by Holly Webb
“But you’ve been loads better,” Amarah pointed out. “Mr Gardner told your mum how good you’ve been. I heard him. That’s all because of Daisy. Doesn’t your mum understand that? Why didn’t you tell her?”
“I don’t know! I didn’t think she’d listen. She said not a puppy.” Jack handed the banana back to Amarah and wrapped his arms tightly round his middle, as if he was giving himself a hug.
“Yes, but Daisy’s not just any puppy, is she?” Amarah shook her head. “You have to tell her. Didn’t your sister say anything? Mattie knows how special Daisy is.”
“Yeah…” Jack leaned back against the bench. “Maybe Mum would listen to Mattie,” he admitted.
“Mattie, and me, and you,” Amarah said firmly. “Your sister’s taking you to the shelter again this afternoon, isn’t she? So you have to explain everything to her. You can both tell your mum later, and I’ll come round and tell her too.”
Jack nodded slowly. Maybe Amarah was right – he hadn’t told Mum how he felt about Daisy, he’d just expected her to know. He had to speak up.
Daisy’s nose was just peeping out from under her bed, but she’d pulled the bed up close to the wire door so she could see what was happening. She was watching for Jack. Every time anyone had walked down the passage that day, she’d wriggled out a little more to see who it was. But it was never him. Daisy knew that usually Jack came later on, but still she couldn’t help hoping. She was starting to feel hungry for dinner now, and he often arrived just before dinner time. Soon…
There was a scuffling, and footsteps, and Daisy scooted out from under the bed to look down the passage. There was a boy… Her ears pricked up hopefully.
No, not Jack yet. It was Lucy with a group of people Daisy didn’t know.
“We do have one lovely young puppy actually, but she’s a little nervous. I’m not sure she’s ready for a busy family home just yet.”
The group moved off towards the main reception area and Daisy slumped down on the floor again. When was he going to come?
Then her tail hunched between her legs and a shudder ran over her. What if he didn’t come back? What if he’d left her, like the people who’d thrown her out of the car? Daisy was almost sure that Jack was hers. But they had been her people too.
She whimpered and scuff led the blue treat mat under her paws to catch the smell of food, and Jack, and home.
Jack ran down the passage to the corner where Daisy’s pen was. He had a strange feeling in his stomach, as if she might have disappeared. All afternoon he’d been daydreaming – whenever Mr Gardner wasn’t watching, anyway – thinking about what would happen after he’d explained to Mum. He had to make her understand. Amarah was right.
He’d imagined him and Daisy running round the park. Or Daisy asleep on his lap while he was doing his homework or watching TV. Maybe even asleep on the end of his bed. It all felt so real, it was too good to be true…
No, there she was, scrabbling wildly at the side of her pen. She was so excited she was actually squeaking.
“Did you miss me?” Jack asked her, laughing. He caught her paws through the wire pen, hot little paws with hard black nails. “I missed you. Let me look at you…” It felt as if he was looking at her properly for the first time, now that there was a chance, just a chance, that she might be his dog.
She was so beautiful, even when she was jumping up and down and then darting off to whirl round her pen and flinging herself back to lick frantically at his fingers.
“Shhhh, shhh…” Jack said gently. “It’s OK, Daisy. It’s OK.”
There were footsteps at the other end of the passage and he saw Lucy walking towards him with Mattie behind her. Lucy had a clipboard and a pen – she was tapping the pen against her teeth as if she was thinking.
“Hello! How’s she doing, Jack?”
“Good. She was a bit excited, but she’s calming down now.” Jack looked back at Daisy, who was standing close to the wire, looking uncertain.
“I was just talking to a family who are looking for a puppy,” Lucy explained. “Or a young dog anyway.” She sighed. “I did try to suggest one of our lovely old-age pensioners, but they wanted a dog who’d be really active. Anyway –” she smiled at Jack – “I wondered about Daisy. What do you both think?” She looked round at Mattie. “You’ve done so much work socializing her, especially you, Jack. Do you think she’d cope with a family? It’s actually only one boy and he’s ten, so not too young.”
Mattie nodded eagerly. “I think they’d have to take things slow, but yes. Daisy’s such a gorgeous dog, she deserves a lovely home.”
