Sam the Stolen Puppy Read Online Free PDF

keeping Sam, Mum and Dad will have to believe me!
    Lucy had a Sunday class in the parktoo, in the afternoon. Now she just had to work on Mum and Dad to get her there. She wasn’t going to admit her real reason, there was no way her parents would let her go off “bothering those poor people”. She could just imagine Dad saying it. No, she would have to be a bit sneaky.

    It wasn’t hard to sit in the corner of the sofa and look as if she was moping – Emily felt a bit better now she had a plan, but she could easily drag up miserable thoughts about Sam. She could hear Mum and Dad muttering in the background. They’d noticed!
    “Ought to get out and get some freshair,” she heard her dad murmur. He strode cheerfully over to the sofa and announced in an over-bright voice, “Time for a walk, you two!”
    Jack looked up crossly from his toy cars. “Don’t want to walk,” he grumbled.
    Dad’s bouncy attitude didn’t slip. “Football!” he half-yelled, making Jack jump. “Come on, grab the ball, grab your coats, we’re going to the park!”
    Emily shook her head in disbelief. How easy had that been? Maybe she ought to try being sneaky more often. Although it was a pity they had to take Jack too, especially a grizzly Jack who moaned about being cold all the way to the park.
    Actually, having Jack in tow was probably a good thing, Emily thought to herself, as she watched Dad try to jolly Jack along as they kicked the ball about between them in the park. Dad was having to spend so much time getting Jack not to lie down on the grass and sulk, that he wasn’t really watching her. “Just going to practise dribbling,” she called. Gently, she kicked the ball over towards the dog-training class, pretending to be using a line of trees for markers. Jack was now jumping up and down, swinging from Dad’s hand and howling.
    Emily lurked behind a big chestnut tree with a fat trunk, and peered round at the dog-training class. The sight of so many beautiful dogs, lots of themonly puppies, made her stomach lurch, and she felt her eyes go hot with tears again. She shook herself firmly. If she wanted to get Sam back, she had to do something. Crying wouldn’t help.

    Carefully, Emily watched the class. It was a cold February day, and hardly anyone had stopped to watch. A few people were gathered up at the far end – but it was hard to see… Then someone moved, and she spotted Bertie the pointer sitting sadly by the man, who was talking with another dog-owner. The woman was standing next to him, wearing her red gloves, laughing at something. They were there! It couldn’t be a coincidence. Emily felt her fingers curl into fists at the sight of them chatting so nicely. They were probably trying to pick up information about a new dog to steal.
    Suddenly, the man hauled on Bertie’s lead, and they started to walk awayfrom the dog-training area, waving to the people they’d been chatting with.
    Emily watched in horror from behind her tree. Now what was she supposed to do? Her plan had only gone as far as getting to the park. Quickly, she looked back round the tree. Eeek! Now Dad and Jack were coming over. Jack’s bottom lip was sticking out, but at least he wasn’t yelling any more.
    “Sorry, Emily,” Dad said, still trying to be super-cheerful. “Come on then, Jack! Let’s see if Emily can get the ball past us, hmm?”
    Emily looked over at the class in panic. The couple was heading for one of the side gates to the park now. What was she going to do? There wasno way she could convince Dad to follow them, and even if she said she wanted to go home, they wouldn’t use that gate.
    It was time for a desperate move. Emily made a big thing of running up to the ball, faking a couple of times to get Dad and Jack in the mood, then booted it completely the wrong way – over towards the gate.
    “Whoops! Sorry!” she giggled breathlessly. “I’ll get it!” She raced off after the ball, which was still rolling feebly. There was a