‘It actually looks like a dog now,’ she said, grinning helplessly at the sour-faced lump in her hands.
‘OK,’ Ryan nodded. ‘Well done. Take him through to the vet in stable number two, and then get back here.’
‘Come on doggy,’ Lauren smiled, as she headed out of the stable and past the cleaning operations going on next door. ‘The big man’s probably going to stick a needle in your bum, but after that, we’ve got a stable laid out with water and nice bowls of vegetarian dog food. And you’ll be able to make friends with the other puppies.’
*
Ninety minutes later, Lauren delivered her eleventh damp puppy to the vet. He seemed like a nice old chap, but he had beagle pups coming at him from four different cleaning stations and no time for chit-chat.
As Lauren headed back towards Ryan in the other stable, Miranda stepped in front of her.
‘You look worn out,’ she said. ‘Phyllis is making hot drinks in the kitchen. Why don’t you take a ten-minute break?’
‘What about Ryan?’ Lauren asked.
‘I’ll help him out, then he can go for a break when you come back.’
Lauren became acutely aware of the mess she was in as she stepped into the kitchen. Her jeans and T-shirt were spattered with soap suds, filthy brown water and the residue from several dogs peeing and one throwing up. She’d gradually got used to the foul odours, but guessed that she smelled worse than she’d ever done in her whole life, easily surpassing the five-day wilderness training exercise during CHERUB basic training.
The previously immaculate kitchen floor swam with brown water.
‘Sit yourself down,’ Phyllis said. ‘Don’t worry about the state of the place; I’ll nuke it with bleach once all the dogs are cleaned. What would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, soy-milk cocoa?’
‘Cocoa,’ Lauren smiled, as she sat at the table and got the horrible itchy feeling of wet knickers sticking to her bum.
By the time the microwave heating the cocoa pinged, Lauren had pulled off her breathing mask and gloves, revealing a set of shrivelled fingertips. At the opposite end of the eight-seat dining table, Adelaide worked frantically at a beefy laptop which had two camcorders and a jog-shuttle controller plugged into its rear ports.
‘Want to see yourself at work?’ Adelaide asked.
Lauren carried her steaming mug around the table and looked at the biggest laptop screen she’d ever seen. It was divided into a row of video feeds at the top, with a mass of timelines, sound waves and buttons beneath.
‘What is that?’ Lauren asked.
‘Adobe Premiere, video editing software,’ Adelaide explained. ‘I’m putting together a press pack. We’ve already e-mailed the BBC and all the other big media organisations with a batch of still photographs we took inside the kennels. Now I’m editing together a ten-minute film that we can upload to the Zebra Alliance website.’
While Miranda spoke, she’d flipped the screen to some video footage taken inside the stable. It showed Lauren from the back, frantically scrubbing one of the pups before transferring it from the disinfectant bowl into the final rinse.
‘Cool,’ Lauren said. ‘I didn’t see you filming.’
Miranda smiled. ‘You were so into it that you didn’t hear me coming up to the stable doors and I didn’t want to disturb you because the image of a young girl helping to scrub the dogs is just perfect.’
‘Ryan’s on parole you know, if someone recognises him …’
‘Don’t worry about that,’ Miranda smiled. ‘I take every bit of footage and pixelate the faces. Then I destroy the original tapes and wipe the hard drives of the laptop. Just to be extra safe, the Alliance has a media lawyer who watches every video and photograph. Then he gets one of his assistants to send it to the media from a twenty-four-hour internet café, which makes it impossible to track down our location.’
‘So when will pixelated me be uploaded to the Zebra Alliance website?’
‘Less than three hours, hopefully. We’ve got magnificent footage of the filth inside the kennels. Lou even videoed a couple of puppies that had died from infected wounds in their enclosures.’
‘Poor little things,’ Lauren said sadly.
‘It’s sad that the animals were so badly treated,’ Miranda nodded. ‘But the upside is that we can notify the RSPCA and the local council as soon as their offices open. Those kennels will have their dog-breeding licence removed and be forced to shut down.’
‘Cool,’ Lauren said. ‘And I bet no other kennel will want to supply Malarek with dogs.’
