Saturday Rock Dog

Janet Lee

Description

Fifteen-year-old Lucas's parents are completely unlike those of his friends. Whilst most mums and dads are into gardening or baking, Lucas's parents like listening to rock music - at full volume. Lucas's mates all enjoy spending time in his unconventional household, especially when Lucas brings home his dog, Cuch, from the rescue centre. When Grace, one of Lucas's friends comes round to meet Cuch, she is surprised to discover the dog apparently headbanging in time to 'The Final Countdown'. Cuch, it seems, is a real rock dog and after Lucas's parents post clips of him dancing on YouTube the world wants to see more. After his surprise appearance at local rock club, Cuch is dubbed 'Saturday Rock Dog' and an article about him in the local newspaper spreads word about the amazing dancing dog. Then a letter arrives from Cuch's previous owner who asks to be reunited with his old pet and Lucas fears for the future. Little does he know that everyone's life is about to change beyond recognition. Saturday Rock Dog is an uplifting and imaginative novel for a modern generation that will be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 30 août 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781909949690
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
SATURDAY ROCK DOG


By
Janet Lee
Illustrated by Stacy Jordan



Publisher Information
Apex Publishing Ltd
PO Box 7086, Clacton on Sea,
Essex, CO15 5WN, England
www.apexpublishing.co.uk
Digital Edition converted and published by
Andrews UK Limited 2013
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2013 Janet Lee
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition, that no part of this book is to be reproduced, in any shape or form. Or by way of trade, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser, without prior permission of the copyright holder.



Dedication
Dedicated to the memory of my beautiful son Paul Lee-Davis aged 37



Chapter 1
Meet the Parents
Even before Lucas reached the front door of his house, he could hear the noise.
Most of his mates already knew what to expect at number 35 Church Road, but today was different. Lucas had palled up with a new lad at school - and this was the first time Tom had been to Lucas’s house.
It was an ordinary suburban street, but these were most definitely not ordinary suburban parents.
“Oh for Goodness sake,” Lucas said as he put his key in the front door. The music inside was loud, very loud.
Tom’s best mate Louis was also with him.
“You’ll get used to ‘em,” Louis told Tom, nodding towards the downstairs lounge window. Tom hesitated on the doorstep, not knowing what to expect.
What was a loud, but muffled sound from outside the house turned into a massive wall of noise as the front door opened.
The lads had been playing footie at the local park.
And while it was usual for most parents to listen to music while the kids were out of the way for a while on a Saturday afternoon, the noise was not something that Tom’s mum would have listened to. She’d be playing some old Abba tunes, singing to them as she baked in the kitchen.
As the lads stepped into the house the vintage rock sounds of AC/DC’s ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ escaped from the lounge and sliced along the hallway.
Tom looked momentarily alarmed.
“Take no notice,” Louis told him. “They’ll turn it down in a bit.”
The lads went into the kitchen.
Friends of Lucas quickly learned that when they went to his house, it was no good expecting a fat, homely mum to greet them nicely offering juice and cakes. So they all just got on with it - making toast and sitting at the pine kitchen table, just about able to make conversation above the guitar booming out of the speakers from the lounge next door.
Lead guitarist Angus, from AC/DC, ripped through his solo with ear-piercing style.
Suddenly, the wall of sound went up a notch further as Lucas’s dad threw open the kitchen door.
“Alright lads?” he said - and headbanged his way across the kitchen to light up a cigarette at the back door.
“Didn’t hear you come in. Who’s this then?” he asked, nodding towards the newcomer.
“It’s Tom dad,” Lucas said. “He’s new at school.”
“THIS is my dad,” Lucas told Tom - but in a warm way that told Tom although this was one barking mad father, there was a lot of affection there.
Another AC/DC track had started and from out of the lounge came the distinctive sound of ‘singing’, a woman bellowing out the lyrics at what Tom thought must have been the top of her voice.
“And THAT’S my mum,” Lucas added with eyes raised to the heavens and with an expression that showed a mixture of embarrassment and pride.
This admission of affection was relatively uncool for a 14-year-old, but Lucas secretly quite liked having unconventional parents. At least they didn’t commit the worst sin of all: they weren’t boring.
Mum Janine burst into the kitchen - arms aloft in mock rock stance. The chorus had just come round again.
‘Bam!’ went the drums.
“For those about to rock, we salute you!” she hollered - then plonked a kiss on Lucas’s cheek.
She was squeezed into tight light blue jeans and her long, died-blonde hair was flailing behind her as she pranced around the kitchen.
“Welcome to my world,” Lucas told the new boy.
“Who’s this then?” Janine asked.
“It’s Tom. He’s just moved up the road,” Lucas said, but he could barely make himself heard.
“’Ang on a sec’,” Janine said and disappeared into the lounge to turn the music down. It was still louder than Tom had ever experienced in his own house, but they all went into the lounge and were able to have a conversation of sorts - interspersed by Lucas’s parents dancing like 2 teenagers around the room, bellowing out the choruses with arms held high.
When Lucas’s dad Alex started ‘air guitaring’ that was a step too far.
Lucas reckoned the new boy had seen enough for now, so the lads all went upstairs to play computer games.
The distant booming of the bass continued from the floor below for another hour.
Black Sabbath, Metallica, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden reverberated up through the floorboards.
“I think they’re great,” Tom said at one point - and actually joined in singing the chorus of Livin’ on a Prayer, striking a rock pose with a can of deodorant for a microphone.
The boys all laughed. This was the first of many rock times they were destined to share.



