It was Saturday morning. As usual, Dream Dogs was busy. Bella sat in the window, cuddling her dog, Pepper, and watching as her mum waved goodbye to Miss Waldicott and her little West Highland terrier, Angus.
âSame time next week, Suzi?â said Miss Waldicott. âCome along, Angus. Walkies!â
The freshly washed little Westie barked and jumped up at the treat Miss Waldicott was holding out. The salon door clanged shut.
Suzi wiped her hands on her pink Dream Dogs overall. âMy back is killing me,â she sighed. âAngus is really too small for me to wash in our bath.â
Bella gazed at the salonâs bath. It had been built on a special platform, so that her mum didnât have to bend down too much when she was washing the dogs. But when the dogs were small like Angus, it was a bit of a problem.
âYou should wash him in the sink, maybe?â Bella suggested.
They used the salon sink sometimes, for the really little dogs.
Suzi shook her head. âHeâs too big for that,â she said. âTypical, isnât it? Most of my clients seem to be small dogs. And a special small dog-bath costs a fortune.â
âThree thousand pounds,â Bella said, remembering her mum complaining about the cost of a small dog-bath when they had first come to Sandmouth to set up Dream Dogs. That seemed ages ago. They loved Sandmouth now, with its long sandy beach and Cliffside Primary and all of Bella and her little brother Louieâs friends nearby. It was weird to think that they had once lived in London.
âLuckily theyâve come down in price a bit since I last looked,â said Suzi. She rang up the till and put in the twenty-pound note that Miss Waldicott had given her. âBut they are still nearly a thousand pounds each. I canât possibly afford that.â
Bella checked out of the window. The pink Dream Dogs van and mobile dog-wash trailer was parked outside. She looked at the dark pink lettering underneath the Dream Dogs logo on the side of the trailer.
Paws ânâ Purrs. The Pet Shop for All Your Petâs Needs.
âMaybe you could ask the pet shop to sponsor you again,â Bella suggested. âLike they did with the trailer.â
Suzi shook her head gloomily. âThey wouldnât sponsor me for a bath as well,â she said. âNo, Bella. It looks like Iâll just have to put up with what weâve got.â
The salon door tinkled. Bella brightened. It was her favourite clients, Mimi Taylor and her little Pomeranian, Crystal.
âMorning, Mimi,â said Suzi, smiling.
Mimi put Crystal down on the salon floor. The little Pomeranian perked up her fluffy brown ears. She sniffed at Pepper in a friendly way, before scampering up and down sniffing at all the corners.
âYouâre letting Crystal run about more, I see,â said Suzi.
âShe hates it if I hold her for too long,â Mimi said fondly. âI must have been crazy, the way I used to carry her everywhere. She runs us all ragged these days!â
Crystal gave a high-pitched bark and kicked out her back legs. For such a little dog, she was a feisty thing.
âCome along, Crystal,â said Suzi. âBath time. You are one dog that fits in my sink, at any rate!â
Mimi settled on the window seat. Suzi put Crystal in the sink and started running the water while Bella fetched down a bottle of shampoo from the shelf.
âWeâve had a week of it,â Mimi sighed. âThe newspapers have been all over Idaho since he twisted his knee. Would he still play for Sandmouth in the new season? Is his career over? Honestly, itâs only a little sprain.â
Mimiâs husband, Idaho Taylor, was a well-known footballer. When Mimi and Idaho had first come to Sandmouth, the papers had gone mad. They still regularly ran stories about them on the front page. Louie played with their son, Pan, sometimes, as they were in the same class at school.
âI expect it stops him from doing the housework though, hmm?â Suzi joked.
âHow did you guess?â Mimi laughed.
Bella stroked Crystalâs foxy little head as Suzi carefully soaped her body. Her creamy butterscotch fur looked totally different when it was wet. Usually, it was thick and fluffy but now it was all long and straggly, dripping with water. Pepper huffed crossly from his basket. He got very jealous when Bella fussed over the dogs that came to the salon.
âWhereâs Louie?â Mimi asked. âPanâs been asking if he can come over to play during the holidays.â
âHeâs with his friend Jamie this morning,â said Suzi, looking round over her shoulder at Mimi. âHonestly, those two are as thick as thieves.â
While the two mums chatted about the boys, Bella reached across the sink to get the washcloth her mum always used to wipe the soap off the dogs before rinsing them. Her elbow jogged the plug chain. Water started draining away. Crystal yelped and sat down very suddenly.