“No!” Jack yelped, and Daisy gave a worried whine and scraped one front paw against the concrete.
Mattie frowned at him. “Hey, gently.”
“Sorry.” Jack swallowed hard. He had to get this right. He had to make Lucy and Mattie understand – he’d meant to talk to Mum first, but he couldn’t let Lucy give Daisy to somebody else. Not his dog. He crouched down and let Daisy snuffle at his fingers while he tried to think what to say.
“Did Mattie tell you that our mum said we could adopt a dog?” he asked Lucy.
She nodded, smiling. “Yes, it’s brilliant news. I know Mattie’s been desperate to have one for a while, and you’re just such a dog person, Jack.”
Jack tried to smile back, but his face felt stiff. “Maybe. I’m not sure if I’m really a dog person. It’s … I mean … I only want Daisy!”
“Oh…” Mattie started to shake her head. “But Mum said…”
“I know,” Jack broke in quickly. “We have to have a sensible dog. One of the old-age pensioners.” He nodded at Lucy. “But Mum’s saying that because I’m…” He faltered. “Um. Sometimes I’m not very sensible. Except I am. I could be. If it was Daisy. All that reading to her – I worked really hard – and she’s so much better. We’re good for each other.”
Lucy beamed at him and reached down to pat his shoulder. “I know you are. You’ve been amazing with her and you can tell she’s bonded with you.” She glanced back at Mattie. “That was actually something I was a bit worried about – whether Daisy would ever build up such a good relationship with her new owner. But I couldn’t stop Jack helping her, not when it was making such a difference.”
Jack nodded eagerly. “Could you – please could you tell my mum that? That we don’t need a sensible old dog?” He looked hopefully at Mattie. “You like her too, don’t you?”
Mattie crouched down and looked at the little white face peering back at them anxiously through the wire. “Silly question,” she said lovingly, and laughed as Daisy dabbed a cold black nose against her hand. “OK. Now we’ve just got to convince Mum.”
“I’m not at all sure about this.” Jack’s mum sighed. “A puppy! And a puppy who’s had a hard time and isn’t very reliable! That’s exactly what I said I didn’t want.”
Mattie had called her mum and asked her to come by the shelter on her way home from work. Now Mum and Lucy and Mattie and Jack were all sitting in the visitors’ room with Daisy. Jack had Daisy on his lap and she was half asleep, curled snugly against his school jumper. It was already covered in white hairs, but he didn’t mind. He’d get them off with sticky tape if Mum was worried, but he loved it that Daisy had left a mark on him. It felt like he belonged to her.
Lucy nodded seriously. “I know exactly what you mean. But actually she’s settling down amazingly well. She was very young when we got her, and yes she’d been abandoned and she was very withdrawn and nervous, but that’s changed over the last few weeks. And I have to tell you, that’s mostly down to Jack.” She smiled at him and Jack grinned back at her shyly. He still wasn’t used to people saying such nice things about him. “He’s worked so hard. He’s too young to be an official volunteer at the shelter like Mattie, but I’m really hoping he’ll keep coming to help. Even when you have your own dog at home, Jack.”
Jack nodded eagerly. “My friend Amarah wants to keep coming here as well,” he told Lucy. “We wondere
d – do you think you could make it an official thing, us reading to the dogs? They all like it. And we thought maybe we could send a message to the schools around here, asking for more volunteers. So that there’s someone reading to the dogs after school every day. Or some schools might walk children round to the shelter in their lunch break.”
“Wow.” Lucy blinked, looking surprised. “We could definitely think about it.”
“It would mean more people coming to the shelter,” Mattie pointed out. “We’re always trying to think of ways to get more people in to see the dogs and cats.”
Jack nodded. There were so many dogs who’d been at the shelter for a long time – they were desperate for proper homes. He ran one of Daisy’s soft ears through his fingers and she snuffled sleepily.
“It would help with the children’s reading as well,” he added. “Schools would like that. I got loads better, just from reading out loud to Daisy and the others.”
Lucy and Mum were nodding as if they agreed and Jack ducked his head to hide his proud grin. He was persuading them!
“That all sounds great,” Jack’s mum said slowly, “but I’m still worried about us adopting Daisy. How are we going to cope with a puppy?”
