept her safe. She was hurt, and it was all his fault.
He had failed.
He couldn’t resist a ball game.
He would never be an assistance dog now.
Worse still, he would never see Kayla ever again.
6
Back at the academy, Pip’s teammates tried to cheer him up.
“At least you’re back in time for the final tomorrow,” said Star.
“Let’s talk about our tactics,” said Nosey.
“Come on, Pip,” said Lulu. “We’ll need to have a plan if we want to beat the MadDogz. They won their semifinal round, fifty goals to zero.”
“And the other team’s goalie ended up at the vets’,” said Suli.
Pip joined the others, but his heart wasn’t in it. All he could think about was Kayla and how he’d let her down. Pawball just didn’t seem important anymore.
* * *
“WELCOME, WELCOME, EVERYONE!” Professor Offenbach’s voice boomed out over the playing field. “WE ARE VERY LUCKY TODAY TO BE HOSTING THE PAWBALL FINAL HERE AT SAUSAGE DREAMS PUPPY ACADEMY.”
Cheers erupted from the crowd. Dogs from the neighborhood and the academy had turned out to watch the match.
“LET’S GIVE A BIG CHEER FOR OUR OWN SAUSAGE DREAMS PUPPY ACADEMY TEAM!”
All the puppies went wild, howling and barking as Pip and his team ran onto the field.
“AND LET US SAY A VERY BIG WELCOME TO THE REIGNING CHAMPIONS … THE MADDOGZ!”
A hush fell across the crowd as the MadDogz ran on. Pip had never seen them up close before. The puppies of the MadDogz team were huge, great beasts, with sharp teeth and wild eyes. They looked like full-grown dogs. Exterminator, their goalie, bounded on last. Some of the pups booed, and Exterminator bared his teeth at them. He isn’t a dog, thought Pip. He’s a monster. He was so big that he filled up the whole goal area. There’d be no way to get a ball past him.
For the first half of the match, Pip and his teammates spent most of the time running away from the ball. The MadDogz were heavy and slow, but they were scary. Pip didn’t dare challenge any of them.
When the halftime whistle blew, the MadDogz were up, twenty to nothing. Pip joined his teammates for a bowl of water. “I wish it could be over,” he said.
“I’d rather die than go back out there,” wailed Lulu.
“They’re not dogs; they’re wild animals,” said Nosey.
The puppies huddled together and watched the MadDogz team strutting on the field.
“Who’s that?” said Star.
The pups looked across the playing field to see an old yellow Labrador hobbling toward them, followed by a girl using a wheelchair and a group of children.
“It’s Colonel Custard and the children from the park,” barked Pip, jumping up. “And Kayla. It’s Kayla!”
“Hello, young pups,” said Colonel Custard. “I couldn’t resist coming to a pawball match. Kayla and her friends wanted to come with me too.” He sighed happily. “It reminds me of my Junior Pawball League days.”
Pip pushed his face into Kayla’s hands, and she stroked him while he sniffed at her wheelchair.
“It’s new, I know,” Kayla said, smiling. “My last one was damaged in that fall playing basketball. Anyway, I needed this one. See how its wheels are angled so they’re much wider apart at the bottom? It won’t tip over so easily. I’ll need it because I’ve joined a wheelchair basketball team.”
“That’s great news,” woofed Pip, wagging his tail.
“I know,” smiled Kayla. “Haya’s mom saw me shoot the ball into the hoop. She said I should take it up. There’s a wheelchair basketball club near me. I’m going to play every week.”
* * *
PPPHHHREWWWWW!
All the pups looked at one another. It was the start of the second half.
“I’m not going back in,” said Suli.
“Me neither,” said Nosey.
Pip tucked his tail between his legs and sat down.
“Pups!” said Colonel Custard. “This isn’t fighting talk. The MadDogz are a bunch of softies.”
“Softies! Have you seen the size of them?” said Star.
