Charlie. Aimee Harper

       One

       Fire!

      Outside the classroom window, Bella could see the sea glinting behind the playground. She rested her chin on her hand and stared dreamily at the view. There were just two weeks of term until the summer holidays. Soon, she and her mum, Suzi, her little brother, Louie, and their dog, Pepper, would all be on Sandmouth beach, having picnics and ice creams and staying out late every evening. Bella hoped it would be a hot summer. It would be typical if the sun stopped shining in exactly two weeks’ time.

      “Bella?” said Mrs Frost.

      Bella looked around in surprise. “Me?” she said.

      Mrs Frost, the head teacher at Cliffside Primary, made a tutting noise. Mrs Frost had white hair and an icy gaze. The children called her Frosty.

      “Yes, Bella,” Mrs Frost said, raising her white eyebrows. “You. What ideas have you brought to the Summer Fair Committee?”

      Bella tried to concentrate. She stared at the piece of paper in front of her. She’d drawn a picture of her dog, Pepper. It was a lovely picture. She was pleased at how she’d drawn Pepper’s rough brown head and big dark eyes. But it wasn’t very helpful right now. What had her class asked Bella to say?

      “Well,” Bella said nervously. “It’s Cliffside Primary’s fiftieth anniversary this year, and…um…”

      The other children at the meeting giggled.

      Mrs Frost sighed. “Yes,” she said. “We know that. We have lots of things in place for the anniversary. But what ideas have your class had?”

      It was no good. Bella couldn’t remember. She was going to have to make it up.

      “A dog show,” she blurted out. “With…prizes for the waggiest tail, and…um…the smiliest face and…the wettest tongue…”

      Bella knew she was rambling. But to her amazement, Mrs Frost started nodding.

      “A lovely idea,” said Mrs Frost. “We could charge a pound for people to enter. I shall bring my dog along.”

      Bella blinked. Mrs Frost had a dog? She’d never seen Mrs Frost out walking a dog. It was a weird thought.

      “What kind of dog have you got, miss?” asked Bella’s best friend, Amber.

      “A Labradoodle called Charlie,” said Mrs Frost.

      Bella frowned. She assumed Mrs Frost must have said ‘Labrador’ and she’d just misheard her. She was about to put her hand up to ask, but someone called out, “A labrabooble! What’s that?”

      Before Mrs Frost could answer, Amber cried, “No, silly, she said ‘dabydoodle’!” and the whole class started laughing.

      “OK, children, settle down,” Mrs Frost said, raising her hand to get the class to be quiet. “Charlie is a Labradoodle, which is a cross between a Labrador and a poodle. It’s quite a rare breed so it’s no wonder that you haven’t heard of it before.”

      Bella’s mouth opened with surprise – she had never heard of such a funny-sounding name for a dog!

      “You should bring Charlie to Dream Dogs one day, miss!” Bella said impulsively.

      Mrs Frost looked puzzled.

      “Dream Dogs is my mum’s dog parlour,” Bella explained. “We do washing and trimming and nail clipping and things like that. I’m sure Mum would—”

      “Thank you, Bella,” Mrs Frost interrupted, looking up at the clock above the board. “Can we get back to this meeting, please? The end of lunch bell is about to ring and I don’t want you late for your classes. Any more ideas for the Summer Fair?”

      Bella scribbled Dog Show on her piece of paper, underneath her drawing of Pepper. She felt excited. Imagine the school playing field covered in dogs, including Charlie the Labradoodle! They could use a loudspeaker to announce the results and have rosettes for the winners. Maybe Charlie would get one for being the most unusual breed! Bella couldn’t wait to go on the computer at home and look up all about Labradoodles on the Internet.

      The school bell started ringing.

      “Back to class, everyone,” said Mrs Frost.

      Everyone headed for the classroom door, chattering about the Summer Fair. Bella glanced out of the window. She could see her friend Sophie, and her little brother, Louie, lining up to go back inside. It was a shame playtime was over. Apart from the grey cloud over the school hall, it was a perfect summer’s day. Now Bella wouldn’t be able to go outside until much later.

      Bella looked at the grey cloud over the school hall again. And she realised it wasn’t a cloud at all.

      “Fire!” Bella shouted. She pointed. “The school hall’s on fire!”