CHAPTER 20

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After breakfast, Honey followed Olivia into the caravan. She stood and watched tensely as her human moved some camera equipment into a smaller bag.

“Honey!” hissed Suka from outside the caravan door. “Did Olivia bring any of her photos with her? Are there any in her bags?”

Honey peered into one of the other bags. “Yes, there are several in the side pocket here. There are a couple of me ... oh, and here’s us at the park last time. I think she takes them around to show people what her photos look like, in case they’d like her to take some for them too.”

“Have a look—can you see any of Biscuit?” asked Suka urgently.

Honey stuck her nose into the sheaf of photos and checked through them. “Yes, there’s one of him here. He’s sitting under a tree.”

“Great! Bring it out ... and hurry!”

Honey gripped the edge of the photograph with her front teeth and pulled it slowly out of the bag, careful not to get any of her slobber on it. She looked at Olivia out of the corner of her eye. Her human was still busy rummaging around inside her equipment bag. Quickly, Honey turned and slipped out the caravan door.

Suka grabbed the picture off her. “OK, wait here for me. And if Olivia comes out, make sure she doesn’t walk off. Keep her here!”

Honey watched in puzzlement as Suka hurried back to the caravan that she was sharing with Biscuit. The Beagle was sitting quietly by the caravan steps with Suka’s Boy. Suka thrust the photograph at her Boy and wagged her tail, barking excitedly. Her Boy looked down at the picture and smiled in delight. Suka did a play bow and pranced around him. Her Boy laughed, then called for his mother. A minute later, the Boy’s Mother and Biscuit’s Missus came bustling out of the caravan, obviously getting ready to head off for the arena.

“Look what Suka brought me! It’s a picture of Biscuit, isn’t it?” The Boy held the photo up to show his mother.

“Oh, that’s a gorgeous one,” said the Boy’s Mother, smiling. “Is it one of Olivia’s?”

Biscuit’s Missus took the picture and looked at it thoughtfully. “Yes, it is. And you’re right ... it is gorgeous. Hmm ... I wonder ...” She looked up and called out, “Olivia!”

Olivia stuck her head out of the caravan.

“Are you heading over to the arena now?”

“Yes, I’m going to get some shots of the Toy Group,” said Olivia, slinging her black camera bag over her shoulder and coming down the caravan steps.

“Would you mind coming over to our Beagle show first?” Biscuit’s Missus held up the photo of Biscuit. “This is such a gorgeous shot. I’m sure a lot of the other Beagle owners would love some individual pictures of their dogs. It would be a great help with the fundraising.”

“Sure.” Olivia smiled. “I can do that.” She looked at Honey and Ruffster. “What about the dogs, though? I promised I’d look after Ruffster this morning.”

“Oh, bring them along,” said the Boy’s Mother. “They’ve all been so well-behaved this morning. I’m sure they’ll just lie quietly outside the ring.”

Honey turned to Suka in awe as they all began trooping towards the arena together. “I don’t know how you did that.”

Suka grinned. “Practice.”

The arena was even busier today, the place jam-packed with bodies human and canine. Since it was the last day before the final “Best in Show” tomorrow, the schedule included the newly introduced special categories, like “Prettiest Pet” and “Waggiest Tail”—and many families from the local towns had brought their pet dogs in for a bit of fun competition. Honey saw Ruffster begin to look self-conscious as they passed several cross-breeds and mongrels who stared at his slicked coat, taped ear, and ribboned head.

“What kind o’ dog is that?” She heard one dog ask another, eyeing Ruffster curiously.

“Dunno. Looks like a right weird ’un to me.”

Ruffster shrank even smaller and walked faster, keeping his head down. They made their way through the crowds, towards the show rings in the centre of the arena. A burst of clapping greeted them just as they arrived at the first ring. The judge was handing a woman the red ribbon for first place and there was more clapping. Then a group of Dalmatians filed out of the ring past Honey, gossiping amongst themselves.

“You’re looking gorgeous, Freckles.”

“Oh, thank you. That new grooming brush does wonders.”

“Did you see Missy? Oh, my woofness, has she lost her figure since last season!”

“That’s what having puppies will do to ya.”

“Yes, I was never the same after my last litter, darling.”

“Have you tried doga? I’ve heard it’s really good ...”

The Dalmatians moved off and Honey saw a group of Beagles lining up to take their place in the ring. There was a lot of excited chattering amongst them as pet Beagles mixed in with the professional show dogs. Honey settled obediently by the row of chairs next to the show ring and her friends settled around her, all of them on their best behaviour.

