Charlie. Aimee Harper

       Two

       Dream Dogs on Wheels

      “Mum!” Bella said feebly. “I can’t breathe!”

      “Did you breathe in too much smoke?” Bella’s mum Suzi moaned. “Oh, my goodness, do we have to go to the hospital?”

      “No,” Bella gasped. “You’re just squeezing me…too tightly!”

      Suzi let go. Bella took a deep breath of fresh sea air. All over the beach, she could see parents cuddling their children. Pepper was barking and running wildly round in circles.

      From here, it looked like the fire at the school had finally gone out. A mixture of steam and smoke still billowed around the buildings. Crowds of people stood watching.

      “Oh, my life!” said Suzi. She gathered Bella and Louie in for another crushing hug. “When the school called, I thought my heart was going to stop!”

      “Mum!” Louie grumbled, pushing Suzi off. “I’m not a baby!”

      Suzi wiped her eyes. “You’ll always be my babies,” she said in a trembly voice. “Both of you. I can’t believe this has happened! How did the fire start?”

      “Don’t know,” Bella said. “The fireman are going to spend the rest of the week checking.”

      “Whoopee!”

      Louie whooped. “Three days off school!”

      “You’ll miss football tomorrow,” Bella reminded her little brother.

      Louie’s face fell. He was totally football-mad and he’d been playing in the school team since the start of term.

      “They’ll still do football though, right?” he checked hopefully. “We’ve got a match next week that’s really important. It’s going to be my first game and I’m going to be man of the match, not Jamie even though he’s really good.”

      “I expect football will be cancelled too,” Suzi said, and Louie groaned.

      “Now,” Suzi went on, “since I’ve got you a little earlier than expected, you’ll have to come with me to my next job. I’ve got an appointment at the top of town.”

      Bella was confused. Customers came to Dream Dogs. Not the other way round. “You mean, someone from the top of town is bringing their dog to the salon?” she checked.

      Suzi suddenly smiled. It was the first time Bella had seen her smile since she’d come to collect them off the playing field.

      “I mean exactly what I say,” Suzi said. “I’ve got a surprise for you both at home. I think we can all use a bit of good news today, don’t you?”

      Suzi refused to say anything else. Bella badgered her mum for clues. Even Louie was curious enough to stop grumbling about football and try to guess their mum’s secret.

      They came off the beach and walked towards Dream Dogs. And at last, Bella saw the secret for herself.

      Parked outside the dog parlour was her mum’s Dream Dogs van. But attached to the back was a strange pink trailer. DREAM DOGS MOBILE DOG-WASH was spelled out in dark pink letters. In smaller letters along the bottom, Bella read: Paws for Thought. The Pet Shop for All Your Pet’s Needs.

      “I got the local pet shop to sponsor me!” said Suzi proudly as Bella and Louie rushed over to look. “They are helping me pay for it! Now I can take the business to all those people who can’t come to the salon. People without a car, for example. Older people, and people with disabilities. Isn’t it great?”

      Suzi opened the back of the trailer. Inside was a bath and a shower unit, a tank of water and an electric pump. There was a cupboard full of towels. Another little cupboard held shampoo bottles. Both cupboards had lockable doors, to stop the towels and shampoos from falling out as the trailer drove along. Pepper jumped in and sniffed at the bath.

      “It’s brilliant, Mum!” Bella gasped.

      “Come on then,” said Suzi, checking her watch. “My appointment is at three o’clock sharp!”

      They drove back towards the centre of Sandmouth. Smoke was still hanging over the school and part of the town was coned off. Bella saw some of her friends walking along the pavement with their parents. She grinned and waved. Her friends’ eyes grew round as they saw the new pink Dream Dogs trailer trundling past. Pepper put his head out of the window and barked. He loved the feeling of the wind in his ears when they drove along.

      “We need number twenty-three on this road,” said Suzi, peering at the numbers on the houses as they took a sharp left. “There!”

      Number 23 had a wide driveway. Suzi carefully backed the dog-wash trailer up the drive and put the handbrake on. As Bella and Louie scrambled out of the car, the front door banged open. An old man limped out. His hands were jammed in the pockets of his old cardigan. The top of his head was bald, although tufts of white hair were growing out of his ears. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses.

      “Are you the dog-wash people?” he said gruffly.

      Bella blinked. DREAM DOGS MOBILE DOG-WASH was printed in big letters on the side of the trailer. Of course they were the ‘dog-wash people’. Then she saw that the old man was holding a small, folded-up white stick in one hand. He was blind!

      “You must be Mr Flynn,” said Suzi cheerfully. “Hello there!”

      The old man didn’t smile. “About time you turned up,” he said. He called back over his shoulder. “Archie! Here, boy!”

      A large German shepherd trotted outside. He had a big black body and a golden head, and he sat down obediently at Mr Flynn’s feet. He was wearing a special harness on his back, which Mr Flynn could hold on to.

      “Is he your guide-dog?” Louie asked.

      “What else might he be?” said Mr Flynn sourly. “My guinea pig?”

      Bella frowned. The old man wasn’t being very nice.

      “Wait in the car, children,” Suzi said. “I won’t be long.”