Ellie the Homesick Puppy by Holly Webb Read Free Book Online

miles? How could she walk that far? And how did she know the way?”
    “Well, dogs can be very clever,” her mum said doubtfully. “But I don’t know, to be honest. Because she was so desperate to find Megan, I suppose.”

    Ellie barked, her eyes wide with hope. Megan! They had definitely said Megan.
    “She heard you say it.” Bella laughed. “Are you trying to find Megan, Ellie?”
    Ellie jumped up with her paws on Bella’s knees, and barked and barked, wagging her tail frantically.
    “It’s OK, Megan will be here soon, I promise. She’ll come and get you. Or we could take her to Megan’s new house, couldn’t we, Mum?”
    Her mum frowned. “That might not be a good idea. She could get upset. Why don’t we try ringing the house again?”
    Bella nodded. “I have missed you, Ellie. But not as much as Megan has.She’s been searching for you all over the place.” She stroked Ellie’s soft head. “She’s going to be so happy to have you back.”

    Megan sat in the car outside her old house, gulping back tears. Her mum was sitting next to her, trying to calm her down, and her dad was leaning over from the front seat.
    “I know it’s hard, Megan, but I promise we’ll find her. Come on, this is good news. We know she was here last night! That’s a really good start.”
    Megan nodded, but she couldn’t stop crying. “She came all this way to find us,” she whispered tearfully. “And thenthere was someone else in her house. Another dog as well! She must have thought we just didn’t love her any more. What if she’s gone off to find somewhere else to live?”
    “I’m sure she won’t have,” Mum said firmly. “Ellie won’t give up. She made it this far, didn’t she? She’ll be around here somewhere, probably just a bit confused. Let’s go and try the park.”
    But Ellie wasn’t in the park, or in any of the streets around their old house. They called, Megan’s dad whistled, and they stopped to ask everyone they saw. But there was no trace of her.
    “She’s gone.” Megan had stopped crying now. She was almost too upset to cry. “We had our chance and now we’ve lost her for ever.”
    “Megan!” Her mum crouched down and hugged her. “I never thought I’d hear you giving up. You have to keep going – Ellie needs you to find her.”
    Megan nodded, biting her lip. Her mum was right. Ellie wouldn’t give up on her, would she? “Can we go and see Bella? Get her to look out for Ellie? She won’t know Ellie’s back here, and she could ask people from school if she sees them.”
    “Good idea,” her mum said. “Let’s go back to the car – we’ll drive round.”
    Megan rang Bella’s doorbell, thinking back to the last time she’d done that – on the final day of school, when Bella had been running so late she hadn’t come out of the house when Ellie barked.She’d been pulling on her coat when she opened the door, and she’d had a piece of toast sticking out of her mouth. She’d fed a little bit of it to Ellie.
    Megan blinked. Why was there barking coming from inside Bella’s house? She didn’t have a dog…
    Just then, the door flew open. “I knew it! Did you get my message? I’ve called about six times! Why didn’t you call me back?” Bella’s words were falling over each other in excitement, but Megan hardly heard her.
    She was hugging Ellie – Ellie who’d leaped into her arms as soon as Bella opened the door. The puppy’s paws were on Megan’s shoulders in a golden furry hug, and she was licking Megan’s face all over.

    Megan’s parents laughed delightedly, and Bella’s mum started telling them about Ellie’s sudden appearance.
    Megan beamed at Bella. “We didn’t get any message, we weren’t at home, you see. The people from the new house had found Ellie, but she slipped out of the shed. They had to put her in there because they had a dog too, so – urrgh, Ellie, don’t lick my mouth!

Chapter Eight

    Outside Bella’s front gate, Ellie dropped the rope