Scoot’s Search
When Ben’s grandmother woke up she knew that something was wrong. She could hear Scoot barking in the kitchen and she could see that it was raining again. She opened the door and the dog ran around whining and jumping up at her.
‘What’s the matter, Scoot? Where’s Ben?’ Gran looked into the kitchen but the light was off. She thought that Ben and Jess might be playing on the computer so she went into the dining room but there was no one there. Upstairs was also quiet so she went out into the garden. Perhaps they were in the shed? It was now raining very heavily.
‘Ben! Jess! Are you there?’ Gran called, but no one answered. She was really worried, so she put on her raincoat and went down the garden path. When she saw the chair and the open gate she was very afraid. She looked up and down the lane but there was no sign of Ben or Jess. She called and called to them but there was no answer, so she ran back to the house and telephoned Ben’s dad and told him what had happened.
Half an hour later, Ben’s mother and father arrived home. Ben’s dad put on his boots and his big raincoat. He found his torch and then told Ben’s mum to telephone Jess’s mother. He called for Scoot and then they went through the gate into the lane.
‘Good boy, Scoot. Find Ben. Find Ben.’
Scoot wagged his tail and ran around. First he went up the lane and then he came back down, sniffing the ground and the grass at the sides. After a few moments he lifted his head up and trotted down the lane towards the woods.
‘Oh no,’ Dad groaned. ‘Not the woods. Come on Scoot, before it gets too dark.’
They hurried down the path but when they came to the place where the path split into two they didn’t know which way to go. Scoot looked up and down and then ran off to the right. Dad followed. All of a sudden Scoot stopped. He lifted up his head and began to shake.
‘What is it, boy?’ Dad asked. ‘What can you hear?’
Scoot looked up at him, then turned around and ran back to the other path. He began to run faster, and Ben’s dad ran after him.
Ben and Jess were cold and very tired. Jess didn’t think that anyone would find them so Ben was trying to think of some way to stop her from crying. He told her stories and he even told her what his birthday wish had been. He didn’t care now. It was almost too late to save the spider gate anyway.
‘What are we going to say, Ben? When everyone asks us why we came here?’ Jess asked.
Ben thought for a moment. ‘If we tell them we were following the magpies so that we could look for the spider gate piece, they’ll say we’re being silly. The magpies did steal the magic wand though, so we could say that’s why we came here.’
Jess frowned. She didn’t want to tell a lie but the magpies really had taken the wand, so she just nodded. She was looking sad again so Ben started to tell her more about Scoot’s training. Then he remembered that he still had the whistle.
‘Jess! The whistle is in my pocket. If you can reach it, then Scoot can find us if Dad brings him out. Please try.’
Jess pulled the whistle out and blew it really hard. She kept blowing for a few minutes, then Ben tried. They took turns until they were both dizzy.
‘It’s no good, Ben,’ Jess moaned. ‘No one’s coming.’
Then they heard a crashing noise and barking and shouting. Suddenly Ben’s dad was there and Scoot was jumping all over them and licking them and wagging his tail. Dad picked Ben up and told Jess to hold onto his coat.
Back at Ben’s house everyone was waiting for them. Jess’s mum was crying and Ben’s mum and his gran were looking very worried. Dad laid Ben down on the settee and his mum took off his coat. Gran and Jess’s mum took off Jess’s coat and then washed her face and hands.
Gran found a tracksuit and T shirt of Ben’s for Jess, as her clothes were so wet. When she was dry, Gran made her some hot milk and then Jess’s mum took her home. Her mother had not told her off yet, but Jess knew that she was in big trouble and tomorrow she would have to try to explain why she had gone outside the garden.
After Jess had gone, Ben’s dad thought that he should take Ben to the hospital. The bump on his forehead was very big and his foot was hurting him a lot. So his mum wrapped him in a blanket and Dad carried him out to the car.
‘Be brave, Ben,’ Gran told him as they were going out of the door.
Ben lifted up his head. ‘Sorry, Gran. I didn’t mean to frighten you.’
‘I know you didn’t,’ Gran told him, ‘but we don’t have time to talk now. You can tell me all about it tomorrow.’