“It’s tricky,” Lucy admitted. “We usually say that someone needs to be home most of the time, to make sure young dogs aren’t lonely.”
“I can pop home from college if I have a free period,” Mattie pointed out. “Most days I do. And you said you could come home at lunchtime, Mum. She’d get lots of little walks. Jack and I could take her out for a proper run before school.”
“Amarah asked her mum this afternoon,” Jack said eagerly. “She said she doesn’t mind coming round to check on Daisy sometimes too. Daisy’s so good, Mum, just look at her.” He edged closer to his mum on the sofa and the puppy opened one eye lazily and yawned. “You could stroke her?” he suggested.
Mum reached out one hand and ran it gently down Daisy’s back. “She’s very soft,” she told Jack, smiling. “Hello, sweetheart…” she added as Daisy wriggled round and licked the back of her hand. “You are very cute, aren’t you? And I can see how much she loves you both. Maybe it would be all right.” Then she gave a surprised laugh as Daisy wobbled upright and stomped over on to her lap instead. The little white dog slumped down again with a massive yawn and seemed to go back to sleep. “Oh … I wasn’t expecting that.” Mum rubbed Daisy’s ears, and looked up at Jack and Mattie. “I think she might have decided for us…”
Daisy wriggled a little in Jack’s arms, turning so she could gaze up at him. He looked afraid and she could smell the worry rising off him. She pressed her nose gently into the gap under his chin and felt him catch his breath in a half laugh. “Thanks,” he whispered, rubbing his cheek against the top of her head. “This is really scary.”
Daisy felt him step forward and then Amarah held up a piece of paper in front of her nose. Daisy leaned out of Jack’s arms to sniff it and then she nibbled the bottom corner. The crowd of people in front of them laughed and Daisy beat her tail against Jack’s arm. She didn’t know what was happening, but she liked the noise. Jack started to read out loud.
“Thank you for coming to the fundraiser for Tall Pines Animal Shelter. Today we are launching a new scheme to help animals, and children…”
Daisy sighed happily, resting her nose on his shoulder.
“I started to read to my dog Daisy when she was still at Tall Pines, after being abandoned. I didn’t know the amazing effect reading to dogs could have. Please help us…”
“You did so well!” Mattie hugged Jack, trying not to squash Daisy, and Daisy squirmed delightedly. “I could hear people in the crowd saying how gorgeous Daisy is.”
“I can’t believe I read in front of all those people,” Jack murmured. He was still feeling a bit shaky.
“I can’t believe you did either. You were brilliant.” Mattie stroked Daisy’s nose. “And so were you, little one.”
“Lucy says lots of people are asking about making appointments to visit,” Amarah told them excitedly, pointing at the board behind Jack, which was plastered with big photos of the dogs at the shelter. “Someone wants to come and see Pug! She said she’s always had pugs and he’s really beautiful!”
“I’d better go and help write down some details,” Mattie said, darting away, and Jack sat down on the edge of the little platform. Daisy wriggled out of his arms and started to sniff around their feet. The shopping centre was full of intriguing smells.
“How are you doing?” Amarah asked, sitting next to him. “I was a bit worried you might run away just before it was your speech.”
“Me too.” Jack shivered. “But it was OK. It sounded like I was talking to the crowd, but actually I just read it to Daisy.”
Daisy heard her name and looked round. Then she jumped up next to him again, squishing in between Jack and Amarah and nosing lovingly at both of them. She sank down with her muzzle on Jack’s knee and gazed up at him with huge dark eyes.
“Do you want to go home?” Jack whispered to her. “Me too. It’s OK, Daisy, we’ll be home soon, I promise.”
Daisy thumped her tail lazily against Amarah’s legs and then wriggled further up so she was slumped half on to Jack’s lap. She didn’t mind where they went, as long as Jack came with her.
STRIPES PUBLISHING LIMITED
An imprint of the Little Tiger Group
1 Coda Studios, 189 Munster Road, London SW6 6AW
A paperback original
First published in Great Britain in 2020
Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2020
Illustrations copyright © Sophy Williams, 2020
Author photograph © Charlotte Knee Photography
eISBN: 978–1–78895–264–4
The right of Holly Webb and Sophy Williams to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.