Adelaide nodded. ‘If they do, they’d better keep it secret from us.’
Lauren drained her cocoa and clonked the empty mug on the table. ‘Well,’ she said. ‘I’d better get back out there so Ryan can take his coffee break. I think there’s less than a dozen dogs left to clean now.’
As she stepped outside, Lauren could see the sun rising behind a line of trees. She glanced back inside at the kitchen clock and was stunned to see that it was quarter to five in the morning.
21. MEATBALL
‘Hey,’ Ryan said, as he gently brushed his fingertips against Lauren’s cheek to wake her up. His hairy chest was bare and he wore a set of Lou’s jeans that were several sizes too big for him.
Lauren opened her eyes and realised that she was on a sofa, squeezed up inside a Bob the Builder sleeping bag. Sunlight blazed through the curtains.
‘Anna’s making you lunch,’ Ryan said.
‘Lunch,’ Lauren gasped. ‘What time is it?’
‘Ten past one.’
‘Blimey. Does Zara know where we are?’
‘I’ve spoken to her,’ Ryan nodded. ‘She’s fine about last night and everything. She’s on her way down in the car to pick us up.’
As Lauren unzipped the sleeping bag and sat up, the events of the night before came flooding back. Once the last batch of dogs had been dealt with, everyone had headed into the house to clean themselves, but the hot water had run out. After a freezing cold shower, Lauren had towelled off and changed into an oversized T-shirt and shorts that belonged to Miranda.
As Lauren wandered through to the kitchen, her arms and shoulders ached from the effort of scrubbing the dogs.
‘Hello,’ Anna said brightly, moving across to the dining table and pouring Lauren a glass of orange juice. ‘How does vegan French toast sound?’
‘Sounds great,’ Lauren grinned, hitching up her massive shorts as she sat down. She looked around and noticed that everything was spotless, with no trace of the paraphernalia they’d used the night before. ‘Are all the dogs gone?’
Ryan nodded as he sat next to Lauren. ‘Lou took some, Adelaide and Miranda left with the rest.’
‘Oh,’ Lauren said, feeling sad because she would have liked a chance to see them all cleaned up and happy.
Anna’s French toast came dusted with icing sugar, strawberries and slices of melon on the side. The hot, sweet bread was exactly what Lauren felt like after the exertion of the night before.
‘I’d better be going, Ryan,’ Anna said, once she’d switched off the oven and rinsed the baking tray under the tap. ‘I’ve got to pick Cat and Polly up from school at three. Would you mind washing Lauren’s dishes and locking up? You can hand the keys back to Phyllis; she’s always up at the protest site on the weekend.’
‘No problem at all,’ Ryan nodded. ‘Don’t wait around here on our account. Zara should be here in half an hour or so.’
After eating and waving goodbye to Anna on the doorstep, Lauren found her trainers and wandered outside for some air and a final look at the stables. She felt a lump in her throat as she imagined the excited puppies sitting in the backs of cars and vans, smelling of disinfectant as they headed for sanctuary.
She also felt proud. She’d worked hard, she’d been part of a great team and there were no doubts in her mind that rescuing the dogs was the right thing to do. Even if stealing animals was against the law, and even if some animal experiments were for important medic
al research, there was never an excuse for forcing animals to live in their own filth.
As she headed back towards the house, Lauren heard a high-pitched noise. She stood still for a couple of seconds while she convinced herself that it was one of the stable doors creaking in the wind. But as she headed away, she heard it again and this time it sounded uncannily like a whimpering puppy.
‘Hello?’ Lauren said loudly, then realised she was being daft. It wasn’t as if the dog was going to start a conversation.
She considered running back to the house and fetching Ryan, but the dog was close by and she didn’t want to lose it. In fact she could see thirty metres clear in all directions, so the dog had to be inside one of the stables.
The stable doors were split into two halves so that horses could poke their heads out. Lauren opened the top part of one door and leaned inside to flip on the light switch.
‘Look at you,’ Lauren giggled, as she saw a tiny dog cowering on the bare concrete floor near the back wall. ‘Did they leave you behind?’
