A Home for Shimmer (11 page)

‘But I tied her lead to a chair,’ I said, panicking more now. ‘She couldn’t have got out unless she dragged the chair with her – and we’d have heard that.’ Tears sprang to my eyes as I imagined how scared she would be if she’d got lost.

‘And we kept the doors shut after people arrived,’ said Josh. ‘I’ve kept an eye on it all afternoon and made sure it was closed and only open to let people leave.’

I raced to the doors and out on to the pavement, where I looked up and down the road. There was no sign of her. She had definitely gone.

Chapter Eleven

Looking for Shimmer

‘Let’s split up,’ said Dad. ‘Josh, you take the left on foot, Caitlin and Amy, you go right. I’ll get in the car and drive up and down the streets.’ He turned to Mr O’Neill. ‘Maybe you could drive around too, Mike. I’ll go north, you go south.’

‘I’m on it,’ said Mr O’Neill, heading off to his car. ‘Don’t worry, Amy, we’ll find her.’

Mum pointed at Mrs O’Neill. ‘Shannon and I will stay here and clear up and see if Shimmer comes back, or anyone finds her. She might have just wandered off somewhere. Everyone got their phones?’

Caitlin, Josh and I nodded.

‘I’ll be base camp,’ Mum continued. ‘Call me if there’s any news.’

Everyone shot off in the direction Dad had directed them. I felt breathless and close to tears as we ran up and down the road, looking in front gardens, peering over fences and calling Shimmer’s name. ‘I can’t bear it if anything’s happened to her,’ I said. ‘It’s my fault, I should have been keeping a closer eye on her!’

‘Don’t worry, we’ll find her,’ said Caitlin. ‘SHIMMER! Where are you?’

‘I can’t believe she’d have gone off on her own. She never likes to be far away from me. I honestly don’t understand what could have happened. Her lead was tied to the chair. Do you think it came loose? Or . . . oh Caitlin, do you think someone might have stolen her? She is so beautiful.’

Caitlin squeezed my arm. ‘We’ll find her. It had crossed my mind that someone might have taken her – but this is a small village, it would get out if someone had her. Someone would notice.’

As we ran along the road, we saw a man who had been at the hall. ‘Excuse me, have you seen my dog?’ I asked. ‘She’s a golden retriever.’

‘I saw one in the village hall but not since,’ he replied. ‘Why, have you lost her?’

I nodded. ‘We looked around and she’d gone.’

The man shook his head then rolled his eyes. His face had a pinched look and his hair looked as though it needed a good wash. ‘You’re the people who want to run the animal rescue centre, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘And you can’t even keep track of your own dog? Not a good start that, is it?’

Caitlin pulled me away. ‘That’s not very helpful, Mr . . .’

‘Mr Braithwaite,’ said the man. ‘Best of luck.’ He turned and went into a terraced house nearby.

‘He didn’t sound like he meant that,’ said Caitlin as he disappeared inside.

We spent another half an hour searching the streets. We got some very odd looks because I was still in my chicken outfit and Caitlin was still dressed as a tiger. At first people laughed when we said we were looking for a dog, but they stopped when they saw we were genuinely worried. No one had seen her.

I stopped a lady at the bus stop. ‘You haven’t seen a dog on its own, have you?’ I asked.

‘Yes, I have. About fifteen minutes ago. Ran by here.’

‘Where? Which way did she go? Was she on her own?’ I could have wept with relief – I’d been imagining someone stealing her and driving her away from the area.

‘Oh it wasn’t a she,’ said the lady.

‘How do you know?’ asked Caitlin.

‘It was a boy. A teenager.’

‘With the dog?’ I asked. I felt confused.

‘No.
Dressed
as a dog. He had on a costume.’

‘Josh,’ said Caitlin, exasperatedly. ‘She saw Josh. Sorry, we’re not looking for someone dressed as a dog, we’re looking for an actual dog. A white-golden retriever. We’ve lost her.’

The bus came round the corner and the lady put her hand out. ‘In that case, I can’t help. Sorry.’ As the bus opened its door, she stepped on. Everyone on the bus was staring and pointing at us. I felt close to tears again. My imagination was running wild. What if Shimmer had run into traffic? What if she was hurt?

At that moment, my phone rang. It was Mum.

‘Amy, come back. Dad and Mr O’Neill said that they can cover more ground in the car.’

‘So they haven’t found her?’

‘Not yet.’

I felt my heart sink further. ‘Can I go with Dad?’

