“Grace!” Mum called from the kitchen. “Time to go!”
Grace sighed, and rolled off her bed. Another flat to go and see.
Grace smiled politely as the lady who owned the flat chatted to her about whether she liked the bedroom that would be hers. She just wished Mum and Dad would stop fussing about the bathroom and get on, she was so sick of flat-hunting. They’d already seen this flat anyway, yesterday, when Grace and Danny were at school. Why did they need to look at everything again?
They finished at last, and Sheila, the owner, led them back towards the kitchen. “I’ll just show you the garden,” she said over her shoulder. “I’ve had a bit of a tidy-up since you saw it yesterday, but I’m afraid I’m not much of a gardener.”
Grace gasped. “A garden! There’s a garden?”
Sheila turned back and smiled. “Yes, didn’t your parents say? The garden goes with this ground-floor flat, you see.”
Grace looked at Mum and Dad, her eyes wide with hope. “So could we…?”
Mum nodded and laughed. “Yes! I mean, it’ll take a little while before we can move in, of course. But your dad and I have talked this over and, yes, we can have Harry.”
Grace flung herself at her mum and hugged her. “You planned all this, I can’t believe it!”
Her mum laughed and led her over to the window. “When we saw it, we realized how perfect it would be for you and Danny. You’ve both worked so hard at the shelter. Now you get to have your own dog.”
They looked out at the garden. It was messy, full of weeds, but Grace could just imagine Harry bounding up and down, barking joyfully as she threw a ball for him to chase.
Danny stared out too, his face split by an enormous grin, but then he frowned. “What about us all being out in the daytime? You said we couldn’t leave Harry alone all day.”
Dad nodded. “It’s OK. I’ve spoken to the people at work, and they’re happy for me to take Harry into the office with me some of the time. And when I have a heavy day of meetings, your mum should be able to pop home and give him a walk in her lunch hour.”
“Oh, Dad!” Grace hugged him, and then her mum again. “Thank you so much! Can we go home and ring the shelter now?”
When they got back, Grace was standing hopefully holding the phone before anyone else had even got their coat off. She’d even found the number on the kitchen noticeboard.
“All right, all right!” Mum laughed and took the phone.
Grace waited with her fingernails digging into her palms, listening to the ringing at the other end.
“Oh, hello, could I speak to Sally, please? Oh, it is you, hi, Sally. This is Amanda Winter, Grace and Danny’s mum. Yes, we’re all fine, thank you, we’ve missed you, too. But actually, we’ve got some good news. We’re moving, and we’re going to have more space in our new flat. We think we might be able to adopt Harry after all.” Mum smiled excitedly at Grace, but then there was a long pause, and the smile faded. Her voice had flattened when she next spoke. “Oh. Oh, I see. Yes, well, that’s good. Yes. We should have expected it. I’ll tell her. Thanks. Bye.”
“Someone else has taken him, haven’t they?” Grace asked, her voice shaking, and Mum nodded.
“Oh, Gracie, I’m so sorry.” She sighed. “Sally said he’s gone to a family this time. The children aren’t too young for a dog, and they’re all keen on having him. He’ll be having a lovely time…” But she couldn’t make the words sound happy.
“If only we’d found the flat sooner,” Grace wailed.
“It’s terrible luck,” Mum agreed. “We’ll just have to try and be happy for Harry. I know it’s hard.”
Dad picked up Grace and hugged her, even though he was always saying she was too big for him to do that now. Danny sat at the kitchen table with his chin on his hands, staring out of the window. “I can’t believe we just missed him,” he muttered. “It isn’t fair…”
“You probably don’t want to think about this right now,” Dad said slowly. “But – there are other dogs. Loads of dogs at the shelter who need a home.”
“Not yet,” Grace interrupted. “We couldn’t just yet.”
“No, I know. But think about it. Harry’s found a lovely home. But we could give a home to another dog.”
Grace nodded, and sniffed. At last she said slowly, “Maybe. We could have Finn, he’s your favourite, isn’t he, Danny? The one who ate your mints?” Her voice was shaking.
Danny nodded. “But I think he’s too big, even for a flat with a garden. Harry would have been perfect…”
“He would, wouldn’t he?” Grace tried to smile. “I suppose at least now I can go and help at the shelter again, without worrying about upsetting Harry. Oh, I do hope he likes the new people! He deserves a better chance this time!”
Chapter Eight
It was just over a week later, and Grace was sitting in her new bedroom. It was much bigger than her old one, but she hadn’t finished unpacking her things yet. She just couldn’t summon up the energy. Mum kept telling her to get on, but Grace couldn’t help stopping to look out of her window, imagining Harry playing out there. If she half-closed her eyes, she could almost see him, hiding under that big bush, getting ready to leap out at her…
Grace rubbed her hand across her eyes. Harry had a new home now. It was a lovely family Sally had said, when she went back to help at the shelter. He would be over the moon, with so many people to love him. The tears started to run down her cheeks again as she pictured him, curled up on a bed just like this one, while a girl the same age as her stroked him gently.
Harry was pulling anxiously at his lead as Sam Ashcroft coaxed him to chase the ball. The children were so bouncy and excited, and it was just too much for him. Harry had had such a hard time recently – moving around all over the place, and having to get used to so many new people. He simply wasn’t ready for three energetic children who wanted him to play all the time.
“Why won’t he chase it?” Sam asked crossly. “I’ve been trying for ages.”
“Maybe he’s tired?” Luke suggested. “Mum’s over there chatting to that lady from school, we’d better tell her.”
“But I don’t want to go home!” Lily wailed, and Harry flinched at the noise.
Mrs Ashcroft said goodbye to her friend and walked over to the children. “Come on, guys, we need to get home. Sally from the shelter’s coming to see how we’re doing with Harry.”
Harry plodded along the pavement with Luke, jumping when cars whooshed past. Everything seemed frightening at the moment. He wished he could just curl up in his basket, and everyone would leave him alone. His ears were tensely pricked for the whole walk, and when a piece of litter blew in front of him, he gave a sharp, frightened little bark.
Mrs Ashcroft looked at him worriedly, but she didn’t say anything.
The children were even noisier than usual when they got home. After Lily had nearly run him over twice with her doll’s pram, Harry decided to take drastic action. He hid under the sofa. It was quiet, it was dark, and nobody could find him to make him chase balls, or jump into boxes, or even just to hug him. He didn’t want to be hugged right now.