Katie scooped him up and hurried downstairs. “Oh, Timmy! What were you doing up there? You mustn’t chase Misty, it’s mean!”
Katie sounded cross, Timmy thought miserably. He sighed. He hadn’t meant to be naughty.
“What’s going on up there?” Mum was standing at the bottom of the stairs looking worried.
“Katie let Timmy get into my room, and now Misty’s stuck on top of my wardrobe!” Jess yelled from upstairs. “Mum, we have to shut him in the kitchen so Misty can calm down, it’s just not fair.”
“Oh, Katie. He didn’t upset Misty again?”
Timmy whined sadly as he heard another cross voice.
“Jess is right, Katie,”Mum said firmly. “Put Timmy back in the kitchen, and make sure the door’s shut tight. And hurry, Katie, we’ve got to finish off the Christmas shopping this morning, remember. We need to get going.”
“But Mum, he doesn’t really like being shut in…” Katie started to say, but Mum gave her a stern look, folding her arms. Katie sighed. “Sorry, Timmy. You have to go back in the kitchen. Stay here and be good, all right?”
Timmy watched, his big, dark eyes mournful, as she carefully shut the door. He was all alone, and everybody was cross with him. He howled miserably at the ceiling, then slumped on his cushion, listening to Katie and Jess and Mum in the hallway, getting ready to go out.
Timmy wriggled around sadly, trying to get comfortable. A piece of pink material was hanging on the radiator, and he knocked it down as he turned. It made him jump, as it fell on to his cushion. Timmy took it in his mouth to pull it out of the way, but he had it tangled in his paws, and it tore a little. This was fun…
The pink fabric was good to chew. It made satisfying tearing noises as he shredded it and shook it and rolled around the floor with it. He felt much better afterwards, but quite tired. It had been a busy morning climbing all those stairs.
Timmy fell asleep, covered in small bits of pink fleece.
A couple of hours later, Katie, Mum and Jess came back. Timmy could hear them outside the kitchen, and he scratched the door a few times, hopefully, but no one came to get him. He could hear Jess talking to Misty. She was allowed out. It wasn’t fair. He trailed back to his cushion, and nibbled a bit more pink fleece.
“Where’s Misty’s blanket, Mum?” Jess called. “It’s not in my room, and you know she likes to sleep on it.”
“Oh, I washed it, Jess, it was so dirty. It’s hanging on the kitchen radiator to dry,” Mum said.
Timmy could hear Jess coming towards the door, murmuring to Misty. “It’s all right, we’ll get your blanket, then you can have a nice sleep.”
As Jess opened the kitchen door, cuddling Misty, a guilty-looking brown and white puppy stared up at her, with shreds of pink blanket hanging out of the corner of his mouth.
Chapter Eight
Timmy lay on his cushion silently, only occasionally giving a sad little whine. Jess had been so cross, crosser than anyone had ever been with him before. She’d called him a bad dog, and lots of other horrible things. Even Katie had said he was naughty. He’d never heard her sound upset like that. And the worst thing was, they were right. He had been naughty.
The kitchen door clicked open gently, and Katie came in, wearing her pyjamas. Timmy looked up at her sadly. Was she still angry with him?
“Oh, Timmy. I’m sorry we shouted. You didn’t know, did you? But Misty’s really upset, Timmy, and Jess is furious.” Katie sighed. “I thought you and Misty would learn to get along, but it just isn’t happening.” She stroked his ears gently, and Timmy laid his nose on her knee, gazing apologetically at her.
Katie looked guiltily round at the kitchen door, and then scooped him up in her arms. “Come on. We’re both too miserable to be on our own. Mum and Dad have gone to bed, so I’m going to sneak you up to my room. We’ve got to be really quiet, because if anyone catches us, we’ll be in big trouble, OK?”
Timmy snuggled gratefully into Katie’s arms, and she tiptoed upstairs. She tucked him down beside her, and Timmy felt happy for the first time since Jess had been so cross. At least Katie still loved him.
But the next morning, Jess flung Katie’s bedroom door open, and rushed in, her face panicky.
Katie rolled over. “What is it?” she asked, too sleepy to remember that she ought to hide Timmy. Luckily, Jess seemed too distracted to notice him.
“Have you seen Misty?” she asked anxiously.
Katie shook her head, yawning.
“She didn’t come back in last night! I was sure she’d be here this morning. She does stay out late sometimes, but never all night.” She frowned at Katie. “You know why she’s gone, don’t you? Because of Timmy. He’s driven her away, Katie!”
“That’s not true—” Katie started to say, but Jess didn’t let her finish.
“Of course it is! He eats her food, he chases her, he’s bitten her tail, and now he’s chewed up her most special thing! I’m just surprised she didn’t leave before!”
Katie sat up in bed, carefully covering Timmy with the duvet. “Misty’s just old and grumpy, and she’s never been at all friendly to Timmy. She was the one who scratched him!”
“She’s a cat, Katie! Cats don’t like dogs! I told you and Mum and Dad that, and nobody listened, and now we’ve lost her. You were the one who wanted a dog in the first place. It’s all your fault!”
“No, it isn’t!” Katie yelled back, making Timmy tremble beside her. He hated shouting.
“It is, and stop trying to hide Timmy, because I know you’ve got him up here, and I’m telling Mum!” Jess stormed out, leaving Timmy whimpering.
“It’s OK, boy,” Katie muttered. “It’ll be OK…”
But she wasn’t at all sure that it would.
Katie and Timmy were in disgrace. Jess was still claiming that Misty had run away because of Timmy. Katie had to admit it was true, but he hadn’t been naughty on purpose – he was just being a dog, a friendly, bouncy, messy puppy. He hadn’t meant to upset Misty!
Dad had called their vet to tell them that Misty was missing. Misty had been microchipped, so that if anyone brought her into the vet’s, they could tell at once who she belonged to. But Mum and Dad were sure that she would be back soon.
“It’s only been one night, Jess,” Mum said at breakfast, putting an arm round her.
Katie sat on the other side of the table, feeling miserable. She was worried about Misty, too, and Mum had really told her off for having Timmy in her room. Now he was lying under the table, resting his nose on her feet. He could sense how upset everyone was, and it was horrible.
“She’ll be back as soon as she gets hungry, Jess,” Dad promised. “And it’s the first morning of my holiday from work, remember, so I can help you look for her later if she doesn’t turn up.”
“It’s only two days till Christmas!” Jess wailed. “What if Misty isn’t back for Christmas Day?”
The problem was Misty didn’t want to be found. She was miserable, and she wanted to hide away from people, and especially from dogs. When she had seen her precious blanket in pieces all over the kitchen floor, she had known that she couldn’t stay in the house any longer.