Buttons the Runaway Puppy (2 page)

Buttons looked up at him hopefully, and then looked over at her lead, which was hanging on a hook above Mr Jenkins’s wellies. She gave an excited little bark, and wagged her tail so fast it blurred.

“Oh, Buttons, I wish we could. I wish we could, poor little girl. Soon, I promise.”

Buttons’s tail sagged, and she trailed slowly into the living room to curl up on her cushion next to Mr Jenkins’s chair. He sat down beside her, and stroked her head lovingly. Buttons licked his hand. She adored Mr Jenkins, even though he couldn’t always take her for walks.

Chapter Two

“If you’re going along the canal path, you have to be really careful,” Mum warned them. “Especially you, Sophie. No going close to the edge, promise?”

“I’m not a baby, Mum! I’m sensible!” Sophie complained. “OK, I promise to be careful.”

“All right then. Tom and Michael, you’ll keep an eye on her, won’t you?
Don’t leave her behind.”

Sophie’s older brothers nodded, eager to get out on their ride, even if it did mean taking Sophie, too.

It was a gorgeous, sunny Saturday afternoon, and Mum and Dad were repainting the kitchen, so it was definitely a good time to be out of the house. The canal path was the Martin family’s other favourite place to go on walks and bike rides. They were lucky that it wasn’t far from where they lived.

Despite what they’d said to Mum, Michael and Tom couldn’t resist speeding off ahead. Every so often one of them would double back to check Sophie was OK, and she was – she quite liked riding along on her own
anyway. It meant she could stop and talk to the ginger cat sitting on the fence – he let her stroke him today – and admire the butterflies on a lilac tree that grew on the corner just as she came out on to the canal bank. She could do all these things without the boys telling her to hurry up all the time.

Sophie pedalled along, keeping away from the edge like Mum had told her to. The canal was beautiful, especially with the sun sparkling on it like it was today, but beneath the glitter the water was deep and dark. She rounded the bend, expecting to see Tom and Michael coming back to check on her, but instead she saw a familiar-looking dog.

Buttons!

The pretty little Labrador was sniffing about at the water’s edge. Sophie cycled closer, smiling at Buttons’s big chocolate paws, and her floppy puppy ears.

Sophie looked around for Mr Jenkins, but she couldn’t see him anywhere, and she had a horrible feeling that Buttons had run off. She wasn’t old enough or sensible enough to be off the lead – and she wasn’t, it was trailing in the mud. Buttons must’ve pulled it out of Mr Jenkins’s hand.

Buttons hadn’t noticed Sophie. She was watching a stick that was floating down the canal, and wondering whether she could reach it, if she just
leaned over a little. It looked like such a good one – big and long and really muddy – and it was ever so close. She leaned out over the water. If she could just get the end of it in her teeth… But it was still a bit too far away. She tried again, reaching a little further out.

“Buttons! Don’t!” Sophie called. “You’ll fall!”

Surprised by Sophie’s shout, Buttons stepped back quickly. But the edge of the canal bank was muddy and slippery, and her paws skidded. Panicking, she tried to scramble back up the bank, but she was sliding further in, and she couldn’t stop herself.

Sophie flung down her bike, and raced to grab Buttons’s lead. She caught it just as both of the puppy’s
front paws slid into the water. Sophie pulled hard on the lead, leaning right back – Buttons might only be little, but she was heavy. Just for a moment, Sophie wondered if Buttons might accidentally pull her into the water, too, but she finally hauled Buttons back on to the bank.

She hugged the shivering puppy tightly. “It’s all right, Buttons. Oh dear, your paws are all wet. It’s OK, don’t worry,” Sophie murmured soothingly, trying to calm her down. Buttons buried her nose in Sophie’s T-shirt, breathing in her comforting smell. Sophie had saved her!

“Buttons! Buttons!” Mr Jenkins was hurrying up, walking as fast as he could with his stick. “What happened, did she fall in?” he asked worriedly. “I saw you pulling her lead, are you all right? Is she all right?”

He leaned down slowly to stroke Buttons, and she pressed herself against his legs, making frightened little whimpering noises. “Oh, Buttons, you silly girl, what have you been doing?”
He looked up and smiled apologetically at Sophie. “She pulled her lead out of my hand and raced off. It’s the first time we’ve been for a walk in a while. Buttons is a bit overexcited to be out again.”

Sophie smiled back at him, though her heart was still thumping. It had been a scary moment. “She didn’t go right in. She was just starting to slip, but I grabbed her lead before she did more than get her paws wet.”

“Sophie! Are you OK?” Tom and Michael had come riding up, and they looked worried. The little sister they were supposed to be looking after was sitting on the canal bank with a wet dog, her bike flung down on the grass.

“Were you messing about by the
water? Mum told you to stay away from the edge!” Tom shouted.

