Oscar's Lonely Christmas Read Online Free Page A

something for Oscar to see.
    Oscar trotted along happily, enjoying the interesting smells and listening to the girls chatting.
    “Oh, look, they are out!” Hannah said, quickening her pace. “Come on, Oscar.” They hurried up to the field to look at the horses, and Hannah picked Oscar up, resting his front paws on the top of the fence. She could feel his tail wagging against her arms, and it made her giggle.
    Oscar gazed across the field at the horses, enchanted by the huge creatures. He’d seen other dogs, but never anything as tall and graceful as these.
    At last Hannah sighed. “We should get back, or Mum’ll be worried. I promise I’ll bring you to see them again, Oscar.”

    Hannah wished she could take Oscar out for a long walk every day, but now that it was getting closer to Christmas, the school play was taking up lots more time. Mr Byford insisted that everyone had to be word-perfect, and he’d planned some extra rehearsals for the main parts after school. Hannah had to go to all of them, because her big part meant she was in every scene.
    Hannah loved being in the play, and so far she was dealing with her nerves really well. But the extra rehearsals made it hard to fit in Oscar’s walks. By the time she got home from school it was totally dark – and there was no way Mum would let her out to walkOscar in the woods. They had to make do with a quick jog round the park with Dad when he got home. Other than that, it was down to Mum to take Oscar for a walk in the morning. But that meant Mum had to have Oscar and Zak’s pushchair, which wasn’t very easy. Hannah had also been hoping they could start dog-training classes soon, too, but Mum said that with all the rehearsals, there was no way Hannah could fit in anything else. They would have to wait until after Christmas.
    Oscar really missed his walks. It seemed ages since he’d had a proper one, and Hannah hardly seemed to be at home at all. He was sick of watching the door, waiting for Hannah to come home. Why wasn’t she back?

    He thoughtfully sniffed the shoe rack in the hallway and tugged at a trailing pink shoelace. One of Mum’s trainers fell down, and he nudged it with his nose. This was fun! He growled at it, pretending it was something to chase, and then held it down with his front paws and started to gnaw at the laces.
    Just then, Mum came down the stairs. “Oscar, no! No chewing! Bad dog!” She snatched the trainer back and shooed him into the kitchen.
    Oscar slumped down on his cushionand licked his nose sadly. He didn’t really understand what he’d done wrong. He wanted to go out and have a lovely long run with Hannah. She was still Oscar’s favourite person, but she was never there. Why didn’t she want to spend time with him any more? He felt bored and grumpy, and that made him want to chew things. He didn’t know he wasn’t allowed to chew shoes…
    He was still looking miserable when Hannah got home at last. She sat down by his cushion to stroke him. “Mum told me about her shoe. I’m sorry she was cross with you, Oscar. You were just bored, weren’t you, poor baby.” Hannah sighed. “It isn’t long till the play now. After that we’ll go on lots more walks, I promise.”

Chapter Five
    Oscar sat on the back of the sofa and stared out of the window, watching for Hannah in the gathering dark. He missed her. It seemed so long since she’d left the house for school that morning. She had taken him out in the garden and they’d played with his jingly ball, which had been fun. But then Hannah’s mum had called her in.Since then he’d only had a quick walk round the park at lunchtime, with Zak trying to hold his lead, and pulling him backwards and forwards.
    “Ossa!”
    It was Zak again, running into the living room. Oscar whipped his head round and overbalanced. He slid down between the sofa and the window, yelping with fright, although he wasn’t really hurt, only surprised.
    Zak clambered on to the sofa and hung