Jake laughed. “Taught him his place, have you, Mickey? Can he share your bed for tonight then?”
Mickey sighed, and slumped down on the cushion, squishing Toby up against the edge. But the puppy didn’t seem to mind. He closed his eyes, and snuggled himself up to Mickey’s broad back, so he was half lying on top of the bigger dog – and then the pair of them went to sleep.
“Where’s Toby?” Anya asked, as Ruby pushed open the kitchen door, the lead dangling from her hand.
Her little sister was sitting at the table with their mum, eating a boiled egg and toast soldiers, her favourite tea. There was a big white gauze square over her grazed face, but she looked much more cheerful.
Ruby gulped, and then turned round and raced upstairs to her bedroom. She couldn’t face explaining to Anya. And then she was going to have to tell Auntie Nell that they’d lost her precious puppy, as well!
She sat down on her floor, leaning against the warm radiator and sniffing. Toby liked to snuggle up here, too. He wasn’t allowed to sleep in her room, but she carried him up to play sometimes.
Her bedroom door creaked open slowly, and Anya peered round it. “Are you cross?” she whispered.
Ruby shook her head. She hadn’t thought to be cross with Anya – her little sister hadn’t meant to fall over.
“Did Toby run away cos I fell over?” Anya said sadly.
Ruby put out her arms for Anya to come and hug her. “It wasn’t your fault. I should have looked after him better.”
“Oh, Ruby! You were helping me look after Anya.” She hadn’t seen her mum come in too. “It was just a horrible accident. I’m sure we’ll find him. Dad can take you back to the woods really early in the morning.”
Ruby nodded, but tears were sliding down her cheeks. “He’ll be scared out there, Mum. It’s so dark, and there’s street lights here, there aren’t any out there in the woods! And he’ll be cold and hungry.” She hugged Anya tighter, and her sister snuggled against her.
“We’ll find him tomorrow, Ruby, I promise,” Mum said.
Ruby nodded. But how could Mum promise that when no one knew where Toby was?
“Hey, pup!”
Toby yawned and opened his eyes. Why was Ruby waking him up, in the dark?
Then he sat up properly, looking around in panic. That wasn’t Ruby!
“Sshh, don’t worry. I just thought you might need a quick trip out to the garden before I go to bed. I’m not sure whether you’re house-trained yet.” Jake opened the back door, and the security light came on, sending an orangey light into the kitchen, and all of a sudden, Toby remembered where he was.
Or actually, where he wasn’t. He wasn’t at home in his lovely red basket with Ruby asleep upstairs. He was lost.
He whimpered, staring out at the strange, dark garden.
“I know. We’ll find your owners tomorrow, hopefully. We’ll ring the shelter again in the morning.” Jake picked him up, and carried him out into the garden. “Go on, just a quick wee, then you can go back to sleep.”
Toby wandered out on to the lawn, sniffing the night smell of wet grass. Everything was different, and wrong! Where was Ruby? Why hadn’t he just stayed and waited for her? Then he would be home by now.
He sat down, raised his head to the sky, and howled.
Chapter Seven
“What if someone’s found him and doesn’t know who he belongs to?” Ruby said worriedly, looking back at Dad as they hurried into the woods early the next morning. It was chilly, and leaves were whirling on the cold wind.
“He’s microchipped too, remember,” Dad pointed out. “If someone takes him to a vet or the dog shelter, they’ll be able to scan his microchip, and then they’ll call us.”
“So why haven’t they?” Ruby wailed. “Maybe he got stuck down a badger hole! Auntie Nell said that ages and ages ago dachshunds were bred to chase badgers down their holes. Are there badgers in Norbury Copse, Dad?”
“Probably,” Dad admitted. “But I don’t think Toby would chase one…”
“He would!” Ruby told him sadly. “He tried to show that German shepherd who was boss, didn’t he?”
“Excuse me…” someone behind them called breathlessly.
Ruby wheeled round in surprise. She’d been so busy imagining Toby stuck down a badger’s sett, that she hadn’t seen the old lady coming up the path after them. She hadn’t expected anyone else to be here at half-past seven in the morning.
“Have you lost a dog? I’m sorry, I heard you calling…”
“Yes!” Dad replied, and Ruby raced up to the old lady.
“Have you seen my puppy?” she gasped. “Do you know where he is?”
“A little brown-and-black dachshund? I saw him yesterday – I come here birdwatching, you see. I did try to catch him, as I thought he might be lost, but he ran off again.”
“That’s Toby,” Ruby whispered. “Did you see which way he went?” she added, rather hopelessly.
“No, but…” the old lady paused thoughtfully. “There was a man jogging, and I saw him again as I went back home. He had a little dog with him, and it might have been the same one…”
“A man’s taken Toby!” Ruby gasped. “He’s stolen him, he must have, or why didn’t he call us?”
Dad hugged her. “Don’t panic. Toby slipped his collar, remember? Perhaps the man took him to the police station. Or the dog shelter in town! That’s more likely. We’ll go home and call them. Thanks so much,” he told the old lady. “You’ve been really helpful.”
“I do hope you find him,” the lady smiled. “He’s a sweet little thing.”
Ruby nodded. She was right – Toby was so little. Far too little to be out on his own. He’s at the shelter, she told herself firmly. He has to be…
Dad put down the phone, making a face. “Answering machine. But the recorded message says Oakley Shelter opens at nine…”
He checked his watch. Ruby had been up at six wanting to go back to Norbury Copse, and it was still only half-past eight. “It’ll take us twenty minutes or so to get there,” he said thoughtfully.
“Let’s go!” Ruby grabbed his hand and started pulling him towards the front door.
They sped off in the car, Ruby waving to Mum and Anya, who were watching from the door. Anya was really missing Toby, too. She’d been up almost as early as Ruby had, and when Ruby and Dad got back from the woods, Ruby had found her little sister sitting in Toby’s basket, looking confused and sad.
As they drove through town to the shelter, Ruby leaned forward, her fists clenched so tightly her arms ached.
“Relax, Ruby,” said Dad. “You’re not making us go any faster. The shelter doesn’t open for another quarter of an hour, anyway, and we’re nearly there.”
Ruby was out of the car the moment they stopped in the car park, and she was off, running towards the doors to the shelter. But it was still locked, and she rattled it uselessly.
“It’s only five to,” Dad called, following her across the car park.
Ruby paced up and down as they waited outside, checking her watch every ten seconds or so, certain each time that it must be nine o’clock by now.