She pushed the bottom part of the door open and stepped inside. The brown-faced pup’s only previous human encounters had been with kennel hands, vets and people intent on dunking its head in a bowl of disinfectant, so it was less than delighted to see Lauren and made this clear by baring its teeth.
‘I won’t hurt you,’ Lauren said softly, as the dog backed into the corner.
As Lauren bent to grab the growling dog, her giant shorts slid down her legs and the pup dashed for the stable door, which she’d carelessly left ajar.
By the time she’d yanked up her shorts, the pup was out on the stable yard.
‘Ryan,’ Lauren screamed frantically, as the dog belted along the gravel path leading to the paddock.
She was desperate to get hold of the pup before it reached the trees, because she’d never find it once it got tangled up in the undergrowth. Fortunately, the dog had spent its entire life in a cage and hadn’t got the knack of running. As Lauren closed in, with one hand holding up her shorts and the other ready to scoop up the dog, it stumbled over its own front legs and flipped head over heels on to its back.
But the little thing rolled out of Lauren’s grasp and headed back along the courtyard towards Ryan, who’d raced away from the washing-up to investigate the yelping. He stood in the middle of the path, spreading himself out wide to grab the puppy belting towards him as Lauren charged after it.
Ryan got his hand on fur, but the dog turned its body around and wriggled free.
‘Sod,’ Ryan yelled, as Lauren carried on the chase.
The pup was tiring and she’d almost caught up by the time it cut down the side of the house towards the road. It was barely two metres ahead of Lauren when it reached the gravel driveway at the front of the house. She heard a noise and looked up, taking her eyes off the dog just in time to see Zara’s giant blue people carrier bearing down on her.
Lauren experienced blind terror as the vehicle closed her down. Time froze and her eyes fixed on Zara’s sunglasses and gaping mouth inside the car. She was running flat out and had too much momentum to stop. All she could do was put her arms in front of her face to cushion the inevitable blow.
Fortunately, Zara already had her foot over the brake and by the time Lauren clattered into the front of the vehicle it had stopped moving. Her elbow made a hollow thud on the windscreen, catching a nerve and sending a painful spasm towards her hand.
But Lauren had survived worse and she was determined to get her hands on the little dog before it disappeared. Too proud to let the pain show on her face, she rolled off the bonnet, gritted her teeth and crouched down to see where the animal had gone after it disappeared between the front wheels.
‘Did you see it?’ Lauren yelled desperately, as Zara jumped out of the car.
‘See what?’ Zara steamed. ‘Are you off your rocker, running out without looking like that? I nearly flattened you.’
‘I’m chasing after a puppy,’ Lauren explained, as she stood back up.
‘It’s in the bloody road,’ Ryan yelled, as he raced around the passenger side of the car.
Zara and Lauren both looked around to see the small brown and white dog standing in the middle of the road, panting and turning its head around as if it couldn’t decide which way to go. A second later, a small Nissan rounded the gently curved road and skimmed over the pup at more than fifty miles an hour.
‘No!’ Lauren squealed, covering her eyes and expecting the worst. But Ryan kept his head and dashed on to the tarmac. The dog had been swept off its feet by the turbulent air beneath the car and Ryan grabbed the confused animal before it knew what had almost hit it.
Ryan’s momentum carried him on to the other side of the carriageway and a truck holding a loaded skip blasted its horn and swerved as he reached the verge and skidded down a slight embankment, crashing into a tangle of wild flowers.
Lauren and Zara let a couple more cars pass before running through a break in the traffic. Lauren was massively relieved to see that Ryan had managed to keep the wriggling dog clutched firmly between his hands.
‘Are you hurt?’ she asked.
‘I’ll live,’ Ryan puffed, as Zara gave him a hand up. ‘But that truck aged me a few years.’
‘You know what?’ Lauren grinned. ‘I recognise that dog: the brown face and the one eye slightly lower than the other. It’s the first one we cleaned last night.’
Ryan smiled as he turned the dog towards himself and looked into its eyes. ‘The poor fella needs a good drink to cool down. I feel like I’m holding a hot water bottle.’
