Lily cowered, frozen in terror. Then she realised that the bus had slowed down. Luckily for Lily it was stopping to let passengers on and off.
Lily crept back onto the pavement and watched as the bus slowly pulled away again. There was no sign of the red car now. She whined miserably.
Suddenly a strange rumbling noise came from Lily’s tummy. She realised she was very hungry! I might as well go and find something to eat, she thought.
With a heavy heart, Lily got up and trotted off down the street, sniffing the air for smells of food.
A couple of streets away, Jack and his mum had stopped the car to talk to a lady who was being dragged along by the two snooty dogs who’d been rude to Lily.
“Have you seen a Jack Russell puppy who looks lost?” Jack asked.
The lady thought for a moment, then smiled. “Yes,” she replied. “Not long ago, in the park. Perdita and Polly went up to her, then she ran out through the park gates.”
“It must have been Lily!” cried Jack excitedly.
“Did you see which direction she went?” Mrs Harper asked.
The lady shook her head.
Jack’s shoulders drooped. “She could have gone anywhere!” he said miserably.
Jack’s mum thanked the lady and turned to comfort him. “We’ll just keep on looking,” she said. “Lily can’t be very far away!”
Lily wandered further and further in her search for food. She didn’t recognise this street at all. She passed a house with a delicious smell of cooking coming from it and pushed her nose through the gate.
“Rarrghhh! Rarrrghhh!”
Lily leapt backwards in fright as a huge pair of snarling jaws appeared from nowhere. They belonged to an enormous black dog who loomed above her in a very scary way.
“Scram, pup! This is my patch!” he snapped.
Lily didn’t hang about. She turned tail, running and running, until she came to an alleyway lined with dustbins and big black bags. Food!
She started nosing around the bags. When she found one that smelled promising, she tore it open with her sharp white teeth.
Inside, she found a stale crust of bread and the remains of a hamburger, which she gulped down hungrily.
“You can tell this one hasn’t been on the streets for long!”
Lily turned to see a pair of scruffy mongrels staring at her. They looked a bit rough, but they were wagging their tails in a friendly way.
“Oh, pardon me,” woofed Lily politely. “Is this your patch?”
The two mongrels wagged their tails harder. “We don’t believe in that sort of thing,” said one. “We strays range far and wide! We hunt in groups and share everything.”
“So what’s your story, little one?” asked the other stray. “Have you been away from home long?”
Lily poured out the whole sorry story. The two mongrels listened, cocking their heads sympathetically.
“Don’t worry,” said one of them, when she’d finished. “You’re not alone any more. My name’s Sam and this is Shep. We’ll look after you. Come with us and we’ll find you a delicious meal!”
Lily followed her two new friends through a maze of narrow side streets and alleyways until they came to a courtyard full of dustbins. They smelled strongly of all sorts of delicious food.
“Here we are!” announced Sam proudly. “The back of Marcello’s restaurant. Best nosh in town!”
In no time, Sam and Shep had raided the dustbins and brought out a variety of tasty leftovers. There was steak and chicken, with crunchy biscuits for afters. They all tucked in greedily.
“Well!” woofed Sam, when they’d all had their fill. “I think it’s time to visit the dump and see if we can find anything interesting to chew on. It’s a great way to round off a good meal! Coming, Lily?”
“Well, I’d like to,” replied Lily politely, “but I really must keep on looking for Jack.”
The other two dogs looked disappointed. “Aren’t you going to join our gang?” asked Shep.
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather not,” said Lily. “But I’m very grateful to you both. I’ll never forget your kindness.”
Sam cocked his head at her. “It’s a great life on the streets, you know. Freedom, independence, adventure . . .”
“But I want to be with Jack,” Lily explained. “He means more to me than anything in the world.”
Lily trotted on until she came to a neighbourhood on the edge of town with wide, tree-lined roads. The houses were bigger than the one she had lived in with Jack. They had bigger gardens too. Lily could see fields and woods in the distance. But she was exhausted and sat down to rest.
“Oh, look at that little puppy. She must be lost!”
Lily looked up and saw a girl about the same age as Jack, with her parents.
The girl came towards Lily and held her hand out. “Come here, puppy,” she coaxed.
Lily shrank away at first but she was too tired to run any more, and these people looked very kind and nice. They reminded Lily of her own family. She let her tail give a tiny wag.
“What shall we do with her?” said the girl’s mother. She picked Lily up and inspected her collar. “There’s no name tag or telephone number,” she said.
“Can we keep her?” asked the girl excitedly.
“No, Sally,” said her father. “She must belong to someone. We’d better take her to the Dogs’ Home. They’ll look after her till her owners come and get her.”
Lily found herself being carried into the driveway of a nearby house and placed on Sally’s lap in the back seat of a big yellow car.
Sally began to stroke Lily, slow soothing strokes along her furry head and back. Lily began to feel sleepy. She gave Sally’s hand a lick then curled up, ready to have a snooze.
The car engine started up. Then suddenly, as the car pulled out of the driveway, Lily heard a familiar sound. It was the crunching noise of Mrs Harper’s car engine, coming round the corner.
Lily’s ears pricked and she sat up, wide awake again. She jumped off Sally’s lap and stood up on her hind legs to peer out of the back window.
There were Jack and his mum in the red car! Jack’s face was streaming with tears. They were pulling into the driveway next door!
Lily started to bark, but Jack couldn’t hear her. The yellow car was gathering speed now, taking her further and further away. She whined, then started to howl at the top of her voice.
“It’s all right, puppy,” said Sally, stroking Lily again. “Calm down. You needn’t be frightened of the car.”
“I’m not!” Lily barked back. “You don’t understand! I’ve finally found Jack and now you’re taking me away from him!”