Scout finished his bowl of food, and looked over at Lauren, wondering when he was going for a walk. She’d let him into the garden for a wee, but that was all. He hadn’t been out since Ben had taken him for a quick sprint along the road and back that morning before he left for work. Scout slumped down by the back door sadly, thinking of Zoe racing him across the park and laughing. He was bored – and he felt lonely, even though his people were right here. Jack was still cross with him, he could tell. He kept glaring whenever Scout looked at him.
When Ben got back, Scout bounced up to him hopefully, but all he got was a quick ear scratch, and then Jack grabbed his dad’s hand and climbed up his legs for a cuddle, telling him all about his accident.
“I banged my head on the floor! I really did. It went thump. Mummy shouted at Scout!”
“Oh no, love, what happened?” Ben looked over at Lauren anxiously.
“It wasn’t really Scout’s fault. I think he jumped up just at the wrong time. He was so excited to see us – you know he hates being shut up on his own while we’re all out.” Lauren sighed. “He just ploughed Jack over. He’s getting so strong…”
Jack’s dad hugged him tighter, and made sympathetic noises about the lump on his head, and then Jack wriggled away and went back to playing with his cars.
“Do you think he’s OK? He doesn’t look as if it’s hurting that much,” Ben said, shrugging off his jacket and sitting down at the table.
“I think he’s fine – this time. I was so worried, though.” Lauren shook her head. “I just don’t know what we’re going to do, Ben…”
Ben made a face. “I know. We weren’t expecting the new job and the move to happen, that’s all. When we first got Scout we had plenty of time for looking after him. But now – we’re not doing a very good job, are we, boy?”
Scout hurried over to him, resting his muzzle lovingly on Ben’s leg. He closed his eyes blissfully as Ben pulled gently on his ears. Yes! At last someone was fussing over him, like he wanted.
Then there was a sudden wail from the hallway, and a furious shout from Jack. “Tilly took my car!”
Ben jumped up to go and sort out the argument, gently pushing Scout away, and that was that. Everyone seemed to be busy, racing about and hardly noticing him at all.
Scout gave up and took his chew toy over to the nest he’d made among the wellies. There was a little draught coming in under the front door – a fresh scent of outdoors and the cut-grass smell of the park.
He could go by himself, Scout thought sadly, pressing his nose against the crack. He knew the way. He might even find Zoe. His tail thumped on the carpet at the thought of her. Yes! He would go to the park and find Zoe – she was always there when he was. Why shouldn’t he?
It was just then that he heard footsteps hurrying up to the door and the doorbell rang. Scout jumped back in surprise at the shrill noise, his tail swishing uncertainly. He watched as Jack came racing down the hall shouting, “Nannie! Nannie!” and reached up to open the front door.
There was someone on the doorstep, but Scout hardly saw them. He only saw the path and the pavement and the swinging gate in between.
The pavement led to the park and to Zoe – someone who wanted him. He raced out of the door before anyone could stop him.
Chapter Six
Zoe sat on her bed, with her mum’s laptop balanced on the pillow. All day at school she’d been thinking about her conversation with her dad – the amazing idea that perhaps they could have a Bernese mountain dog of their own!
Zoe had been hoping to meet up with Scout and Jack and Lauren in the park after school and take him for a walk – she’d thought maybe she’d also get the chance to ask Lauren about a fun agility class or something like that for Scout. It might help to wear him out and keep his brain busy. She’d been sort of looking forward to asking about it, and sort of not. She didn’t want Lauren to think she was sticking her nose in…
Zoe sighed. She hadn’t realized until today quite how much she looked forward to seeing Scout – she’d been so disappointed to miss him. Meeting up with him in the park was one of the highlights of her day. Zoe was almost sure that her mum and dad felt the same. She’d noticed that she and Mum both speeded up as they went in the park gates on the way home from school. They’d hurry along the paths, scanning the park to see where Scout was. Dad was just the same, always looking hopefully for the big puppy on their walk to school.
Today they hadn’t seen him at all – Zoe had met Jack and Lauren and Tilly hurrying through the playground, and Lauren had explained that she hadn’t had time to go home and get Scout that afternoon. She’d even been a bit late picking Jack up, she said. Zoe felt as though she’d missed out on something special. She sighed again and peered thoughtfully at the list of websites on the screen. There seemed to be loads of links to pages about Bernese mountain dogs – some were the websites of breeders and some were clubs for owners. She chose one of the club pages and clicked on Things to Know. If Dad was really serious about them getting a Bernese one day, she wanted to be prepared.
Zoe found herself nodding thoughtfully as she read down the page. A lot of the information seemed to tie in with what she’d noticed about Scout. She’d seen him start to look worried and jumpy when Tilly was crying, and it said here that some Bernese could be sound-sensitive – that high-pitched noises almost hurt their ears.
Zoe nibbled her lip worriedly. Lauren had said Tilly was teething and crying a lot. That definitely wasn’t going to help Scout settle down. There were common-sense things the website said to think about, too – a big dog was more likely to accidentally hurt a small child. Scout was big, but he was still a puppy, so he was clumsy and not really in control of his paws…
Zoe went on reading, giggling to herself at some of the funny bits. Apparently most Bernese didn’t really like playing fetch, because they just didn’t see the point. The owner would throw a ball, and the dog would fetch it the first couple of times and then give up, because honestly, why? She could easily imagine Scout dropping a ball at her feet and glaring at her, his gorgeous ginger eyebrows twitching. Now, look. You keep dropping it, and I keep bringing it back for you. Don’t do it again! Oi! I said don’t do that… It would be so funny.
Zoe looked up from the laptop, her eyes widening. Then she turned herself round on the bed, sinking her chin into her hands. She’d just realized something – something awful.
Dad was all excited about getting a puppy, but she didn’t want just any Bernese mountain dog.
She wanted Scout.
Scout raced down the pavement, ignoring the shouts behind him. It was so good not to be cooped up in the house! His paws pounded on the tarmac and his ears were flapping as he bounded along. It was a chilly evening and a little bit drizzly, but he didn’t mind. The dampness felt good on his fur.
He paused for a moment at the end of the road, sniffing thoughtfully. Ben usually took him out for a short walk just before bed, so he was used to the dark. Yes, the park was this way. He trotted on, eager to go racing over the grass and to find Zoe. As he saw the park gates ahead he sped up and his tail started to wag with excitement. He darted in, loving the scents of cut grass and tree blossom and other dogs. He bounced on to the wide stretch of grass, enjoying the feel of the soft ground and cool grass under his paws.