“Of course I wasn’t!” Sophie said indignantly.

Mr Jenkins looked up at the boys. “Your sister stopped Buttons falling in. She’s a star. Ooof.” He slowly straightened up. “I think we were a bit ambitious with this walk, Buttons. Best leave it a couple of days more.”

“Would you like me to walk Buttons home for you?” Sophie asked.

Mr Jenkins smiled at her. “It’s very kind of you to offer, but you weren’t going home yet, were you? I don’t want to take you out of your way.”

“That’s all right. Isn’t it?” Sophie asked Tom and Michael. “Mum wouldn’t mind if I went back, would she?”

The boys exchanged glances. “We’ll come too,” said Tom. “That way we can wheel your bike while you’re walking Buttons.”

“Oh! I’d forgotten my bike,” Sophie admitted. “I was too excited about getting to walk such a gorgeous puppy.”

“She is lovely, isn’t she?” Mr Jenkins agreed, as they all started to walk home slowly. “Bit of a handful at the moment though. She’s got so much energy.”

Buttons was darting here and there, sniffing excitedly at the scents of other dogs and people. Sophie laughed as she followed her, but she could see that such a bouncy little dog would be hard work for Mr Jenkins.

“I really need to take her to some dog-training classes, but we just haven’t been able to get out much recently. Soon though,” Mr Jenkins added, as he watched Buttons racing about.

“Where did you get her from?” Sophie asked, wishing she could have a beautiful chocolate-coloured dog like Buttons.

“She came from a breeder who lives over on the other side of town. I got my last two dogs from him as well, but they were golden Labradors. Buttons is the first chocolate one I’ve had.”

“Buttons is such a brilliant name for a chocolate Labrador,” Sophie told him, giggling.

“Ah, that wasn’t me. It was my granddaughter Phoebe’s idea. She thought it was really funny.”

“Does she live round here?” Sophie asked. “I don’t know anyone called Phoebe at school.”

“No.” Mr Jenkins shook his head, sadly. “My son had to move with work earlier in the year. They live in Scotland now. I try and get up to see them, but I do miss her.”

Sophie nodded. “That’s sad. My grandad lives in France; we don’t see him much either. And my nan and my other grandad live in London, ages away. We phone them lots, but it isn’t the same as seeing them, is it?”

Mr Jenkins sighed. “Not at all. Phoebe hasn’t even seen Buttons yet; I got her six weeks ago. I’ve sent some photos.”

Buttons was enjoying following all
the delicious smells, and with Sophie holding her lead, she could go as fast as she liked. She was sure that there had been a mouse along here recently. It had gone this way, stopped here, then doubled back over here – oh! She was almost at the water’s edge. She stepped back, whining. She loved to look at the water, but she didn’t want to be in it.

Buttons looked up gratefully at Sophie, who was gripping her lead tightly. She was very glad that Sophie had been there to pull her out before. She knew she shouldn’t have run off from Mr Jenkins like that, but they’d been going so slowly. Still she wouldn’t do it again, it was far too dangerous. She wouldn’t run away ever again…

Chapter Three

Sophie and the boys said goodbye to Mr Jenkins at the door. The old man was very grateful, and told Sophie that she was quick-thinking and helpful, and she reminded him of his granddaughter.

“That’s all right,” Sophie said, blushing, as she took her bike back from Tom. “I’m glad I was there to catch her.”

Sophie watched as Mr Jenkins let himself and Buttons into the house, then she and the boys pedalled home excitedly.

Luckily Mum and Dad were having a break from painting, so they were able to listen to Sophie when she dashed in, full of her news.

“Well done, Sophie.” Her dad smiled, but then he looked worried. “I hope you were careful, though. A big dog like a Labrador could’ve easily pulled you in, too.”

“Oh no, Dad, Buttons is only little – she’s just a puppy,” Sophie explained. Then she noticed that Michael and Tom were making faces at her behind Dad’s back and added, “And Tom and Mike were only a bit ahead of me; they’d
have pulled me out if I
had
fallen in.”

Her mum shuddered. “Well, thank goodness you didn’t.”

“I think Soph deserves an ice cream for being clever,” her dad put in. “I could do with one too, after all that painting. Want to run down to the shop?”

“Oooh, yes!” And Sophie gave him a hug, carefully minding the painty bits.

When they were all sitting round in the garden eating their ice creams, Sophie said thoughtfully, “Mum, do you think Mr Jenkins would like me to walk Buttons for him while his leg’s bad? He said he’d have to take it easy for a couple more days, but I think a dog like Buttons needs proper walks
every
day.”

Mum and Dad exchanged glances,
and Mum sighed. “You’re right, Sophie. She would need lots of walks, a young energetic dog like that. Probably Mr Jenkins could do with some help. But it’s tricky. We don’t want to make him feel like we’re interfering, or that we think he can’t cope. If he asked, it would be different…”

“I bet he won’t ask,” Tom said, through a mouthful of ice cream. “He’s not that sort of person.”

