Alfie All Alone (2 page)

Chapter Two

Evie just couldn’t stay in bed the next morning. She usually loved having a lie-in on Saturdays after getting up for school all week, but today she was much too excited. She hardly ate any breakfast either – she just stirred her chocolate cereal in circles till it looked like mud.

“You might as well eat it, you know,
Evie,” her mum pointed out, slowly buttering a piece of toast. “We’re not going yet. I told Mrs Wilson we’d be there at ten.”

“But that’s hours away!” Evie wailed.

“MrsWilson has to feed the puppies and tidy their run and get everything ready,” her mum explained. “We can’t go round before then.”

“I suppose so,” Evie agreed reluctantly. She trailed upstairs, wondering what she was going to do to fill a whole hour before they could leave. Then she had a brainwave. She’d go and look up puppies on the Net, to try and find out about looking after a dog. Evie settled down and before long was busy making notes. By the time her mum called her down, Evie’s head
was bursting with information about feeding, walking, vaccinations and training. It was a lot to think about. But she knew she could do it!

“Oh, look! He’s all shy!” Evie giggled, and stretched out her hand to the fluffy white puppy who was peeping out at her round his mother. He took a step back, then curiosity got the better of him. Tail slowly wagging, he began to sneak forwards to where Evie was sitting on the floor.

“He’s a little cutie, that one, probably my favourite,” MrsWilson said fondly. “I’m going to miss him – he’s such a sweet-natured dog.”

Mum shook her head. “I don’t know how you can bear to see them go. They’re all so gorgeous.” She scratched the puppy she was cuddling under the chin, and the little dog snuff led happily at her fingers.

“Well, this is the last time I’ll have to, actually.” MrsWilson sighed. “Lady and I are getting too old for puppies! We’re retiring, aren’t we, my special girl?” She patted the puppies’ mother, a beautiful snow-white dog with melting brown eyes. “We’re going to live by the sea. Lady loves walking along the beach. And getting soaking wet!”

Evie could have sworn that Lady’s eyes sparkled naughtily. That was the amazing thing about her and the puppies – they all seemed so bright and intelligent. Then the fluffy little boy puppy suddenly nuzzled at her hand, and she squeaked in delight. She’d been watching Lady and not noticed him creeping up on her.

“He seems to have taken a shine to
you, Evie.” Dad laughed, watching the puppy chasing Evie’s fingers as she danced her hand up and down.

Evie nodded, and then looked seriously at both Mum and Dad. “Is it really up to me to choose?” she asked worriedly. “I mean, all four of them are wonderful.”

“It’s a hard job,” Dad agreed. “But we can’t take them all.”

Evie giggled as the little boy puppy mountaineered up her jeans, trying to climb into her lap. She helped him out with a boost under his scrabbly little back paws, and he heaved himself up. Then he turned round four times, gave a great sigh of satisfaction and went to sleep curled up tight in a little white ball.

Evie looked up, her eyes glowing. “This one,” she said firmly.

“Mmm, I don’t think you had much choice,” Dad agreed, smiling. “He’s definitely chosen you! Now you just have to think of a name for him.”

Evie smiled. “I know what I’m going to call him. His name is Alfie.”

Mum and Dad gazed at the little puppy. “That’s a lovely name,” said Mum. “He looks just like an Alfie.”

It was a wrench to leave Alfie behind, but Evie knew she’d see him again the next day. He’d be coming home with them! Now they just had to get everything they needed to look after him. MrsWilson had given them a list, and Evie studied it in the car on the way to the pet shop.

“Basket. Food bowl. Water bowl. Collar. Lead. Harness. Chew toys,” she muttered.

Dad sighed. “Nearly as bad as the baby,” he moaned. “You sure little Alfie doesn’t need a cot as well, Evie?”

It was so exciting later that afternoon to see the basket with its smart red cushion waiting in a warm spot in the kitchen, and the collar and lead hanging from one of the coat-hooks in the hallway. Everything was ready for Alfie to come home.

