The basket was in the corner of the pen, and all Bella could see was a fuzzy brown and white back.
Jo chuckled. “He could sleep for England, this one. But when he’s awake, he’s a cutie. Well…” she paused. “He is cute. But he’s not exactly the best-looking dog in the world. I have to admit, most people pass him over. But I think he’s lovely. I’d take him home myself if I didn’t have four cats already.”
“Has he been here for ages?” Bella asked, crouching down to look at the brown and white furry lump in the basket.
“About, um, four months.” Jo sighed. “He’s starting to give up, which is so sad. I think he sleeps so much because he really hates being here. He’s lovely and affectionate with the staff, but he wants space to run in. A bit of time in the exercise yard just isn’t enough.”
“My dad really wants a dog who could go running with him,” Bella said hopefully. “And my mum just wants a dog who isn’t too massive. Sid doesn’t look that big. Is he?” She wrapped her fingers round the wire, staring in, and wishing Sid would wake up. The fuzzy white back twitched and wriggled a bit.
“No, he’s some sort of terrier cross. Medium-sized, but with longish legs. And even though he’s still very young, I don’t think he’ll get much bigger.”
“You mean he’s a puppy?” Bella asked excitedly. She hadn’t expected they’d be able to get a young dog. Mum and Dad had explained that most of the dogs at the shelter would already have had one owner.
Jo smiled. “Well, let’s just say he’s a teenager.”
“Oh, I wish he’d wake up and come and see me,” Bella sighed.
Inside the pen, Sid heard the voices. The nice one, who always stroked him even more than the others when she brought his food. She always scratched his ears, and chatted, and he could tell she liked him. She was talking to someone that he hadn’t heard before, though. His ears twitched thoughtfully, and he wondered if it was one of the people who took dogs away. Someone had taken the young Staffie in the opposite pen only yesterday. But even though people looked into his enclosure, they didn’t usually want the door opened so they could meet him. He’d stopped bothering to wag his tail and give them hopeful looks. None of them really seemed to see him anyway.
His ears flattened and he wriggled round in his basket a bit. He would go back to sleep, until it was time for food.
“Oh! I thought he was going to wake up!” the young girl said.
The voice sounded sad, and Sid’s ears pricked up again. He couldn’t help it. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the nice woman there with a girl beside her, crouched by the wire and staring at him.
“He is awake!” the girl said excitedly. “Oh, how could anyone not find him cute? He’s gorgeous! Look at his beautiful ears!”
The brown and white dog looked like a sort of wiry-haired terrier, but his mad, frizzy ears had come from somewhere else entirely. Maybe a spaniel, or something little and fluffy like a Papillon? The ones with the ears like butterflies? Or maybe a poodle? Bella wasn’t sure, but she loved them. They made him look like a dog who’d been put together from bits. As he got up and came cautiously towards them, she saw that he had a mad plumy tail as well. He walked over to the wire, slowly, and his tail began to waft from side to side.
“Hello!” Bella breathed. “Oh, aren’t you lovely?” She glanced up at Jo. “Is it OK to put my fingers through the wire? So I can stroke him?” she asked.
“Sure, as long as you’re gentle – Sid’s very friendly,” Jo answered.
Bella slipped her fingers through the netting, and giggled as Sid came closer and licked at them curiously. “That tickles! Hello, sweetheart.” Carefully, slowly, she reached her fingers round to rub under his chin. All the dogs she’d met before loved that. It seemed that Sid did, too. He closed his eyes and sighed blissfully.
“Please can we open the pen? So I can meet him properly?” Bella whispered to Jo.
Jo smiled at her. “Hadn’t we better see what your mum and dad think first?” she said.
“Oh! Oh, yes, I forgot. I’ll get them! I’m sure they’ll love him. I’ll be back in a minute, Sid.” And Bella jumped up, hurrying away between the pens. The lady on reception had told them not to run, in case it upset the dogs, but she just couldn’t help going fast.
Sid sighed and his tail dropped down. His ears sagged as well and he turned to trail back to his basket. It had been stupid to think that the girl had liked him. She had fussed over him and rubbed his chin in just his favourite place, but then she had vanished.
“Hey…” Jo called gently. “She’s only gone to find her mum and dad. She’s coming back. Sid… Don’t be sad, my lovely.”
But Sid had gone back to his basket and curled up determinedly. He wasn’t listening.
Chapter Two
“Well, he doesn’t look very friendly,” Mum said rather doubtfully.
“Oh, but he is! Well, he was…” Bella pleaded. “You tell them,” she said, turning to Jo.
“He’s a lovely dog, but he’s been here a while and he’s not been adopted,” Jo explained. “Some dogs stop bothering to try and say hello to everyone.”
“Oh…” Bella saw her mum’s face crumple a little. Her mum was just as soppy as she was. A dog who thought he’d never have a proper home was making them both want to cry.
“We could at least open the pen and meet him properly, couldn’t we?” Bella asked, fixing her eyes on her mum.
“Oh, yes,” Mum nodded.
Sid was still in his basket, but his ears were twitching frantically. There were lots of people outside his pen now – he could hear them. Were they talking about him? He popped his head up a fraction and darted a glance across the pen.
“Aw, look at him!” Bella’s mum laughed. “Look at those ears!”
“Exactly!” Bella beamed at her.
“Isn’t he a bit … scruffy-looking?” Dad said, coming up behind them with Tom.
Bella glared at him. “He’s gorgeous!”
“He does have a lovely personality,” Jo put in as she opened the pen. “Very friendly, and he likes lots of exercise. Bella said you like to run? He’d be over the moon at that. He’s got great long legs…”
Dad smiled. “Let’s meet him then.”
Sid stood up in his basket, his tail waving uncertainly back and forth. They were definitely getting him out! His tail wagged faster and faster, and when Jo called, “Sid! Sid, here boy!” he shot out of the basket so fast he skidded over the tiled floor, and almost crashed into Dad’s feet.
“Hello!” Dad laughed. “All right, you’re keen, aren’t you!” He rubbed Sid’s huge feathery ears, while Bella scratched him under the chin again. Sid stood there, practically dribbling with pleasure.
“What do you think, Tom?” Mum asked.
Tom was grinning. “He’s great. Dad, you know he’s about to drool on your trainers?” Tom crouched down by Sid and stroked his back. “He’s a weird mix, isn’t he. Short fur and fluffy ears. But he’s really friendly.”
Bella sighed happily, and Sid looked up at her with shy black eyes. “I told you, didn’t I,” she whispered, as Dad stood up and began to talk to Jo about dates for bringing Sid home with them. “I said they’d love you, and I was right!”