“Well, if I see him, I’ll try and sound him out,” Mum suggested. “OK? A compromise.”

Sophie nodded reluctantly. Poor Buttons. It looked like she was going to be stuck in the garden again for a while.

Buttons followed Mr Jenkins into the house a little sadly. It had been fun walking with Sophie. Buttons tried hard not to pull on her lead with Mr Jenkins; she could tell it was hard for him to walk. She forgot sometimes, that was all. It was hard to remember to be careful when she smelled something yummy, or saw something she just had to chase. With Sophie, she had felt it was all right to be her bouncy puppy self and Buttons hoped she would see her again soon. Maybe Mr Jenkins would take her on a walk tomorrow.

But he didn’t. On Monday morning, Buttons hopefully brought him her lead, just in case, but he was sitting in his chair, recovering from the effort of getting down the stairs.

“I’m sorry, Buttons. Not today.” He sighed as he took her lead and heaved himself up. “You go and have a run round the garden, there’s a good girl. And I’ll put your food down for you in a minute.”

Buttons could feel him watching her as she skittered off down the garden. He looked anxious, and she wondered what was wrong. He was holding her lead still, and looking at it sadly.

Buttons looked around the garden and gave a little whine. She would much prefer a walk, but the garden was better than nothing. She was sniffing thoughtfully through the flower bed by the fence, when she came across a little hole under a bush. It was just large enough to get her nose into, but the loose dirt made her back out quickly, sneezing and shaking her muzzle.

Once she’d stopped pawing at her nose, Buttons sat and looked at the hole, with her head on one side. It was only a small hole. But she was quite sure it could be bigger. If there was a hole under the fence, she could go off for a walk by herself. Without even her lead! Buttons crouched down, and started to scrape at the earth with one paw…

The hole took a while to dig, but no one noticed what Buttons was doing because of the bush. It was a perfect cover.

Late the next afternoon, Buttons wriggled and squirmed her way out under the fence, and stood in the street, looking round in delight. She could explore! She could go wherever she wanted! She sniffed the air eagerly. Which way should she go first? The most delicious smells wafted past her and she pattered off down the street, looking around curiously.

On a wall two doors down from Mr Jenkins’s house, a black cat was snoozing in the sun, its tail dangling invitingly down the side of the wall. Buttons trotted up to it and barked. She’d been shut up in the garden for ages and she wanted to run. It would be even better if she could chase something! She didn’t know that chasing cats wasn’t allowed – there was just something about the cat that made her want to bark at it…

The cat woke up with a start, and mewed frantically, its tail puffing out and all the fur standing up along its back.

Buttons stood at the bottom of the wall, barking excitedly, and the cat hissed and spat.

“Go away! Bad dog!” A woman was hurrying down the garden path, waving a trowel crossly.

Buttons didn’t know what she’d done wrong, but she knew what bad dog meant. She slunk away with her tail between her legs, just in time to see Mr Jenkins standing at his gate, looking around for her worriedly.

“Is this your dog?” the cat’s owner demanded. “She’s been terrorizing my poor Felix. You should keep her shut up properly!”

“I’m sorry.” Mr Jenkins limped out and caught Buttons by the collar. “I don’t know how she got out. Has she hurt the cat?”

“Well, no,” the lady admitted. “But he’s terrified!” And she stomped back round the side of her house, carrying Felix and muttering about
badly-behaved
dogs.

“Oh, Buttons.” Mr Jenkins sighed.

Buttons looked up at him apologetically, giving her tail a hopeful little wag. She hadn’t been that naughty, had she?

Mr Jenkins didn’t know about the hole Buttons had dug under the fence. He thought that the postman must have let her out, or the boy delivering the local paper. He put a notice on the gate reminding people to shut it carefully, and kept Buttons in for the rest of the day.

The next day, Sophie went out to send a postcard to Rachel. The postbox was in the next street to hers – the street where Mr Jenkins and
Buttons lived. Sophie was hoping she might see Buttons on the way; she was sure she’d heard her barking from her garden. Mr Jenkins might be in the garden, too – Mum hadn’t had a chance to ask him about Sophie walking Buttons, and Sophie was tempted to ask him herself.

On her way back from sending her postcard, Sophie was just coming round the corner towards Mr Jenkins’s house, when she heard a scuffling noise, loud barking and someone shouting.

Sophie hurried round the corner. Buttons was out! The little brown dog was standing with her front paws on the wall, barking at a black cat who was perched on the top, hissing and trying to claw at Buttons’s nose.
“Oh, Buttons, no!” Sophie cried, running over. “You mustn’t chase cats!”