Pete(12)‘Intervention Plan’ (Young adult; adventure/sci-fi) — Peter S.Wall
February 25th 2008 01:21
NINE
'Gone again'
The bus roared-off, belching a thick cloud of smelly diesel fumes. Tomas stood in his school uniform of maroon shirt and grey shorts laughing at Toby, who made faces at him from the back window of the bus. His friend had maths tutoring and got off further up the hill. No sooner had the bus rounded the corner, than Tomas set off at a run, eager to make sure Bluey was home and okay. He had that ominous feeling in his stomach again that something was wrong.
Five minutes later, Tomas ran into his backyard and the sight of Bluey’s empty kennel confirmed the uneasy feeling. He bent down and yelled under the house. "Bluey!" There was no sound, no movement. 'Damn you, Bluey,' he thought, worriedly. 'Where have you got to this time!' Then the image of a little fox terrier flashed into his mind. ‘Ah, Scruffy.’
"Yes, young man, what can I do for you?" She snapped.
Tomas stood on the other side of the wire fence, where the dirt-path ran close to the house. "You haven’t seen my dog around, have you?" He asked.
"No, I have not," old Ma answered. "I've enough problems with my own dog at the moment, the vet kept him in overnight." She nodded at the empty dog-basket beside the door.
"He's been bitten by a snake apparently, and is a very sick little dog," she said in quiet voice, obviously on the verge of tears.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Tomas replied. Unlike Bluey, he didn't see the rabbit bite Scruffy, so was none the wiser. "I hope he gets better soon,” he added, then waved goodbye and set-off again, jogging back towards home.
The reason Tomas didn't bother searching the old mine was that Bluey’s obviously scared of the place, he wouldn't willingly go in there. No, before his Mum and Dad got home and he harassed them into a search by car, he'd take a look down the oval where he seen Bluey sniffing the ground at practice this morning. Maybe a female dog’s on-heat and Bluey's ‘on the hunt’.
Jogging down the hill, Tomas regretted not taking his board with him, the wind was dying off and there’s a good sized swell running. He immediately felt guilty and dispelled the thought, re-focusing on the task at hand. The fact is, he loved his dog so much that he couldn't imagine life without him. Bluey was like a brother to him. Being an only child had its drawbacks, but Bluey more than made up for the lonely times. Yes, there’d be time enough to worry about surfing when his dog was found. And he will find him!
Cresting the rise to the oval, he stood puffing loudly, staring down on an empty field with not a dog in sight. He then ran down to the north-end, near where he last seen Bluey sniffing around. "Bluey! Come on, boy!" he yelled, somehow knowing it was in vain. Then a movement off to the right caught his eye…a girl walking past the change-sheds. Tomas recognised Sammy Munson, from Haig Street. He knew Sammy from school, she’s in sixth class, a year above him. Tomas waved.
She waved back.
He then jogged over to where Sammy stood waiting for him. "Hey, what are you doing," he said on drawing close. Dressed in a blue and white striped tracksuit with her long red hair tied back in a ponytail, she looked kind of pretty—not that Tomas cared much about that.
"Looking for Libby," Sammy told him. "You haven't seen her, have you?"
"No. I'm looking for Bluey as well. The last time I seen him, was at practice this morning."
"Libby also went missing this morning."
"Your dog isn't…" Tomas made a strange face. "…You know."
"No," said Sammy, catching on, "not for months yet."
Tomas shrugged. "Anyway, I might go and check over the Baths, sometimes Bluey goes over there."
Sammy nodded, hair falling across her freckled face. "Okay. Do you mind if I come too, just in case Libby's with him."
Tomas shrugged. Normally, the idea of a girl tagging along with him would send him into spasms, but at the moment, the priority’s finding his dog, and four eyes have to be better than two.
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