‘What are we gonna do with him?’ Lauren asked.
‘Can’t leave him here on his tod,’ Ryan said. ‘We’ll have to take him back to the cottage.’
‘He can share my room,’ Lauren grinned. ‘I think this is fate – I’ve always wanted a dog.’
‘Only for a few days, until we can find somewhere else for him to go,’ Zara said tautly. ‘Only red shirts are allowed pets, so don’t let yourself get too fond of him.’
‘And it’s pretty dodgy,’ Ryan added. ‘Me living in a house with a beagle pup when the Alliance just rescued seventy-three of them.’
‘Meatball,’ Lauren smiled, ignoring all the warnings. ‘I’m gonna call him Meatball.’
22. JULY
Three weeks later
It was a beautiful July day and James came in from school with his shirtsleeves rolled up and sweat glistening on his forehead.
‘I’m home,’ he shouted.
Zara yelled something back from the kitchen as James cut into the living-room. Meatball stood up and padded over with his tail wagging. He’d almost doubled in size since Lauren had chased him around the stables and while there were various sound reasons for getting rid of the puppy, in the end nobody had the heart to do it.
‘Hey dude,’ James grinned, as he crouched down and swept his hand through the dog’s brown and white coat. ‘You’re hot aren’t you? Never mind, you’ve had both your injections now. You’ll be safe to go outside for walkies in another week.’
Meatball rolled on to his back and let James tickle his belly.
‘Aren’t you a cutie pie?’ James smiled. ‘Where’s your ball?’
He reached under an armchair and grabbed a pink rubber ball. Meatball knew what this meant and sprang up excitedly as James lobbed the ball behind the sofa. The dog spun around and raced behind the furniture, emerging at the other end with the ball in his mouth.
‘Aren’t you a clever boy?’
While Meatball had grasped the idea of fetching a ball, he was less keen on letting go once he had it. As James tried prising the ball from Meatball’s mouth, the little dog narrowed his eyes and growled for all he was worth.
‘Good boy,’ James grinned, when Meatball finally let go.
James leaned in close and stroked the dog, then let him lick his cheek. He couldn’t help but love the puppy as he looked into his docile brown eyes. After another lick, James picked Meatball o
ff the carpet and kissed the top of his head.
‘You’re the cutest dog in the world, aren’t you?’ James said, as he stroked Meatball. ‘Who’s a cute doggy?’
‘He always gets like this with animals when he doesn’t have a girlfriend,’ Lauren said acidly.
James glanced up from the floor and saw Stuart Pierce and Lauren standing in the doorway, giggling.
‘Hey Stu,’ James said. ‘At least some of us have got girlfriends, eh?’
Lauren tutted. ‘We’re just doing homework together.’
‘If you say so, lovebirds,’ James smirked.
Meatball had spent most of the day snoozing in the warm room on his own and couldn’t cope with suddenly having three people to play with. His tail was in overdrive and he raced back and forth, unable to decide whose attention he wanted.
‘Are you coming to my room?’ Lauren asked, as Meatball reared up and rested his front paws against the bottom of her school skirt. ‘You don’t mind do you, James?’
James shrugged. ‘Nah, I’m going upstairs for a shower. I’m sweating like a pig.’
‘Come on then, Meatball,’ Lauren said, as she leaned across the hallway and opened the door of her bedroom.
Meatball belted across the hallway and jumped on to Lauren’s bed.
‘You know you shouldn’t lick James’ face,’ Lauren said as she stroked the little dog. ‘You don’t want to go catching all his germs.’
‘Hey,’ James gasped, as he grabbed his pack and headed for the stairs. ‘I heard that.’
‘Later, James,’ Lauren grinned as she closed her bedroom door.
‘You’d better keep those trousers on, Stuart, ’cos I’ll kick your arse if you get my little sister pregnant.’
Lauren stuck her head out of the door and gave her brother the finger. ‘You just get funnier every day, don’t you, James?’
*
After his shower, James trundled down the hallway, wrapped in a towel, and walked into his bedroom. Kyle was on the top bunk reading a copy of Catch 22, dressed only in a set of beach shorts.