“Goodness!” said the lady who wasn’t Mrs Harper. “What are you doing here?”
Lily’s heart sank as she looked up at the strangers. “What are you doing here?” she barked. “I wanted it to be Jack!” Lily’s mind raced. She didn’t want to stay here! There was only one thing to do.
Lily shot out of the front door past the strange family, down the path and out of the gate. She ran down the street, heading in the direction in which she’d heard Mrs Harper’s red car going.
“Hey! Where are you going?” barked Bruce through the gate at Number 10.
“Sorry, can’t stop!” woofed Lily breathlessly over her shoulder. “I’ve got to find Jack!”
Lily raced round the corner into the road lined with trees. She knew it like the back of her paw – it led to the big noisy road at the end, with the park on the other side, where she and Jack went for walks. Without even stopping to sniff at lamp-posts she ran on, with the wind rushing past her ears.
At the corner Lily skidded to a halt. How would she know which way the red car had turned next? She growled in despair, looking up and down the road.
In the doorway of the corner shop she spotted Yeoman, the old sheepdog who lived there. He might have seen which way the car went, thought Lily. She trotted eagerly up to him.
“What are you doing out on your own, Lily?” he asked.
“Something terrible has happened,” she whined. “My family have gone to live somewhere else and left me behind by mistake!”
“Oh dear,” Yeoman replied. “Don’t you think you’d better go back and wait for them? They’re bound to come back for you.”
“No!” yelped Lily. “Some strange people have arrived at the house!” She asked Yeoman if he’d seen Mrs Harper’s red car, but he hadn’t.
“But Wendy might have seen the car,” Yeoman suggested. “She sees everything in this street! She’s just gone off to the park with her owner.”
“I’d better go and find her,” Lily said. She trotted briskly to the main road.
A loud motorbike sped past, making Lily jump. Her brown eyes opened wide with fright. She cowered on the pavement for a while. The traffic seemed even noisier and faster than usual. She’d never tried to cross a road on her own before. If only she was here with Jack, and on her lead.
Then Lily noticed the black and white stripes on the road, where she and Jack usually crossed. The traffic had stopped there and people were walking across, so Lily followed, lost amongst a sea of legs.
As soon as she reached the other side, Lily darted through the park gates. She looked round, searching for Wendy, but there was no sign of her.
Lily trotted over to the pond, where she and Jack used to have such fun feeding the ducks. Her tail drooped sadly. “Oh, where is he?” she howled.
At that moment, Jack was slumped miserably on the stairs at the new house. “I did hear Lily barking in the old house!” he wailed at his parents. “And now she’s run off and I might never see her again!” His shoulders heaved with sobs.
The Harpers had arrived at the new house and discovered the terrible mistake. Mr Harper had thought Lily was still in his car when he’d driven off. After all, he hadn’t seen her get out. But when Mrs Harper phoned the old house, the new family had told her they’d seen Lily – and she’d run off!
“We must go and look for her, straight away!” Jack cried.
“OK,” his mum agreed. “Let’s go. Dad can stay here and start the unpacking.”
Back in the park, Lily sat by the pond, her small body shivering, despite the sunshine.
“Hey! What’s the matter?”
Lily looked up. It was Wendy, the Sheltie, coming towards her, wagging her long feathery tail. Wendy’s owner was sitting on a bench nearby.
“What are you doing out here on your own?” Wendy asked.
Lily told her the whole sad story and asked if Wendy had seen Jack go past in his mum’s red car.
Wendy put her head on one side and thought hard. “Well,” she began slowly, “there are quite a lot of red cars around . . . but wait a minute!” She yelped excitedly. “Yes, I do remember! It turned into the main road, and went – that way!” Wendy turned her head to point out the direction. “But I’d take the short cut through the park, if I were you,” she advised wisely. “Better than going back onto that busy main road.”
“Thanks, Wendy!” said Lily gratefully and ran off in the direction Wendy had pointed.
Lily ran and ran, coming to a side of the park that she and Jack had never been to. She slowed down and looked around, panting.
It was all very different here. The shops outside the railings seemed smarter, and the houses and gardens were bigger.
Lily was very thirsty. She found a small puddle and drank greedily from it. Yuk! It tasted horrible. She spat it out again.
“These dogs from the other side of the park have such dreadful manners!”
Lily turned round and saw two large, snooty-looking dogs with lots of silky hair that fell around them like curtains. They were pulling their owner along on two long stretchy leads. They came towards Lily and began sniffing her in a most unfriendly way. Lily noticed they had very smart collars on.
“Oh dear, what kind of scruffy pup is this?” said one.
“And what kind of owner lets such a youngster run loose in the park?” sniffed the other. “Honestly! Some humans!”
The two tall dogs towered over Lily, looking down their long thin noses at her.
Lily’s legs stiffened and the wiry hair on her back bristled angrily. They were being rude about Jack! She was about to tell the snooty dogs just what she thought of them when a familiar noise made Lily prick up her ears. It was the crunching sound of Mrs Harper’s car engine.
“Excuse me!” she barked, and ran out from behind the two dogs – just in time to see Jack’s mum’s red car driving past.
Lily yelped with excitement and dashed out through the park gates after the car. She raced down the pavement, dodging people’s legs. She just had to catch up with it! Without looking, she galloped out onto the road – then heard a roaring sound, getting louder and louder – and nearer. Lily looked up and saw a big red bus coming towards her!