Next minute, the doors are flung back and the ambulance men go through with Bob strapped on to the stretcher, and a crowd of library staff following behind. Cassyâs carrying Bobâs scruffy old bag.
âEm! Wait there! Iâll be back in a minute!â Cassy says as they rush past.
I sit on the step with my arm round Mattie, even though she is a bit smelly and flea-ridden. The ambulance siren starts up again. A crowd of people push forward to get a look through the window.
Footsteps trudge back up the stairs: Cassy plonks herself down next to me and bursts into tears.
âWhatâs happened?â
âOh, Em, it was horrible. Bob just keeled over. I think he must have had a heart attack or something. He looked awful. All grey and shaky.â
âWhat shall we do about Mattie? We canât just leave her here.â
âI donât know â weâll have to call the police, I suppose. Theyâll take her somewhere safe.â
âWhere, though? How will Bob get her back? Heâll be worried sick!â
âI donât know, Emily! Thereâs nothing more we can do.â Cassy starts crying again: big, juddering tears like a little child.
Beside me on the top step, Mattie stretches herself out with a big sigh and puts her nose on her paws. Sheâs trembling.
âWe canât just hand Mattie over to some police person who wonât care about her,â I say. âAnything might happen to her. We owe it to Bob. Iâm going to phone Dad.â
Itâs pretty hard getting Mattie into the car. She digs her heels in. In the end Dad has to lift her into the boot.
I fetch her old blanket from the alcove, to make her feel at home.
Cassy screws up her nose. âItâs disgusting, it stinks and itâs covered in fleas. Just like Mattie, in fact. We canât take her home with us, Emily.â
âWe can drop her off at the police station,â Dad says. âThey deal with lost dogs all the time. They have a special dog warden.â
âMattieâs not lost,â I say.
âHomeless, then.â
âThatâs not her fault. If the dog warden gets his hands on her he might not let Bob ever have her back, when he comes out of hospital.â
âIf,â Dad says, under his breath.
âThey might give her away or have her put down or anything! Itâs not fair. Why canât we keep her, just till we know how Bob is?â
Bit by bit I wear them down.
Dad stops off at the supermarket on the way back. I put a bag of dry dog food and some tins in the trolley, and choose a collar and lead for Mattie. Sheâs only got a bit of string round her neck at the moment.
âJust for tonight, then,â Dad says. âAnd sheâll have to sleep outside. Sheâll stink the place out. Sheâll be fine. Sheâs used to being out in all weathers.â
âBut she has Bob for company,â I say. âSheâll be lonely and cold all by herself. We could wash her? Then she wonât smell so much.â
âNo!â Cassy says. âAbsolutely no. One night only, tied up outside. While we think what to do. Iâll phone the hospital in the morning and see how Bob is.â
Later, in bed, I phone Seb to tell him what has happened.
âI always wanted a dog, when I was little,â he says. âBut Dad wouldnât let us.â
âWhat are you doing tomorrow?â I ask.
âNothing much.â
âYou could come over,â I say. âAfter school. We could take Mattie for a walk.â
âOK,â Seb says. âI could meet you from school, if you like? Get the bus with you. Mum needs the car for work, otherwise Iâd drive.â
âIâve got a job now too!â I say.
Seb doesnât talk much after that. I guess he feels bad or something, about not having a job himself. But he says heâll meet me at three thirty. At the bus stop.
All night I keep waking up,