“I’m so looking forward to seeing Uncle Joe today,” said Lucie on Saturday morning.
“That’s nice,” said Mum.
“You see, he always brings me a present,” Lucie went on.
Mum frowned. “But of course it’s Uncle Joe you want to see really.”
“No, it isn’t, it’s the present,” Lucie said. “What do you think it will be?”
Mum shook her head at her, and Lucie wondered why grown-ups gave presents at all, if they thought they were such bad things.
“Perhaps he won’t bring a present this time,” said Mum.
“But he always brings a present!”
“You shouldn’t think so much about presents,” Mum said. Then she smiled suddenly. “But,” she added, “I think he is bringing a present, and I think it’s going to be even more exciting than usual!”
Of course, after that, Lucie could think of nothing else. She was fidgeting about all morning, until Mum said she would read to her in French to calm her down. Mum read her Little Red Riding Hood, which had always been Lucie’s favourite, but Lucie kept jumping up and peering out the window.
“Here he is!” she cried when the doorbell rang at last. She ran to open the door. Her parents followed.
Uncle Joe was standing on the doorstep. But he was not alone.
“Hello!” boomed Uncle Joe. “My, Lucie, how you’ve grown! And hair red as ever, I see!”
Lucie was not listening. She was staring at the animal that stood next to Uncle Joe.
It was BIG — bigger than Lucie.
It had pointed ears and sharp teeth.
It had a silvery coat and sweeping tail.
It had glinting eyes that looked straight at Lucie. They looked as if they wanted to gobble her up.
Lucie raised a shaking hand. “What is that?” she whispered, pointing at the creature.
“Oh, that’s your present,” said Uncle Joe. “A new pet!”
“But what kind of pet?”
“Can’t you tell? It’s a dog, of course!”
Lucie, Mum and Dad stared at the “dog”. It stared back at them out of cold, blue eyes. Its long tongue lolled out of the corner of its mouth.
“That’s no dog!” said Lucie. “That’s a WOLF!”
Anybody could see that, she thought.
The grown-ups laughed. “Don’t be silly, Lucie,” said Mum.
“Don’t be daft, Lucie,” said Dad.
“Don’t be a juggins, Lucie,” said Uncle Joe. “As if I would give you a wolf for a pet!” And the grown-ups laughed so hard Lucie wondered if they would make themselves sick.
“No, it really is a wolf,” Lucie said (backing away so the wolf couldn’t get her). And she pointed out how big the wolf was, and how sharp its teeth were. And besides, it looked like a wolf, not a dog. She even fetched the copy of Little Red Riding Hood so they could look at the pictures.
“Of course it’s not a wolf,” said Uncle Joe chuckling. “The man who sold it to me said it was a dog.”
“Of course it’s not a wolf,” agreed Dad. “It’s one of those dogs that look like a wolf, that’s all.”
“Of course it’s not a wolf,” said Mum. “It’s a German Shepherd, that’s what it is.”
“It’s a wolf,” said Lucie.
Nobody paid her any attention — except the wolf. It kept watching her out of cold, blue eyes.
They sat down for lunch. Lucie made sure to sit on the opposite side of the table from the wolf. She hoped her parents and Uncle Joe were right. They did know a lot about some things, after all, like computers and vegetarian cooking (Dad) or how to speak French as well as English (Mum) or restoring old motorbikes (Uncle Joe). But Lucie didn’t think any of them knew much about animals.
“What are you going to call your new pet, Lucie?” Mum asked.
“I don’t know,” said Lucie.
“Is it male or female?” Dad asked Uncle Joe.
“Do you know, I didn’t ask,” said Uncle Joe. “We’d better take a look.”
He got up and walked towards the wolf, which was sitting near the kitchen door. A low growling came from the wolf’s chest. Like a warning.
“Perhaps another time,” said Uncle Joe quickly, sitting down again. “You’ll work it out.”
“I must say, it’s a very big dog,” said Dad, tucking into onion tart. “I was expecting a puppy.”
“They’re a lot of hard work, puppies,” said Uncle Joe.
“It will need a lot of exercise,” said Mum. “Still,” she added, “We’ve got a big garden. And there’s the park nearby.”
Lucie thought about going for a walk in the park — with a wolf.
After lunch Lucie’s parents showed Uncle Joe all the things they had done recently to the house, while Lucie wondered what it was grown-ups found so exciting about new bathrooms. Then Dad went to the pet shop and came back with a big sack of vegetarian dog food. They put some in a dog bowl and put it in front of the wolf. The wolf did not seem to like vegetarian dog food.
Dad had bought a dog basket too. But it was much too small for the wolf.
“Funny that,” said Dad, scratching his head. “It was the biggest they had. It will just have to sleep on the floor.”
After tea, Uncle Joe went home. Then it was time for Lucie’s bath. Then bed. Lucie’s Dad walked the wolf up and down the street. Then her parents went to bed too.
Lucie lay still in bed, but she did not sleep.
All was dark.
The house grew quieter. And quieter. Eventually it was so quiet you would have been able to hear a pin drop.
Or a wolf, breathing.