Oscar's Lonely Christmas by Holly Webb Page A

you?”
    Her mum smiled even more widely. “Because I rang her a few weeks ago, to ask if we could go on the list for one of the next litter of puppies.”
    Hannah sprang off the bench and threw her arms around her mum. “Really? You didn’t tell me! We’re going to get a Dalmatian puppy? You mean it?”
    Mum nodded. “Let’s go and talk about this inside, I’m freezing!”
    Hannah raced into the house, tugging off her coat and scarf, and unzipping Zak from his suit. She ran to put her things away, then skidded back into the kitchen. “Please tell me!”
    Her mum laughed. “I should agree togetting a puppy more often… Yes, your dad and I decided that maybe you and Zak were old enough now for us to have a dog. Your dad wanted a big dog and you were desperate for a Dalmatian, so we found this lady – Lisa, she’s called – on the internet. She lives about twenty miles away, close to Mill Green.”
    Hannah nodded. Mill Green was a little village she’d visited on a school trip to see the working watermill.
    “She breeds Dalmatians – only two or three litters a year, so we thought we might have to wait quite a while for a puppy. But it turns out that someone who’d put her name down for one of the latest litter has changed her mind.” Her mum frowned. “Something aboutnot quite the right markings. Lisa said she’d explain it all properly when we went to see the puppy. She said it shouldn’t matter at all, as we’d told her we weren’t looking for a show dog.”
    “When can we go and see the puppy?” Hannah gasped. She hardly knew what to say, she felt so excited.
    “How about tomorrow? Oooh, Hannah, don’t squash me!” Her mum laughed as Hannah flung her arms around her waist. “So, you’re pleased, then? You haven’t changed your mind about Dalmatians?”

    “Of course not!” Hannah cried. “They’re the best dogs ever! We’re really going to see some tomorrow?”
    “Absolutely. It had to be a Saturday, so your dad can come too.” Mum smiled. “He’s going to get a big surprise when he gets home!”

    Hannah’s dad was just as excited as she was about the puppy. Mum told him all about the phone call over dinner.
    “That’s just such good news,” he murmured. “I thought we’d have to wait ages. We wanted to make sure we got a puppy from a proper breeder, you see, Hannah. Dalmatians can be a bit nervous and excitable, and you have tobe careful to meet the parent dogs, that kind of thing. Mum said the lady from Dashing Dalmatians was very nice when she phoned her. She gave her all sorts of test results and told her lots about the breed.” Then he frowned and glanced over at Hannah’s mum. “I’ve just thought. We did say we were going to try and avoid getting a puppy around Christmas though, didn’t we?”
    Hannah’s mum nodded slowly. “Oh, goodness, I’d forgotten that. I just didn’t think.” She paused for a moment. “Lisa said that the puppies were six weeks old now, and we could take our puppy home at about eight weeks. So that would be the first week of December, I suppose. Oh, that is a bit close to Christmas.”
    “Why can’t we get the puppy before Christmas?” Hannah asked, her voice starting to squeak with panic – they couldn’t change their minds now!
    Her dad rubbed her shoulder. “It’s just that Mum and I said that we wouldn’t ever get a dog as a Christmas present – so many puppies end up at shelters after Christmas. And it’s quite a stressful time for a dog, with loads of people around, and the house all turned upside down.”
    “But you aren’t getting us a dog for Christmas!” Hannah pointed out quickly, her heart thudding with hope. “The puppy just happens to be coming close to Christmas, that’s all. It doesn’t really make the puppy a Christmas present!” She dug her fingers into herhands, looking anxiously from Mum to Dad. Then she added, in case that had sounded greedy, “But I don’t want anything else for Christmas, it’s