‘Why don’t you come back to the hall and we’ll go home and wait for news there.’

‘Please let me go with Dad,’ I pleaded. ‘I’ll go mad waiting at home. Please let me do something, Mum.’

I knew I couldn’t rest until we found her.

When it got dark, Dad gave up the search and drove home, though I begged him to stay out looking for Shimmer. ‘We can use our energy other ways,’ he said. ‘Posters, phone calls – we’re not giving up by going home, Amy, just changing the way we search.’

When we got back to the house, we saw that Josh had already been busy and was printing out posters to put on lampposts and trees. ‘I wanted to go straight out and put them up, but Mum wouldn’t let me,’ he said.

‘No one’s going to see them in the dark,’ Mum said gently. ‘Have some supper, get a good night’s sleep and we’ll start again in the morning. She can’t have got far and tomorrow we can go door to door asking if anyone has seen her. It’s a small village. News travels fast.’

Caitlin had said something similar, but it didn’t make me feel any better. I couldn’t eat a thing, didn’t sleep a wink and had a horrible night. How could I sleep or eat when Shimmer might be somewhere strange, hungry and wondering where I was – or, even worse, hurt by a roadside?
We should have stayed out looking
, I thought as I tossed and turned in my bed.

I was up early on Sunday morning and once again Mum tried to get me to eat something, but I couldn’t. I felt sick with worry and my stomach churned again as my imagination played images in my mind of what might have happened to Shimmer.

Dad drove Josh and me into the village where we got busy putting up posters on trees and walls. Mum stayed at home at ‘base camp’ again, to be there if anyone phoned with news.

A few villagers stopped and asked about the posters, but no one had seen or heard of Shimmer. I felt so empty and sad, like a part of me was missing. In the weeks I’d had Shimmer, I’d grown to love her and her funny ways – her enthusiasm (Mum would say greed) for food and how she’d eat like she’d never had a meal before. Two gulps and it was gone, then she’d get the hiccups and, all the time, she’d look as if she was smiling. If any of us forgot her suppertime, she’d come and stand next to one of us and nudge us until we fed her. The way she hated salad always made me laugh and her look of disdain if we offered her a carrot or piece of cucumber was hilarious. Any dog toy we give her would last four minutes max, but somehow she knew not to touch my old soft toys that were on the shelf behind my bed. I wonder how she knew that they weren’t for chewing? She was so cute, had a pure heart, loved me unconditionally and was always in a good mood. She was so lovely and soft to snuggle up with after school, she’d nestle her head under my chin and settle down like she knew she belonged. She was one of the family – and to think about life without her was unimaginable. Last night, the house felt so quiet without her in it. She made everyone in our family smile and there was no doubt that we were all happier for having had her come into our lives.

After a couple of hours, I sat on the pavement and cried.

Dad was about to sit next to me when his phone rang. Josh and I watched and listened to his end of the conversation expectantly.
Please, please let someone have found her
, I prayed as I stood back up.

Dad shook his head after the call. ‘It was just Mike asking if there’d been any news and saying that he and Caitlin will come and help out if we need.’

I sank back down on to the pavement. ‘What could they do? I am the most useless person in the world,’ I said. ‘I don’t deserve to have such a beautiful dog if I can’t look after her. It’s all my fault, if I’d been watching over her more, this wouldn’t have happened and now you’ll never let me keep her.’

‘Amy, it’s not over yet,’ said Dad. ‘And you mustn’t blame yourself. You tied her lead to a chair. You didn’t just abandon her. She’s not even been gone a day yet. Give it time. Dogs don’t just disappear into thin air. She has to be somewhere.’

‘But what do we do now?’ I asked.

Dad shrugged. ‘I don’t know. We wait, I guess. Someone is bound to have seen something. When people see the posters, they’ll start talking. Someone
must
have seen something.’

We got into the car to go back home and Dad’s mobile rang again. As Dad took the call, I held my breath, hardly daring to hope.

Chapter Twelve

Unexpected Volunteers

As Dad listened, I saw his expression lighten; he glanced over at me and gave me the thumbs up. He clicked off the phone.

‘That was Mum. Shimmer’s been found.’

I let out a breath of air. Tears came into my eyes again, this time with relief. ‘Where was she? Is she OK?’

‘She’s fine. Apparently Mrs Watson brought her back.’

‘Mrs Watson?’ asked Josh.

Dad nodded. ‘Seems one of her nephews took Shimmer and hid him in her garden shed.’ Dad frowned as he was saying this. ‘She’s taking her back to the house now.’

