3 Heads & a Tail (34 page)

“
He
llo Ben.
”

He
paused
, waiting for the inevitable.

“
Ben?
”

“
Yes
,
I
'
m
still here
.
”

Ms Hill took a deep breath.
“
I
'
m just ringing to apologise
.
”

Ben was shocked and smiled at the others, to
signal that
everything was alright. They smiled back.
“
Okay,
”
he replied
, a bit gingerly.

“
I was very upset about Mimi
, you understand
. T
hen I thought about what you sa
id
. I realise
that
I overreacted.
”

“
That
'
s
alright.
”

“
I also rang your vet,
who assured me that you
'
re not remotely crazy
– and he said your dog isn
'
t either, although he
'
s a bit eccentric
!
”

“
That makes sense!
”
said Ben, a bit more cheery.
“
H
ow are you holding up?
”

Ms Hill paused.
“
It
'
s a bit hard to be honest. I wondered if you had
any ideas.
”

“
I
'
ve contacted everyone
and I
'
ve put up posters everywhere. I
'
ve done just about ev
erything except call the BBC!
”

“
That
'
s it!
”
shouted Josie, her eyes lighting up.
“
That
'
s it!
”

“
Ms Hill, hold on a minute,
”
sai
d Ben.
“
Josie has an idea.
”

“
I can run a feature i
n my magazine – it
'
s a weekly. I can put together an article about the two dogs.
”

“
Do y
ou think they
'
d
really
run it?
”
aske
d Ben.

“
I think so. My editor loves stories like this. You should see some of the crazy
things
I
'
ve had to cover, like
cows with patches that are meant to look like famous people,
”
laughed Josie.
“
Look, we
'
ll make it a doggie romance
, taking
a
'
have you seen these dogs
?
'
angle!
”

“
That
'
s a great idea,
”
said Ben.
“
Ms Hill, are you hearing this?
”

“
A
little
, but can you explain
,
please?
”

“
I
'
ll just go and ring my editor,
”
said Josie, jumping up. She almost
sprinted
out of the kitchen.

“
She
'
s enthusiast
ic!
”
said
Ayla
, surprised
.

Kay grinned.
“
She really lights up when she gets a big idea. And she gets a lot of them.
”

“
Do you t
hink it will work?
”

“
Well, if her
editor
goes for it, you never know,
”
said Kay, glancing at Ben, who was explain
ing everything to Ms Hill
.

Within minutes, Josie poked her head round the door, with her hand covering her mobile.
“
She loves the idea! It
'
s all go. We
'
ll nee
d photos, background info on both dogs – how
they met, etc
etera. C
an you and Ms
Hill put that together today?
We go to press tomorrow night
,
so we have to act fast to get it in!
”

“
Yep,
I
'
ll ask her. Thanks Josie, and please thank your editor,
”
said Ben, smiling for the first time in ages.

“
W
ill do. She loves stories like this
and she
'
s goi
ng to flag it up on the cover,
”
added
Josie, returning to her cal
l.
“
Ben said thanks
. H
e
'
s
chuf
fed. W
hat
else
do you need?
”

The story went to press the next day
,
and the following morning it was sitting among the other
animal and nature
magazines in almost every newsagent and supermarket across the country. Josie came home with a proof
copy
, but Ben still rushed out the nex
t day to buy his own.
Nature
'
s Way
had a picture on the cover
to accompany
the lead story, but in the bottom
,
right-hand corner there was a photo of Mimi and Glen
in a heart shape
. The caption read:
'
Did this doggie duo e
lope?
'

Ben grinned. The heading
still made him chuckle.
Perhaps
someone
somewhere
would recogni
se them
.
He
had
to stay positive. Flicking through the pages, he found the article. It was quite near the front. There were a few pictures of the dogs, along with their names and where they lived, their habits, their backgrounds, and details of their owners. There was also a number to call.
'
Have you seen these
dogs
?
'
the headline screamed out from the pages.
'
Was it puppy love or did someone steal Mimi and Glen? Please phone this number if you have any
information.
'
He imagined
Ms Hill
racing
out that morning for her own copy. The big picture of Glen suddenl
y saddened him
. A knot formed in his stomach.

“
Take care, boy.
”
He tucked
the magazine
under his arm and strode back to the house.

It
'
s been five days since we
headed off into the unknown
on Sunday night. I
'
m
try
ing
not to think about Ben and Josie, and the familiar things I
'
m really missing. I know Mimi misses her home
too
, but if we go back
now
we will only be separated, so we press on. It
'
s great being with Mimi. She
'
s amazing. She
'
s much more independent than I thought and she
'
s coping well with our time on the run. We
'
re like B
onnie and Clyde of the
doggie
world
.

That
first day, we left the park because we guessed that Ben would sear
ch there first. A s
hame
,
as we love that place. I
'
m missing my doggie baths.
I know most dogs like being stinky, but I love my baths.
I know I
'
m due one and I hope I
'
m not voofing
smelly
!

We
'
ve been wandering the streets by day. The su
mmer is amazing – skies
so blue,
not a cloud to
block the sun
. W
e
'
re
just wander
ers
. Sometimes people smile at us and make those
'
ah
'
noises, seeing us two dogs walking down the stree
t. We have collars though so no
one
suspects
we
'
re homeless. I don
'
t think we can get arrested for just walking down the street. Can dogs get arrested?

Foodwise,
I
'
m
missing my Pedigree Chum! Now and then we
'
ve been lucky enough to come across an old lady. Old ladies are great. They
'
re my favourite
people, after Ben and Josie, of course
.
Old ladies
have
always got some nice food they want to feed us with
– it always tastes v
oofing
good. At first,
Mimi
thought
that was taking advanta
ge, but then she got hungry. N
ow she
'
s not so posh about it, and we always say yes to food!

Other times we h
ang around outside the fast food
places
or cafes
, and wait for them to throw out the food. It
'
s still fresh and wrapped, but they throw it out at the end of the day
for some reason
.
Some humans are so wasteful! W
e
'
ve worked out the timing to perfection. We just hide and wait, an
d
, hey presto, food! Nicely gift
wrapped
and
a
ll ours. So, w
e haven
'
t
gone
hung
ry at all.
Some people leave out bowls of water for dogs, especially the animal charity places. Otherwise we
'
re hunting drips and streams.

I
'
m not sure where we are just now
. We
'
ll just keep
walking. We
'
ve been to a few parks. There are more than I
guessed
there would be
– where
we live is greener than I thought. Ah
,
Mimi is racing ahead of me, so I better pad a little bit faster to keep up. This is like a mystery tour. We
'
ve no idea where we are going, or even where we
'
ve been, but we
'
re together
and that
'
s
the most important thing.

“
What are you thinking about
,
Glen?
”
asks Mimi, stopping and looking back at me.
“
You
'
re a big dog-dreamer!
”

“
I can
'
t help it,
”
I say.
“
I was jus
t watching the way you walk! I
t
'
s a great view!
”

“
You cheeky dog!
”
she says.
“
Seriously, were you thinking of Ben agai
n?
”