A Puppy Called Hugo

‘Sorry, Daddy,’ he replied softly.

I looked at Hugo and saw he did appear to be genuinely sorry he had caused us some worry and I didn’t want to punish him further. ‘Still it took a lot of guts to do what you did, Hugo. I’m proud of you.’

At the praise, Hugo beamed. It was true, I was proud of my boy. For once I felt he had been listening to the message I had been drumming into him. Humans first, dogs second.

‘So was it like Eric said?’ I asked gingerly. ‘Did you find him in the High Street buying stuff for the garden?’

Hugo thought for a moment before answering. ‘Yes. But he wasn’t in a shop, he was just wandering about muttering something about the ever-changing face of Barnstaple.’

‘That sounds strange,’ I replied.

‘It was a bit scary, Daddy,’ Hugo admitted. ‘Don’t you remember I told you yesterday he seemed to have trouble remembering where he lived? Well today, Eric kept saying the same thing over and over. I know you had told us that Barnstaple was where they used to live and I tried to bark at him to tell him that he lived in London, but he didn’t understand.’

I shook my head. I couldn’t remember Hugo telling me a thing about Eric’s forgetfulness but then it wasn’t surprising, I’d had a lot on my mind.

‘So then what did you do?’ I asked, returning my focus to my son.

‘Luckily he recognised me straightaway,’ Hugo continued. ‘And when I whined at him to follow me home, it was clear he didn’t know what I was trying to bark, but he did it anyway.’

I nodded. This was good news, but it still didn’t explain why Eric thought Perivale’s high street was Barnstaple’s.

I had no answers, but just for the moment I didn’t need any. Everything I needed was right in front of me. Feeling a rush of love, I wrapped my paws around Hugo’s neck once more and clung to him. There weren’t enough barks in the world to tell him how proud I was of him for looking out for his family, but one thing was for sure, I didn’t intend to let him out of my sight ever again.

*

I woke to a sharp citrus tang of what smelled suspiciously like oven cleaner and coughed, the noxious smell overpowering me. Opening my eyes, to my surprise, Jenny was standing with her head inside the oven and appeared to be furiously scrubbing the inside.

‘What are you doing?’ I whined, getting out of my basket and shaking the sleep from my eyes.

Jenny pulled her head from the oven, looked at me and smiled. ‘Shhh, Percy! Don’t wake everyone. I wanted to surprise Mum.’

At the sight of Jenny in her mother’s apron and her rubber gloves, I felt a rush of love for the youngster. She was always helpful, even when she had been poorly, and now, sensing Gail needed an extra pair of hands, she had risen to the challenge.

Padding across to the little girl I loved so much, I rubbed my head against her shins causing her to smile and bend down. As she nudged my forehead with her nose, just as she always had, a small part of me wished I could time travel back to the times when it was just me and Jenny in the kitchen first thing in the morning.

When I had first arrived from the tails of the forgotten it had been Jenny who always let me out for a wee and gave me my breakfast first thing. Over time, Jenny had grown older, Ben and Hugo had arrived and we seemed to have less time together than before. Of course I knew it was only natural and right that she should want to be with her mates instead of her silly old dog, but at times I missed her dreadfully.

‘So what’s all this about then?’ I barked, trying to change the subject.

‘Well, a couple of things,’ she admitted. ‘Firstly, after everything that happened yesterday I want to give Mum a treat.’

‘And the other reason you’re keen to help your mum out?’ I woofed.

Jenny grinned. ‘Tonight’s the Ed Sheeran gig at the arena across town. Mum’s giving me and my friends a lift there and picking me up.’

‘That is generous,’ I barked.

‘So I want to say thank you to her.’ Jenny beamed. ‘She’s been under a lot of pressure lately, so I thought I could clean the oven. I know she’s been meaning to get around to it for months.’

Just as Jenny stuck her head back in the oven, I felt a nose against my side.

‘Morning, son,’ I barked, licking him lovingly. ‘Sleep well?’

Hugo blinked sleepily up at me. ‘Need a wee, Daddy.’

‘I’m sure Jen will get to it in a minute. Can you just wait?’

‘I’m not sure, Daddy.’ Hugo almost wept. ‘After all the feathers I didn’t need to wee for ages, but now I’ve needed to wee all night. I even dreamed about going for a wee.’

I gave him a lick once more and gave Jenny a little bark. Although she had always been able to understand what I was saying since the day Gail brought me home from the tails of the forgotten, Hugo’s barks were something of a mystery to her, and the rest of the family come to that.

Nudging Jenny in the shin once more, she pulled her head out of the oven and looked at me.

‘Everything all right, Perce?’

‘Fine,’ I yapped. ‘Just Hugo needs a wee. Can you open the back door for him to have a tinkle in the garden, please?’

‘OMG! Sorry, Hugo must be desperate!’ Jenny exclaimed, ripping the rubber gloves from her hands. ‘I’m so sorry, I should have opened it as soon as I got up. I didn’t think.’

‘Erm, Daddy,’ Hugo interrupted.

I spun around as Jenny walked across the kitchen to the back door. ‘What is it?’

‘I just want to say I’m really sorry.’

‘What for?’ I barked, puzzled.

My son had only just got up. There hadn’t been time for him to get up to mischief just yet.

‘Sorry, Daddy,’ Hugo whimpered. ‘I couldn’t hold it in any longer.’

I groaned as I caught sight of the little puddle of liquid Hugo had obviously just created. ‘We’ve been working so hard on toilet training, you haven’t done this for ages.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Hugo whimpered again. ‘It was an accident.’

Rather meanly, I rolled my eyes, despite the fact I knew it couldn’t be helped. It just felt that Hugo’s progress was a case of three steps forward and two steps back.

As Hugo jumped up and down with glee at the breakfast Jenny placed in front of him, I gritted my teeth, remembering how yesterday I had felt so guilty for any cross bark I had thrown in his direction after his disappearance. Who said fatherhood was easy? No pug I knew, that was for sure.

Chapter Seven (#ulink_49959221-77f4-5042-bda7-a1077cd685cd)

Together with Jenny we worked overtime to clean up the mess my boy had made. As Jenny ripped off several sheets of kitchen roll for me, I saw she had burst into fits of giggles. Suddenly feeling very tired, I looked across at my favourite teenager to find out the cause of all the hilarity. It didn’t take long to see that although Hugo had tinkled all over the floor, he had managed to do it in the shape of a heart.

‘Oh, Perce, you have to admit that’s sort of adorable,’ she whined, as Hugo walked back inside.

‘I’ll admit it’s adorable when he can clean up after himself,’ I yapped crossly.

‘Come on, it’s almost like art,’ Jenny tried again.