Холли Вебб - The Rescued Kitten

Honey had died in the autumn the year before and Zoe had been devastated. Her parents had owned the gentle Golden Retriever from before Zoe was born, so she’d never known their house without her. She still woke up some mornings and forgot that Honey wouldn’t be there when she went downstairs, sniffing and licking and loving her, all one giant wag.

“She was,” her dad agreed. He was silent for a moment as they came through the park gate and out on to the road, just a little way down from their house. “Maybe we’ll have another Golden Retriever one day,” he suggested. “I bet you’d enjoy having a puppy.”

Zoe looked up at him in surprise. After Honey had died, Dad had said he didn’t want to think about having another dog, not yet. She tried to imagine a different Golden Retriever lying in Honey’s favourite spot, next to the kitchen radiator. It was difficult – the new dog looked just like Honey.

Still… A puppy…! Zoe smiled to herself, thinking of walks with a dog again and curling up to read a book with a loving dog’s nose in her lap. “Yeah … maybe…”

Scout turned to watch the girl walking away from the playground, his tail still wagging faintly. Was she going to come back? He had liked her petting his ears and fussing over him. He let out a hopeful whine, standing up to peer further around the fence. But she was gone.

The puppy heaved a sigh and slumped down, stretching out his fat tan and white forepaws and resting his muzzle on them. He wished Jack would hurry up and come and play with him. It wasn’t much fun sitting here. He could hear baby Tilly wailing and he sat up again, looking worriedly into the playground. Jack was on the top of the climbing frame and Tilly was in the pushchair, with her mum leaning over to comfort her. Everything was all right…

Still, he stayed watching, ears pricked a little. Tilly’s crying made him feel anxious, as if he ought to be doing something to help her, but he didn’t know what. Jack was coming back across the playground now, looking a bit grumpy. They were about to go home, Scout realized, wagging his tail so hard that it thwacked against the bars of the fence. Jack came hurrying over to pet him and untie his lead. Scout bounced around his feet, whining and jumping excitedly, while Jack giggled. As Jack and Tilly’s mum came out of the playground gate, Jack called, “Can Scout pull me?”

Scout looked round curiously as Jack picked up his scooter, which had been lying against the fence. His tail began to wag again – he knew this game! He began to pull hard against the lead. Jack squeaked and sprang on to his scooter as Scout raced down the path, Jack and the scooter bumping and rattling behind him. They bounced and clattered towards the park gates, with Jack giggling and Scout panting happily. Playing with Jack was his favourite thing to do.

Copyright

STRIPES PUBLISHING

An imprint of the Little Tiger Group

1 Coda Studios, 189 Munster Road,

London SW6 6AW

First published as an ebook by Stripes Publishing in 2018

Text copyright © Holly Webb, 2018

Illustrations copyright © Sophy Williams, 2018

Author photograph copyright © Nigel Bird

eISBN: 978–1–84715–975–5

The right of Holly Webb and Sophy Williams to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work respectively has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

All rights reserved.

Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any forms, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

www.littletiger.co.uk

Excerpt From: Holly Webb, The Unwanted Puppy.