Dognapped! by Karen King Read Free Book Online Page A

Fluffy to me.
    Max nodded solemnly, ‘This definitely isn’t Fluffy. That’s probably why she was snapping at you so much, she’s scared!’
    The dog licked his hand, happy as you like. You wouldn’t think she’d almost had my finger off when I went to lift her. Mind you, if Max was right and she wasn’t Fluffy, then it was no wonder she didn’t want to come with me.
    And to make things even worse, if this wasn’t Fluffy, I’d broken into Mr Mudlark’s kennels and stolen one of his dogs. What’s more, he’d probably discovered it was missing by now and called the police. I had to think fast.
    The ring of my cellphone interrupted my train of thought. I took it out of my pocket and glanced at the screen as I pressed the answer button. It was Gran. She’d insisted on having my phone number when I arrived, but this was the first time she’d phoned me. Maybe Fluffy had been found.
    ‘Hello, Gran.’
    ‘Amy. Where are you? You’ll never guess what’s happened? Mr Mudlark’s just phoned. Maisy-May’s been dognapped too!’
    Maisy-May? I swallowed and looked over at the little dog Max was cradling. Fan-blooming-tastic. We’d only gone and stolen Mr Mudlark’s prize show dog. What a disaster!
    Keep your head. Find out if you’re a suspect first, I told myself. ‘So, do the police have any idea who’s taken her?’ I asked.
    ‘Well, two show dogs have been stolen in less than a week, so they think it must be the work of an organised gang,’ Gran said. ‘They’re warning all owners of show dogs not to leave their pets alone and to provide extra security for their kennels.’
    ‘Are they sure Maisy-May has been stolen? Couldn’t she have just wandered off?’
    Max’s eyes widened as he realised what I was saying. He looked at the dog and mouthed ‘Maisy-May?’ I nodded and mimed a zipping action across my mouth. I didn’t want him blurting anything out for Gran to overhear.
    ‘No, she was locked in her pen. Someone sneaked in and took her while Mr Mudlark was mowing the lawn,’ Gran replied. ‘They must have been watching and waiting for a chance to grab her, just like they did with Fluffy.’ I could hear the wobble in her voice. ‘I must pay that ransom. Goodness knows what those horrible people will do to darling Fluffy if I don’t. I’m going to arrange a bank loan today.’
    ‘Don’t do anything hasty, Gran. We don’t know that the ransom note is genuine yet,’ I told her.
    ‘Well, I can’t do anything until I get another note telling me where to leave the money, but I’m not taking any risks; not now Maisy-May has been taken too. Oh, Amy, if only you hadn’t left her in the garden on her own.’
    Pile on the guilt why don’t you? ‘I’m so sorry …’
    ‘I know. Look, I have to go, the police might be trying to get through to me.’
    Gran ended the call right there and I relayed the whole conversation to Max.
    ‘One thing puzzles me though,’ I told him. ‘Why is Maisy-May wearing that pink collar? It’s as if Mr Mudlark is trying to pass her off as Fluffy.’
    ‘Why would he do that?’ asked Max.
    ‘I don’t know. Maybe because Fluffy is favourite to win, so he’s trying to copy her style?’ Over Max’s shoulder I saw a police car coming towards us. ‘Turn around, quick!’ I spun him around so his back was facing the road.
    ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ Max shouted.
    ‘Shhh … A cop car’s coming. You don’t want them seeing Maisy-May, do you? We’ll be in major trouble if they find out we took her.’
    ‘We? It was you who stole her,’ Max pointed out. ‘I’m not getting into trouble with the police.’
    ‘Yeah, well my folks won’t be best pleased either. But don’t panic, I’ll get her back to Mr Mudlark somehow. Just don’t turn around until I tell you to.’
    I bent down, pretending to look for a puncture in the tyre of my bike. I watched as the police car drove past; there was only one officer inside. The car stopped outside a newsstand down