Rufus Goes to Cornwall

One day Rufus was enjoying a peaceful slumber when he was awoken by a crash upstairs! “Oh shoot!” Came Tom’s muffled voiced. “I dropped the bag on my head!”

What an odd thing to do! Rufus ran up the stairs to find Tom. He bounded into the spare room and saw Tom in the corner, standing on a chair! As Rufus watched he pulled big bags out of the high cupboard and he and Nic filled them with clothes and shoes and many other things.

Tom and Nic carried the bags outside and put them in the car. Then they took Rufus’ bed, bowl and toys in the back where he always rode. “We’re going on holiday” they said. Rufus was very excited; he had never been on holiday before! He leapt into the car and off they set. They drove for hours and hours. Rufus was very bored, so he curled up in his basket to sleep.

The sudden gust of fresh air and the smells of a farm woke Rufus as the door was opened. He looked around to see what he could see. There were cows, sheep and goats! Ducks waddled by the pond and a cat stretched lazily out of reach.

Nic and Tom took the bags and all of Rufus’ things from the car and carried them into a little cottage next to the farm. It had a lovely slate roof and a big garden with lots of big green plants and a pond full of red and gold fish.

Rufus trotted into the cottage after his humans and there he saw Annie and Granny Frani! He was very happy to see them and wagged his tail. Annie gave him a big lick and they ran around the dining table! Rufus scampered into the kitchen and saw Emma! He ran around her ankles and sat down ready for a cuddle. Rufus liked Emma, she was Granny Frani’s sister and knew lots about maths!

One by one he saw all of the family; everyone had come to stay at the cottage. Rufus played with all the children and chased his ball up and down the garden! Annie joined in and round and round they scampered, enjoying all the sounds and smells of the farm.

Eventually the sun went down and the children went to bed. Rufus and Annie were sleepy, so they went inside and cuddled up with all the adults. I love holidays in Cornwall, Rufus thought.  I wonder what we will do tomorrow…

Rufus Moves House

One day Rufus noticed that Nic and Tom seemed to be spending an awful lot of time on their laptop. Nic would hand the laptop to Tom and say "what do you think of this one?" Tom would shake his head or nod and say "let's go and take a look at it". Rufus was very confused, they were already looking at the laptop!

A few weeks later Tom came home and patted Rufus on the head, saying, "we've found one at last! Now to start packing!" Rufus wasn't sure what packing was, but he hoped it would be fun.

Tom and Nic started to bring boxes back home, Rufus thought it was a great game to jump in them and hide. Sometimes he leapt out of the boxes to lick their faces! Nic was so surprised that she fell over on the rug!

Soon Rufus wasn't allowed in the boxes anymore. Tom and Nic were filling them with all the things they owned, although they didn't put Rufus' lead or toys in the boxes. Before Rufus could work out what they were doing, Tom went out and arrived home with a big van and some of his friends. Rufus was really happy to see Tom's friends, but they weren't there to play. All the people started to put the boxes in the van and when it was full and all the boxes were gone, they drove away.

Rufus was at home all by himself, his toys were the only things there. The little dog cried. What if they're not coming back? He thought. Rufus sat sadly by the window, hoping he hadn't been abandoned again.

A little while later Rufus curled up on the floor, maybe if he slept the time would go faster - like Christmas eve. Suddenly, there was the scrape of a key in the lock! Tom and Nic came through the door and picked up Rufus' things. He hadn't been left behind! Tom put Rufus' lead on him and they all went out to the car.

Eventually they pulled up at a little cottage. I haven't been here before, thought Rufus. I wonder where we are? They all walked up to the cottage together and Nic opened the door.  "This is our new home," said Tom. "It's really cozy and you will have a garden all of your very own!" Rufus wagged his tail and ran around the little cottage. All of their things were there! "We got it ready for you," said Nic. "Now you can settle right in."