Oscar's Lonely Christmas (2 page)

Chapter Two

Hannah sat in the back of the car next to Zak, biting her lip. Mum had got sick of her asking if they were nearly there, and she’d told Hannah she’d turn the car round if she said it again. It was just that she was desperate to know!

“Look, there’s a sign for Mill Green,” Dad said, taking pity on her. “Not far now.”

Hannah nodded, staring hopefully out of the window. Then she laughed and pointed at a sign standing in the garden of a house just ahead. “Look! It’s all spotty!”

Mum put her indicator on. “That has to be it,” she said. “Yes, it says Dashing Dalmatians.” She parked the car in the driveway.

Hannah could hear excited barking as she got out of the car, and ran round to help Zak undo his car seat straps. “We’re here, Zak! Going to see the dogs!”

“Dogs!” Zak clapped his hands excitedly.

Already, a friendly-looking woman was opening the door of the house, and beside her – Hannah caught her breath at the sight – were two big Dalmatians.

They were so beautiful, snow-white, with a dappling of glossy black spots all over.

“Dog! Dog!” Zak squeaked delightedly, jumping up and down and pulling on Hannah’s hand.

The owner of the dogs laughed. “Somebody’s keen, anyway. I’m Lisa. And this is Robby and Bella. They’re very friendly, you can stroke them. Just watch your little brother though, won’t you? The dogs are a lot bigger than he is; they might knock him over by accident.”

Hannah nodded. “I’ll hold his hand,” she promised. “He loves dogs. We both do.” She stretched out her free hand to Bella, who sniffed it interestedly and then gave her a gentle lick.

“Urrgh!” Zak giggled.

“I don’t mind,” Hannah sighed, and stroked Bella’s soft nose and round her silky spotted ears. Bella was so gorgeous. And a dog just like Bella might be theirs soon. It was hard to believe.

“Is Bella the mum of our puppy? The puppy who might be ours, I mean,” Hannah added hastily. She knew that Lisa would want to check them out before she allowed them to have one of her puppies.

Lisa smiled. “No, she’s too young to have pups just yet – she’s the big sister of our new puppies. Robby here is their dad, though. Their mum’s called Chrissie. Do you want to see them?”

Hannah couldn’t speak, she was so excited. She just nodded so hard her ponytail flew up and down.

“Come inside and let me take your coats. They’re a good age to meet now,” Lisa explained, as she led Hannah’s family through the house, with the two Dalmatians nosing at them inquisitively.
“Six weeks old. Their spots have come through. Although they’ll still get more, you can see what they’re going to be like when they’re older. And they’re starting to really enjoy meeting people.”

Hannah looked up at her mum and dad eagerly, and her dad squeezed her shoulder. “You look like you’re about to meet the Queen!” he told her in a whisper.

“I feel like I am!” Hannah whispered back.

“This used to be our dining room, before we started breeding puppies!” Lisa explained, as they came to a door at the end of the hallway. “Now we use it as a puppy room.” She opened the door and led them in. A wire pen occupied about half the room – and it
was full of puppies. They were tumbling and squirming over each other and their mother in a black-
and-white
spotted mass.

“Oh, look at them!” Hannah breathed. “There are so many!”

“How many are there?” Hannah’s dad asked Lisa. “I keep losing count!”

“Twelve.” Lisa smiled. “It’s a huge litter – the biggest we’ve ever had.”

Hannah leaned over the wire netting to see the puppies, and Zak followed her, cooing delightedly at the beautiful little things. Chrissie, the puppies’ mother, watched Hannah and Zak closely, then looked up at Lisa as if to ask if the children were safe.

“It’s all right, Chrissie,” Lisa said gently.

“I can’t tell them apart,” Hannah murmured, sitting down to get a closer look at the puppies rolling around the pen. “Oh! Except that one! He’s got a patch round his tail!”

The patched puppy seemed to know he was being talked about. He pottered over to the wire, and looked at Hannah and Zak with his head on one side.

Hannah giggled at his funny little face, and the puppy jumped back in surprise.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Hannah told him gently. “I only laughed because you’re so sweet.”

The puppy edged closer again and put out a bright pink tongue to lick Hannah’s fingers – she’d been holding on to the wire without even realizing it.

“Me! Me!” Zak squeaked, making the puppy jump again. He eyed Zak suspiciously and took a step sideways, closer to Hannah. Then he leaned his head against the wire and looked up at her.

Hannah tried not to laugh and scare him again, but it was so difficult. It was almost as if the puppy was talking to her –
Scratch my ears, please.

The puppy sighed delightedly as Hannah scratched behind his lovely white-dappled ears. This was good. The little one was a bit loud and bouncy, but this girl was doing excellent ear-scratching. He glared at one of his sisters as she came too close. The girl was his, and he had no intention of sharing. His sister trotted
away, back to curl up with their mother.

