She also felt proud. She’d worked hard, she’d been part of a great team and there were no doubts in her mind that rescuing the dogs was the right thing to do. Even if stealing animals was against the law, and even if some animal experiments were for important medical research, there was never an excuse for forcing animals to live in their own filth.
As she headed back towards the house, Lauren heard a high-pitched noise. She stood still for a couple of seconds while she convinced herself that it was one of the stable doors creaking in the wind. But as she headed away, she heard it again and this time it sounded uncannily like a whimpering puppy.
‘Hello?’ Lauren said loudly, then realised she was being daft. It wasn’t as if the dog was going to start a conversation.
She considered running back to the house and fetching Ryan, but the dog was close by and she didn’t want to lose it. In fact she could see thirty metres clear in all directions, so the dog had to be inside one of the stables.
The stable doors were split into two halves so that horses could poke their heads out. Lauren opened the top part of one door and leaned inside to flip on the light switch.
‘Look at you,’ Lauren giggled, as she saw a tiny dog cowering on the bare concrete floor near the back wall. ‘Did they leave you behind?’
She pushed the bottom part of the door open and stepped inside. The brown-faced pup’s only previous human encounters had been with kennel hands, vets and people intent on dunking its head in a bowl of disinfectant, so it was less than delighted to see Lauren and made this clear by baring its teeth.
‘I won’t hurt you,’ Lauren said softly, as the dog backed into the corner.
As Lauren bent to grab the growling dog, her giant shorts slid down her legs and the pup dashed for the stable door, which she’d carelessly left ajar.
By the time she’d yanked up her shorts, the pup was out on the stable yard.
‘Ryan,’ Lauren screamed frantically, as the dog belted along the gravel path leading to the paddock.
She was desperate to get hold of the pup before it reached the trees, because she’d never find it once it got tangled up in the undergrowth. Fortunately, the dog had spent its entire life in a cage and hadn’t got the knack of running. As Lauren closed in, with one hand holding up her shorts and the other ready to scoop up the dog, it stumbled over its own front legs and flipped head over heels on to its back.
But the little thing rolled out of Lauren’s grasp and headed back along the courtyard towards Ryan, who’d raced away from the washing-up to investigate the yelping. He stood in the middle of the path, spreading himself out wide to grab the puppy belting towards him as Lauren charged after it.
Ryan got his hand on fur, but the dog turned its body around and wriggled free.
‘
Sod
,’ Ryan yelled, as Lauren carried on the chase.
The pup was tiring and she’d almost caught up by the time it cut down the side of the house towards the road. It was barely two metres ahead of Lauren when it reached the gravel driveway at the front of the house. She heard a noise and looked up, taking her eyes off the dog just in time to see Zara’s giant blue people carrier bearing down on her.
Lauren experienced blind terror as the vehicle closed her down. Time froze and her eyes fixed on Zara’s sunglasses and gaping mouth inside the car. She was running flat out and had too much momentum to stop. All she could do was put her arms in front of her face to cushion the inevitable blow.
Fortunately, Zara already had her foot over the brake and by the time Lauren clattered into the front of the vehicle it had stopped moving. Her elbow made a hollow thud on the windscreen, catching a nerve and sending a painful spasm towards her hand.
But Lauren had survived worse and she was determined to get her hands on the little dog before it disappeared. Too proud to let the pain show on her face, she rolled off the bonnet, gritted her teeth and crouched down to see where the animal had gone after it disappeared between the front wheels.
‘Did you see it?’ Lauren yelled desperately, as Zara jumped out of the car.
‘See what?’ Zara steamed. ‘Are you off your rocker, running out without looking like that? I nearly flattened you.’
‘I’m chasing after a puppy,’ Lauren explained, as she stood back up.
‘It’s in the bloody road,’ Ryan yelled, as he raced around the passenger side of the car.
Zara and Lauren both looked around to see the small brown and white dog standing in the middle of the road, panting and turning its head around as if it couldn’t decide which way to go. A second later, a small Nissan rounded the gently curved road and skimmed over the pup at more than fifty miles an hour.
‘No!’ Lauren squealed, covering her eyes and expecting the worst. But Ryan kept his head and dashed on to the tarmac. The dog had been swept off its feet by the turbulent air beneath the car and Ryan grabbed the confused animal before it knew what had almost hit it.
