The Hero Pup Page 10

  ‘Well done, everyone. I’ll see you next Saturday for the big day. If any of you want to come early, I could do with some help putting up the Christmas tree and decorations. Might as well make the place look festive. And if any of you can make cakes or dog biscuits that’d be good too. Can never have too many cakes or dog biscuits for everyone afterwards.’

  ‘I’m really looking forward to the open day,’ said Charlie as they headed for home.

  Joe was looking forward to it too, but he couldn’t help thinking how lucky Ann was to have Dora back.

  When he got in, Joe wrote about the rehearsal practice in Patch’s diary.

  As Sam read the entry, he hoped Patch would be coming to live with him soon. He felt like he knew the puppy already through the diary and couldn’t wait to meet him.

  Chapter 20

  The next Tuesday, the day of the field trip, it turned very cold. Joe filled his own backpack and then one for Patch for their day in Fridlington-on-Sea.

  ‘Enough food and treats to last all day, plus three balls in case one gets lost, and we’d better have another as backup.’ Patch loved playing ball. ‘Squeaker too, of course,’ he told Patch as the puppy watched him pack.

  ‘One water bowl, one food bowl and your Helper Pup training vest too, naturally. Plus we’ll need your dog blanket now it’s started to get colder.’

  The steps on to the school coach were even steeper than the ones on the bus they’d travelled on, but Patch managed to hop up them. The bus driver carried Charlie up the steps and put her in the front seat.

  ‘Sit with me,’ Charlie said as soon as Joe and Patch got on the bus. Everyone else wanted the popular pair to sit with them too, but Charlie had asked first so Joe sat with her. Patch lay down on the floor in between them for some of the time, and in the aisle down the centre of the coach so other children could stroke him for the rest.

  ‘I’m really glad Patch got to come with us,’ said Callum, who was sitting behind them.

  ‘Me too,’ agreed Daniel, his twin.

  Two hours later they arrived and Patch hurried down the steps after Joe. The children and puppy headed out to explore the area with Miss Addams.

  Fridlington-on-Sea had a sandy beach that stretched as far as you could see, whether you looked to the left or the right.

  ‘Look, Patch, it’s the sea!’ Joe said, pointing to the wavy water ahead of them. He unclipped Patch’s lead.

  At first Patch didn’t look too sure about the moving waves. But the children in Joe’s class weren’t scared of them. They raced towards the sea, pulling off their shoes and socks – all except Charlie. The sand was too soft for her chair to move on.

  ‘Don’t want to get stuck,’ she said.

  Patch looked up at her.

  ‘But you go, Patch,’ Charlie said. ‘Go on. You can’t come to the seaside and not have a paddle.’

  Joe took his trainers and socks off and rolled up his jeans.

  ‘Come on, Patch,’ he said as they headed to the water.

  Patch hopped back as the shallow waves came towards him, while the children ran into them and back before they got too wet.

  ‘Nothing to be scared of,’ Joe said as he waded out into the sea. ‘Look.’

  Once Patch saw that Joe wasn’t afraid, he wasn’t afraid either. He wagged his tail as he put first one paw and then the other into the sea. Soon Patch had pushed his way through the waves, and once the water got too deep, he started swimming.

  Joe was terrified. What if Patch went too far? What if he got disorientated and kept swimming further away instead of back to him on the shore? What if he got too tired to keep on swimming?’

  ‘Patch!’ Joe called, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. ‘Patch! Come back.’ But Joe had nothing to worry about as Patch doggy-paddled back towards the shore. Joe was so relieved when he came out of the water that he threw his arms round him and didn’t care a bit about getting soaked as the puppy shook himself dry.

  But, the next moment, Patch put his head down and started lapping thirstily at the salty water.

  ‘No! No, don’t drink the salty water, it’ll make you feel sick,’ Joe warned Patch, but it was too late. Patch coughed up a puddle of salty water. It hadn’t tasted nice at all. He tried another lap in case it got any better, but it didn’t.

  ‘No, Patch. Leave it.’

  All of a sudden a crab scuttled past. Patch tried to catch it with his paw, but the crab was too wily for him. It disappeared safely into the sand. Patch spotted another crab and tried to jump on that one instead, but with no luck. The little dog whined and dug at the sand where the crab had vanished.