“Well, he’s certainly taken to you,” Lisa commented. She sounded pleased, and Hannah glanced up at her hopefully. Did that mean they would be allowed to have a puppy? Maybe even – this puppy? Hannah could see that they were all gorgeous, but this one just seemed to have chosen her.

Dad had crouched down next to Hannah to look at the puppies. “Is there a particular puppy we can have?” he asked Lisa. “You mentioned something on the phone yesterday…”

Lisa nodded. “Yes. You know about our waiting list, of course. This litter have all been promised to people who’ve been on the list for a while.
They’ll be going to their new homes over the next few weeks.”

Hannah’s heart seemed to fall into her stomach. So they couldn’t have one of these wonderful puppies? Mum must have misunderstood somehow. She looked down at her puppy, his eyes blissfully closed as she tickled him. He was so perfect…

“But one of the ladies who wanted a puppy has changed her mind – she really wants a show dog, you see, and the puppy who was left when she came to see them yesterday won’t be up to showing.”

Mum looked confused. “Why not? They’re all so beautiful. Can you really tell now whether they won’t be show dogs?”

Hannah looked round, her eyes shining. “It’s this puppy, isn’t it? Please say it’s this one!”

The puppy stared up at Lisa too, as though he wanted to hear the news. He wagged his little whip-like tail, with the pretty patch round the base.

“Yes.” Lisa smiled at her. “How did you know?”

Hannah looked shy. She’d read so much about Dalmatians, but she was sure that Lisa knew loads more, and she didn’t want to sound silly. “They aren’t really supposed to have patches, are they?” she murmured. Lisa nodded encouragingly, so she went on. “The puppies are supposed to be born
snow-white
, and then the spots grow when they’re a couple of weeks old and they
keep on growing for ages – until they’re about a year old even.” She looked over at all the puppies. They were still mostly white, and their spots were only the size of currants. “But sometimes you get puppies born with black patches.” She stroked the puppy’s ears again. “But I’ve never seen a picture of a puppy with a patch on his tail!”

“Neither have I!” Lisa laughed. “He’s really special. But he’d be no good in the show ring – they don’t allow patches. So he can only ever be a pet.” She reached over the wire netting, and gently picked up the puppy, and then she held him close to Hannah. “Would you like him on your lap?”

Hannah nodded. She held out her arms to cuddle the puppy, and he
snuggled on to her lap. Zak sat next to her, patting the puppy on the bottom.

But Dad was looking worried. “If there’s something wrong with him, maybe we ought to wait…”

“There’s nothing wrong with him!” Hannah protested. Her voice was sharp with fear that Dad might say no, and the puppy’s eyes widened. He whimpered, unsure what was wrong.

“Try not to speak too loudly,” Lisa said, her voice soothing. “Dalmatians are quite highly-strung; you need to be very calm and gentle.”

“Sorry,” Hannah whispered, half to Lisa and half to the puppy.

“You’re doing really well,” Lisa said reassuringly. Then she looked over at Hannah’s dad. “He’s perfectly healthy.
You weren’t planning to take him to shows, I thought?”

Hannah looked hopefully at her dad. “We just want him for a pet. And he might even be better than a normal Dalmatian,” she whispered. “Sometimes they can be deaf, but ones with patches usually hear fine.”

Lisa laughed in surprise. “You really have been doing your homework.”

“I love Dalmatians,” Hannah told her. “I’ve been dreaming of having one, ever since I can remember.”

“Hannah’s right about the deafness,” Lisa explained to Hannah’s mum and dad. “But Chrissie and Robby both scored well on the hearing tests, and the pups are going to be tested next week.”

“I know they need lots of exercise too,
and they need to be around people. But Dad’s going to take me and the puppy on long walks every day,” Hannah explained. “And Mum and Zak are at home, even when I’m at school.”

“That’s great! Dalmatians have loads of energy, and they get bored very easily, because they’re so clever. You’ll need to take him to training classes. I can recommend a good trainer close to you.”

“So we can have him?” Hannah asked, cuddling the puppy close, and looking anxiously between Lisa, and her mum and dad.

Lisa smiled. “I think you’d give him a lovely home. He’s really settled with you, and he’s been quite nervous with some of the other visitors.”

Dad nodded slowly, and Hannah laid
her cheek gently against the puppy’s soft head. He made a happy little cooing growl, and she giggled. “You’re pleased too, aren’t you, little pup?”

The puppy yawned hugely, showing his little pointy teeth, and curled up in Hannah’s lap. He looked as though he wasn’t going anywhere.

Mum reached down to stroke him. “I don’t think it’s up to us at all. He’s definitely chosen you, Hannah!”