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Honey braced her paws just in time to stop herself head-planting on the ring floor. She jerked up and continued trotting, trying to pretend that nothing had happened, but she could see the judge fingering his moustache disapprovingly. When her Breeder finally brought her back to stand in front of him, it was hard not to hang her head. I totally messed up.
“Keep your chin up, Honey. Good girl, you’re doing great,” the Breeder whispered, stroking her ears.
Honey felt a bit better. She stole a look over to the ringside to see Ruffster wagging his tail encouragingly. She thought of Anja and how much the other Dane had believed in her. I can’t let them all down now. Taking a deep breath, Honey stood up tall again as she took her place in the final line-up. The judge walked up and down the row of Danes, his eyes darting back and forth over the dogs.
Then suddenly, he strode forwards to hand a yellow ribbon to the human of the Harlequin Dane. Third place.
A blue ribbon to the human with the dainty blue Dane. Second place.
A pause. Everyone held their breaths.
Then he walked towards Honey and handed the red ribbon to the Breeder. First place!
Me? Honey stared stupidly at the judge, who cracked a smile and patted the top of her head.
“Ruff-ruff-ruff-ruff-roo!” Ruffster hopped around, barking in delight. An explosion of flashes came from the other side of the ring and Honey looked over to see Olivia smiling as she snapped more pictures. Honey let out a deep sigh and began wagging her tail. She still couldn’t quite believe it, but somehow, she hadn’t totally messed up! More than that—she had won!
As the Breeder led her out of the ring, Honey glanced back at the judge. The drool was still hanging from the back of his head. She hoped somebody would tell him about it soon.
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They were mobbed as soon as they came out of the ring by Olivia and a dozen other people. Everyone stood laughing and talking by the wall next to the main ring.
“Honey!” Ruffster came bounding up to join her. “That was pawsome, mate!”
“It was not bad for a beginner,” came a sneering voice. “But you’re going to have to rely on a lot more than luck next time.”
Honey turned around, face to face with Dior the Afghan Hound. A loud sneeze came from behind him as the Afghan Lady joined the group surrounding the Breeder. Dior didn’t share her smiling face, though. He was looking at Honey like she was a flea he’d found in his bed.
“It wasn’t luck,” growled Ruffster, squaring up to the big Afghan. “Honey won fair ’n’ square.”
Dior looked Ruffster up and down. “And you are?”
“Name’s Ruffster, mate.”
“Oh, you’re that mongrel.” Dior took a step back in distaste.
Ruffster’s ears drooped momentarily, then he snapped, “And you’re that big hairy buffoon.”
Dior snarled. The humans looked over at them and the Afghan Lady said a sharp word. Dior lowered his head slightly, but his eyes remained hard. He thrust his narrow snout at Honey and growled, “This is no place for pet mutts like you. Stay out of the ring, Great Dane—leave it to the professionals.”
“Dior!” A smaller, mousy-brown Afghan came up behind him. It was Tiffany, his sister. She gave Honey an apologetic look as Dior tossed his head and stalked off. “I’m sorry about my brother. He—he’s under a lot of pressure. Anyway, congratulations, Honey. I thought you said you weren’t a show dog?”
“I think your brother was right and it was just dumb luck,” said Honey, laughing and shaking her head. “What about you? Have you done your class yet?”
“I didn’t win anything,” said Tiffany shortly.
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Honey lowered her head. “Maybe that was just bad luck.”
Tiffany shrugged. “Well, at least I’ll be safer.”
“Safer?” Honey looked at her in puzzlement.
“Haven’t you noticed? All the dogs who have had bad things happen to them were all strong contenders for ‘Best in Show’. You were taking Anja’s place, weren’t you? And now you’re a winner. Someone is out to get all the winners. Better be careful ... you might be next.”
Honey felt unease creep up her spine like a stealthy insect, but she laughed it off. “I thought everyone said it’s some Phantom Hound that’s causing all the trouble?”
Tiffany shivered. “Don’t laugh. Maybe the Phantom Hound is out for revenge.”
“Revenge?” Suka the Husky came up to join them, her ears pricked eagerly. “Why would the Phantom Hound want revenge?”
“Some dogs say—” Tiffany hesitated, then shook her head. “Nothing.”
“What about your brother? Isn’t he worried?” asked Honey.
Tiffany looked up at the wall above them. “All my brother wants is to get his picture up there.”
Honey followed her gaze and looked up to see several portraits of dogs hanging on the wall. A sign above them said “THE ROYAL SHOW—‘BEST IN SHOW’ WINNERS”. Each picture had a year below it, together with the dog’s name. The last picture was from ten years ago. It showed a magnificent dog with a coat of white dreadlocks covering his face and body.
“Who’s that?” asked Suka, looking up at the portrait.
“That’s Graf. He was the last ‘Best in Show’ winner here at the Showgrounds before they were shut down,” said Tiffany.
“That dog won the show?” said Ruffster incredulously. “But he looks like a white mop!”
“He was a Puli. It’s a Hungarian breed that used to guard sheep from wolves and things.”