  Then Patch spotted a flock of seagulls further along on the sand and raced towards them. The squawking birds scattered in all directions.

  ‘Hey, Patch!’ Joe called. He threw a ball along the beach in the other direction and Patch turned and ran along the sand after it. The puppy’s paws delighted in the feel of the unfamiliar sand and the wind ruffling through his fur.

  Some of the children started making sandcastles. Others collected shells and pebbles to spell out their names on the beach.

  ‘We’ll do one for Patch too,’ they said.

  When Patch saw the children digging, he had to dig too. He dug and dug. Then he lay on his back with his legs in the air in the hole he’d made while the children laughed and Joe took photos of him.

  ‘He’s so funny.’

  ‘This trip is so much better with Patch here too.’

  Joe couldn’t agree more.

  After a sandwich on the beach for Joe and his classmates, and puppy food and a little bit of Joe’s sandwich for Patch, they went to an open farm. As Patch was a Helper Dog in training, he was allowed to come in too.

  ‘Just make sure you keep him on his lead at all times,’ the farm manager told Joe.

  ‘I will,’ Joe promised.

  ‘They’ve got decorations up,’ Charlie smiled. ‘I love the fairy lights. I can’t wait for Christmas.’

  Joe thought about Christmas. How had it come round so quickly? Last Christmas he, Mum and Dad had spent a whole day hanging their Christmas decorations together. He and Dad had saved the tree until last to do together. Joe sighed. Last Christmas felt like a lifetime ago.

  ‘You OK?’ Charlie asked him, looking concerned. Patch had his head tilted on one side and was looking up at Joe too.

  ‘Course I am,’ Joe said. ‘Come on, let’s go and meet some animals.’

  Patch was very interested in all the different, exciting farm smells. So much so that for the first few minutes his nose was mostly down to the ground and sniffing.

  But he looked up in shock when he heard a loud moo.

  ‘It’s a cow, Patch,’ Joe told him. But Patch didn’t look very sure about meeting one and he hid behind Joe’s legs.

  The cow, however, was very pleased to meet Patch and she put her head over the fence to look at him.

  When the donkey saw Patch it started braying and Patch barked back. Joe looked from one of them to the other. It was as if they were having a proper conversation that only the two of them could understand.

  ‘Come and see the piglets,’ Charlie called when Patch and the donkey had stopped braying and barking.

  There were five spotted piglets and they raced round their pen in a game of chase.

  Patch wagged his tail and looked as if he’d very much like to join in the game.

  Then a group of the children were given some corn to feed to the piglets, and when a piece dropped to the ground from Charlie’s hand Patch licked it up and then spat it out again.

  Finally they all clambered back on to the school bus to head home, and within moments of setting off, Patch had fallen asleep next to Joe.

  As Joe looked out of the coach window he realized Christmas lights and decorations were starting to go up everywhere. He didn’t feel Christmassy at all.

  ‘Patch is snoring,’ Charlie giggled, interrupting Joe’s thoughts. Joe looked down at Patch. Well
, this would be the puppy’s first Christmas. That was something. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  When he got home Joe updated Patch’s online diary.

  First taste of seawater (bad), chase of seagulls (good) and digging in the sand (very good) today. But why are crabs so quick and cows so huge? And why wasn’t I allowed to play with the piglets at the open farm? ☺

  Joe added a smiley face after the entry because he knew by Patch’s wagging tail and body language all day that the puppy had had a very good time. He was so pleased that Patch had been allowed to come on the trip too. Everything was so much better with him there.

  When Sam read the diary he smiled. He’d make sure Patch got to see the sea again once he came to live with him. Maybe they could even go swimming in it together one day.

  Chapter 21

  On Saturday morning Joe was up early, ready for the open day. When he arrived at the Helper Dogs training centre, he found that Lenny had decorated the whole place for Christmas.

  ‘I put them up after the class last night,’ Lenny said.

  Ollie looked hopefully at the little dog-treat bones tied to the tree with ribbons.

  ‘Not yet,’ Lenny told him with a smile.