“They are big, it’s true,” said Colo
nel Custard. “But they are slow and heavy. Use your speed, use your turns, and you can win this game.”
“What makes you so sure?” said Pip.
“Because,” said Colonel Custard, holding up a photo, “I was on the team that won against the MadDogz ten years ago.”
The pups stared at the faded photo of a lean yellow Labrador nosing the winning goal.
“Is that really you?” said Lulu.
Colonel Custard looked around at them all. “They could be beaten then, and you can beat them now.”
Pip didn’t feel so sure. He slunk around the other side of Kayla’s wheelchair and put his head in Kayla’s hands. “I’m scared, Kayla.”
Kayla stroked his ears and looked deep into his eyes. “Don’t be scared, Pip,” she whispered. “When I was scared, you gave me courage. You stayed with me. Now I’m here for you. You’re not alone, Pip, because I’m with you.”
Pip felt his chest swell up. He might not be Kayla’s assistance dog, but he was still her friend, and that meant more than anything.
He would go out there and play his best. He’d do it for Kayla.
“Come on, team,” he woofed. “Give me an S.”
“Give me a D,” barked Suli.
“Give me a P,” yapped Lulu.
“Give me an A,” yipped Nosey.
“Who are we?” barked Star.
The pups high-fived each other. “We’re the Sausage Dreams Puppy Academy!”
7
The pups were fast. Star and Lulu whizzed the ball along the ground. Nosey was so small that she could run beneath the MadDogz puppies’ legs. Suli’s midair turns knocked ball after ball into the goal. The MadDogz were puffing and panting. Some had to stop to catch their breath. The score was twenty to twenty when the whistle blew for extra time.
It was the last chance to win the match. Pip had the ball. He dribbled it along the sideline. But Exterminator was already in the goal, his hackles raised, saliva dripping from his fangs. How could Pip get past him? Exterminator rushed forward, and Pip nosed the ball high into the air.
Exterminator leaped, his paw outreached.
The ball skimmed the very tip of one of Exterminator’s claws and bounced against a goalpost, spinning into the goal.
The crowd howled and barked and cheered.
When the cheering had died down, Pip looked at Exterminator lying on the ground, clutching his paw and howling in pain.
Pip edged closer to him. “Are you all right?”
“Noooo,” howled Exterminator. He held up his paw. “I’ve split my claw and it huuurts!” he blubbered.
Jaws, the MadDogz team captain, had to sit down and look away. “I don’t like the sight of blood,” he whined.
Colonel Custard arrived with the first aid kit for Exterminator’s paw. “Just like I said,” he woofed to Pip. “They’re a bunch of big softies, really.”
* * *
“INSTEAD OF THE FRIDAY AWARD CEREMONY, WE WILL PRESENT THE PAWBALL FINAL TROPHY. PLEASE COME TO THE GIANT SAUSAGE PODIUM, PIP, STAR, SULI, LULU, AND NOSEY,” woofed Professor Offenbach.
Pip held up the Golden Ball with his teammates. He could see Colonel Custard’s name engraved in the trophy from ten years before.
All the puppies cheered.
“JUST ONE MORE THING,” said Professor Offenbach, quieting them down. “WE ARE VERY PROUD TO WELCOME COLONEL CUSTARD BACK TO THE ACADEMY. HE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.”
Colonel Custard climbed onto the podium. “We have a very special pup among us,” he said. “We have a champion pawball player. Now that Kayla is on the wheelchair basketball team, she will need help to prepare and train for matches. She has asked if Pip can be her assistance dog.”
Pip felt his heart leap. He looked across at Kayla.
Star, Suli, Lulu, and Nosey cheered.
Colonel Custard cleared his throat. “But it’s not just for his pawball skills that Kayla needs him. It’s more than that. It’s for the courage he gives her to make friends, have fun, and face the world.”
Pip’s paws trembled. Could it really be true that he would be an assistance dog for Kayla?
