Barking Up the Right Tree by Leigh Russell

Author:Leigh Russell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oldcastle Books
Published: 2022-11-10T16:44:30+00:00

21

As we were sitting watching through the window, Poppy started squirming so I stood up to take her outside. When I opened the bedroom door, she ran back to the window and crouched beneath it, whimpering. She didn’t want to go out after all. Closing the door, I went to sit down again, and did my best to dispel her fears, assuring her that the fireworks could not hurt her, and the noise was all outside. She calmed down for a moment but then grew increasingly unsettled and leapt from my lap once again. This time she dashed over to the door, barking furiously.

‘It’s all right, Poppy,’ I reassured her. ‘It’s just fireworks. Come over here and I’ll hold you up so you can see for yourself what all the fuss is about. Poppy, here, Poppy, come!’

Gathering her up in my arms, I carried her over to the window. Before sitting down again, I noticed a figure pass through my gate and hurry away along the street towards the party. It could only have been Hannah coming to find out where I was. Clearly she had thought better of it, because she hadn’t knocked on the door. That irritated me, but there was no time to think about her inconsistent behaviour because Poppy scrambled out of my grasp, ran across the room, and resumed her barking, scratching furiously at the door.

‘Come on, then,’ I said, heaving myself off my chair again. ‘There’s no need to destroy the paintwork.’

I went over and opened the door for her. Instead of running downstairs, she hung back, clinging to the hem of my trousers with her teeth to prevent me from leaving the room. There was a faint smell of burning from the fireworks outside.

‘Well, do you need to go out or not?’ I demanded crossly. ‘That’s the second time you’ve got me up and I’d like to watch the display, if you don’t mind.’

I returned to my seat at the window. The smell of burning grew stronger, and Poppy seemed genuinely distressed. Refusing to come and sit with me, she stood in the doorway, yelping as though she was in pain, or very frightened. This time when I went over to fetch her, I noticed she was shaking, and the smell had grown markedly stronger. I ventured out of the room to look down the stairs, and felt my breath catch in my throat. Behind me, Poppy’s whining had grown frantic.

As I stood transfixed, a thread of smoke rose into the air from a rocket lying on the hall carpet. Poppy barked. Galvanised into action, I rushed down the stairs. By the time I reached the hall, one end of the firework was glowing brightly and had singed a hole in the carpet. Within seconds the smoke grew thicker, twirling upwards in multiple delicate tendrils, while a tiny flame flickered, a tongue licking the air to test it. In a panic, I dashed forward, grabbed my coat that was hanging on the wall, and smothered the nascent fire before it could take hold.

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