  Joe noticed Mr Humphreys arrive at the centre and take a seat at the front. Joe’s mum must have told him about it. Joe bit his lip. Their neighbour could be very critical sometimes. What if he and Patch made a mistake in their demonstration? Joe desperately wanted Patch to do well and show everyone how hard they’d been working over the past months and how far the puppy had come.

  ‘That puppy over there came to my rescue when I had a fall,’ Mr Humphreys said in a very loud voice to the man sitting next to him. ‘Amazing to think he’s not yet six months old.’

  Perhaps it would be OK after all, thought Joe.

  Then Charlie arrived with her mum and dad and brother. She put her thumbs up and mouthed, ‘Good luck,’ to Joe. He grinned back, but he was still feeling quite nervous about appearing in public.

  Mrs Hodges and Marnie turned up just before the demonstration started and Mrs Hodges waved at Joe.

  ‘I don’t know if I can do it,’ Joe whispered to his mum, who was pouring water into the tea urn.

  ‘Of course you can,’ she said. ‘You owe it to Patch to show everyone what a good puppy he is and how hard he’s worked.’

  When Mum put it like that, standing out in front of everyone didn’t seem quite so bad. No one was there to look at Joe himself and he did want people to see what a great puppy Patch was.

  ‘Joe, look,’ his mum said and she nodded at the entrance. Joe glanced up and saw two soldiers coming in. One of them had lots of badges on his front and looked very senior. Perhaps he was a colonel, Joe thought. He remembered his dad explaining all the different ranks in the army to him when he was younger. The other soldier was in a wheelchair and had a large cream-coloured dog with him that looked like a cross between a Labrador and a poodle. A labradoodle, Joe thought to himself and smiled. The animal was clearly a Helper Dog.

  Joe swallowed hard. This was what Patch had been training for. A soldier who needed him. A soldier like Sam.

  The soldier stroked his Helper Dog and talked to him as they came in and took their places. Joe wondered if Dad might have known either of these soldiers. Maybe they were the reason his dad had known about Helper Dogs and gone to see Lenny to ask him about taking on a pup.

  Patch looked up at Joe, wagged his tail and barked.

  ‘You’re right, Patch. I think it’s nearly time to start.’

  Lenny welcomed everyone and then asked Colonel Bates to say a few words. The senior-looking soldier went up on to the stage, followed by the soldier in the wheelchair and his dog.

  ‘As you know, Helper Dogs has had links with the military services for over eight years now and we’re very grateful to the Helper Dogs they’ve paired with some of our disabled servicemen and women.’

  Then the soldier in the wheelchair spoke. ‘My Helper Dog, Elmo, wakes me up in the morning as soon as the alarm goes off – or I should say usually two minutes before it’s due, to be precise. He doesn’t wear a watch, but he always knows exactly when it’s time for me to get up.’

  There was polite laughter at the soldier’s joke. Joe watched as he reached down to stroke the head of the dog beside him. Then he carried on telling everyone more funny stories about his life with Elmo.

  Joe looked over at his mum standing by the tea urn, ready to make drinks for people once the demonstration and talks were over. This was the reason they’d decided to look after a Helper Pup in the first place.

  Joe and the other volunteers formed a line in preparation for their circle walk. Joe was glad he and Patch weren’t the first ones to go on. Hamish and Olivia were.

  ‘Meet Hamish and Olivia,’ Lenny said into the microphone. ‘Hamish is one of the few spaniels we’ve trained and he’s heading off for his advanced training very shortly.’

  Olivia and Hamish completed the circle and Lenny nodded at Joe, whose legs felt very wobbly.

  ‘Come on, Patch.’

  ‘Next I’d like to introduce you to Patch and Joe.’

  Joe heard lots of awwwws from the audience as they slowly circled the room. He could almost hear, or at least he imagined he heard, his heart thumping, it was so loud. He was very, very nervous and didn’t dare look up from the ground until they’d completed the circle.

  Patch wasn’t nervous at all and his tail wagged as he trotted beside Joe, looking at all the people who’d come to see him. His legs had grown faster than the rest of him in the past few weeks and he had a taller, almost gangly appearance now.

