Ellie the Homesick Puppy Read Online Free

and they all looked strange and gloomy in the dark. Only till Tuesday , Megan told herself. Today’s Sunday. Tuesday afternoon, I’ll have Ellie back .

    That night, Ellie was left alone in Gran’s kitchen. She had her own familiar basket and her blanket, which was wrapped round a cosy hot water bottle, but she was still desperately homesick.
    She whined unhappily for a long while, but Gran didn’t come down. Ellie was tired, but her basket felt wrong with the hot water bottle in it. It had cooled down now, and it sloshed and wobbled when she moved. Ellie tried to scrabble it out, but it was heavy, so she picked it up in her teeth and dragged it instead. Still it wouldn’t budge. She tugged again and the water started to leak out over her blanket.
    Ellie howled. Why had Megan abandoned her?

Chapter Four

    Ellie woke up in her damp basket. She eyed the hot water bottle worriedly. People didn’t like it when she chewed things. She looked up anxiously as the kitchen door opened, wondering if Gran would be very cross.
    But she only laughed. “Oh dear, they did say you liked chewing things at the moment. It’s all right, Ellie, I know youdidn’t mean to be naughty. It was probably silly of me to let you have it. I just didn’t think. Don’t be sad, little one, you’ll see Megan again soon.”
    Ellie stared up at Gran with mournful eyes, as she tidied up her damp things. Even though Gran was being friendly, she didn’t want to stay here. If only she could go back home to Megan.

    Ellie was good at finding things, and she was best at finding Megan. She smelled special, and Ellie could always find her. She knew when Megan was coming home from school – she could just feel it. She somehow knew when it was time to go and sit by the door, so she could be there to see Megan as soon as she got inside.
    So it would be no problem to find Megan, Ellie was sure. But finding her meant she had to get out first, and she wasn’t at all sure about that.
    Gran fed Ellie, then let Sid into the kitchen to give him breakfast. After that, she left the door open so Ellie could get out of the kitchen too. Gran watched them anxiously, but this time the cat and the puppy stayed out of each other’s way.
    After a while, Ellie crept out of the kitchen, watching carefully for Sid. She was fairly sure he was in his favourite place – on the back of the sofa, so he could look out of the window and see exactly what was going on in the street.
    The front door was very big and very solid. It had a handle, which Ellie couldn’t reach, even standing on her hind legs. The letter box was at the bottom of the door, but even though she could get her claws into it to scratch it open, it was only big enough for her nose and even that hurt. Ellie sat staring at the door hopelessly, then she gave her ears a determined shake. If she couldn’t open it, she would just have to wait until someone opened it for her.
    She hung around the hallway all morning, waiting for the door to be opened and half-playing with her squeaky fish toy.
    She was just scrambling underneath a chest of drawers, trying to reach the squeaky fish, when there was the shrill sound of the doorbell. Ellie jumped, banging her head on the bottom of the chest.
    She could hear someone shifting around on the doorstep. This was her chance!
    Ellie wriggled herself round under the chest, so that her nose was sticking out, and watched as Gran hurried to answer the door. It was the postman with a parcel. Gran opened the door wider to take the sheet of paper sheneeded to sign, and Ellie’s ears pricked up as she saw what was beyond it. Gran’s didn’t have a fenced-in front garden like Megan’s house did, just a flower bed and then straight on to the pavement. As Gran turned away from the door to rest the sheet of paper on the very chest Ellie was hiding under, Ellie darted out of the door.
    Ellie’s heart was thumping as she hid herself behind an enormous clump of stripy leaves under the front