He jumped in fright as a particularly strong gust of wind whistled round the yard and blew the door of the puppy room off its latch. The bottom of the door creaked open, clattering against the wall. It was usually locked at night, but the horrible weather had meant that Julie was racing about, distracted, and she’d forgotten to lock it when she brought the puppies’ food over from the farmhouse.
The other puppies wriggled and whimpered in their sleep, but none of them woke up. Barney shivered as the cold wind cut through the room, but then his ears pricked up – or one of them did, anyway.
The door was open now! He could go and find Daisy!
If he could get out of the wire pen…
He scratched at it uselessly, but he only hurt his paws. And it was no good trying to dig under it, as he’d done outside. This was a solid floor. He would have to go over the top of the wire.
Barney stood on his hind paws, reaching up as far as he could. To his surprise, he was actually as tall as the fence now. His front paws hung over the top, and he could get his head over it, just. He kicked and scrabbled at the floor, trying to push himself up, but he wasn’t quite tall enough. Then his claws caught on the bar across the top, and he kicked harder – he was climbing! He scrabbled again, getting the other back paw up, and heaved himself over the edge of the pen, teetering on the top for a few seconds. Then, almost without realizing how he’d done it, Barney was on the floor – on the other side of the wire.
He looked nervously at the door. It was still banging to and fro, and it was dark and wet outside. For a moment he wished that he was back inside with his brothers and sisters, where it was warm and safe.
Then he shook himself. He needed to find Daisy. He marched across the floor, and nudged the swinging door hard with his nose.
Out in the yard the rain was hammering down so hard he could barely see. Barney shrank back against the wall, trying to think how to get to Daisy. When he’d found her before, he’d gone out of the side of the run instead, straight on to the path.
Ears laid back against the driving rain, Barney set out across the yard to where he thought he remembered the entrance was, his tail tucked between his legs. He’d never seen anything like this before. It had been a hot summer – so hot that all the ground was dry, and as he reached the path there were huge puddles where the water couldn’t soak in fast enough. Barney hurried round them, shivering as the rain soaked through his thick fur. He was fairly sure he knew where he was going now, but as he came closer to the river his ears laid back even further than before.
It hadn’t looked like this yesterday.
The hot weather had left it low and sluggish, but now the torrential rain had filled the river up again, so that it was racing along, sticks and debris jostling about in the dark water. It was starting to overflow its banks, too.
Barney hesitated at the end of the bridge. Water was lapping around his paws, but he knew that to get to Daisy, he had to go across. The river just seemed so much bigger and scarier now than it had before. It stretched out beyond the bridge on the other side too, and that was what made Barney move at last.
On the other side of the bridge was Daisy’s tent – and the water had almost reached it.
Chapter Eight
Barney raced across the bridge, splashing through the water at the end, which was halfway up his legs. The ground sloped up from the river to the tents, but only a little. Snatches of moonlight shone on the dark water that was rising slowly but surely towards Daisy’s pod.
He reached the tent and barked as loud as he could, right outside Daisy’s secret door. He hated this water – it was black and scary, and he didn’t want it anywhere near Daisy.
Inside the tent, Daisy whimpered and turned over in her sleep as she heard Barney. The barking just merged into her dreams, making them even more terribly real. Barney was racing along behind the car as they drove away, barking and barking. He didn’t understand why she wasn’t taking him with her.
Neither did Daisy.
He was out of sight now. Although Daisy was still staring out of the car window, she couldn’t see him at all. So why could she still hear him barking?
Daisy sat up suddenly, clutching her sleeping bag around her. That wasn’t part of her dream! That was actually Barney! He’d come to find her again. Smiling, she unzipped her back door.
“Barney, ssshhh! You’ll wake up Mum and Dad – oh, wow!” Daisy gasped as she saw the flood water rising up towards the tent.
Barney whined crossly. Why was she still sitting there? She needed to get out, and the others too! He darted into her tent pod and grabbed her sleeve in his teeth, pulling her.
“Barney, you came to rescue us!” Daisy whispered, staring at him in amazement. “How did you know? OK, OK.” She reached out to unzip her front door, the one that led into the living area. “Mum! Dad! Oliver! The river’s flooding, we have to get out of the tent!”
“What?” There was a scuffling noise, then the zip opened and Dad’s head appeared round the door.
“It really is! Barney came to tell us, Dad, he’s outside. He barked to wake me up!”
Dad dashed across the living area into Daisy’s pod, and stared out silently for a moment. Then he turned round and dashed back, grabbing his wellies. “I don’t how that dog knew, or how he got here, but it’s lucky he did. Your mum’s just getting dressed. The water will be in the tent any minute. Oliver, up, now! We need to get out of the tent!”
“Where are we going?” Daisy asked, pattering across the living area to grab her wellies and waterproof.
Dad frowned. “The farmhouse. We need to let them know the river’s flooding. I’m sure they’ll find somewhere for us to sleep. And help us get our stuff out too. But I’m going to go and tell the people in the tents closest first.” He hurried out, pulling on his raincoat over his pyjamas as he unzipped the front of the tent.
Barney was standing in the doorway of Daisy’s pod, watching anxiously. He wanted her out of there now, before that black water came any closer.
“He really came to tell you what was happening?” Oliver said, as he struggled out of his pod, still sounding sleepy.
Daisy nodded proudly. “He must have got out of the puppy room again.”
“That’s amazing.” Oliver patted Barney, but he hardly noticed. The water was getting closer and closer. He barked warningly at Daisy, and pulled at the leg of her pyjamas with his teeth.
“He wants you to get out of here,” Mum said appearing from her pod. “Get your boots on, Oliver. We’d better go.”
Daisy patted her leg and stepped outside. “Come on, Barney.”
It was eerie watching the water creeping up the grass towards the tents. Dad had woken up the families in all the tents nearest the water, and they were starting to come out, dressed in boots and waterproofs.
Barney stood in front of Daisy’s tent, looking nervously at the water. They needed to get back across the bridge, but he hated the thought of going across the flooded bank. It would be high up his legs by now. He glanced up at Daisy, her face white in the darkness. She looked scared too. He whined and took a couple of steps towards the bridge. He had to get her to the farmhouse, where she’d be safe.