Rascal's Seaside Adventure (5 page)

Chapter Nine

The Terrible Tea Party

Gran didn't make a big fuss about Ellie and Max's adventure to Mum and Dad, when they got back from their outing, although she did make the two of them promise to take more care with the tides. But at least Rascal seemed to be back in Gran's good books again. She even let Ellie show off Rascal's tricks to her while she was baking another of her lovely cakes – sitting, and staying, and not eating his dog treat until he was told.

“What a good dog! You can show him off to my friends from jigsaw club this afternoon, Ellie. They're coming round for tea and cake. We're working on a huge puzzle at the moment, two thousand pieces. But we've nearly finished it.”

Gran looked at Ellie thoughtfully. “You'd better go and change, dear. Those are the shorts you had on earlier, aren't they? They're looking a bit sandy.”

Ellie took the hint, and went upstairs to change into a skirt. She persuaded Max to change too, and Lila didn't need any persuading. All three of them looked immaculate by the time the jigsaw ladies arrived – and Ellie had even brushed Rascal.

“Oh, isn't he lovely?” all the ladies cooed, and Rascal sat under the dining table as they did their jigsaw, looking angelic and nibbling the pieces of cake that kept being handed down to him.

Ellie was curled up on the sofa, enjoying reading after their adventurous morning, when she noticed that the happy buzz of chatter round the jigsaw had stopped.

“I don't understand it…” Gran murmured. “I rolled this jigsaw up in its special mat, and it's been safe in the cupboard since last week. We simply can't have lost a piece.”

Ellie put down her book, feeling worried. Things did tend to disappear when Rascal was around. She leaned over the arm of the sofa, and peered under the table.

Rascal came out to meet her, wagging his tail – and spat out something small and greyish. Something that might once have been the missing last piece of the
two-thousand
piece jigsaw…

“I've put him out in the garden, Gran,” Ellie said, in a small voice. “I'm very sorry…”

The jigsaw ladies had all gone home, leaving Gran crossly doing the washing up.

“We'll go and buy a replacement jigsaw tomorrow.” Mum sounded really embarrassed. “Er, shall I make some tea?”

“I'd love some,” said Grandad, stepping through the kitchen door and wiping his muddy shoes on the mat.

Ellie went into the living room, to keep out of Gran's way. Grandad put on a film for her, but Ellie couldn't stop thinking about Rascal. Finally, she sneaked into the kitchen to go and play in the garden with him.

She closed the door carefully behind her and looked around the garden, expecting Rascal to come running over. But there was no joyful bark to greet her.

“Rascal!” Ellie called, and then a little louder. She searched the garden, starting to feel the tiniest bit worried. Still no puppy. She checked down the side path, to see if he'd gone round into the front. He couldn't have jumped over the wall, could he? Gran had been very cross and told him off. Could that have made him run away?

Ellie hurried down the path, then gasped in horror. The front gate was wide open, and the garden was empty!

Chapter Ten

The Great Rascal Hunt

Ellie dashed out on to the pavement, hoping to find Rascal doing something awful like digging up next door's garden. She didn't care what he was doing, as long as he was safe.

“Rascal! Rascal!” She looked down the street in both directions, but couldn't see him at all. Trying not to cry, she raced back into the house, yelling for Mum and Dad, Lila and Max. “Rascal's gone! The gate was
open, and he's disappeared! I can't see him anywhere!”

Mum was sitting at the dining table, looking guiltily at the jigsaw, with its telltale missing piece. She jumped up, nearly upsetting her tea over the rest of the puzzle. “Oh no, Ellie, are you sure? He isn't anywhere in the garden?”

“I've checked!” Ellie wailed. “Someone must have left the gate open. We have to go and find him!”

Dad was already at the front door, pulling on his shoes. “And his collar's got our home number on, not the mobile. Come on, Ellie. Where would he have headed?”

Ellie followed him down the path, with Mum, Max, Lila and Gran and Grandpa
hurrying after them.

“He likes the beach, doesn't he, Ellie?” Grandpa suggested.

Ellie nodded. “But he loved it when we went shopping too – people kept stroking him. And that little girl gave him the end of her ice cream cone on the pier. He might have gone anywhere!”

“We'd better split up,” Dad said. “Ellie, you come with me, we'll go to the beach. Max and Grandpa go and check the pier. Lila, you and Mum and Gran go along the high street.”

Ellie and Dad hurried down the street to the cliff steps. They could see a long way down the beach, but there was no Rascal rooting about in his favourite
seaweed piles. It was hard to tell, though. There were so many people on the beach, with windbreaks, and even little tents. Rascal could be anywhere.

They hurried down the steps, and ran into the red-haired boys with the Westie at the bottom. “You haven't seen my puppy, have you?” Ellie gasped out. “Rascal? My Jack Russell?”

The red-haired boys frowned. “No… Has he run off?We'll keep an eye out for him.”

“Thanks!” Ellie called, hurrying away down the sand.

Dad and Ellie stopped lots of other people, but no one had seen a white dog with brown patches. It was odd how many people said things like, “Oh, the little Jack Russell puppy?” when they asked – Rascal seemed to have charmed everyone they'd met on their walks.

They ran along the beach, asking everyone they met. Ellie was running so fast she started to feel sick. And the smell of fish and chips wafting down from the top of the cliff only made her feel worse.

She stopped suddenly, grabbing Dad's hand. “Fish and chips! I bet he's gone to the fish and chip shop! I can smell it, and I bet he could too.”

She dashed over to the nearest steps, racing up them two at a time.

“Ellie!” It was Max and Grandpa, hurrying along the cliff path.

“He wasn't at the pier then?” Ellie asked.

“No, but then we thought of the fish and chip shop. When I took him out yesterday before bed, he headed straight for it,” Max explained.

Ellie nodded. “We thought so too. Let's go and see.”

“Oh, isn't he cute? Look at him begging!”

“I wonder who he belongs to?”

Ellie could hear the cooing voices even before she saw Rascal, sitting next to a
family at one of the tables, doing his best starving puppy face. “Rascal!” she cried.

He trotted towards her, and Ellie swept him up in her arms, laughing and crying all at once. “I thought we'd lost you!”

Rascal licked her enthusiastically, and he smelled of chips. Then he looked hopefully back at the table, obviously wondering if he could have more.

Ellie laughed into his fur as she saw Mum and Lila and Gran hurrying towards them. It looked like everyone had thought of Rascal and chips! “We'll ask Mum, OK? Maybe a few. Just please don't ever run off like that again, Rascal!”

Rascal wagged his tail, and Ellie was sure it was his way of saying sorry.