The Girl Who Thought She Was a Dog
Page 4
The puppy darted in and out of the legs of people. The boys followed, weaving in and out and trying not to trip or bump into anyone. The square was full of tourists marvelling at the majestic Houses of Parliament, where the laws of the land were made.
‘Hello, puppy, that looks tasty!’ Police Constable Tom Smith laughed as the small piebald dog ran between his legs. He and an elderly constable called Purvis were on their way to join the police officers lining the roads around Parliament Square Garden.
‘Don’t worry about that now,’ Constable Purvis said, as the puppy ran into a bush to devour its prize. ‘You don’t want to be late, not today. We’ve got important work to do.’
Tom nodded and they walked on. He’d barely been able to sleep last night, he’d been so excited. It was his first day on duty as a police constable and he was going to be protecting the Houses of Parliament, because there was going to be a suffragette march. The suffragettes were campaigning for women to have the right to vote, just like men, and Tom knew that they were willing to use force. A couple of years ago there’d been a mass rally in Hyde Park with over 300,000 suffrage supporters. That one had been peaceful because it had been led by the suffragists rather than the suffragettes. Suffragists wanted the same thing as the suffragettes but they went about trying to get it by peaceful campaigning. Suffragettes were more militant. They’d attacked a member of Parliament – Mr Churchill – and rang a muffin bell continually when he’d tried to make a speech. They’d smashed the windows of 10 Downing Street, where the prime minister lived, and two of them had even chained themselves to the railings outside, in protest at the government not giving them the vote.
Tom didn’t know how many women would be marching today. But the papers were full of the news that the prime minister, Mr Asquith, had gone back on his word that women who owned property and were over thirty years old would be given the vote, so there might be lots of protestors. The police had to be ready. Tom was feeling a little nervous, even though he was one of many officers: the Home Secretary, Mr Winston Churchill, had asked for six thousand policemen from all over the country to come to London and protect the Palace of Westminster. Most of them were on foot, but some looked very fierce mounted on huge police horses.
They all stood to attention as the police commissioner gave them his orders: ‘The job of the police is to keep everyone calm. Crowds need to be controlled or members of the public could easily be hurt if the protest gets out of control.’
‘There, it’s in that bush!’ Tom heard an errand boy shout as he and Constable Purvis moved to their positions across the road. He watched as the group of boys charged towards the little puppy, who ran out of the bush, across the grass and away.
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First published 2018
Text copyright © Clare Balding, 2018
Illustrations copyright © Tony Ross, 2018
Extract from Emmeline and the Plucky Pup copyright © Megan Rix, 2018
The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted
ISBN: 978–0–241–33419–5
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