  ‘Patch is nearly six months old and has been going into school with Joe. He even went to the beach with Joe’s class,’ Lenny said. ‘Joe is the first under-sixteen-year-old we’ve had training a Helper Dog and we’ve all been very impressed with him and how well he and Patch have worked together.’

  ‘That’s really very good,’ Joe heard someone in the audience say.

  ‘Not many children of his age could do it,’ said someone else.

  Joe’s face was burning with embarrassment and he longed for Lenny to stop talking about him.

  He breathed a big sigh of relief when Lenny said, ‘And now, Dora and Ann.’

  The circle round the room had been bad enough, but the individual demonstrations were even worse. Joe was so anxious to get it right that he really did drop the pencil and Patch picked it up for him, only for Joe to drop it again by mistake. Patch wagged his tail as he pushed the pencil back into Joe’s hand.

  ‘This is very delicate work on Patch’s part,’ Lenny said. ‘A pencil or a set of keys can be hard for a dog to pick up off the floor using just his mouth, but Patch is doing it admirably.’

  Everyone clapped at the end of Patch’s bit and Charlie whistled through her fingers even though Joe frowned to tell her to stop.

  ‘Well done, very well done,’ Joe heard Mr Humphreys say. ‘Did I tell you that puppy lives next door?’

  After the demonstrations there was a final circle of the dogs and their handlers and then it was all over, and Joe felt like he could finally breathe properly again.

  Everyone wanted to congratulate him and give Patch a stroke or a pat.

  ‘I hear your dad was in the military,’ Colonel Bates said to Joe and his mum as everyone tucked into tea and cakes and dog biscuits.

  Patch especially liked the peanut butter ones.

  ‘Um, yes, sir,’ answered Joe.

  ‘Well, you’re certainly doing a good job here and this fine chap is going to make the world of difference to someone’s life one day.’ He patted Patch’s head.

  ‘We’re helping to train him in memory of Joe’s dad,’ said Mum as she handed the colonel a cup of tea.

  ‘And a very fine tribute it is to his memory,’ the colonel replied softly, and he nodded at Joe then moved on to talk to the other volunteers.

  Patch sniffed and wagged his tail as Elmo and the
soldier with him came to get their tea and dog biscuits.

  ‘How long have you had Elmo for?’ Mum asked him.

  ‘Just over two years,’ the soldier told her. ‘Before he came along, everything looked pretty black and I couldn’t see the point of even waking up each morning. He’s made all the difference. And woe betide me if I don’t get up and take him for a walk as soon as I’m awake.’ He patted the dog and the dog licked his face. ‘Yes, I’m talking about you, Elmo.’

  ‘I’m so proud of little Patch,’ Mrs Hodges said, coming over to them with Marnie once the soldier and Elmo had moved on. ‘So very proud.’

  Patch sniffed at Marnie and she nuzzled her face into his as if she were saying well done to her pup as well.

  Joe felt very proud of Patch too. The puppy had worked so hard and was such a friendly dog.

  ‘Here, Patch,’ Charlie called to him and patted her lap. Patch ran over and put his paws on her lap so she could wrap her arms round his neck and hug him.

  ‘You all did very well,’ Lenny told the volunteers after everyone else had gone. ‘Head Office was most impressed. So impressed with some of you, in fact, that they’re thinking of bringing your assessments forward.’

  Joe hoped Lenny wasn’t talking about Patch because Joe didn’t want him to go early. He wanted Patch to stay with him for as long as he possibly could.

  ‘Thanks once again for all your hard work – and that ginger cake was delicious, Ann,’ Lenny said, and Ann beamed. ‘See you all at class on Wednesday.’

  ‘Ready to go?’ Joe’s mum asked once the washing-up was done.

  Joe nodded.

  Patch was exhausted and Joe felt worn out too. It had been an amazing day, but he’d much rather not have to be on display in front of so many people again.

  Lenny followed them out. ‘The people from Head Office were really pleased with Patch. It won’t be long before he’s ready to go off for his final assessment and hopefully become a fully fledged Helper Dog,’ he said as they were getting in the car. Patch wagged his tail as he accepted the treat, and the fuss Lenny made of him.