Jess flattened herself to the floor and whined miserably, backing towards her basket. She hadn’t meant to be bad. The cereal had smelled so good, and the cardboard boxes had been fun to tear up with her teeth…
Mum sighed. “Oh, Jess. It isn’t really your fault. You need a walk, don’t you?”
Jess thumped her tail on the floor, just once, but she kept down, watching Mum clear up the mess. She was sorry, but she still felt grumpy and bored. She desperately wanted something to do.
Chloe helped her mum with the tidying up. When they’d finished, Mum gave her a hug. “Not the best way to spend the first day of the holidays, is it? Shall we go out for an ice cream together after we’ve been to see Will this afternoon? I feel like I’ve hardly seen you recently.”
Chloe hugged her back, nearly spilling a dustpan full of cornflakes. “Yes, please! Thanks, Mum!” She danced over to empty the cornflakes in the bin. “Don’t worry about having to go to the hospital so much. I’ll be at pony camp next week with Maddy, so you won’t need to worry about me then.”
She turned round smiling, but then her eyes widened as she saw her mother’s face. “What is it?”
“Oh, Chloe! I never called them! It was one of my jobs for the day after Will had his accident, and I never phoned them up to book!” Mum looked horrified. “Where’s the brochure? I’ll ring them now.”
She grabbed the phone, and Chloe watched her making the call. Her mum frowned a little as she explained, and then looked terribly disappointed and guilty. Chloe knew what Mum was going to say before she even put down the phone.
“I’m so sorry. They’re all booked up. They’ve promised to call me if there’s a cancellation, but they didn’t sound very hopeful. Oh, Chlo, I feel dreadful…”
Chloe stared down at the ground. She wanted to say it was OK, she knew Mum had had other things on her mind. But she had been looking forward to this for so long! She and Maddy had spent ages at school talking about it, and drawing pictures of the ponies they might get to look after. How was she going to tell Maddy? It would ruin her holiday too!
She swallowed hard, trying not to yell at Mum. She knew she hadn’t done it on purpose. But it was so unfair!
She dashed out of the kitchen, scrambled up the stairs to her room and flung herself on to her bed, crying. Mum spent all this time worrying about Will, and she’d just forgotten about her. She mattered too, didn’t she?
She cried so much that her head ached, and then she actually fell asleep, in the middle of the day.
Mum came in just after she’d woken up, which made Chloe think she’d probably been hanging around outside her room, for a while. She had a plate with a sandwich and some biscuits on it.
“You missed lunch,” she said gently. “Cheese and ketchup, look.” It was Chloe’s favourite. She wiped her eyes and took the plate gratefully.
“I spoke to Maddy’s mum and explained. I said I’d arrange something really special for you girls later in the holidays.”
Chloe just nodded.
“I really am sorry, Chlo.”
She looked sorry, and Chloe leaned against her shoulder. Crying made her feel awful, and she felt guilty now as well. At least she wasn’t stuck in hospital like Will. “I know,” she muttered.
“Are you still going to come with me to visit Will tonight?” Mum asked. “I know he’s looking forward to seeing you. He asked if you could bring him some DS games.”
Chloe nodded. “Mmm. I know which ones he likes. I’ll find them when I’ve eaten this.”
“Thanks, Chlo. You’re a star.” Mum kissed the top of her head, and went back downstairs.
Chloe didn’t feel like a star. She felt lonely and miserable. She ate the biscuits, but she didn’t really enjoy them, and then she got up to go and fetch Will’s games from his bedroom.
She was searching through the pile on his shelf, when a tiny noise made her turn round sharply.
She hadn’t noticed that Jess was lying on Will’s bed, staring at her, her eyes looking even darker than usual and so sad. For once, Chloe didn’t feel that horrible jump of fright that she got when a dog was too close. Jess just seemed so unhappy.
“You look like I feel…” Chloe joked, but it wasn’t really funny. “Mum isn’t cross with you any more, Jess, honestly.”
Jess gazed at Chloe, and thought she looked sad too. She whined, and Chloe nodded.
“I know. You miss Will, don’t you?” Chloe picked up the games, then wriggled herself over to lean against Will’s bed. “Me too, Jess.”
Jess gave a huge sigh, and Chloe giggled. “That was right in my ear.” She looked at Jess, whose nose was hanging over the edge of the bed right next to her, and very gently stroked her.
Jess closed her eyes and sighed again, gratefully, as Chloe scratched behind her ears. It felt so nice to have somebody fuss over her.
Chloe lay in bed that night feeling too hot to sleep. Mum had said she thought it might thunder, but even though a storm would probably cool everything down, Chloe hoped she was wrong. She hated thunderstorms. She turned over and yawned. She was tired, but she was never going to be able to sleep in this sticky room…
She was woken hours later by a huge crash of thunder. Her room was still lit up by lightning, which meant the storm was right overhead. Chloe sat up, clutching the duvet around her shoulders. Another flash! The horrible blue-white light sent everything into scary shadows, and she shivered, waiting for the thunder.
Suddenly a little black-and-white body hurtled through her bedroom door, making Chloe squeak with surprise. Jess flung herself on to Chloe’s bed, whimpering in fear.
“Oh, Jess, are you scared of thunder too?” Chloe cuddled the puppy close, forgetting to be frightened, either of Jess or the thunder. As the next thunderclap cracked overhead, Jess cowered against her, letting Chloe wrap her arms around her small black ears to shut out the noise. “Ssshh, ssshh, it’s OK. It’ll go away soon.”
Jess licked her hand gratefully. She couldn’t have stayed in the kitchen, not with those crashing noises and that awful prickly feel in the air. She really wanted Will, but Chloe would do. It was nice to be cuddled, and she was making good sounds, shushing noises that made the crashing seem not so bad.
She could feel Chloe’s heart thudding so quickly. She was scared too, Jess thought. She licked her again, and then snuggled closer as another growl of thunder rumbled round the house.
Chloe lay there, jumping every so often as the thunder rang out, but mostly thinking over and over, I’m cuddling Jess. I’m holding a dog! I’d never have thought that she’d be scared of thunder, when she’s so bouncy and loud. “You’re even worse than me, Jess.” She giggled, and Jess licked her under the chin.
The thunder was dying away now, to just a few grumbles, and Chloe lay back down, with Jess still cuddled up next to her. “Are you staying, Jess?” she asked.
But Jess was asleep already, curled in a little ball in the crook of Chloe’s arm.
Chapter Four
Jess was still there when Chloe woke up the next morning, snuggled down the side of her bed. Chloe smiled delightedly – it was just like she’d imagined having a dog would be. Jess yawned, showing a huge length of pink tongue, and rolled over on to her back, still fast asleep. She lay there with her paws folded on her chest, snoring a little, until Chloe woke her up by giggling too much.