Max the Missing Puppy (4 page)

Max was still lying huddled under the hedge, his leg throbbing with pain. He felt weak and dizzy, and he couldn’t stand up. He was so frightened. What was going to happen to him? Molly had no idea where he was – he didn’t even know where he was.

He still wasn’t really sure what had happened, either. He’d been wearily wandering along the road, 
then those enormous lights had swept over him, and something hit him. Then he didn’t remember any more. He wanted Molly. With a sad little snuffling noise, he laid his head down on his front paws. He couldn’t move – he’d tried and his leg wasn’t working. All he could do was wait, and hope. Maybe Molly would come looking for him. She wouldn’t give up on him, would she?

Chapter Four

Jasmine bounced excitedly around the holiday cottage, racing in and out of all the rooms, and getting under Mum and Dad’s feet.

“Can we go out and have a look around? Can we go and see the sea?” she kept asking.

“As soon as we’ve emptied the car, I promise,” her mum said, as she 
unpacked all the food they’d brought and stored it in the cupboards.

Jasmine sighed, and perched herself on the window sill to stare out. The little cottage was right on the cliff, with only a tiny patch of grass separating it from a huge drop to the sea. Mum and Dad had already made her promise faithfully to stay away from the edge. She had a beautiful view out to sea. The sun was sparkling on the water, and a couple of small boats were creeping past. The cottage was just outside a little town called Stambridge. If they walked one way they’d get to the town, which had lots of very interesting-looking shops that Jasmine had spotted on their way through, and if they went the other way they’d reach 
one of the many little paths down to the beach. Jasmine had been thinking that they should go and investigate the shops first, and maybe buy an ice cream, but the expanse of shining water was calling to her, and now she definitely wanted to find the path down the cliff.

At last her parents had finished the unpacking and they were ready to go and explore.

“Shall we go and get an ice cream?” her dad suggested. “I could do with something to cool me down after lugging all those bags around.”

“Oh, please can we go and look at the beach first?” Jasmine begged. “And can we go for a paddle? The sea looks so lovely out of the window, really blue, with little waves. Pleeeaase!” 

“I don’t believe it. You’re turning down an ice cream?” Jasmine’s mum said, laughing.

Jasmine looked thoughtful. “Well, I’m not saying I don’t
want
one…”

Her dad grinned. “I’m sure we can do both. Let’s go and have a quick look at the sea, and then head into the town to explore.”

Eagerly they set off along the road. It had a real holiday feel, not like the smooth pavements Jasmine was used to at home. This road had steep banks, and hedges, full of wild flowers, and every so often something scuttled into the undergrowth as they passed. Just along from the cottage, a little
white-painted
signpost pointing the other way said
Stambridge 2 miles
. Jasmine walked ahead, looking excitedly for a path down to the sea.

“Oh, look! Here it is!” she called back, waving to her parents to catch up.

All at once, there was a strange little scuffling noise in the grass on the bank, and Jasmine jumped back. “Ugh! I hope it isn’t a rat!” she said nervously to 
herself. But the scuffling was followed by a tiny whimpering sound. That definitely wasn’t a rat. It sounded more like a dog…

Max had heard Jasmine calling, and for one hopeful moment he had thought it was Molly come to find him. He quickly realized it wasn’t her, this girl didn’t smell right, but maybe she would help him anyway. He struggled to get up, but he couldn’t, his leg hurt so much, so he just called out to her.
Please! Help me!
he whimpered.

Jasmine crouched down cautiously to peer into the grass, and saw Max’s black eyes staring back at her, glazed and dull with pain. He thumped his tail wearily to show he was glad to see her. 

“Oh, wow, aren’t you gorgeous? What are you doing here, puppy? Are you lost?” Then Jasmine saw his leg and gasped. She jumped up. “Mum! Dad! Come here, quick!”

Her parents had been dawdling along, enjoying the early summer sunshine. Jasmine’s anxious voice jerked them out of their daydream.

“What is it?” her dad asked, dashing up.

“It’s a dog, a puppy, I mean. He’s hurt! Oh, Dad, look at his leg…” Jasmine’s voice faltered. Max’s leg was badly cut and had bled a lot all over his beautiful white fur. “What are we going to do?”

