Sam the Stolen Puppy Read Online Free PDF Page B

clump of big bushes close to the gate, and Emily made a big thing of rooting about in them after the ball. Then she simply nipped through the bushes and out of the gate.
    Dad was going to go mad when he worked out what she’d done, but right now Emily didn’t have time to think about that.
    She was going to rescue Sam.

Chapter Six
    Emily threw a quick glance back over her shoulder as she set off out of the park. Jack was being difficult again, and Dad had his hands full. Good.
    The couple with the pointer were about halfway down the road, walking quite slowly, and talking to each other. Bertie was plodding along beside them, his tail drooping between his legs.Emily had never tried to follow anyone before, and she didn’t really know what to do. She was pretty sure that they would recognize her if they saw her, so she needed to keep back out of sight. She jogged up to a nearby postbox and hovered behind it, jigging from one foot to the other nervously. As soon as Bertie’s black-and-white tail disappeared round the corner at the end of the road, Emily raced after them, skidding to a stop just before the corner, and peering round, helpfully disguised by a large but prickly rose bush.
    She went on following them, lurking behind lamp posts and parked cars. Luckily not many people were around, and when someone did walk past, shejust pretended to be doing up her trainers. It was weird. Emily felt silly hopping about behind trees, but scared at the same time. If she really was following the dog-nappers, what would happen if they noticed her? They weren’t going to be pleased to see her.
    After about five minutes, Emily spied round the next corner and got a shock. They’d gone! Her heart thumping in horror, Emily dashed into the next street. She couldn’t have lost them. This was her only chance, because once Dad caught up with her, she was going to be grounded for life.
    Suddenly, she heard voices.
    “Come on, you stupid dog,” someone said crossly. It sounded as though they were in one of the front gardens.
    Emily took a deep breath, trying to keep calm. Maybe the couple lived in one of these houses. Yes, that had to be it, because this was quite a long road. Unless they’d started running, they couldn’t have got that far ahead of her.
    The street was full of big, old houses, and most of them looked neglected and shabby, some with boarded-up windows, as though they were empty. The gardens had quite high front walls, about shoulder height for Emily. She ducked down and scurried along to where she’d heard the voice coming from. It was a house on the end of a row, with a path running down the side, full of old rubbish. The garden was overgrown with bushes, so shepeeped round the gate, hardly daring to breathe in case someone heard the air hissing in and out of her mouth. It was only now that she was so close that Emily started thinking about what might happen if she got caught. The grumpy man yelling at poor Bertie, who’d stopped to do a wee and have a sniff around halfway up the garden path, made her realize how much she did not want them to know she was there. The houses nearby looked as though they might be empty, with broken windows and gardens that were even wilder than this one. Emily shuddered. No one was around to help her out.
    At last the man and woman went inside and slammed the front door.Emily was left crouching by the gate, feeling a bit stupid. She’d done it – found where the couple lived. But what was she supposed to do now?

    In the back garden, the dogs heard the slam of the front door, and started to bark – wanting someone to bring them some food, wanting to go out for a run, wanting someone to stroke and cuddle and fuss over them. Woken from a miserable sleep on the ratty old blanket that was his bed, Sam barked too, calling Emily to come and find him. It had been at least five days since he’d seen her, but he was still sure she was going to come and find him. Almost sure, anyway.
    The