time,â he said, pouring the beans out onto two plates. âHere.Eat up â eat up and shut up,â he said, giving a little laugh.
Selby took a mouthful of beans and then spat them back on the plate.
âYuck!â he thought. âThese are even worse than Dry-Mouth Dog Biscuits.â
âHey, you. Eat those. Thatâs all youâre getting,â the old man said. âOld Shish loved them. What a dog!â
âYeah, well, you probably killed him with those beans,â Selby thought. âNow to look for a way out of this dungeon.â
Selby pushed away his plate of cold beans and set about investigating the house for a means of escape.
The front door and back door were both locked. One by one, Selby crept into the other rooms of the house and tried to raise the windows.
âI donât think these things have ever been opened,â Selby thought. âNo wonder it stinks in here, thereâs never any fresh air.â
There was one last room but Selby couldnât go in to check the window without Dave seeing him.
âI know,â he thought. âIâll trick him into letting me out.â
Selby scratched at the back door and whimpered.
âWant to go to the loo, do you?â the old man said.
Selby watched as the man got an old laundry basket and filled it with crumpled newspapers.
âThere you go â your own personal loo,â he said.
âIâm not doing anything in that contraption,â Selby thought. âWhat does he think I am, a puppy?â
Selby watched as Digger Dave finished his beans and slumped down on the dust-covered lounge. It wasnât long before he started to snore.
âI could wait until he takes me for a walk and then do a runner but he probably never goes out,â Selby thought. âIâll have to get the front door key.â
While the old man dozed, Selby carefully worked his paw into Digger Daveâs pocket. Then, just as he touched the key â¦
âHey! Whatâs going on here!â Digger Dave cried, grabbing Selbyâs paw. âGet out of it!â
The old man sat up and laughed.
âYou probably just want a pat, donât you?â Digger Dave said, pulling Selby up onto the lounge beside him. âShish was with me when I walked across Antarctica and he learnt to do just what you did. He used to put his paws in my pockets to warm them up.â
âOh, spare me,â Selby thought. âIn your dreams you walked across Antarctica. Tell me another one.â
âHe was also with me when we got lost up the Amazon,â the old man said with a laugh. âThat was an adventure! Made a raft, we did, and floated down the river for a month until someone found us.â
âI canât believe it,â Selby thought. âHe
did
tell me another one.â
âPoor old Shish,â Digger Dave continued. âWhen I found him in the jungles of Mexico he was just a puppy. Speared right through the tummy, he was. Someone probably mistook him for some sort of wild animal, poor guy. Half-dead and bleeding like you wouldnât believe, he was.â
âOh, please,â Selby thought. âWhat does he take me for? Speared through the tummy? This guy watches too much TV.â
âI nursed him back to health. Thatâs where I got his name: Shishkebab â like that nice spicy meat on a stick. Ever have shishkebabs, Selby? Stupid question. What would you know, you mongrel.â
âOf course Iâve had shishkebabs,â Selby thought. âThat does it. Go back to sleep, Digger Dave, so I can get out of here.â
âMelissa shouldnât have said those things about him,â Digger Dave said. âNo good place for a dog, a flat in the city. That wasnât right.â
âMelissa?â Selby thought. âMust be the daughter who kicked him out. Canât say I could blame her.â
âI remember the time we were crossing the
Tiffany Reisz
J. F. Gonzalez
Sarah Addison Allen
Willow Wilde
Deborah Smith
Mellie George
Michelle Cary
John Evans
Rhys Ford
Sandy Kline