“She took off after lunch,” said Gus despondently. “Spent the morning chewing on a bone but refused to leave the shed. He made up a bed for her – he’d obviously decided to look after her – but she wouldn’t consider it. Said that, apart from Harriet, she didn’t trust humans and she’d sooner look after herself. When he took her some biscuits, she’d gone.”
“Old friend, you did everything you could,” said Max. “Girl’s gutsy. She’ll get by. Think how she followed me in the storm.”
“Harriet’ll be upset. She did a beautiful job on Girl’s paw – good as the vet. She wants Girl to be her dog, you can tell. She’ll be back again today and Girl won’t be here.”
They were lying on the tiles by Max’s kennel. Max was still very tired and he’d shed a lot of hair, but he was recovered enough to enjoy being on a fuss – special meals, lots of stroking, and even curling up on the sofa.
“Some fresh air will be good for you, and it’s such a lovely day,” Mrs Howard had said that morning as she tied him up outside and placed a juicy bone beside him. “Someone loves you, Max,” she said. “I found this in the letterbox. Could have been Harriet.”
The two dogs lay in the sun, Max with his chin on Gus’s neck.
“Gus,” he said, “was it very terrible – in there, I mean?”
Gus started licking his front paws.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” said Max.
Gus stopped. “No,” he said, “I can tell you because you heard it, too. They’re not cruel or anything – in fact, they’re decent and friendly. They give you food and water. You get put in a concrete pen on your own. That was a relief, I can tell you – there were some scary dogs in there.”
He paused. “But the place was full of misery. There were some dreadful stories. The dog next to me –” He shuddered. “I can’t tell you about that. The crying and moaning never stopped. That wind made it worse. You couldn’t sleep. Sometimes the man yelled at us to shut up, but it only stopped briefly.
“It was one of those times when I heard you. Couldn’t believe my ears.” He changed his position so he could look at Max. “It was a mad thing to do, Max, going out in such a terrible storm. You’re just lucky they found you when they did. But, when I heard your voice – well – it was as though I’d got some of my life back.”
Gus snuffled and started licking his paws again. Max waited quietly for him.
“It helped me to hang on. It reminded me how good my life has been. Y’know, there was a dog in there who was pleased when he got locked up because he said he got fed, he didn’t get kicked and hit, and he had somewhere warm to sleep. Poor fellow.”
Gus went on. “I was one of the lucky ones – my owner came to take me home.” He paused. “Max, it was incredibly brave of you to come after me. I don’t blame you for taking off when the dog catcher arrived – you’ve always been more frightened about being picked up than me. That’s why it’s so brave of you to go out on our errands together. Anyway, one of us had to be free to keep an eye on things – like Brutus, and Girl. It would have been much worse for you in there. I’ve been around longer than you and seen more things.”
“That’s just another way of saying I’m more cowardly,” said Max. “Anyway, I’m only a mongrel. I haven’t got your breeding – and it showed when I took off.”
Gus looked startled. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“Lulu told me at the park. She was laughing at my tail. She said it showed I had no breeding; that I would have been ‘an accident’ and my parents were probably bitsers, too. I asked her what a bitser was and she said it was a mongrel, a bit of this and a bit of that. You know – a rubbish mix of dogs.” Max looked thoroughly hangdog.
“Absolute nonsense!” exploded Gus. “Don’t tell me you took her seriously – that over-bred, over-clipped, over-indulged, over-sized pom-pom! Can you imagine her risking her hair-do in the rain for anyone?” He snuffled Max around the muzzle. “You’re great in spirit and great in name. What do you think Max is short for? It’s short for Maximus – The Greatest! You and I have both got old and noble names – Gus is short for Augustus.”
Max looked at Gus’s classic, dark good looks. Yes, he has a noble character, too, he thought. Who cares about a bent tail!
But before Max could respond, Harriet came running along the path.
“I s’pose you know where she’s gone. Why did she have to run away? My mum and dad nearly said I can keep her – my dad’s talking to Mr Jacobs now about how to look after a dog. Please, please tell her to come back!”
Max sat beside her. I’ll have to do my tricks to cheer her up, he thought. He held up his paw for Harriet to shake, then he sat up on his haunches and begged. After that, he danced in a circle on his hind legs. Harriet laughed.
“Oh, Max, I think you’re recovering – you are just the greatest!”
Well said, thought Gus. You couldn’t have put it better.
They sat down on the tiles. Max was feeling quite wobbly. Mrs Howard came out with a drink and biscuits for Harriet.
“Hello, dear,” she said. “Did you leave that wonderful bone – Max loved it.”
Harriet looked puzzled. “What bone?”
“Did you put a bone in our letter box?”
“No,” said Harriet.
“Aha!” replied Mrs Howard, “the mystery benefactor. Just like the red jersey. What fun! I’m wondering if you could help me out, Harriet,” she said. “My grandson is coming tomorrow for the first week of the holidays and it’s not much fun for a boy of twelve on his own. I thought, maybe …” She hesitated. “I wondered if you’d come round from time to time?’
Uh, oh, thought Harriet. Someone’s trying to organise a ‘nice friend’ for me. Most boys of twelve were revolting, except Toby, of course. They thought they were so cool. She’d planned to spend lots of time these holidays with Max and Gus – and Honey. She’d seen herself taking them all for long walks – maybe as far as the reserve. And now there’d be a bossy boy spoiling things. She looked at her feet and wondered how to answer.
“Think about it,” said Mrs Howard. “Luke likes dogs as much as you do. Now, mind you don’t give those biscuits to the dogs, it’s bad for them,” and she went back inside.
Gus and Max looked at her. Their eyes followed her hand as she put a biscuit in her mouth. They started to slobber. Harriet laughed again. “You do that awfully well,” she said. “You’ve really earned a reward.” She gave them each a biscuit.
“I saw that.” Mr Jacobs was looking over the wall, grinning. “Your dad’s ready to go home now.”
Harriet patted Max and Gus. “Please ask her to come back,” she said, “I know I can give her a good home.”