Chapter 2
Rescue me
It was the end of December, ice cold outside and the house was still decked with Christmas trimmings.
Lucas’s dad was watching TV in a rare, over-fed, tired, Christmas pudding-full sort of way.
Janine was ironing in the kitchen - something she loved to do - because she usually ironed to the music of Status Quo and reckoned she could get quite a rhythm going. She could dance at the same time as ironing, so it was fun.
The CD wasn’t over-loud today, at least not by this household’s standards.


“Roll over, lay down and let me in, Roll over it’s a long way where I’ve been. Roll over lay down.”
Yes, Lucas could see there was quite a rhythm going with the iron - back and forth in time to the 12-bar blues.
“Mum,” he said, in that elongated way which makes mums know they are about to be asked for something.
“Uh-huh?” Janine said, as she stopped to place a crisply ironed T shirt over the back of a chair.
“When can we go to the rescue centre?
“You said we could have a dog after Christmas.”
“I told you,” Janine said, “as soon as Christmas is over. Let’s get all the decorations down and have a tidy up first. I can’t face training a dog while we’re surrounded in all this mess.”
She sounded almost like a sensible, conventional mum.
She’s promised Lucas they could go to the local rescue centre, but didn’t think it was right to get a dog during the chaos of Christmas.
“We’ll go next Saturday,” she said. “I’ve spoken to your dad and he said he’ll come with us.”
That was six days away. But Lucas knew his mum never broke a promise. Promises were cast iron.
Six days to wait then. At least he’d have a dog by next week. He didn’t even care what type it was (as long as it didn’t look small and girly).
At 15 years old next month Lucas needed to retain some street cred’.
The next six days seemed an eternity. What with no school during the Christmas holidays, the time passed with long lie-
ins, computer games with Louis and Tom and listening to music - not Alex and Janine’s music, but the latest sounds downloaded from the computer.
Much as Lucas loved new music, he had been brought up on rock and metal sounds, so couldn’t help but like some of his parents’ stuff. He actually sang along to the choruses of classic rock tracks and strummed along to them on his guitar in his bedroom.
His dad used to be in a rock band, so most Friday nights Alex would relive his youth, pounding away to the classics on electric guitar with wannabee singer Janine providing the lyrics.
There were times Lucas would escape to his room. There were other times, if he was in the mood, he’d join in - especially if his mum and dad had their rockin’ mates around.
Lucas would then pound out the bass line while his dad improvised over it, the music getting louder as the night wore on. It was a good job their semi detached had really thick walls.
Every Saturday morning was the same. The house looked as if there had been a party the night before. The house was littered with glasses, bottles, guitar leads, microphones and dried up sandwiches.
But to Lucas, this was the norm’. And his mates loved it, because their homes were so pristine that nothing was allowed out of place and their parents were in bed by 11 at the latest.
Janine kept her promise and six days later they all set out late morning to visit the rescue centre - with Louis and Tom squashed up with Lucas on the back seat of the estate car.
They’d passed the rescue centre many times before, but never been inside.
The car pulled onto the drive of the rescue centre. The air was still freezing cold and as the family got close up to the centre for the first time it looked as bleak and frosty as the weather.
Janine was first out of the car.
“Oh my God, I’m frozen,” she exclaimed.
Despite her husband’s rock image, he was actually a very practical man. He was wearing a jumper, jacket and overcoat. Although they had been together for years, Alex still loved and looked after Janine. He had no hesitation in peeling off
his coat and giving it to ‘Jan’ as he called her. She snuggled gratefully into the coat, stamping her feet and beating her a