“He must have been hit by a car,” said Dad. “Poor little thing.” He turned
to Jasmine’s mum, who’d come running after them. “Did you see a vet’s in Stambridge as we drove through?”

Jasmine’s mum shook her head. “I’m not sure, but I should think there would be. Is the little dog hurt?” she asked worriedly.

“Hit by a car, I think. We can’t leave him here.” He looked down at Max. “I wonder when it happened. He looks pretty weak.”

Jasmine’s mum nodded. “Look, you and Jasmine stay here, I’ll go back and get the car, and some towels or something to wrap him in. Then we can drive him into Stambridge and ask someone about a vet.”

“Please be quick, Mum!” Jasmine gulped. The puppy looked so weak and 
ill lying in the grass. “Do you think it would be OK to pick him up?” she asked her dad. “He looks so sad.”

Dad shook his head. “I don’t think we should move him more than we have to. His leg might be broken, or he might have other injuries we don’t know about. And if he’s really hurting, he might snap at you, Jasmine.”

Jasmine shook her head. “I’m sure he wouldn’t. He looks such a nice little dog.”

Max whined again, and stretched his neck to get closer to Jasmine. She wasn’t his Molly, but he could tell she was kind and friendly.

Very gently, trying not to frighten him, Jasmine put her hand out for Max to sniff. 

Max licked her hand a little, then exhausted by even such a tiny effort, he slumped back.

“Oh, no. I wish Mum would hurry with the car.” Jasmine looked round anxiously, then spotted their car coming along the road.

“How’s he doing?” her mum asked as she jumped out, grabbing a pile of towels.

Jasmine’s eyes were full of tears as she answered. “He’s getting weaker. We have to hurry.”

The vet’s receptionist looked up as they barged through the door. “Oh, I’m sorry, we’re actually just about to close—” 
Then she caught sight of the puppy huddled in a towel in Jasmine’s arms, and the blood seeping through the pale pink fabric. “Bring him through! This way. Mike, we’ve got an emergency,” she called as she held open a door for Jasmine and her parents.

A tall, youngish man in a white jacket was looking at a computer screen inside the room, which was very clean and shiny, and smelled of disinfectant. He swung round quickly, his eyes going straight to the towel-wrapped bundle.

Jasmine just held Max out to him, not saying anything. She didn’t know what to say, and the relief of finally getting to the vet’s, where someone might be able to help the poor little dog, was making her feel choked with tears. 

The vet took Max and laid him carefully on the table. His eyes were closed, and he wasn’t moving. Jasmine knew he was still alive, because she’d been watching him breathing, but even that seemed to have got weaker in the last few minutes.

The vet started gently checking Max over. “What happened?” he asked, without looking up.

“We don’t know,” Jasmine whispered. “We found him.”

“We’re here on holiday,” her dad explained. “We were out for a walk, and Jasmine heard him crying in the hedge. We guessed he’d been hit by a car.”

The vet nodded. “He’s very lucky. If he’d been out there much longer I don’t think he’d have made it. As it is,” he looked up at Jasmine, “I can’t promise that he will, but he’s got a fighting chance. His leg isn’t broken, just badly cut, but he’s lost a lot of blood, and he’s very weak. I’m going to sedate him and put him on a drip, then stitch up the cut. If he turns the corner in the next couple
of hours, he should be OK. But he’s really young, and that amount of blood loss in such a small dog…” He tailed off, but they all knew what he meant.

Jasmine gulped. “Can we wait while you do it? That would be OK, wouldn’t it?” she asked her parents.

The vet smiled sympathetically at her. “Of course. You can stay in the waiting room.” He was already gently gathering Max up, to take him to the operating theatre. The puppy looked so small and helpless, and Jasmine just couldn’t hold back the tears that were starting to trickle down the side of her nose.

Her mum hugged her gently, and led her out to the waiting room – and that was all they could do, just wait. 

When the vet came back out into the reception area he was looking cautiously pleased. Jasmine had been sitting leaning against her mum’s shoulder, feeling worn out from her excitement and panic at finding the hurt puppy. But she jumped up immediately. “Is he going to be OK?”