‘So. You’re back then.’
I awoke on Christmas morning to a grumpy, fluffy cat, staring malevolently at me from just outside my basket. It was just like I’d never left at all. I closed my eyes again.
‘Looks like it. Where were you last night, Sookie? You missed the whole, grand homecoming.’
‘You know me,’ Sookie said, with a feline shrug. ‘I hate those big, emotional scenes. Besides, I heard them say earlier that you’d be back. Figured they wouldn’t need me so much any more.’
‘Need you?’ I’d hoped that Sookie might be trying to look after our family in my absence, but I hadn’t truly expected her to do a very good job of it.
Sookie sighed. ‘I never realised quite how needy humans were until you went away. I suppose it’s just as well you’re back, really. Means I can get back to doing important things, rather than babysitting the family.’
Sookie’s really important things, as far as I’d ever noticed, were napping, yawning, eating and prowling around the neighbourhood like she owned the place.
‘Well, I’d hate to keep you from really important things,’ I said. ‘So I’m happy to take back the responsibility for the family again.’
‘Glad to hear it,’ Sookie said, stalking off to curl up in her usual spot – on the radiator in the hallway.
I watched her go, wondering if she might actually have missed me – and not just because of the family.
Amy came down the stairs first, stopping to make a fuss of me on her way to turning the oven on. ‘Oh, it’s so good to have you home. You’re our Christmas miracle, Henry.’
I pressed my face against her hand to show her how glad I was to be home, too.
‘Can we open the presents yet?’ Claire asked, as she bounded down the stairs next. She, too, stopped to pet me. ‘I’m brushing your coat out later, Henry. Don’t try and stop me.’
Amy gave her a smile. ‘And Happy Christmas to you too.’
Claire rolled her eyes. ‘Happy Christmas, Mum,’ she said, giving Amy a hug. ‘But seriously. The presents.’
‘You know there’s just the one present for each of you from me this year, right?’ Amy sounded anxious. Normally, there’d be piles and piles of presents waiting for the kids on Christmas morning. This year, things seemed to be different.
‘I know, Mum. Besides, having Henry home is the only present I really wanted.’ Claire got down on the floor beside me again, wrapping an arm over my back.
‘Well, that makes the whole thing a lot cheaper!’ Amy joked.
‘But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to open the present from the Palace,’ Claire replied.
‘Oh, that …’ They both turned to look at the giant hamper, wrapped in red and green paper, with a tartan ribbon tied round it. Amy bit her lip. ‘You’d better go get your brother, then. He’ll never forgive us if we open it without him.’
While Claire ran upstairs to wake Jack, and Amy turned back to getting food out of the fridge for breakfast, I took the opportunity to have a sniff around the hamper, see if I could figure out what was inside.
The wrapping smelled, weirdly, of the Palace. The same pine scent of the Christmas trees, along with the smell of the polish that Sarah always used, and another, deeper scent that just reminded me of the place. But under that I could smell other things too – spices and fruit and sugar and deliciousness. I had a feeling that Jack and Claire would be very happy when they opened this present!
‘He’s coming.’ Claire jumped the last few stairs and flew into the kitchen. ‘Now can we open it?’
‘Wait for me.’ Jack stumbled into the kitchen a way behind her, and dropped into one of the wooden chairs around the table. I jumped up into his lap. Somehow, I just didn’t want to be too far away from my people today.
Jack gave me a tight hug, and I knew he felt the same. I’d missed them all, of course, but I’d worried about Jack most of all. A boy needed his dog, especially when he was nearly a man. I was the only one he could talk to, and I wanted to be there for him.
‘It’s so good to have you home, Henry,’ Jack whispered in my ear.
Claire looked to her mother for permission, then began tearing away the layers of paper, while Jack reached over me to untie the bow. Amy abandoned the fridge and pulled up a chair, so I escaped from Jack’s lap to hers when he got a little too frustrated with the tightly tied ribbon.
But then the last of the paper fell away, and we all sat and stared at the gifts before us.
It wasn’t just a hamper. Oh, sure, there was Christmas cake and mince pies and pâtés and sweets and all sorts of other delicious-looking things, but that wasn’t all. There was breakfast – pastries that smelled freshly baked by the Palace kitchens, and fruits and jams to go with them. There were Christmas decorations, like the ones on the trees at the Palace – red crowns with golden stitching. There were Christmas crackers, biscuits, and a set of handbells of different notes for playing Christmas carols on. There was also a stack of wrapped boxes in the middle of them too. Amy, Claire and Jack all exchanged a look, then dove for the presents, ripping one open each, all laughing and joking as they revealed the contents.
‘What did you get?’ Claire asked, leaning across to Jack.
‘Some kind of board game. You?’
‘Same – Cluedo.’
‘Me too.’ Amy held up another box, this one with brightly coloured triangles on it. ‘Looks like the entertainment for the day is sorted. And we can have our very own royal Christmas!’
‘There’s something else in here,’ Claire said, digging deeper into the hamper, until she pulled out a large, red stocking. It had a yellow label on it. ‘It’s for Henry!’
She held it out to me, and I batted it with my paw.
‘I think you might have to help him with that,’ Amy said, laughing.
Grinning, Claire opened the stocking for me and pulled out bags of chocolatey dog treats in the shape of Christmas puddings and a soft toy in the shape of a turkey. I wolfed down a couple of the treats, then settled down in my basket with the toy.
‘Wait, there’s something else for Henry, here.’ Jack held up another square parcel, this one thinner, and wrapped in green paper. ‘It says, “From Sarah and Oliver”. Who on earth are they?’
‘No idea,’ Amy said, frowning. ‘Why don’t you open it for him?’
Jack peeled off the paper, and revealed a silver-edged square. ‘It’s a photo frame.’
‘And a photo,’ Claire pointed out. ‘I think that might be the actual gift!’
‘Those must be the other dogs at the Palace,’ Amy said, peering at it. ‘And I guess those two must be Sarah and Oliver.’
I barked sharply, standing up in my basket. That was my present – and I wanted to see it!
Amy laughed. ‘Here you go, Henry.’ She stood the frame on the floor, just by my basket. ‘But we might need to move it somewhere safer, later.’
I settled down again and stared at the photo. There was Sarah and Oliver, surrounded by Willow, Vulcan, Candy and Monty. Goodness only knew when they’d managed to have it taken, but I was very glad they had. Now I had a reminder of my magical Christmas at the Palace – even though I knew I’d never forget it. But right now, with all the hugs and the petting and the promises of brushing, I felt every bit as royal and important here with the Walkers as I’d ever done at the Palace.
Smiling to myself, I cuddled my turkey toy, and looked at my photo. Around me, my family talked and laughed and joked, and for a moment it was almost as if I’d never been away.
One thing was for certain, though. I knew I never wanted to leave again.