The judge began to call the Beagles into the ring and their humans left them to move closer to watch. Olivia ran around the outside of the ring, busily focusing and snapping shots on her camera. The dogs lay quietly and waited. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Honey looked worriedly at Suka and Biscuit. If they didn’t make a move soon, the show would be over. It was a big group of Beagles, but the judge was already more than halfway down the line.

Then she saw Biscuit get up stealthily, his eyes focused on something. Honey turned to look. A man was walking slowly past the ring, pausing constantly to talk to those around him. She recognised him as one of the humans who stood by the food stalls. She had seen him on the first day, smiling at people, offering samples from a tray. Now he was walking around with an inviting smile on his face again and in his hands was a large tray stacked high with cookies. The rich aroma of cinnamon and almonds wafted over the ring. Honey saw several Beagles in the ring look around, their noses twitching excitedly.

Biscuit scooted along the ground, hugging the backs of the chairs, and paused just by the edge of the ring. Then he gathered himself and shot into the main throng of people walking past, heading for the man with the tray. He dived between people’s legs, still keeping as low to the ground as possible.

“What’s he doing?” hissed Honey.

“Creating a diversion,” said Suka smugly. “C’mon! We’d better move!”

She got up and started slinking in Biscuit’s direction. Ruffster followed. Honey stood up, but one of the Beagle owners nearby glanced at her and she quickly sat down again. Ticks. It was a lot easier for the smaller dogs to skulk around and move unnoticed. They could stay under the human eye level. But it was almost impossible for her to move without the humans seeing. Everyone always noticed a Great Dane.

Honey took a deep breath and tried again. This time, she didn’t stand up, but crawled forwards on her belly. Which still wasn’t easy—her deep chest and long legs meant that she couldn’t wriggle along the floor; she had to sort of hump along, with her bum in the air. But thankfully, this time, no human glanced her way. Slowly, tortuously, she made her way around the outside of the chairs until she joined Suka and Ruffster hunched at the edge of the ring.

Suddenly there was a bellow of anger. The man with the tray was spinning around wildly, one leg jerking to the side, his eyes bulging.

“Get off me! GET OFF ME!”

The crowd surged and swelled around him as people jostled each other to see what was happening. Honey ducked her head down to look between people’s legs and saw something clamped to the man’s right trouser leg. Something black and tan, with floppy ears and a podgy belly. Biscuit!

The Beagle had grabbed the hem of the man’s trousers and was now tugging it ferociously, twisting and yanking his head left and right, as the man staggered around him. The man was trying to kick him off, but Biscuit hung on with a tenacity that a terrier would have been proud of. He gritted his teeth and wouldn’t let go, pulling the man towards the ring with the Beagles.

Honey suddenly realised what Biscuit was trying to do. She also realised that he wasn’t going to make it. Already, people in the crowd were swooping down, trying to catch him. She sprang up and, without thinking, charged into the crowd. Pushing her way through the bodies, she lunged towards the man with the tray and rammed her shoulder into his back, throwing all her weight into him.

“Aaaaaarrgghhh!”

He lurched towards the ring, crashing into the rope barriers around it, and tipped over. His arms flailed madly, desperately trying to save the tray, but it was too late. It flew out of his hands and flipped in mid-air, scattering its contents across the ring.

There was a shocked silence for a minute—and then a dozen Beagle voices cried:

COOKIES!

Chaos erupted as all the pet Beagles in the line instantly dived towards the nearest cookie. The show Beagles hesitated for a moment, trying to maintain their professionalism, then with an excited “A-Woo-woo-woo-woo” they, too, joined in. Within minutes, the whole ring had been transformed into a Beagle feeding frenzy, with dogs gobbling cookies as fast as they could. The humans gasped and shouted, calling their dogs back in vain. Some began running after their dogs, trying to catch them, and tripping over other dogs. The judge stood waving his arms and yelling. The humans outside the ring tried to help, shouting instructions and falling over the rope barrier as they tried to reach inside to grab the running dogs.

Biscuit came up to join them, his eyes bright with excitement. “Thanks, Honey.”

“Yeah, that was pawsome,” said Suka, giving Honey an approving wag of her tail. “You’re always such a goody-two-paws, I never thought you had it in you.” She glanced at their own humans, who were busy joining in the melee. “C’mon! Let’s get out of here before they remember us.”

Honey gave the chaos one last look before following the others as they darted through the crowds and raced out of the arena.