“Oh look, he’s found his new basket!”

Evie and her parents were watching Alfie explore his new home. He was
trotting around on unsteady paws, sniffing at everything.

“A-choo!” Alfie sneezed and stepped back, shaking his head.

“Ooops!” said Dad. “I didn’t know my wellies smelled that bad. Let’s leave him to settle in.”

That night, Evie sneaked back down to the kitchen after her bedtime to check Alfie was OK. He’d eaten all his dinner and seemed to have made himself at home, but she was worried that he would be lonely, as he was used to sleeping with his mum and his brother and sisters. Alfie had been lying awake. He’d been trying to make sense of all the strange things that had been happening that day. His first car journey; the new house; a new basket
to sleep in. And new people. They seemed very nice – the girl smelled friendly, which was important.

The door clicked softly open and Alfie’s ears pricked up. It was the girl, Evie. “Sssh!” she murmured. “We mustn’t let Mum and Dad hear us, Alfie. You’re supposed to stay in your basket, but I bet you’re scared down here on your own. I’m taking you up to my bedroom instead. Mrs Wilson said you were very well house-trained, so I’ll put some newspaper down for you, OK? Mum would be cross if you weed on my carpet!” She snuggled him close as they crept up the stairs, and Alfie settled into her arms. This was much better than a basket, even a nice one like he’d been given.

Of course, Evie’s mum and dad soon worked out exactly what was going on, but they were so glad that Alfie was settling in, and making Evie so happy, that they pretended not to notice. From that night on, Alfie slept on Evie’s bed every night, snoring gently.

It didn’t take long for Alfie to become part of the family. He was such a friendly little dog. After a couple of weeks, when he’d had all his injections, he was allowed to go out for walks, which meant he could go to school to pick up Evie. She loved coming out to see Mum waiting with Alfie on his bright red lead. Usually it was twisted all round his paws and he tripped over it as he tried to race over to her. Her friends were all really jealous, and Alfie
got petted and stroked by everyone. Then they’d head home and Alfie would watch TV with Evie on the sofa. He soon decided on his favourite programmes, and he got very good at singing along to the theme tunes in a tuneful howl.

Mum hadn’t been so sure about getting a dog, but Alfie won her over very quickly. He loved people, and he followed her round the house as she did the housework. He was far better company than the radio! And whenever she sat down, he rested his head on her feet.

Of course, Alfie didn’t have to work hard to charm Evie’s gran. She was always popping over to see him and Evie, and it was great to have her to ask
about dog-training tips. It only took Alfie a few days to learn about asking to go outside and Gran warned Evie not to give him too many doggy chocolates as a reward, as he was starting to look a bit tubby!

Once Alfie could meet up with other dogs, Evie took him round to Gran’s house to be introduced to Ben and Tigger. Alfie was a little shy at first – they were a lot bigger than he was, especially Tigger – but after half an hour he was chasing them round the garden. Ben the spaniel soon worked out a good way to calm Alfie down when he was being too puppyish and excitable – he sat on him! Evie panicked the first time he did it, but Gran said it would probably be good
for Alfie to have an older dog bossing him around, and that Ben wouldn’t hurt him.

Evie and Dad soon got into the habit of taking Alfie for an evening walk after dinner. It gave Mum the chance to snooze on the sofa in front of the television. Now that the baby was getting really big, she was tired a lot of the time. Dad and Evie always took a ball with them, or Alfie’s favourite, a frisbee. Dad had spotted it in the pet shop and bought it for when Alfie was bigger, but once Alfie saw it, he didn’t want to wait. So what if the frisbee was almost as big as he was? He was very good at catching it – he could do massive leaps into mid-air, twisting and turning and snatching the frisbee
as it fell. Then he’d haul it over the grass back to Evie, and sit panting exhaustedly for a minute, before yapping for them to throw it again. A couple of times he’d worn himself out so much that Dad had to carry him home and lay the exhausted puppy in his basket. Evie was so happy that Alfie had become part of the family – she couldn’t imagine life at home without him now.