Buttons the Runaway Puppy Read Free Page B

keep her shut up properly!”
    “I’m sorry.” Mr Jenkins limped out and caught Buttons by the collar. “I don’t know how she got out. Has she hurt the cat?”
    “Well, no,” the lady admitted. “But he’s terrified!” And she stomped back round the side of her house, carrying Felix and muttering about badly-behaved dogs.
    “Oh, Buttons.” Mr Jenkins sighed.
    Buttons looked up at him apologetically, giving her tail a hopeful little wag. She hadn’t been that naughty, had she?

    Mr Jenkins didn’t know about the hole Buttons had dug under the fence. He thought that the postman must have let her out, or the boy delivering the local paper. He put a notice on the gate reminding people to shut it carefully, and kept Buttons in for the rest of the day.
    The next day, Sophie went out to send a postcard to Rachel. The postbox was in the next street to hers – the street where Mr Jenkins andButtons lived. Sophie was hoping she might see Buttons on the way; she was sure she’d heard her barking from her garden. Mr Jenkins might be in the garden, too – Mum hadn’t had a chance to ask him about Sophie walking Buttons, and Sophie was tempted to ask him herself.
    On her way back from sending her postcard, Sophie was just coming round the corner towards Mr Jenkins’s house, when she heard a scuffling noise, loud barking and someone shouting.
    Sophie hurried round the corner. Buttons was out! The little brown dog was standing with her front paws on the wall, barking at a black cat who was perched on the top, hissing and trying to claw at Buttons’s nose.“Oh, Buttons, no!” Sophie cried, running over. “You mustn’t chase cats!”
    The black cat jumped from the wall into the safety of a tree. Buttons barked one last flurry of barks, then looked guiltily at Sophie. She’d been told off about this yesterday, but she’d forgotten. Cats were just so tempting!
    “Do you know this dog? Can you grab her collar, please?” A woman was hurrying up the garden path. “I need to take her back to her owner. This is the third time she’s chased my cat; she was out this morning as well.”
    Sophie caught hold of Buttons’s collar, and patted her gently to try and calm her down. Buttons wriggled, so Sophie picked her up instead, and the puppy snuggled gratefully into her arms.

     “Be careful!” the cat’s owner said anxiously. “She’s snappy! Vicious little thing.”
    Sophie looked at the woman in surprise. Buttons? Sophie was sure she wasn’t vicious, just a bit naughty.
    The woman came out of her garden, looking worriedly up at her cat, and opened Mr Jenkins’s gate. “Would you be able to take her back? She seems tobehave for you. I really need to talk to Mr Jenkins, this is getting silly.”
    Sophie followed her, almost wishing she hadn’t gone out to send her postcard. She was glad she’d been able to catch Buttons – the little dog could have been hurt if she’d run into the road – but she didn’t want to be in the middle of an argument between Mr Jenkins and his neighbour.
    Mr Jenkins answered the door, and he looked horrified when he saw them. “Mrs Lane! Sophie! Oh, Buttons, not again…”
    “Again,” Mrs Lane said grimly. “The third time. You promised me this morning you wouldn’t let her out!”
    “I really am sorry, Mrs Lane. I’vegot someone coming to block up the hole under the fence later on, and I’ve kept Buttons shut in ever since I found it. She must’ve climbed out of the window.” He gestured at an open window, and Sophie noticed that the flowers underneath looked rather squashed.
    “If this happens again, I’ll have to report you to the council,” Mrs Lane said crossly. Then she sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude. But you’re just not keeping her properly under control. She’s a little terror!”
    Mr Jenkins frowned. “I can only apologize, and promise you that it won’t happen again.” He sighed and leaned wearily against the door frame.
    “Please