I bet it was Liam
, I thought as we headed for home.
He probably thought it was funny. Poppy warned me about him. I am
so
going to kill him.

When we got home, Shimmer was back already and scoffing down a big bowl of food. She went mad when she saw me and rushed towards me with the same excitement I felt at seeing her again.

I knelt down and she leaped on to my knees, put her paws on my shoulders and gave my face a very enthusiastic licking. ‘Pleased to see you too, Shimmer. I don’t think I will ever need to wash my face again!’ I said as I wrapped my arms around her soft wriggling body. ‘And I will never let you go again.’

Shimmer wagged her tail as if agreeing.

‘She’s fine,’ said Mum. ‘And she’s just eaten two bowls of food.’

‘That nasty Liam. Why did he take her?’ I said.

Mum looked puzzled. ‘Mrs Watson didn’t mention Liam. No, she said it was the younger one who took Shimmer – Robbie.’

‘Robbie? But why?’

‘I’m not sure. Maybe he couldn’t resist her. I’ve heard theirs is not a happy home so we should try to be sympathetic. Mrs Watson was very apologetic, but begged us not to be too angry with him. Apparently his dad is hard enough. She’s going to bring Robbie up later to apologise in person, but has asked that we don’t complain to his father. She said if he found out, he might make Robbie’s life a misery, more than it is already.’ I thought about how much I loved Shimmer, and how upset I was that she’d been taken. But I also remembered how much happiness she’d brought to our family and I understood, just a tiny bit, why Robbie might have wanted to take her for himself, especially if he was unhappy at home.

Later that day, I was playing ball with Shimmer in the yard when Mrs Watson’s car drove up, with her and Robbie inside. She stopped at the front and I could see she was saying something to Robbie, who was in the passenger seat. They both got out and, when Mrs Watson saw me, she came towards me. Mum and Dad must have heard her car arrive because they came out to greet her.

Robbie stayed close to the car and stood looking at his feet. His eyes were swollen and I could see that he’d been crying.

‘Come on, Robbie, what have you got to say to the Westalls?’ asked Mrs Watson.

Robbie shifted about, but still didn’t look up. When Shimmer saw him, she ran up to him and put her paws up to his knees, her tail wagging. She was clearly pleased to see him.

Robbie looked bewildered, as if he didn’t know what to do. Shimmer gave him an encouraging bark to say, ‘
Oi
,
don’t ignore me
.’ Finally Robbie looked up and his expression broke my heart. He looked so worried. ‘I . . . am . . .
so
. . . sorry I took your dog, Amy,’ he stuttered. ‘I didn’t mean any harm. Just she’s so cute, I only meant to take her for a walk and play with her a bit and then . . . and . . .’

I could see that he was genuinely sorry so I went over and put my arm around him. ‘Do you promise to never steal her again?’

He looked up at me and I tried to look back as kindly as I could.

‘No. I won’t,’ he said. ‘I mean – I won’t steal her, not that I won’t promise.’

Shimmer was still pawing at his knees, desperate for attention, so he bent down and stroked her and she licked his hand. ‘She’s the cutest dog I’ve ever seen,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t have harmed her.’

‘But you do know it’s wrong to take a dog that doesn’t belong to you,’ said Dad.

Robbie’s eyes grew huge with alarm. He swallowed nervously then nodded. ‘I do. I won’t do it again, promise and . . . and . . . my aunt says you want volunteers to work on your centre. I volunteer. I’ll do anything.’ He glanced over at one of the open stables. ‘I love animals, me. I’ll come and live here if you like. I’m a good washer-upper and a fast learner.’

Dad smiled. ‘That won’t be necessary, son,’ he said, ‘but your help would be welcome when we’re up and running.’

Robbie’s face broke into a grin. ‘Honest?’

‘In the meantime, do you want to play with Shimmer and me?’ I asked. I remembered Shimmer when she first came to Silverbrook. She’d looked so confused and just wanted someone to be kind to her. Robbie had that same sad look in his eyes. Plus it might be fun to have a boy around that wasn’t Josh.

Robbie’s eyes grew large again, like they were going to pop out of his head. ‘Could I?’

I nodded. ‘She loves chasing a tennis ball.’ I handed him a ball and he was off, throwing, with Shimmer scampering after him.

Mum came and put her arm around me and gave me a squeeze. ‘Good girl, Amy. That was generous of you.’

I squeezed her back. ‘He seems sad,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t be angry with him for long.’