“How? By moppin’ them to death?” laughed Ruffster.
Tiffany cocked her head at him. “They can be very fierce, protective dogs—and wolves have a hard time biting through those dreadlocks.”
“Huh.” Ruffster sniffed, looking unconvinced.
Tiffany lowered her voice. “Graf was one of the two dogs who died in that awful fire ten years ago. They found the other dog—Oskar, who was ‘Reserve Best in Show’—but they never found Graf’s body. His human was heartbroken. She never showed again.”
“Why did the fire happen?” asked Honey.
“Nobody knows.” Tiffany shrugged, then looked towards the far end of the arena. “I wasn’t even born back then. I only heard it from some of the older show dogs who were here at the time. They said it started back there, in the storeroom—it just happened so quickly. They never found out how it started.”
Another mystery. Honey was beginning to feel like the Showgrounds were full of them. Right now, though, the only mystery she was interested in was what she was going to eat for dinner. With the excitement of the show over, she realised that she was starving. She looked over at Olivia and wondered when they were going home. Honey pricked her ears. She could still hear the faint shriek of the winds from outside and, much louder, the constant drum of rain on the arena roof. She thought of the way their car had lurched through all the puddles when Olivia had been driving earlier.
“It’s going to be a horrible drive home,” said Honey, shuddering.
“Oh, didn’t you hear? You’re not goin’ home. You’re stayin’ here with us,” said Ruffster. “My Guy got this sort o’ house on wheels called a caravan—so we can stay here at the Showgrounds while the show’s on. Lots o’ the other dogs and humans do the same. There’s an extra bunk bed in our caravan, so he said you and Olivia can stay with us.”
“We’re in a caravan too, next to Ruffster,” said Suka, wagging her fluffy tail. “My Boy’s Mother is really good friends with Biscuit’s Missus so we came to the show together.”
“Biscuit’s here?” said Ruffster. “How come I haven’t seen him?”
“He’s just been locked up in a crate by his Missus,” said Suka wryly. “He kept getting in trouble this morning, stealing stuff from the food stalls. He’s over there by those benches.”
They all trooped over. They found Biscuit lying in a crate, his chin on his paws, looking very sorry for himself.
“I was just having a little taste,” he said indignantly. “You’d have thought I’d stolen the Christmas turkey or something! Besides, it’s not like they could eat the dog biscuits themselves.”
“Mate, how come you’re here anyway?” asked Ruffster. “You’re not goin’ in the show ring as well?”
“My Missus is Secretary of the Beagle Club,” said Biscuit. “It’s been awful. Ever since we arrived and she saw all the show Beagles, she’s started going on about me being too fat and needing to go on a diet. She barely gave me any breakfast this morning. Can you blame a dog for having to scavenge for his own food? Besides, I’m not fat!” Biscuit looked down at his podgy belly. “I’m just a nice, solid specimen of my breed.”
“Maybe your Missus will give you a big dinner tonight,” suggested Honey.
“Tonight? But that’s still hours away! I’ll have starved to death by then,” wailed Biscuit.
“Hey,” said Ruffster. “I know where you can get some dog biscuits now! Honey’s Breeder has this big bag. We nearly scored some earlier—they smelled real good.”
“Where? Show me!” Biscuit sprang up, his eyes bright. Then his ears drooped. “I’m stuck in this crate.”
Everyone looked at Suka. There was no better escape expert in town. She eyed the latch on the crate door then shook her head. “Hmm ... this is one of those safety crates. Even I don’t know how to break out of one of these.”
Biscuit sank down on the floor again with a big sigh. Honey leaned down to touch noses with him through the bars of the crate. She hated seeing him look so sad. Her own stomach growled suddenly. She thought of that big bag of dog biscuits. The Breeder’s spot was just around the corner. She looked at the humans still talking to each other a few feet away. They would never know if she went quickly and came back.
“I’ll go,” she said. “I want to tell Anja about my win anyway. I’ll grab some dog biscuits and bring them back here.”
Honey started making her way through the crowds. When she got back to her Breeder’s space, she was surprised to find Anja’s crate empty. In fact, the whole area was deserted. Even Ferrari’s place next door was empty of people and dogs. Honey turned back to the empty crate and sniffed around the open door. Where had Anja gone?
Honey dropped her nose to the ground, moving in circles. So many dogs and people had walked through here, it was almost impossible to distinguish one scent. Honey straightened up, wondering what to do, then noticed a splash mark on the floor beside Anja’s crate. A Peemail. She hurried over to sniff it. It was just a few drops, but the message was clear:
Honey—meet me by the Viking ship. Something important to tell you.
There were no signature scent drops. Honey furrowed her brow. Who was the Peemail from? She glanced at the empty crate again. Had Anja left the message?
Honey looked across to the opposite wall where there was a side-door with the word “EXIT” marked on top. The door was slightly ajar. Someone had gone through there recently. Honey hesitated. Would Anja really have gone outside? But why?
There was only one way to find out. With a last glance at the empty crate, Honey walked over to the side door and pushed her way through.