“Your turn, Ellie!” Dad handed over the wooden spoon, and Ellie knelt on her chair to reach the huge mixing bowl. She breathed in the delicious smell of spices and orange peel. It felt like it was almost Christmas already – there were only a couple of weeks to go!
“Don’t forget to make a wish,” her big sister Lila reminded her.
Ellie frowned as she stirred the spoon slowly round and round. What should she wish for? Last year she had wished for a puppy, of course – she had wished for a puppy every time she blew out her birthday candles, or saw a shooting star, and every Christmas when she stirred the pudding mixture. But now she had Rascal. What else could Ellie possibly want?
She looked round the kitchen thoughtfully, searching for something to help her out.
“Hurry up, Ellie, it must be my turn now,” Max moaned.
“Just a minute,” Ellie murmured. “Oh!” she whispered to herself, as she spotted the leaflet that had come through the door that morning. She’d pinned it up on the kitchen noticeboard because it had a gorgeous picture of a Jack Russell on it, a wire-haired one, not a smooth-coated one like Rascal.
The leaflet was from Paws for Thought, the animal shelter a few streets away from Ellie’s school. They took in abandoned or unwanted dogs and cats – and even a python once, the leaflet said. Someone had just left the enormous snake in a cardboard box on the doorstep. The leaflet said the Jack Russell on the front was called Brady, and he was about five years old. They didn’t know exactly, because Brady had been found wandering along the riverbank, where he’d been abandoned.
Ellie had looked at his photo for a long time, and then all the other dogs with their photos inside. They all looked so sweet and so hopeful, as though the very next person who walked in might take them home and love them.
She’d put the leaflet up so she didn’t forget. Partly she wanted to remember how lucky they were to have Rascal and to be able to look after him properly, but also she wanted to do something to help the shelter. She just hadn’t worked out what yet. The back of the leaflet explained that they didn’t just need new homes for the animals, they needed donations too, to pay for the food and the vet’s bills.
Ellie closed her eyes tightly, and wished as hard as she could. Please let Brady find a home soon. And Scamper, and Lottie, and Patrick, and all the others…
She then handed the spoon to Max. “About time too,” Max said. “This smells so good, Mum. Can’t we just have Christmas pudding for tea today?”
“No, you have to keep it for a while, it tastes better that way,” Mum explained. “That’s why we make it a few weeks before Christmas. Have you made your wish, Max? Now everyone’s had a turn stirring, we can put the charms in. I’ve got a new one this year.” She opened up a tin, and unwrapped the silvery charms from their cushion of tissue paper. There was a ring for marriage, a horseshoe for good luck, a sixpence for riches, and a wishbone for a wish. “And here’s the new one,” she added, dropping a tiny silver dog into the tin. “I saw it when I was out shopping, and I couldn’t resist.”
“Oh, it’s so cute!” Ellie smiled. “It looks just like Rascal!”
“Doesn’t it?” Mum agreed. “Now we just need to tie some ribbon on to them, so no one accidentally eats one.”
“Hang on, Mum,” Lila said thoughtfully. “What does the dog charm mean? All the others have got meanings. Like the lucky horseshoe.”
Mum nodded slowly. “Yes, I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Maybe whoever gets it has to walk Rascal for a week!” Max suggested.
“Ellie always wants to walk him anyway!” Dad laughed.
“How about they have to clean up whatever mess Rascal makes for a week instead?” Mum said grimly. “Actually, where is Rascal?”
“Isn’t he asleep on his cushion?” Ellie said, turning round to look.
But Rascal’s big red dog cushion was empty. Only a few white hairs were scattered across it. No cute Jack Russell puppy.
Everyone looked around the kitchen anxiously. Rascal loved people, and he especially loved Ellie. So when he disappeared and even Ellie didn’t know where he was, it almost always meant he was doing something naughty.
“What’s that noise?” Lila asked suddenly.
It was a squelchy sort of noise. Gungy. Like someone chewing something that was very, very sticky.
Ellie sighed and bent down to peer under the table.
“Hi, Rascal,” she said, not sounding very surprised. “Um, Mum? Did we want any cherries in the Christmas pudding?”
Everyone else crouched down to look too, and Rascal stared back at them and wagged his tail. He took a guilty step back from the empty tub of glacé cherries and sat down, trying to look innocent.
He wasn’t very convincing.
