3 Heads & a Tail (38 page)

“
How so
?
”
asked Josie.

“
Not sure,
”
Ben
answered
, as Jeremy returned with a map.

At that moment
, a
bus drew up at the stop, crammed full of people who spilled
out of the
doors
in a rush
.

“
Wow,
”
said Jeremy.
“
No
one ever visits here.
”

Kay grinned.
“
Maybe
you should
make some sarnies.
”

“
Let
'
s go,
”
said Ben, and the group
cross
ed
the road.

Jeremy
turned
to say something else, but they were gone. He had meant to warn them
, but it was too late
. Shrugging
, he went back into his shop.

“
Hey! Wait!
”

Ben and Josie
turned to see David, looking
hot and ruffled.

“
Wait for me,
”
he said, running
across the road
towards them.

Ben was amazed. He
'
d never se
en David run for anything and he really didn
'
t want to deal with him now.
Ignoring him, he turned and carried on walking.

In the distance
the camera crew
was
approachi
ng.
The press and TV people followed behind.
In his shop,
Jeremy
was busy making tea
for
the most customers he
'
d ever had in his life
.

We
'
ve been running for abou
t half an hour and
Mimi
looks
weary, but I
'
m guessing she
doesn
'
t
want to be
any
trouble so she
'
s pretending she
'
s ok
ay
.
Luckily
,
it
'
s cooler here under the trees. We
'
re so far into t
he woods that the
light
is dim
.
Flecks of sun glimmer down.
I could do w
ith a drink, but I can
'
t hear
any running water.

“
I think we can stop now,
”
I say.
“
You should say when you
'
re tired. I don
'
t mind stopping.
”

“
But they might catch us,
”
she says, frowning. She
'
s panting heavily.

“
If they do, they do.
”

She sits down.
“
But then we won
'
t be able to see each other anymore
.
”

“
Let
'
s not think about that. We
'
re free now. Let
'
s just be happy about that,
”
I say, nuzzling her nose. Her e
yes light up
. My heart is racing and my brain is buzzing. I
'
m wondering how much longer we
have. Dogs on the run we are, r
unning free, b
ut not for much longer, I fear.

“
Get up!
”

I spin round in shock. The gruff shout comes from a tall man in a dark hat and da
rk clothes. Where did he
come
from? He
'
s angry and
car
rying a rifle. It
'
s aimed at us!

“
Get up! I
'
m not go
ing to say it again!
”
he shouts,
pointing the
barrel
at Mimi.

She stands, wobbling on her four
paws, h
er eyes
fixed
on
the ground.
I know what she
'
s doing. She
'
s pretending he doesn
'
t exist in the hope that he
'
ll just go away. I know that he won
'
t.
She whimpers.

“
You
'
re a pretty dog
,
aren
'
t
ya
'
.
”
growls the man
.
“
Bet I could get a few bob for you.
”

Mimi whines, s
o low
that a human could
barely hear it, but to me it
'
s loud. My heart is in my throat. I
'
m ready to spring if he
tries
anything.
Behind him in the distan
ce, I can see some kind of hut, s
mall a
nd wooden. He must live there. So t
hat
'
s where he came from.

The man walks closer to Mimi and tilts her head up with the bottom of his boot. I want to leap at his throat, but the rifle ke
eps me back. It dawns on me
that I can
'
t do anything to stop him. If I leap at him he
'
s going to shoot me. There
'
s only one thing I can do.

“
Trust me,
”
I voof at Mimi.
“
I
'
ll be back!
”

“
Shut up
,
dog!
”
the man shouts, but he
'
s still looking at Mimi, even though he has the rifle aimed at me. I know I
'
m quicker than his eyes. Mimi voofs back and moves slightly to the side. I take my chance while he
'
s distracted and run as fast as my paws can go.

“
Hey!
”
he shou
ts, but he can
'
t
shoot me and stop Mimi
running at the same time. In his head, she
'
s his main prize out of the two of us.
“
Come
here
,
girl,
”
I hear him
command
as I run.

I race as fast as possible
back the way we came, trying to follow the exact same path. I have to get back to the shop where all the people were. It doesn
'
t matter if they take us home and we never see each other again. The most important thing is to save Mimi. I have to get back before he takes her away
. Faster, faster, I have to
run
faster.

Soon I
'
m racing like the wind, zigzagging between the trees, snorting to fight back my thirst. The day is cooling down, thankfully, but it
'
s still warm. The ground feels a little cold
,
and now and then some twig or something snaps
, making me more alert
. I keep on running. My mind is full of images. They streak across my thoughts, casting up memories like
photos
. Me and Mimi in the park, by the lake, catching a bus, crossing the road to the woods, the men with cameras, our faces in the newspaper, stealing food from
fast food joints
. And then an image of Ben
flashes through
my
mind
. I wonder where he i
s.
I wonder if
he hate
s
me for running away.

I toss the thoughts aside and charge on. I
'
m huffing and puffing, but I keep running. I really need w
ater, but I think of Mimi and she
keeps me
going
.
Thankfully,
I haven
'
t heard any gun shots in the distance. I know she
'
s smart. She won
'
t do anything to make him angry. She
'
ll
be
calm and obedient, and stay safe. I keep running.

“
According to the map, we go straight,
”
said Kay, looking up.

“
No
, you
'
ve got it upside down
again
,
”
said David.
“
It
'
s that way.
”

Kay
stuffed the map in
to
David
'
s hands.
“
You
'
re such a know-it-all!
It
isn
'
t
my
fault
we
'
ve
been walking around in circles.
”

“
He
'
s right,
”
said
Ben
, glancing at the map over David
'
s.
“
We need to go
that way instead
.
”

Josie tapped Kay on the
arm
, and they followed the guys. Ms Hill walked a little
way
behind them.
The forest was beautiful. Birdsong filtered down from the tops of the trees and the ai
r was nicely warm.
Everything smelt green, thought Josie. The trees
seemed to come alive and wave their fingers in the breeze.

Ben walked ahead with purpose.
There was
only had one thing
on
his mind – finding his dog.
H
e knew it had to
be today.
Through the forest they
strode
, as fast as they could, hoping they were heading in the right direction.

“
Look!
”
shouted Josie, breaking the silence.

Straight ahead, a yellowish blur appeared in the distance between the trees. It was moving fast and heading their way. A shiver charged up Ben
'
s spine.
“
Glen!
”
he shouted, and started running towards the
shape
that was coming into focus.
Glen
'
s head
was
bouncing towards him.

Ben
bent down
just
as the big dog landed in his lap,
almost knocking him over. Ben was so happy he thought his chest might explode.
Glen
barked and wagged
his tail
, dipping his body
. Ben struggled to keep his balance
and fell backwards,
with the dog licking
his face
and barking
some more
.

“
Glen! Hey
,
boy!
”
shouted Josie, patting his back and hugging his face. She got a lick in return.

Kay
dove in, stroking the Labrador and ruffling his ears
. David stood back, aware that he wasn
'
t exactly Mr Popular right now.

“
But w
here
'
s Mimi?
”
asked Ms Hill.

The others turned round. She was standing still, with her hand over her mouth.