Ryan’s momentum carried him on to the other side of the carriageway and a truck holding a loaded skip blasted its horn and swerved as he reached the verge and skidded down a slight embankment, crashing into a tangle of wild flowers.
Lauren and Zara let a couple more cars pass before running through a break in the traffic. Lauren was massively relieved to see that Ryan had managed to keep the wriggling dog clutched firmly between his hands.
‘Are you hurt?’ she asked.
‘I’ll live,’ Ryan puffed, as Zara gave him a hand up. ‘But that truck aged me a few years.’
‘You know what?’ Lauren grinned. ‘I recognise that dog: the brown face and the one eye slightly lower than the other. It’s the first one we cleaned last night.’
Ryan smiled as he turned the dog towards himself and looked into its eyes. ‘The poor fella needs a good drink to cool down. I feel like I’m holding a hot water bottle.’
‘What are we gonna do with him?’ Lauren asked.
‘Can’t leave him here on his tod,’ Ryan said. ‘We’ll have to take him back to the cottage.’
‘He can share my room,’ Lauren grinned. ‘I think this is fate – I’ve always wanted a dog.’
‘Only for a few days, until we can find somewhere else for him to go,’ Zara said tautly. ‘Only red shirts are allowed pets, so don’t let yourself get too fond of him.’
‘And it’s pretty dodgy,’ Ryan added. ‘Me living in a house with a beagle pup when the Alliance just rescued seventy-three of them.’
‘Meatball,’ Lauren smiled, ignoring all the warnings. ‘I’m gonna call him Meatball.’
Three weeks later
It was a beautiful July day and James came in from school with his shirtsleeves rolled up and sweat glistening on his forehead.
‘I’m home,’ he shouted.
Zara yelled something back from the kitchen as James cut into the living-room. Meatball stood up and padded over with his tail wagging. He’d almost doubled in size since Lauren had chased him around the stables and while there were various sound reasons for getting rid of the puppy, in the end nobody had the heart to do it.
‘Hey dude,’ James grinned, as he crouched down and swept his hand through the dog’s brown and white coat. ‘You’re hot aren’t you? Never mind, you’ve had both your injections now. You’ll be safe to go outside for walkies in another week.’
Meatball rolled on to his back and let James tickle his belly.
‘Aren’t you a cutie pie?’ James smiled. ‘Where’s your ball?’
He reached under an armchair and grabbed a pink rubber ball. Meatball knew what this meant and sprang up excitedly as James lobbed the ball behind the sofa. The dog spun around and raced behind the furniture, emerging at the other end with the ball in his mouth.
‘Aren’t you a clever boy?’
While Meatball had grasped the idea of fetching a ball, he was less keen on letting go once he had it. As James tried prising the ball from Meatball’s mouth, the little dog narrowed his eyes and growled for all he was worth.
‘Good boy,’ James grinned, when Meatball finally let go.
James leaned in close and stroked the dog, then let him lick his cheek. He couldn’t help but love the puppy as he looked into his docile brown eyes. After another lick, James picked Meatball off the carpet and kissed the top of his head.
‘You’re the cutest dog in the world, aren’t you?’ James said, as he stroked Meatball. ‘Who’s a cute doggy?’
‘He always gets like this with animals when he doesn’t have a girlfriend,’ Lauren said acidly.
James glanced up from the floor and saw Stuart Pierce and Lauren standing in the doorway, giggling.
‘Hey Stu,’ James said. ‘At least some of us have got girlfriends, eh?’
Lauren tutted. ‘We’re just doing homework together.’
‘If you say so, lovebirds,’ James smirked.
Meatball had spent most of the day snoozing in the warm room on his own and couldn’t cope with suddenly having three people to play with. His tail was in overdrive and he raced back and forth, unable to decide whose attention he wanted.
‘Are you coming to my room?’ Lauren asked, as Meatball reared up and rested his front paws against the bottom of her school skirt. ‘You don’t mind do you, James?’
James shrugged. ‘Nah, I’m going upstairs for a shower. I’m sweating like a pig.’
‘Come on then, Meatball,’ Lauren said, as she leaned across the hallway and opened the door of her bedroom.
Meatball belted across the hallway and jumped on to Lauren’s bed.
‘You know you shouldn’t lick James’ face,’ Lauren said as she stroked the little dog. ‘You don’t want to go catching all his germs.’
‘Hey,’ James gasped, as he grabbed his pack and headed for the stairs. ‘I heard that.’
