Free Dognapped! by Karen King Page B

Mudlark’s when Maisy-May got away. Someone must be deliberately targeting the dogs entered in the Rivington Show.’ Gran got up from the couch and paced around agitatedly. ‘That means poor Fluffy could still be wandering around somewhere, lost and hungry. Or lying injured.’ Her voice tailed off as she reached in her cardigan pocket for a well-used tissue.
    One of the women I’d interviewed told me that her dog had got trapped down a badger sett. Was Gran right? Had Fluffy been let loose by Animals Have Rights fanatics and got lost or injured?
    But what about the ransom note? And the phone call I’d overheard between Mrs McFarlane and Mr Mudlark? Besides, it was me who had taken Maisy-May, so Mr Mudlark’s dogs hadn’t been targeted, had they? And what had happened at Kimpton might have no connection with Fluffy at all. Someone might have a grudge against the owner and let out their dogs to spite them.
    ‘Oh, Amy. I can’t bear not knowing what’s happened to Fluffy.’ Gran blew her nose. ‘Do you think that animal rights group is behind all this?’
    ‘I’m not sure, Gran,’ I told her. ‘But one thing still puzzles me.’
    ‘What’s that dear?’
    ‘Well, you aren’t exactly a ‘breeder’ are you? You’ve got one dog that you keep in the house and treat as a pet. This Animals Have Rights Society seems to be targeting the big breeders who keep lots of dogs in outdoor kennels. Why should they pick on you?’
    ‘Because Fluffy is one of the favourites to win the show?’ Gran suggested.
    Maybe. But it didn’t make sense to me. For one thing, if the Animals Have Rights people were targeting show dog owners, why hadn’t they broken into Mr Mudlark’s kennels? Of course, I couldn’t say that to Gran. She thought they had, and I wasn’t about to tell her otherwise. I was now sure though, that Mr Mudlark and Mrs McFarlane were somehow involved in Fluffy’s disappearance.

Chapter 14
On the Tail
    Mr and Mrs McFarlane set off after breakfast, as usual. They were dressed in shorts and tee shirts – not a pretty sight I can tell you. Personally, I think there should be a law passed banning anyone over forty from wearing shorts. Mr McFarlane had his camcorder and was holding a map. I had an awful feeling that they were planning a sightseeing trip.
    I slipped my micro-recorder into my pocket (it could come in useful) and went to the yard to get my bike, expecting to see Max hanging around, trying to find out where I’d been, but there was no sign of him. I guess he was still sulking over our row yesterday. Well, I wasn’t about to apologise to him after the things he said to me. Anyway, it would make a nice change to do things by myself without his constant interruptions.
    I rode around to the front, just as Mr and Mrs McFarlane got into the car and shot off. I managed to follow them for a while, but once they were out of the narrow winding streets of Little Cragg, I lost them. Well, if I couldn’t tail Mr and Mrs McFarlane, maybe I could find Mr Mudlark, I thought. I headed for his house, hoping I could remember the way as I’d left the map in my bedroom. I needn’t have worried, though, it was clearly sign-posted.
    I glanced over at Mr Mudlark’s house as I cycled past (intending to sneak in the back way via the field again) and nearly fell off my bike when I saw Mr and Mrs McFarlane’s blue car parked in the drive! I checked the number plate, just to make sure, although the spotted nodding dog in the back window was proof enough. What on earth were they doing here?
    It was too much of a coincidence. They had to have something to do with Fluffy’s disappearance. Maybe Fluffy wasn’t being kept in the kennel block with the other dogs, but in the house, and Mr Mudlark intended to set her free once the show was over. Maybe he – or the McFarlanes – had released other dogs in kennels as a cover because it would look suspicious if only Fluffy had gone missing. It was possible that I had given