“Jack!” whispered Grace as Chloe hurried into the classroom ahead of them. “Chloe could be the perfect owner! She’s got loads of energy and she wants a dog who doesn’t shed hair. Let’s tell her about Tilly. Please!” she begged.
LOOK OUT FOR:
LINDA CHAPMAN
Illustrated By Sophy Williams
First published in the UK in 2020 by Nosy Crow Ltd The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place Crosby Row, London SE1 1YW
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © Linda Chapman and Julie Sykes, 2020 Illustrations © Sophy Williams, 2020
The right of Linda Chapman, Julie Sykes and Sophy Williams to be identified as the authors and illustrator respectively of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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To the dogs who’ve provided the inspiration for these books, particularly Candy, the cockapoo, who is as lively and loving as Tilly, and Callie, the GSD, who is smaller than Tiny but twice as cheeky.
CHAPTER 1
“Mum’s back with the dogs!” Grace jumped down from the kitchen window seat, from where she’d been keeping a lookout, and ran to the door.
“Wait for me!” said Jack, going after her. Grace and Jack Taylor loved animals
so much that they’d set up the Forever Homes rehoming service from the shed in their large garden. Whenever unwanted dogs or cats needed a new home, the nineyear-old twins took them in. They then cared for them until they could find them a forever home with a perfect new owner.
At the moment, Grace and Jack didn’t have any animals to rehome so they were helping their mum. She ran Top Dog, a doggy day care and boarding business, from the family’s Victorian house. The twins’ home was always busy – as well as their mum’s clients coming and going, they had an older sister, Amelia, who was thirteen, and an older brother, Ollie, who was seventeen. There was also Tiny, the family’s German Shepherd cross, who
was usually found sleeping flat out on the kitchen floor.
Grace waved to her mum as she parked her dogmobile on the drive. The van was painted to look like a real dog. It had black-and-white patches, a stick-on nose and ears, and a long tail that curled across
the back door. Grace and Jack loved it!
“Hello, twins,” said Mum, who’d been out collecting the dogs that were spending the day with her.
“The dogmobile sounds like it’s barking,” giggled Grace as the dogs woofed when her mum opened the back door. There were three today and they wagged their tails excitedly as Grace and Jack got them out of the crates they travelled in.
“Here you go,” said Mum, handing the leads to Grace and Jack. “You can take them for a quick walk while I check on the boarders.”
Jack’s dark hair flopped in his eyes as he bent to stroke two black-and-white spaniels called Meg and Jess. Grace, who had long wavy brown hair, fussed Lolly, the poodle.
“Have a nice walk,” said Mum.
Her ponytail swished from side to side just like a waggy tail as she headed into a new red brick building across the sunny courtyard from the main house. It was where her office and the dogs’ kennels were.
“It’s fun helping Mum, but I wish we had a pet in to look after and rehome,” Jack
said, as he and Grace set off along the street with the three dogs.
Grace nodded. “It’s been a whole month since we last had an animal in.” She smiled as she thought about their last rehoming success. They had taken in a shy greyhound called Olive and had found her a home with a retired couple who loved to go for long walks. Olive was really happy in her new home.
They were almost at the park when Jack stopped walking. “Listen.”
Yap! Yap! A dog barked in a nearby garden. Yap! Yap! Yap!
“It sounds like a puppy,” said Jack.
Jack followed the barking to the corner house. The garden had a brick wall topped with a trellis. He stood on tiptoe and
looked through the gaps. “It’s a puppy, a very cute one. Look, Grace!”
Grace hurried over and stuck her nose to the fence. “Aww!” In the garden was a fluffy cockapoo puppy with wavy cream fur, floppy dark gold ears and a coal-black
nose and eyes. It scrabbled at the wall with its front paws as if it desperately wanted to climb over and join them.
“It looks lonely,” said Jack.
Grace frowned. There were a few toys on the grass but they were much too big and too hard for a small puppy. “It hasn’t got any water,” she realised. “Do you think the owner has forgotten about it? I’m going to knock on the front door.”
“We’re not allowed to knock on stranger’s doors,” Jack reminded her.
“We can’t leave it out here without
water. Maybe the owner’s forgotten it’s outside. We have to knock,” Grace decided.
Grace and Jack ran to the door with the other three dogs and knocked. Nothing happened. They could still hear the puppy whining. Grace tapped her foot impatiently. She was about to knock again when she heard footsteps from inside the house and a tall woman, talking into a mobile phone, opened the door. She gave Grace and Jack a puzzled look.
“I’ll call you back later,” she said, ending the call. “Can I help you?” she asked the twins.
Grace’s eye’s widened at the messy house. The hall floor was coated with biscuit crumbs, scraps of material and a
kind of soggy white stuffing. A trail of paw prints led along the hall.
“It’s your puppy,” said Grace, trying not to stare at the mess. “It hasn’t got any water and it’s really upset. I think it wants to come inside.”
The woman’s face hardened. “I put her out there because she keeps destroying things. This morning she took a packet of biscuits, ripped up my best cushions and chewed my handbag. She is an utter nuisance and I really wish I hadn’t bought her. She’s going to have to stay outside until she learns how to behave.”
Grace blinked. “You can’t just leave her outside on her own!”
“Puppies need lots of attention,” added Jack.
“You’re just kids,” the woman scoffed. “What would you know?”
“Actually, we know quite a lot,” Jack told her seriously. “We run our own pet rehoming business.”
“Finding new purrrfect owners for purrfect pets,” said Grace proudly. “It’s called Forever Homes and—”
“Look, kids, I’m really busy,” the lady interrupted. “I work from home and I haven’t got time to chat. I’ll put some water in the garden for Tilly but she’s going to stay out there.”
“You can’t leave her outside all the time!” Grace protested. “That’s cruel! You shouldn’t have a puppy if you don’t have time to look after one!”
“Grace!” whispered Jack, giving her his
special look for when she was in danger of losing her temper. Politely, he said to the lady, “If you’re too busy to care for Tilly, we could help you to find a new home for her. We’ve rehomed lots of dogs at Forever Homes. Our mum runs Top Dog, a doggy day care business.”
“So, there’s an adult involved with this rehoming business?” the lady said. Jack nodded. People who needed help with rehoming pets often seemed happier to use the twins if they believed their mum was in charge.
“You can ring our mum and check. And there’s no charge! We run it like a business because it’s important to be professional, but we do it to help the animals, really.”
The lady looked thoughtful. Grace
decided to seize the moment.
“We could take her away with us now if you wanted us to?” she said.
The lady glanced behind her at the mess. “It’s very tempting. I had no idea a puppy could cause so much chaos. What’s your mum’s number? If you’re sure you can help with Tilly then I’ll give her a ring.”
“We can definitely help!” said Grace. She beamed. “If you let us take Tilly away, I promise we’ll soon find her a perfect forever home!”