No Place Like Home (Part 2 of 2)

        We moved on the first Saturday of the summer holidays.  Kelly came every evening of the last week and helped me to pack up my books and games and take down my posters.  Then, on the Friday night, before she went home, she gave me a big hug and we cried in each others arms.

         “Remember when you said you’d never move away?” she said.

         I nodded against her shoulder.  “I’ll still see you though,” I said.  “You can come down and stay with us when we’re settled in.  Promise?”

         “I promise,” she said.  Then she kissed me and gave me a card she’d made.  It showed a big yellow house with a red roof.  Two smiley-faced matchstick girls were standing at the gate, with a big black blob of a dog sitting beside them.

         “That’s you and Ben,” she said.  “At your new house.”

         “But who’s the other girl?” I said.

         She wiped her hand across her eyes and smiled.  “That’s your new best friend.”

 

         Early the next morning, when the men had finished loading our stuff, dad went to get the car while I stayed with mum and took one last look around the house.  It was strange seeing it with all our things gone… the bright patches on the wallpaper where our pictures had been, and the huge empty spaces where the furniture had stood.  I’d never seen it empty before.  It didn’t look like our house at all.  It looked like no one had ever lived in it.

         Ben had been out of sorts with all the commotion, and now it was quiet he sat on the floor in the kitchen, right where his water bowl had always been, giving me a funny lop-sided look.  I crouched down and hugged him, telling him not to worry.  Then I heard the car hooter, and Ben jumped up and ran to the door.  As we left, mum and I stopped by the window and looked out into the garden.  We could see the birdhouse, which was also empty after the greenfinches had left that spring.

         “Do you think the birds will come back next year, or will they follow us?”  I said.

         Mum smiled down at me, and I saw sparkles at the corners of her eyes.  She was about to say something, and then dad hooted again.

         “Come on, love,” she said, grabbing my hand.  “The sooner we go, the sooner we can settle.”

 

         I didn’t like our new house.  It wasn’t at all like the one in Kelly’s picture. It was all grey stone, with a black slate roof, and creepers growing all up the side.  It had been empty for ages, and there was a funny damp smell inside. My room was upstairs next to the bathroom, which had a water boiler that grumbled when you switched it on. The wallpaper was dull and tatty and the ceiling was high, with corners full of cobwebs.  I could imagine huge spiders dropping down on my head in the night.  Dad said it would all look nice when it was decorated, and I tried to imagine it like that… but I couldn’t.

         Ben wasn’t happy either, and that first night he slept on the bottom of my bed - something he hadn’t done since he was a puppy.  As he slept, I lay awake thinking about our old house and wishing we could go back there.  I missed its warmth and brightness, and its familiar things.  And I missed Kelly, too.  Somehow, I didn’t expect to find another friend like her.

 

         It was the next day that Ben ran away.  Mum and dad were busy moving the furniture around, so I went with Ben to explore the garden.  It was much bigger than our one in London, but it had grown wild, and was thick with nettles and strange flowery weeds that came up to my elbows.  As I wandered about, Ben followed behind me, sniffing at everything, snuffling as dust went up his nose. 

         In one corner, we came to a pathway that ran down along the side of the house.  I followed it, and it came out near the front gate.  The gate was standing open, and there - sitting just inside it - was a big white cat.  It looked startled to see me, but it didn’t move.  It just sat there and looked at me, winking its whiskery eyes in the sunlight.

         And then, before I had a chance to think about what might happen, Ben dashed out from behind me and went after it, chasing it through the gate and out into the lane.  I ran after him and reached the lane in time to see him dart across and onto a path that led up through a cornfield.  I chased him, calling his name, but he kept running - his head and tail bobbing up and down between the corn stalks.  I kept him in my sight until I was about half way across the field.  Then I stumbled and fell over.  I wasn’t hurt, really - just a small graze on my hand - but when I got up, Ben was nowhere to be seen.  I kept running up through the field, still calling, but he wasn’t there.  He’d completely vanished.

         At the top of the field I came to a stile, from where I could see for miles across the hills.  But the only things moving were some cows grazing in the distance, and a tractor going slowly across the horizon, like a toy.  And suddenly I felt more lost and alone than I’d ever known.  I’d left my home, and Kelly, far behind… and now I’d lost Ben, too.  There was nothing more for me to do, so I sat down on the stile and cried.

        

         “What’s the matter?”

         The voice was gentle, but it still made me jump.  I looked up and saw a girl standing beside me.  She was wearing jeans and wellingtons, and a floppy white T-shirt that came down almost to her knees.  Her hair was blonde, and tied back in a ponytail.  She was older than me, but not much.

         “I’m sorry if I frightened you,” she said. “I was walking nearby and I heard you calling out.  I came to see if you were alright.”

         “I’ve lost my dog,” I said, sniffing as the tears came again.  “He ran away.  I’m worried he might be running home.”

         She smiled and gave me a tissue from her pocket.  “Well, if he goes home, that’ll be alright then, won’t it?”

         “No,” I cried.  “It’s too far away.  It’s in London.”

         “London?” she said, looking puzzled.  “Are you on holiday, then?”

         “No… we…” And then I stopped, realising what I’d said.  “We moved into the village yesterday.”

         She smiled again, touching my arm gently.  I stopped crying then and looked up at her, seeing the way the sunlight caught her hair, making it shine like gold.

         “Come on,” she said then.  “Let’s look for him together.”

 

         We walked slowly back down through the field towards the lane, calling out.  But Ben never appeared.  On the way, the girl told me her name was Hayley, and that she also lived in the village - quite close to where we were.  I told her about Kelly, and her stories.

         “Kelly sounds like she’s got quite an imagination,” she said.

         “But do you think she’s right?” I said.  “Do you think animals can really do that?”

         Hayley shrugged her shoulders.  “Who knows?” she said.  “They’re  cleverer than we think… so maybe.”

         I felt a twinge again then.  I wanted to hurry back to mum and dad, so we could get in the car and catch up with him before he got too far away.  When we finally reached the bottom of the field, I pointed across the lane.

         “That’s my house,” I said.

         Hayley looked.  Then a big smile spread across her face, and she pointed too.

         “And who’s that?” she said.

         I followed her finger… and there he was, standing by the gate, his nose covered in mud, wagging his tail and barking as if nothing had happened.  I ran to him then, laughing as he jumped up at me, looking more pleased with himself than I’d ever seen him before.  Hayley joined us, grinning as Ben licked her hand.

         “There you are, you see,” she said.  “He did run home.”

 

         Dad was right.  Once the house was decorated, it did look nice.  In fact, it’s a beautiful house now.  I love its bright colours and big rooms.  The boiler still grumbles… except now it sounds more like a chuckle.  I can’t imagine living anywhere else.  It’s home.

         I’ve written to Kelly several times, and she’s written back.  But she hasn’t come to stay yet.  Maybe next summer, she said.  I told her about Hayley, who’s now my best friend, and about Ben running off that day, and how we found him again.  Kelly wrote back and said he must have lost his homing instinct.  And I believed her, too, for a while.

            But not any more.