Щенок Элли, или Долгая дорога домой / Ellie the Homesick Puppy

He didn’t like dogs at all, and he really didn’t like dogs who barked and jumped around all over the place. He stood on the back of an armchair and hissed angrily when he first saw Ellie. With all his fur standing up like that and his tail fluffed up like a brush, Sid was nearly as big as she was.

Gran carefully made sure they were kept apart after that, shutting Ellie in the kitchen. But then the phone rang, and she forgot to close the kitchen door when she came out to the hall to answer it. Ellie trotted out after her – she might not want to be here[74 - Глагол might описывает не очень вероятное событие или предположение: может, ей и не очень хотелось здесь быть…], but Gran was her one link with Megan.

Sid was sitting in the middle of the hallway like a furry black rock.

Ellie bounced at him bravely and barked, but Sid shot forwards[75 - Shot forwards – глагол shoot (shot, shot) описывает быстрое резкое движение, а наречие forwards – его направление: Сид прыгнул вперёд…] and scraped his claws across her nose.

Ellie yelped. She’d chased cats before, or tried to anyway – Megan didn’t like her chasing things. But the cats had never fought back before. She stared at Sid worriedly, and he hissed again. It was a clear warning.

Ellie crept behind the sofa and stayed there, sulking, until Gran tempted her out with a handful of bone-shaped biscuits, the ones that Megan always gave her. Even those just made her miss Megan more. Gran took her back into the kitchen away from Sid and tried to make a big fuss of her, but Ellie didn’t really want to play.

She was too confused.

Perhaps Megan would come and get her soon? She had been here with Megan before, after all. And she definitely remembered Sid, and the way this house smelled so strongly of cat. Megan must be coming later, Ellie decided hopefully. Every time footsteps went past on the pavement outside she pricked up her ears and wagged her tail. But as the afternoon wore on[76 - Фразовый глагол wear (wore, worn) on означает «проходить» (о времени).

], she stopped bothering[77 - Посла глагола stop нужно обращать внимание на форму глагола: от этого зависит значение фразы! Stop doing something означает «прекращать что-то делать»: перестала беспокоиться.]. It never was Megan, and now it was getting dark.

She padded over to her basket and stared at it miserably. If Megan was coming to get her, she wouldn’t need her basket. Her food bowls were here too, and her toys.