“He’s walking very well,” Dad said. “Not pulling at all. I was a bit worried he’d be too strong for you, but he’s being very calm.”
“He’s gorgeous,” Zoe said with a tiny sigh. She wished it was a longer walk home. As soon as they called the mobile number on his collar, Lauren or Ben would come and pick up Scout, and it was so lovely pretending that he was hers and they were just out for a weekend stroll.
She led Scout into their driveway and Dad unlocked the front door to let them in. Zoe’s mum obviously heard them from the kitchen. “Was dancing cancelled?” she called.
“No…” Zoe called back. “We found Scout! He’s run off, Mum. We’ve got to call Lauren to come and get him.” Quickly, she whisked her dancing tights off Scout’s collar and stuffed them back into the bag. Her dad winked at her.
“Oh, my goodness…” Her mum appeared in the kitchen doorway. “Hello, sweetheart! What were you doing, running about on your own? Thank goodness you two found him before he went into a road,” she added.
“I know. I didn’t have my phone though.” Zoe’s dad walked into the kitchen and picked it up from the counter. “There’s a mobile number on his collar tag.” He crouched down beside Scout, trying to read the tag and tap in the number while Scout licked his chin and tried to climb on top of him. “You daft dog… Oh… It’s not ringing. It says that number’s not in use.”
Zoe’s mum frowned anxiously at Scout, who’d followed Zoe into the kitchen. “Hmm… I suppose Jack’s dad has just changed jobs. Maybe that was an old work phone. Now what are we going to do?”
“We could call school,” Zoe suggested, almost reluctantly. She didn’t really want to help find a way to give Scout back. But Jack must be so worried about him. She could imagine how she would have felt, if it were Honey.
“That’s a good idea, sweetie, but I don’t think anyone’s in on Saturdays.” Mum sighed. “Oh! Are you hungry, puppy?”
Scout was sniffing hopefully at the edge of the table. He could obviously smell Zoe’s mum’s half-eaten piece of toast.
Zoe’s mum eyed it, and then the dog. “No… I’d better not send you home with bad habits. I bet you’re not allowed to eat from the table.” She went to the big kitchen cupboard and dug around in the back of it. “I thought so. I tried to throw it away a couple of times but it made me so sad…” She held up a bag of Honey’s food.
Scout bounced and woofed excitedly as he heard the dog biscuits rattling in their bag, and he practically danced when Zoe’s dad found Honey’s old bowl and they poured in a large helping. “After all,” Zoe’s mum murmured, “we don’t know when he got out. He might not have had breakfast.”
“He doesn’t look like he did,” Zoe said, giggling as Scout wolfed down the biscuits. “Here, you’d better have some water, too.”
Scout finished the food and licked thoroughly round the bowl, obviously trying to make sure he hadn’t missed any. Then he had a huge drink of water and sighed happily.
“He’s so lovely,” Zoe said, as he came to nuzzle against her knees and began to lick her fingers. “If we can’t find out their number, can we keep him until school on Monday?” For a tiny moment she imagined keeping him forever – not telling Lauren and her family that they’d found him. But she knew it was only a silly daydream. “I bet they’re really missing you,” she murmured to Scout.
“I’ve just realized something!” Mum brightened up. “He must be microchipped, mustn’t he? It’s the law. So all we need to do is nip down to the vet’s and get them to scan him – they’ll have his address on the computer.”
“Oh yes.” Zoe stared down at her feet. Of course, that was the sensible thing to do…
Chapter Eight
Unfortunately, the phone number on Scout’s microchip was the same out-of-date one that was on his collar. The vet’s had a back-up number, a landline, but although it rang, there was no answer.
“I expect that’s their old house number. But I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have updated all the details when they moved?” Zoe’s dad said to the receptionist, shaking his head.
“It happens all the time,” she told him. “You’d be amazed how many people just forget to do it. I’ll call back and leave a message – even if it is their old house, the new owners might have their contact details.”
Zoe sat on one of the waiting-room chairs with Scout snuggled against her legs. She could tell that he didn’t much like the smell of the vet’s. His ears were all flattened down, and he was being very quiet and well behaved, as though he hoped no one would notice he was there. At least scanning his microchip hadn’t looked as though it hurt.
“Yes, I suppose that’s the best thing to do. Thanks for your help, anyway.” Zoe’s dad sighed and came over to Zoe and Scout. “Well, all we can do is leave a message. If they don’t get back to us we really will just have to take him to school on Monday! Poor Lauren, she must be frantic, wondering where he’s gone.”
Zoe nodded, but she couldn’t help thinking it was a little bit Lauren and Ben’s own fault. They should have bought Scout a new collar tag and made sure his microchip records were up to date.
“So what do we do now?” she asked.
Her dad shrugged. “We take him home with us and wait, I suppose.” He smiled at Zoe. “And make sure he’s well looked after – I don’t expect that’s going to be a problem, is it?”
Scout stood at one end of the garden, waving his tail uncertainly. Zoe was running up and down the grass, tapping a ball between her feet. Was he allowed to join in? He’d tried to play with balls in the park before, and been told off and pulled away, but Zoe was calling to him and the ball looked so tempting…
He crept forward, nosing cautiously at the ball, and Zoe laughed. “Yes! That’s it, keep going!” The ball rolled towards her and she nudged it back over to Scout. “Come on! Yes!” she squeaked excitedly as he scrabbled and pounced at the ball with his front paws and it bounced off to the side. Scout watched eagerly, settling into a hunting crouch as Zoe ran up to the ball again. This was a good game!
He chased the ball up and down the garden with Zoe until he was worn out, and then flopped down in a patch of sun on the grass. He lay there happily, panting a little. Zoe ran off into the house and Scout looked at the door, wondering if he should follow her. But then she came back out with a bowl of water for him to drink and lay down next to him. Scout drank the water greedily and then laid his nose down on his paws, sleepy in the sun. He could feel the warmth of her, lying next to his back, quiet and loving.
“Zoe!”
Zoe woke up with a jump. She hadn’t been properly asleep, just sleepy… It was so warm for springtime, and there was something so special about lying there in the sun – especially when she was curled up with a dog.
Scout sat up, too, shaking his ears and snorting a little.
“Sorry, sweetie. Were you asleep?” Dad came walking down the garden.
“Only a bit…”
“The people from Lauren’s old house rang back. They had her number and I called her. I said we’d drop Scout back round – her husband’s out looking for him and she’s got the kids with her. Do you want to come?”
Zoe chewed her lip. She sort of didn’t – but at the same time she wanted to stay with Scout for as long as possible.
“We can put Honey’s old lead on him,” Dad suggested. “It’s still on the hook in the hall.”