Two little girls and a dog were waiting to cross the road. Annie was eight years old. She was thin with a sharp, bird-like face. Her movements were quick and peremptory. She wore a thin cotton frock and a pink woollen jumper much too large for her. The sleeves of the jumper were tucked up.
The younger sister still had the plump curves of babyhood. She had soft fair hair that rioted above her round face like a rebellious little cloud of gold.
There was not much of the dog yet he carried himself with the air of a very large and important dog. He had long hair which, though once black, was now a dirty grey colour, especially where it clothed his back legs in matted bunches. His bright black eyes beamed from beneath thatches of wild hair and his stump of a tail wagged continuously from amid his tangled cloak. His soft and tranquil panting revealed a tongue curved into a pink petal by the two sharp teeth upon which it rested. He watched Annie’s face as if awaiting a sign to commence a mission of importance.
She had grasped the hem of her sister’s frock and, held tautly thus, it projected from the little girl’s back in a triangle of cloth the sides of which converged into the apex of her clenched hand.
Cars sped past them, heavy lorries that shook the road. Trams packed with people shot sparks from the overhead gear as they roared by.
‘You mustn’t go till I say now, Maisie,’ said Annie. ‘Be ready now and run when I say to.’
She moved forward releasing the strain on the little girl’s dress. The little girl plunged forward but Annie hauled her back with a sharp cry of admonishment.
‘Stop still till I say,’ she yelled above the din of a passing tram.
‘Oo-oo!’ exclaimed the little girl with a snuggling movement of excitement. ‘I nearly went, didn’t I?’
Annie watched for the traffic with quick, side-to-side movements of the head. A gap in the flow of cars emptied the road in front of them.
‘Come on,’ she cried, and, still clutching the little girl’s dress, she stepped from the kerb and set off for the other side.
The dog sprang forward and took the lead. He trotted ahead in a jerking, three-legged gait, one hind leg lifted, quite unnecessarily, from contact with the road.
The little girl half ran in a crouching position as if to ward off something falling upon her. Her parted lips revealed her excitement. She ran at the side of her sister, her frock twisted tightly around her from the grip of the older girl.
When they reached the centre of the road an approaching car suddenly became a pursuing monster striving to strike them down.
The little girl, peering fearfully past Annie’s legs, gave expression to an ‘Oo-oo!’ of consternation. Annie made a quick decision.
‘Back again,’ she cried. ‘Come on. Quick.’
She whirled the little girl round and they sped back to the kerb. When the little girl’s feet touched the pavement she relaxed with relief as if she had suddenly been gathered into protecting arms.
The dog continued quite undisturbed. He stood on the opposite kerb looking across at the girls with an interrogative side-tilt of his head. His mouth was closed. He didn’t seem to be breathing. Why hadn’t they followed him? This was most extraordinary. He would return.
He jumped from the kerb and trotted on to the road without so much as a sideways glance.
From the other side commanding yells from Annie made him lose some of his dignity and panic seized him.
‘Get back there,’ yelled Annie. She had released her hold on the little girl’s dress.
The little girl bent forward from the hips and with her two clenched hands held in front of her joined in shouting advice to the little dog.
A speeding motorist thrust frantically at his brake pedal. The car screeched, skidded obliquely. A tremendous wheel bumped the little dog and he yelped with fright.
Annie leapt from the footpath like a warrior giving battle. Her eyes were wide open and were directed unwaveringly at the dog as if, in all the world, he only existed.
The little sister gave a desperate glance at the traffic then blindly followed.
Tram bells clanged, men shouted; cars, one behind the other, hooted urgently as they ground to a stop.
Annie snatched the little dog to her arms and held him defiantly. She grabbed the hand of her small sister, who had reached her with breathless thankfulness, and strode resolutely to the footpath.
Safe beneath veranda roofs Annie subjected the little dog to a very careful examination. She moved his legs and pressed his back while he licked her hands in gratitude. The little sister watched with a look of concern upon her face.
Annie placed the dog on the footpath and he trotted before them towards a grocer’s shop.
‘And how are you two?’ asked the grocer.
The little sister did not wait for Annie’s reply. She looked up at the grocer as if about to impart news of tremendous importance.
‘We crossed the road we did,’ she said, her eyes shining.