Chapter 6. Keep off the Grass
Tessa started to laugh. The puppy squirmed in delight and proceeded to lick her feet.
‘I don’t see what there is to laugh about,’ said Ben in annoyance. ‘Now we not only have a baby to look after but a puppy as well.’
‘I could take it home to Mum and Dad and say I found it,’ said Tessa. ‘They might let me keep it.’
Knowing Tessa’s parents Ben had grave doubts about this.
‘Your Mum and Dad are always busy in the antique shop. They are not going to be very keen to have a puppy – anyway, there wouldn’t be anyone home all day to look after it. The puppy would get lonely.’
‘Would your parents let you have a dog?’ asked Tessa hopefully.
‘No they would not.’ said Ben firmly. ‘My Mum is allergic to dog hair - and cat hair and even rabbit hair,’ he added gloomily. ‘And bird feathers and..’
‘Okay, okay, I get the idea,’ said Tessa. ‘So what do you suggest we do?’
‘Let’s try ignoring it and maybe it will run away,’ said Ben.
As he spoke they heard the chiming of bells again.
‘Come on’, said Ben, ‘We’ll follow that sound.’
Despite Molly’s protests he picked her up and dumped her in the pram, trying not to look at the puppy which bounced alongside him. Between the next two houses was a small gate with a notice saying ‘Reserve.’
‘Let’s go in here’, said Tessa as a burst of music chimed from that direction. Opening the gate she led the way into a park. There was a large expanse of neatly trimmed velvety grass bordered with neatly trimmed flowerbeds. Neatly trimmed trees stood at intervals beside a neatly edged path. There were ‘No Littering’ and ‘Keep off the Grass’ signs every few paces.
‘I definitely haven’t been here before,’ remarked Ben as he tried to persuade the puppy not to run on the soft grass. The puppy ran on down the path until it came to a flowerbed where it was sure someone had concealed a large bone. With head down and tail waving madly it started to dig furiously, sending earth and flowers in all directions.
‘Oh help,’ yelled Tessa and ran over to stop the puppy. The puppy was now convinced there was a bone in the flowerbed and that Tessa was trying to keep it for herself.
Growling and whining it continued to dig until the hole was deep enough to hide inside. Then it lost interest and ran across to dig beside a large ‘Keep off the Grass’ sign.
‘Tessa shrieked with laughter and Molly demanded to be allowed to join in the fun.
‘We can’t make things much worse,’ thought Ben in resignation and was about to lift her out of the pram when there came a shout.
‘What do you think you are doing?’
Tessa and Ben looked around guiltily and saw a large red faced man striding towards them. He wore some sort of official looking uniform, complete with official black peaked cap.
‘Quick, run,’ said Tessa, taking off down the path away from the man. Calling,
‘Here pup, here pup,’ Ben followed her, the pram bouncing up and down as he ran, much to Molly’s delight.
‘Pup, pup, pup,’ she crowed.
The path swerved suddenly around a patch of bushes as the sound of bells grew louder. As Ben and Tessa panted along they were forced to a sudden stop as a large locked gate blocked their way. Behind them they heard the pounding of feet as the man came thundering up behind them. Ben looked around desperately.
‘In here, hurry,’ he cried to Tessa and dumping the puppy in the pram next to an excited Molly he pushed through into the bushes. Tessa followed closely behind him as they shoved their way to the other side to land on a patch of grass. The sound of bells grew louder then faded away as an ambulance screamed along the road by their feet.
Looking around they found they were siting by a clump of bushes in the middle of a large traffic island.
‘I know where we are,’ exclaimed Tessa. ‘We can easily find our way back to the elevator from here.’
Ben groaned. ‘I am not going up in that elevator again until I get something decent to eat. Anyway, haven’t you noticed that we’ve not solved anything yet, only made it worse!’
‘Oh all you think about is food,’ said Tessa crossly. ‘Mum’s at the hairdressers this morning. I’ll call in on her and beg some money for chips. Then we’ll go to the elevator. Although’, she went on, ‘the puppy is really sweet and Molly is so cute like that.’ Molly sat in the pram with her arms around a sleeping puppy.
‘It’s okay for you,’ replied Ben crossly. ‘You’re not the one who has missed the last two meals and had to act as nursemaid.’
Arguing together they crossed the road, Ben keeping a sharp lookout in case he saw anyone he knew. Fortunately Tessa’s mother was busy having her hair cut and styled and was happy to thrust a $10 note at Tessa when asked.
Triumphantly Tessa joined Ben by the chip shop and they sat on a seat by the bus stop to eat. ‘That’s better,’ said Ben at last, licking the salt from his fingers. ‘Better,’ agreed Molly who had consumed a dozen chips ably assisted by the puppy.
‘Now what?’
‘Back to the elevator I suppose,’ said Tessa. ‘I really don’t have any better ideas, do you?’
Ben began to answer then looked up in horror. Marching down the street towards them with a determined look on his face came Jamie.
Ben and Tessa leapt to their feet and took off down the footpath, barging past Saturday morning shoppers who exclaimed in indignation when the pram rammed into them.
‘Where do we go now?’ gasped Ben. ‘Jamie’s going to catch us up soon.’
‘Down here, it’s a short cut’ called Tessa and led the way down a small service alley between the shops. Breathlessly they turned out onto Victoria Street with Jamie a few paces behind. Tessa moaned and dived for the entrance to her parents’ antique shop where she and Ben panted to a stop.
Tessa’s father was surprised to see his daughter accompanied by a grubby boy, with an even grubbier small girl dressed in bizarre clothing and seated in an old pram. His eyebrows rose even further when he saw the puppy that had woken up and started to yap excitedly.
‘Now look here,’ he began when there was a bang of the door as Jamie arrived in the shop behind them, scowling and breathing heavily.
Tessa’s father was annoyed.
‘Now look here Tessa’, he repeated, this is a shop not a playground. If you and your friends want to play chasing you can go and do it somewhere else. Now go,’ he added crossly giving Tessa a gentle push as he pointed to the door.
‘But Dad,’ began Tessa.
‘Out, I said,’ shouted her father and miserably Ben and Tessa slunk out the door followed by a grimly smiling Jamie.
‘To the elevator, quickly,’ called Tessa, pushing the pram in front of her and sprinting down the street towards the intersection.
With a sigh Ben followed, holding the puppy with one hand as it tried to launch itself out on the footpath and join in this exciting new chasing game.
Jamie was not slow to follow and the three of them, complete with puppy and Molly in her pram arrived at the elevator together.
‘You can’t get away from me this time,’ panted Jamie.
In desperation Ben pushed the third button on the control panel and the familiar shuddering jerky journey began. When the elevator stopped Ben dashed down the corridor. The puppy bounded along side him, ears flapping as it ran. Tessa had the presence of mind to position herself in front of Jamie with the pram. She pushed the pram in a zigzag as she followed Ben, preventing Jamie from over taking her. She caught up with Ben at the door as he turned the golden ball handle.