“And so,” continued Colonel Custard, “I would like to present Pip with a very special award, given only to those dogs who dedicate their lives to helping humans. I’d like to present Pip with the Paw of Friendship.”
Pip stood proudly while Colonel Custard clipped the Paw of Friendship to his collar, then he bounded over to Kayla.
She threw her arms around his neck and buried her head in his fur. “I’ve got lots of friends now, but you’re my best friend of all. I love you, Pip,” she said. “I always will.”
“Woof,” said Pip. He looked up at her and spoke with his big brown eyes. “And I love you too.”
PUPPY PLEDGE
I promise to be honest, brave, and true and serve my fellow dogs and humans too.
In peril, I will be your guide, walking with you by your side.
I am your eyes, your ears, your nose, through wind and rain and sun and snow. I’ll be with you until the very end, your wet-nosed, waggy-tailed best, best friend.
Meet Josie, a real-life assistance dog!
Name
Josie
Age
8
Occupation
Child’s assistance dog
Likes
Ball games and tummy rubs
Hates
Brushing time!
Josie loves to fetch and pick up things for Sam, who has a severe disability. She’s his forever friend. “I’d be lost without her,” he says.
Assistance Dog Facts
There are many different types of assistance dogs, including hearing dogs, guide dogs for the blind, and dogs that help people with physical disabilities.
DID YOU KNOW?
It takes almost two years of training for a puppy to learn how to be an assistance dog.
Assistance dogs help give their owners confidence by enabling them to be more independent.
DID YOU KNOW?
Lots of assistance dogs are Labradors or golden retrievers.
When they retire, assistance dogs normally stay with their owner as a pet.
DID YOU KNOW?
In Italy, there is a 2,OOO-year-old mural that depicts a dog leading a blind person.
About Sam and his owner, Gill Lewis
I’m SAM, a Labrador retriever, just like Pip. We Labradors love nothing better than hanging out with humans, especially human puppies—they’re always fun to be around!
I looked after GILL LEWIS’s little ones. I was their faithful companion who traveled with them in cardboard rockets to the moon and sailed with them in a laundry basket across oceans to unknown lands. I listened to them read stories and tell me all their troubles. They were my very best friends, and I like to think I was their best friend too.
About the Author
Gill Lewis spent much of her childhood in the garden. When she grew up, she became a vet and a children’s author. She lives in Somerset, England, with her husband and three children and writes from a tree house in the company of squirrels. Visit her online at gilllewis.com, or sign up for email updates here.
Sarah Horne is a versatile illustrator whose work has appeared in children’s books, advertisements, and newspapers throughout the UK. She has also written and illustrated two books in her original series Molly & Mimi. Sarah lives in London. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Puppy Pledge
Meet Josie
Assistance Dog Facts
About Sam
Other Books by Gill Lewis
About the Author
Copyright
Text copyright © 2016 by Gill Lewis
Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Sarah Horne
Henry Holt and Company, Publishers since 1866
Henry Holt® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010 • mackids.com
All rights reserved.
Originally published in the UK in 2016 by Oxford University Press
The Library of Congress cataloged the print edition of this book as follows:
Names: Lewis, Gill, author.|Horne, Sarah, 1979– illustrator.
Title: Pip and the paw of friendship / Gill Lewis; illustrated by Sarah Horne.
Description: First American edition.|New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2017.|Series: Puppy academy|Summary: “A story about a puppy who is training to be a service dog—and the young human girl he befriends”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016015268 (print)|LCCN 2016042640 (ebook)|ISBN 9781627797986 (hardback)|ISBN 9781250092854 (paperback)|ISBN 9781627797993 (ebook)
Subjects:|CYAC: Dogs—Training—Fiction.|Service dogs—Fiction.|Animals—Infancy—Fiction.|Human-animal relationships—Fiction.|BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Dogs.|JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General.|JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories.