“Hey, Harry…” she said very gently. “You decided to come and see what’s going on, did you?”
Harry’s ears went back, and his tail sagged again. Beth wasn’t there. Just that woman who smelled of other dogs. He slunk back to his basket, and Sally sighed. She hoped Harry wasn’t going to have a really hard time.
Harry thought miserably about home. It felt like the sort of time he’d normally be curling up at the end of Beth’s bed. His basket was usually only for daytime naps; he always slept with Beth. She’d probably have given him one of his favourite biscuit bones, too. He sighed, and snuffled sadly. She would come back, wouldn’t she?
Chapter Two
Grace and Danny went to school round the corner from each other, Grace in the juniors and Danny at the secondary school. So Danny usually walked Grace home, except on Tuesdays when Grace had ballet. But today Mum was meeting them so they could all go to the shelter, and be properly registered as volunteers. They’d gone on Saturday, but it had been really busy, and the staff had asked them to come back in the week, so they could meet the dogs when everything was less hectic.
“Oh, where is she?” Grace swung her school bag impatiently.
“She’s not even late yet! We were finished early for once,” laughed Danny. “Hey, which dog do you want to take out? I really liked that big lurcher on the website. He was great – I bet he runs like the wind!”
Grace smiled. “I don’t mind. Any of them. Oh, look, there’s Mum!” Grace ran over to her. “You were ages! Can we go straight there?”
Mum laughed. “Yes, but I just want to stop at the supermarket for a few things, OK?” She winked at Danny.
“Mu-um!” Grace’s expression was tragic.
“She’s kidding you, Gracie!” said Danny. “Honestly, you’re so easy to wind up. Come on, let’s get going.”
Grace, Danny and Mum stood in the shelter reception, waiting for Sally, the manager, who was going to show them around. There was a constant noise of dogs barking and howling.
“You get used to it after a while,” Mandy the receptionist said, smiling. “Think how happy you’ll be making them, taking them out for walks. And it’s not only walking. With some of the dogs it’s just about companionship, a bit of playing or stroking. I’m afraid some of them have been badly treated, and we need to help them to trust people again.”
“But none of them are dangerous?” Mum asked anxiously. “I wouldn’t like Danny or Grace to be with any dogs that might bite.”
“No, no.” The receptionist shook her head. “Volunteers only take out dogs we trust completely.” She grinned at them. “The only thing you need to worry about is not getting too attached! I’ve got three dogs from here, the ones I simply couldn’t resist! You just have to remember that all the dogs are going to be rehomed eventually, or we hope so anyway. So don’t let yourselves get too fond of them, will you?”
Grace peeped through the glass door, looking at the dogs peering back at her from their runs. How could she not fall in love with them all?
“Grace, did you hear?” Mum said gently. “Don’t get too involved!”
Grace turned back and nodded. She would try…
The shelter wasn’t too busy, so Sally took Grace and Danny and Mum round to meet some of the dogs they’d be able to walk. There were so many – Grace was torn between being glad there were lots of dogs for her to get to know, and sad that they all had no homes of their own. It was heartbreaking when the dogs jumped up at the doors of their pens, their tails wagging desperately, licking her fingers, clearly begging for her to love them and take them home.
“Oh, this one’s gorgeous.” Grace knelt down in front of one of the wire-fronted runs to look at a little brown and white Jack Russell. “He’s only a puppy!”
Harry looked up hopefully. Grace’s voice sounded a little bit like Beth’s. But his ears flopped back again when he saw her – just another girl. He turned round in his basket so he didn’t have to look at her.
Grace gave him a surprised look. All the other dogs had been desperate for attention, and had wanted all the stroking and cuddling they could get. But this little puppy seemed to want them to go away!
“This is Harry,” Sally explained. “He’s our newest arrival. He was left with us a week ago, by a family who were moving to America quite suddenly. The girl he belonged to was about your age, Grace. She was really sad to leave him.”
“Oh, wow,” Grace murmured. She could imagine. Harry looked really young. The other girl couldn’t have had him for all that long before she had to give him away.
“He looks pretty miserable,” Danny said, crouching down to get a good look at Harry in his basket.
Sally nodded. “Yes, he’s really missing Beth, his old owner. He is eating, but not much, and he won’t respond to any of us when we try to cheer him up. I think he’s still hoping that Beth’s coming back for him.”
“That’s so sad,” Grace said, her voice wobbling. “I wish there was something we could do to help.”
Sally looked at her thoughtfully. “Harry isn’t ready to go out for walks yet, Grace. If you wanted to spend time with him, it would have to be here at the shelter. Probably just sitting with him in his run, letting him get used to trusting another person. It’s sad, but we just don’t have the time for that very often, with so many dogs to look after.”
Grace looked up at Sally, her eyes shining. “But I would love that!” she said gratefully. “Mum, is it OK? You don’t mind if I stay here while you and Danny walk your dogs?”
“Well, as long as it’s all right with Sally…” Mum said doubtfully.
“Honestly, you’d be doing us a favour,” Sally assured them. “We’re short-staffed, and we’ve all been feeling really bad that no one’s had time to work with Harry yet. But Grace, don’t expect too much to happen at once, will you? It might be a long, slow job. Poor Harry’s really moping.”
Grace nodded, looking at Harry’s smooth little back, as he lay curled into a ball in his basket. His nose was tucked under his paws, as though he was trying to shut out the world. She would take it really slow.
“I’ll let you into the run, then just sit down quietly to start with, not too close to him,” Sally told her. “Then I’m afraid it’s just all about waiting. See what he does. But if you spend some time with him every time you come, hopefully it will help him a lot. I’ll make sure I stay close to check you’re both doing OK.” She opened the door for Grace, and Grace slipped inside, trying to be as quiet and unfrightening as she could.
Harry raised his head suspiciously and glared at her. It was that girl again. What was she doing in his run? He huffed crossly through his nostrils, and Grace tried not to giggle, it was such a funny little noise. She leaned against the wall of the run, and watched Harry, as he turned himself away and snuggled sadly into his basket again. It wasn’t quite what she’d imagined, sitting on the floor just looking at a dog, instead of racing round the park. But Harry was so little, and his face when he first looked up at her had been so hopeful, and then so terribly sad. Grace wanted so much for him to be happy again and sat there quietly until her mum and Danny returned.