‘Later, James,’ Lauren grinned as she closed her bedroom door.
‘You’d better keep those trousers on, Stuart, ’cos I’ll kick your arse if you get my little sister pregnant.’
Lauren stuck her head out of the door and gave her brother the finger. ‘You just get funnier every day, don’t you, James?’
*
After his shower, James trundled down the hallway, wrapped in a towel, and walked into his bedroom. Kyle was on the top bunk reading a copy of
Catch 22
, dressed only in a set of beach shorts.
‘Thank god it’s Friday,’ James huffed, as he sat on his bed and grabbed a cleanish pair of cargo shorts off the floor. ‘How was study leave?’
‘Not bad,’ Kyle grinned. ‘I got up at ten, sunbathed in the garden until noon and then Tom came over for a couple of hours.’
James tutted. ‘Doesn’t he have to go to school either? Sixth form is such a doss.’
‘Tom’s finished his A-levels and starts uni at the end of September. Provided he gets his grades, of course.’
The hot weather was getting to James and he broke into a full-on rant. ‘I bloody hate going to
stupid
lessons at
stupid
schools where you don’t learn
anything
. It’s a gorgeous day and I had to spend two hours sitting in a classroom doing maths. I’ve done A-level maths and this wasn’t even GCSE. I felt like twanging my idiot classmates around the head and going
Why are you all so thick
?’
Kyle laughed. ‘We can’t all be mathematical geniuses, James. I worked my balls off to get A-level maths last year and still only scraped a C.’
‘So, what did Tom say?’
‘No news, really. Sophie and Viv are still putting out feelers to try getting involved with one of the radical groups, but they’re all so wary of infiltration that nothing is happening fast.’
‘You know what’s gonna happen, don’t you? Me, Kerry and Lauren are scheduled to go on summer holiday at the CHERUB hostel
together
for the first time ever. What’s the betting this mission ends up dragging on for months and we miss out?’
‘You’re a golden beam of sunshine today, aren’t you?’ Kyle grinned. ‘I missed out on summer hostel a few years back, and all for some crummy mission based on a false tip-off about a heroin smuggler. You’ve been lucky so far, James – all your missions have panned out. Sooner or later you’re gonna get one that goes tits up.’
‘You reckon this could be it?’
Kyle shook his head. ‘I’m optimistic, but they reckon the AFM could have as few as a dozen members. We were never likely to unearth a small group like that quickly. I reckon we did well hooking up with Tom and Viv as fast as we did.’
‘Guess you’re right,’ James said, feeling slightly happier as he leaned back and put his feet up on his bed. ‘And school finishes next week. This mission’s gonna be a real doss once summer holidays start.’
James felt a lump under his back. He reached beneath his covers and pulled a red and green rugby sock out of the folds in his duvet. It certainly wasn’t his and Kyle wouldn’t be seen dead in sportswear.
James leapt off his bunk. ‘Kyle, why the hell is your boyfriend’s sock inside
my
bed?’
‘Oh, that’s where it got to,’ Kyle said casually. ‘We looked everywhere.’
‘Were you and Tom using my bed for
…
you know,
gay
stuff ?’
‘Where else can you sit in this cupboard?’
‘You could have used your own bunk,’ James said indignantly.
Kyle moved his hand between the top of his bed and the ceiling. ‘There’s less than half a metre between my mattress and the ceiling. Besides, Tom’s a big guy; the bunk would probably collapse with both of us up here.’
‘So what
exactly
did you two get up to on my bed?’
‘Nothing,’ Kyle said. ‘We just snuggled up and kissed for a while.’
‘After taking your clothes off,’ James added.
‘
Some
of our clothes,’ Kyle said, as he pointed at the sunlight streaming through the window. ‘It’s eighty degrees out there. Do you expect us to make out in our overcoats?’
‘Look, you and Tom are both over sixteen. I’ve got nothing against you being gay and doing whatever the hell you like with each other. Just not on my bed, OK?’
Kyle jumped down off his bunk and faced James off. ‘You’re a total homophobe,’ he said angrily.
‘No,’ James said. ‘I’ve known you’re gay for yonks. It’s not made the slightest bit of difference between us.’
‘You know what?’ Kyle spluttered. ‘You’re the worst kind of homophobe, too. I’d prefer it if you just came out and said you didn’t like me being gay. Instead of being all
it’s OK, it’s OK
, but secretly turning your nose up behind my back.’