In the back garden, the dogs heard the slam of the front door, and started to bark – wanting someone to bring them some food, wanting to go out for a run, wanting someone to stroke and cuddle and fuss over them. Woken from a miserable sleep on the ratty old blanket that was his bed, Sam barked too, calling Emily to come and find him. It had been at least five days since he’d seen her, but he was still sure she was going to come and find him. Almost sure, anyway.
The people who’d taken him weren’t exactly cruel, but they didn’t seem to like dogs very much. Sam couldn’t understand why they wanted so many, when they never even stopped for a pat or a hug. The man just shoved the food bowls down twice a day, scowling, and the woman with the red gloves never came into the dogs’ shed at all.
Sam missed Emily desperately. He was used to being loved, petted, talked to. Even when Emily was at school he had her mum and Jack. Now he had no one, and it was miserable. Surely Emily would come and find him soon?
Emily slumped down on to the pavement. “I’m so stupid,” she muttered to herself angrily. She felt tears burning her eyes. She’d got all this way, and now she didn’t have a clue what to do next. She was never going to get Sam back!
But just as she was rooting in her pocket for a tissue, Emily heard barking. Lots of barking, from the back of the house. There was no way that was just Bertie. It sounded like five or six different dogs, and one of them had to be Sam!
Emily took a deep breath and stood up slowly. The house had an alleyway running down the side, and the fence looked really old and wobbly. Perhaps there was a way she could get round to the back garden and find those dogs. Maybe she could even squeeze through the fence? She couldn’t give up now she was so close!
Just as she was creeping along the fence, making for the alley, someone grabbed her shoulder. Emily froze, unable to move.
Then an irritatingly familiar voice chirped, “We found you, Emily!”
Jack!
And, more to the point, Dad. It was Dad who’d caught her, of course. Emily drew in a deep shuddering breath, and turned round. Dad was glowering down at her, the expression on his face half furious, half worried.
“Emily, what on earth are you doing?” he hissed. “You know you must never, ever go off on your own like that!” He sounded as though he was really having to hold himself back from shouting.
“Dad, please listen! I think I’ve found Sam!” Emily burst out. “That’s why I ran off, I was following those people with the pointer, they live here.”
Dad just stared at her, then at last he shook his head wearily. “Emily, how many times have Mum and I told you that those people had nothing to do with Sam being stolen? Look, I know you’re desperate to find Sam, but you’ve just picked this silly idea out of nowhere. Now come on, we’re going home.”
It would have been better if he had yelled at her. Somehow, Dad’s quiet, sympathetic, sad way of putting it seemed awfully right. It was just a silly idea. All her clever detective work suddenly seemed so babyish.
“OK,” Emily muttered miserably. Then she looked round. “Where’s Jack?” she asked.
Dad looked down at his hand, as though he expected Jack still to be holding it. “I don’t believe this,” he murmured, looking around wildly.
Suddenly Emily saw a flicker of bright green through the broken fence panels – Jack’s coat. He was heading down the alleyway she’d been about to investigate. “He’s there!” she said, racing after him before Dad could stop her.
Jack was crouched down by the fence, further down the alleyway. He was listening, with his ear up against a hole in the wood.
Dad grabbed him, but Jack pulled out of his arms. “No, Daddy! I’ve found Sam! I’ve found him!” He jumped round and round as Dad tried to hold on to him.
“Jack, it’s just a dog barking, it’s not Sam.” Dad was trying hard not to sound too cross, as he knew how much Jack and Emily wanted to find Sam, but he was losing patience.
“It is! Emily, it is, isn’t it? You won’t be cross with me now, will you?” Jack grabbed Emily’s hand and tugged at her hopefully. “Listen!”
Emily crouched down by the hole in the fence. “OK, I’ll listen,” she said, more to make Jack shut up than anything else.
On the other side of the fence, Sam barked with all his strength, hurling himself against the side of his pen. It was Emily! She’d come for him at last! The miserable tone of his barking changed to delight.
“Right, we’re going home, now!” Dad snapped. “This is ridiculous. What if the people who live here come out and see you upsetting their dogs?” He took both their hands and started to walk back to the street. “Emily, I’m sorry, but this has to stop. Come on.”
No! They were going! Sam scrabbled against the wooden shed with his claws, fighting to get out and chase after them. How could they leave him now when they were so close?
“Dad, it really does sound like Sam,” Emily said desperately, pulling back. “Please! Listen, don’t you think it could be him?”
“It is Sam!” Jack put in crossly. “You’re not listening to me. I told you it was.” He wrenched his hand out of Dad’s and shot back to the fence. “Just listen.” He started to sing loudly, “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream… Come on, Sam!”
And from the other side of the fence, Sam joined in gladly, “Ruff, ruff, ruff-ruff-ruff!”
“It is! It is him! Oh, Dad, we’ve found him.” Emily flung her arms round her dad and hugged him, then she ran to join Jack by the fence. “Sam, it’s me! We’re going to get you out!” Then she hugged Jack and lifted him off the ground.
Dad was looking at the fence as though it had just exploded. “I don’t believe it,” he muttered. “Emily, I’m so sorry, I should have listened to you before. That has to be Sam, it just has to be.” He shook his head in amazement. “OK, well, we’d better see what we can do. We can’t exactly walk up to the front door and ask for him back.”
Emily looked up at him worriedly. “What are you going to do?”
Dad smiled down at her. “It’s all right. We’ll get him out. We just need some help, that’s all. I’m going to call Mum and get her to call the policeman who was in charge of the dog-napping case. I wouldn’t be surprised if those other dogs we can hear were stolen too.”
Ten minutes later, a police car drew up outside the house, and Emily and Jack ran to meet it. “Can you get them out? Please?” Emily gasped.
“Hey, stop! You! Come back!” Dad was still standing in the alley by the fence, and he waved at the policeman. “Look, there are people climbing over the back fence!”
He was right. The dog-nappers had seen the police car arrive and were trying to get away, struggling over the fence that led into another garden.
The policeman got on his radio at once, calling for backup to come and chase after them. “Well, they’ve definitely done something they don’t want to be caught for,” he said. “So, how did you end up here?” he asked Dad curiously.
“Emily.” Dad gave a sort of resigned shrug. “She wouldn’t give up, and I have to admit, she was right.”
“Me too!” Jack shouted indignantly.
“Well, we had our suspicions about these people. They’ve been trying to sell puppies to a pet shop not far from here. But you beat us to it,” the policeman said, grinning. “I’ve got a search warrant for this house. Know what that means?” he asked Emily.