CHAPTER 1

      Rascal came to the river in the grey light of early morning.

      He’d been on the move since before sunrise and he had made good time. But what now? To continue his journey west, he had to cross to the other side. The river wasn’t too wide, but its level was high after several days of rain and its waters ran fast. A feeling of uneasiness clutched at the dog. Could he swim in such a strong current?

      Rascal didn’t want to find out. A shiver of fear ran through him at the very thought. He looked up and down the river. One direction led off to nothing but wilderness. In the other, he could make out electricity pylons in the distance. That meant a town. Usually Rascal tried to avoid towns as much as possible – it was safer that way – but he knew there was a better chance of finding a bridge in that direction. He began to follow the river downstream.

      The trees around him had started to lose their leaves. A memory stirred in Rascal’s mind of playing with Joel in the back garden. He had been no more than a puppy then. Joel had promised his parents that he would rake up the leaves that littered the lawn. And he had made good on that promise, until . . .

      ‘Check this out, Rascal!’ Joel had said with a grin. And then he had scooped up a handful of the leaves and tossed them into the air.

      ‘Its raining leaves!’ Joel had laughed, and Rascal had been happy to join in the fun, jumping up and barking excitedly.

      ‘What are you two up to out there?’ had come the cry from the kitchen window. But, as boy and dog rolled in the leaf pile, Joel had been laughing too hard even to answer his mum.

      But Joel was far away now and the falling leaves filled the dog with anxiety. Autumn was here. He could feel it on the wind, like a promise of the winter to come. What if he hadn’t made it home before the really bad weather set in? He would never be able to continue his journey once the first snows had fallen.

      And then what?

      The river curved round, and beyond the bend a small road ran alongside it. Rascal was able to pick up speed now, running in the middle of the road but always keeping the river in sight. He didn’t even notice the sound of an engine behind him until the blare of a horn startled him. It was loud and it didn’t sound like car horns usually did. This one played a few notes of music.

      Rascal leapt to the side of the road just in time before a battered red pickup truck roared by. The man in the driver’s seat shouted something through the open window. Rascal watched until the truck disappeared round the bend ahead.

      He continued more carefully now. Soon he passed a few warehouses by the water’s edge. And then the land opened up in front of him. He had come to a small park that sloped up from the river. At the far end of the park lay a small town . . . and also a footbridge across the river.

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