Chapter Fourteen

Mum was so happy and busy showing Imelda her new shoes, she hadn’t noticed the slight sadness in Harri’s eyes. But when Harri had come in at the back door after school and found them both in the kitchen, Imelda had seen it. There were so few customers they’d shut the door and closed the shop for the day.

Imelda put her nose into the giant bouquet of flowers that Mum had bought for her, and took a deep breath. ‘They are beautiful!’ she said for the sixth time. ‘Thank you so much. I really should put them in some water.’

‘And look what I got for you,’ Mum giggled. She handed Harri a stripy paper bag. ‘Well, it’s not for you, it’s for Tân really.’

Harri put his hand into the bag and pulled out a shiny, golden dog collar. It was studded with imitation plastic rubies.

‘It’s got a name tag and all!’ Mum said. ‘I’m afraid the machine couldn’t engrave the accent over the letter “a”, though!’

Harri turned the golden disk over. Sure enough, the letters ‘T-a-n’ had been engraved into the metal.

‘It’s great, Mum! Thanks.’

‘Well, come on! Let’s see if it fits. I think its really meant to be for a poodle or a Yorkshire terrier.’

Harri sat down in the armchair by the cooking range. Tân, pleased to see him back from school, jumped onto his lap to see if Harri had any special treats for him.

‘Hold your head up,’ Harri told him. ‘And… Oh yeah! That is soooo cool! Tân, you look amazing. Thanks, Mum! Say thanks, Tân.’

Tân made a little bow and snuffed — a word that Harri had made up to describe the sound Tân made when he was excited — sort of half sneeze and half puff.

Mum’s good mood was infectious. Soon they were all cheerfully helping to make tea. Harri peeled potatoes and Imelda, with tears streaming down her plump cheeks, chopped onions, while Mum cooked and told them about all the amazing things she’d seen and all the ideas she’d had for the shop.

‘The lights!’ Mum said. ‘They do amazing things with lights in those big stores. I’m sure we can do something here, make the place look just a little bit more magical. Lighting helps to set the mood. And smells too, here, what do you think of this?’

She rummaged in her shopping bags and pulled out a can. She sprayed a fine mist into the air. ‘Fruits of the forest, it’s called. What do you think of that?’ she demanded.

‘All I can smell is onions!’ Imelda sniffed.