The door was closed, but Ellie scrambled up the back step, anyway. The door didn’t always shut properly, and sometimes she could open it, if she nudged it hard with her nose at just the right place. Ellie pushed at the door. She wagged her tail proudly as it swung open and trotted inside.
Ellie wandered along the hallway, listening for Megan. Ah! That was her voice, coming from upstairs. She bounded up the stairs to find her.
Unfortunately, Megan’s dad was coming down the stairs, with his arms full of pictures from the bedrooms that he needed to bubble-wrap.
Ellie yowled as he accidentally trod on her paw, and tried to shoot off[49] through his legs.
Megan’s dad stumbled down the stairs, twisting his ankle. He landed painfully at the bottom.
Clutching his ankle, he looked up to see Ellie staring down at him.
‘That stupid dog!’ he yelled. ‘Megan! Ellie just tripped me up on the stairs. You’re supposed to be watching her! I thought Mum told you to put her outside.’
Megan and her mum had heard the crash, and they were already running along the landing.[50]
‘She didn’t mean to!’ Megan protested, hurrying to pick up Ellie, who was whimpering in fright. ‘I’m sorry, Dad, she was outside. I can’t have shut the back door properly[51] – it wasn’t her fault. Are you OK?’
‘No,’ her father muttered crossly, stretching his ankle. ‘Take that dog outside, now. Ow!’
Megan carried Ellie back into the garden. The little dog was shivering. She wasn’t used to being shouted at[52], and she’d never heard Megan’s dad sound so cross. Megan sat down on the garden bench and cuddled Ellie, whispering soothing words. ‘Ssshh, he didn’t mean it. I’m sorry, Ellie, I should have made sure[53] you couldn’t get back in.’
Ellie snuggled into her fleecy top, still shaking. At least Megan wasn’t angry with her. She whined with pleasure as Megan stroked her ears.
She knew Megan would always be there to look after her.
Chapter Three
Ellie rested her chin on Megan’s shoulder, as she lovingly stroked her head over and over.
‘Megan!’ Mum was calling from inside. Megan stood up slowly, carrying Ellie. She was growing so fast! She had been so small when they got her, it had been easy to hold her like this. But now she was getting to be a real weight.
‘Oof, Ellie, my arms are going to fall off,’ Megan teased her lovingly, as she carried her up the garden. She felt Ellie tense up a little as they went into the kitchen to join Mum and Dad. Obviously she remembered Dad shouting at her. ‘Hey, ssshhh, it’s OK,’ she whispered. But Ellie buried her nose in Megan’s neck and whimpered.
‘Is Ellie all right?’ Mum asked. ‘She didn’t get hurt too, did she?’[54]
Megan shook her head. ‘No, I think she’s just a bit upset. She didn’t know what was going on. I’m really sorry she tripped you up, Dad. How’s your ankle?’
Dad had it propped up on the chair in front of him, covered by a bag of frozen peas. ‘I’ll live. But this has made us think[55], Megan. Mum and I have talked it over, and we’re sure it’s the right thing to do now…’
‘What is?’ Megan asked cautiously. From the way Mum and Dad were looking, she had a feeling it was going to be something she wouldn’t like.
‘Ellie’s really been getting in the way[56] while we’ve been packing, Megan,’ Mum explained. ‘It’s going to be the same when the removal men are loading up, and when we’re unpacking at the new house, too. It’s just not practical having a puppy around. Dad could have been hurt[57] really badly.’
‘She didn’t mean to,’[58] Megan pleaded. ‘She’s only little. She wasn’t trying to be naughty.’
‘We know that, but we’re so busy, and no one has the time to exercise Ellie properly right now. So she’s even bouncier and sillier than usual! Aren’t you, hey?’ Dad reached out very gently to stroke the puppy. ‘Oh dear,[59] I really did frighten her[60],’ he said sadly, as he saw Ellie’s eyes widen nervously as he came close. ‘It isn’t fair on her.’
Megan gulped. She could see that they were right – she could hardly argue that Ellie wasn’t getting in the way, when Dad was sitting there with a hurt ankle. ‘But what are you going to do?’ she whispered. ‘You’re not going to make us give her back to Mrs Johnston, are you?’ Mrs Johnston was the breeder who had sold Ellie to them. She felt tears starting to well up in her eyes. ‘Please don’t say we have to give her back!’ she choked out. ‘It wasn’t her fault, I’ll be more careful, I promise!’
‘Megan, Megan, calm down! Of course we’re not sending Ellie back.’ Mum laughed, hugging her and Ellie. ‘This is only for a few days while we move. We don’t want to get rid of Ellie, but when we first started planning the move, your gran said she could help out[61] and have Ellie for a bit if we needed her to. So I rang Gran just now, and she said she’d love to have her. She’ll drive up and get Ellie, and take her back to Woodlands Cottage until we’ve settled in[62] a bit, just for a couple of days. We’ll pick her up on Tuesday.’
‘We’re all going to be so busy, you’ll hardly notice she’s gone,’ Dad said encouragingly.
Megan held Ellie tightly, feeling the warm weight in her arms. She didn’t want to send Ellie away. Not when she was already upset. She was sure Ellie would hate it.
‘She won’t understand,’ she said sadly. ‘I know she loves Gran, but she’s never stayed with her[63]. She’s never stayed anywhere without me! She’ll think I’ve abandoned her… She’s really confused with all the packing already, and she doesn’t understand what’s going on. Couldn’t I[64] just be really, really careful and keep her in the garden and not let her get in the way?’ Megan begged. ‘I know Gran will look after her, but Ellie’s used to having me. She’ll be miserable somewhere else. And Gran’s got a cat – that’s not going to work! Sid will hate having Ellie in the house!’
Megan looked down at the puppy. Ellie quite liked chasing cats…
‘I’m sure your gran will sort them out,’ Dad said, smiling. ‘Sid and Ellie will probably be curled up on the sofa together by the time we go and pick Ellie up.’
Megan shook her head disbelievingly. ‘Please…?’ she whispered.
Mum sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Megan. We’ve already had one accident. And I nearly squashed Ellie with that box this morning. This just isn’t the right place for a puppy right now. And the new house, too. We don’t really know what it’s like – there might be all sorts of places where she could get herself into trouble. We need to check everything out first to make sure she’s safe.’
Ellie gave an anxious little whine. She could feel that Megan wasn’t happy, and she didn’t like it. She licked Megan’s cheek lovingly