For a couple of minutes he just ran, feeling the stretch in his legs as he snapped at imaginary butterflies and chased his own tail round and round. Then he slumped down into a happy, panting heap and started to wonder where Zoe was.
He had expected to find her – or rather, he’d expected her to find him. She always did. He looked round eagerly, hoping to see her hurrying down the path towards him, excited and waving. But there seemed to be no one in the park at all. It was eerily quiet.
Scout sat up, and gazed around worriedly. He hadn’t thought about what he might do if he couldn’t find Zoe. He had just expected that she would be there. She always was…
Except, maybe this time she wasn’t? His ears twitched at the strange sounds of the birds rustling in the trees and he stood up, pacing around in a tiny circle. Zoe was in the park when he was there with Jack, Scout realized. Now it was the wrong time – it was dark, closer to the time he went out for a last walk before bed.
Zoe wasn’t here. He was all alone.
Tucked away under the little climbing wall that led up to the playground slide, Scout gazed out at the damp morning, wondering if he should try to find his way back home. He was sure he could do it – he’d done this walk so many times. But something was stopping him. He kept remembering Jack howling when he’d knocked him over by accident and then Lauren’s sharp voice. They had both sounded so angry and upset.
Somehow his home wasn’t a place he felt happy in any more and Scout didn’t really understand how that had happened.
A few times during the night the cold had woken him and Scout had wanted to go home. But the padding of strange paws past his hiding place had made him tuck his tail between his legs and wriggle further under the leaves in the corner, and he wished he’d never run away. He knew home. He was safe there, at least, and warm. A couple of times he’d got as far as the gate of the little playground before he remembered how cross everyone was and how he hated being shut up in the kitchen on his own. Each time, he’d turned back from the gate and gone to curl up by himself again.
Now Scout’s tail thumped against the dry leaves as he heard voices in the distance. Zoe! She’d come to find him at last! He wriggled out of his hiding place just as a dad with two little girls pushed open the gate. Scout’s tail drooped again as one of the little girls raced towards the climbing wall and then stopped dead.
“A dog!” she squeaked. Scout came out from under the sloping wall, his tail beating nervously from side to side.
“Hey, Olivia, come away!” the little girl’s father said sharply. “Don’t touch the dog. We don’t know if it’s friendly. It must be a stray – there’s no one else here.”
The little girl ran back towards her father, and he shooed her and her sister out of the way. Then he came closer to Scout, crouching low and flapping his hands. “Come on. Out!”
Scout tucked his tail down, crouching. He’d done something wrong again, he could tell. These people were angry with him, too. He scuttled forward, trying to avoid the cross-sounding man, and darted out of the gate.
Now that he was up and walking, Scout realized how hungry he was. Perhaps he should just go home after all? But the path back to the gate led past the playground again. He didn’t want to go that way and be shouted at. So he kept on, wandering along the path that led to the other side of the big park and another gate. He didn’t usually come this way with Lauren and Jack and he stood uncertainly in the opening, wondering where to go and what to do.
He felt more alone than ever.
Chapter Seven
“But I thought all dogs liked playing fetch? You mean they don’t even chase sticks?” Zoe’s dad sounded quite shocked, she thought. She grinned at him, shrugging. It was so exciting talking to him about Bernese dogs like this. It made it seem all the more possible that they might get another dog of their own soon. Even if it’s not Scout… a little voice said in the back of her mind. Zoe squashed it down again. Scout belonged to another family. He was Jack’s dog. She was going to have her own dog.
“That’s what this website said. I suppose chasing sticks might be different… I don’t know. It just said they think fetching is boring. I can see why, can’t you?”
“Mmmm. It really does sound as though they’re very intelligent.” Zoe’s dad glanced down at his watch. “We’d better walk a bit faster if we’re going to get to this dance class on time, Zoe. It’s almost ten!”
Zoe wasn’t listening. “Dad, look!” She grabbed his arm. “Look! Isn’t that Scout?”
“What? Oh, are they out for a walk?” Her dad looked up and down the street, obviously expecting to see Lauren or Ben.
“No, look, there behind that parked car. It is!”
Zoe stuffed her dancing bag into Dad’s arms and raced up the road. She was almost sure that the black and tan and white dog peering round the car was Scout, but he was all on his own. Lauren never let him off the lead, because he wasn’t reliable enough at coming back.
“Did you pull your lead out of her hand?” Zoe asked gently, stopping a little way from Scout and the car. He looked nervous and she didn’t want to scare him and make him run into the road. But he darted towards her, licking her hands and whining delightedly. “Hello! Oh, you’re such a lovely dog! But where’s Lauren, Scout? Where’s Jack?”
“Hello, boy,” her dad panted. “So it is you…” He crouched down to make a fuss over Scout, too. “Can you see Lauren or Ben, Zoe? Scout shouldn’t be out on the pavement like this.”
“I know,” said Zoe. “I thought he must have pulled his lead out of Lauren’s hand, but he hasn’t even got his lead on. Just his collar. And they don’t let him off the lead…”
“Ohhh… Have you gone walkabout?” Dad murmured to Scout, rubbing his ears. “Maybe he slipped out of their garden.”
“What are we going to do?” Zoe asked. “We ought to take him home, but I only know they live on the other side of the park. I think they go to the gate at the bottom of the hill.”
“Mmmm.” Dad looked thoughtful. “We could walk down that way; we might meet them coming to look for him. But then we’re not even sure if they know he’s gone… Oh! Dancing!” He looked at his watch again and made a face. “Zoe, it’s starting right now!”
“But taking Scout home is way more important,” Zoe said indignantly. “We can text Miss Julia. She won’t mind, Dad, honestly.”
“Mmmm. Well, I guess you’re right. We can’t just leave him here. Has he got a tag on that collar?”
“Yes, and there’s a phone number. We can call them.”
Dad sighed. “Except I haven’t got my phone with me. We’ll have to take him home and do it.” He unzipped Zoe’s dance bag. “Do you think we could tie your ballet tights through his collar? I don’t want to risk him running out into the road.”
Zoe laughed. “Yes, but we’d better not tell Mum. She said those tights were really expensive.”
Carefully, she looped the tights through Scout’s collar and turned to lead him gently back towards their house. “Come on, Scout…” She wasn’t sure if he’d want to follow her – after all, he didn’t know her that well and he wasn’t used to going in this direction. But he padded along beside her quite happily, every now and then looking up at her, as if to check that she was still there.