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Gran nodded.“Ava’s right. Come out here, you two. I know you’ve only got your slippers on, it doesn’t matter for once. You can help me hold the table so Ava doesn’t wobble.”

Lucy and Bel pattered out, and held on tightly to the edge of the table. It was clever of Gran to get them to help, Ava thought as she crawled cautiously up on to the table. Now they wouldn’t whinge about being left out.

“Is he there?” Lucy gasped, as Ava balanced herself against the wall and stood up.

“I can’t see yet.” Ava peered over the top, looking anxiously round the garden. “Oh! Oh, Tiger!”

“He is there! Is he all right?” Gran called up. “Oh, be careful, Ava!”

“He’s there but I don’t know if he’s all right,” Ava said, her voice shaking.

Tiger was curled up in a tiny ball, right by Megan’s back gate. Charlie and Max were standing over him, still barking. The gate was a solid one, with no gaps in it and hardly any space underneath. And it was high, too. It looked like Tiger hadn’t been able to scrabble his way up and over – he was trapped.

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“I don’t think he’s hurt,” Ava called down. “Just really, really scared. But I can’t tell for sure.”

Max realized at last that someone else was invading his garden. He trotted over to the wall and barked at Ava.

Even though he was huddled up with his eyes closed, Tiger heard the difference in the barking. One of the dogs had gone! He opened his eyes a tiny bit and looked over.

Ava! She was there, looking over the wall! He tried to get up to run to her but the other dog leaned over him, barking even more fiercely, and Tiger huddled back down to the ground. He didn’t dare move – he was frozen with fear.

“Oh, Tiger,” Ava whispered. “Gran, I have to get him out! He’s so scared, and Charlie and Max might hurt him.”

“What about the lady next door – when’s she going to be back?” Gran asked. “Do we have a phone number for her?”

“The home number’s in Mum’s address book but that’s no good. She’s at work.” Ava looked down at Gran. “It’ll be hours till she’s back. Megan works till about six on Saturdays, I know she does because she told Mum she doesn’t like it.” Ava leaned over the wall again. “I’m coming to get you, Tiger. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Coming to get him? No, you are not!” Gran said, sounding horrified. “You can’t get over there, Ava!”

“I’m not leaving him! Even if we call Mum and Dad, that food fair they went to is an hour away on the train. We can’t leave him that long, Gran. The dogs…” Ava’s voice wobbled. “They’re really friendly and nice normally but you can hear how excited they are. What if he scratches oneof them and they snap at him?”

Gran stared at her uncertainly and then flinched as one of the dogs let out another loud bark.“All right. I suppose we do have to do something. But I don’t see what, Ava. You can only just see over the wall – you can’t get up there and you certainly can’t jump down on to the other side. Then you’ll be in the garden with those fierce dogs!”

“They aren’t fierce, Gran, honestly. I see them almost every day with Megan and I’ve even helped her take them for walks. They’re barking because of Tiger, that’s all.”

“And how are you going to get back again?”

Ava scrambled down from the table.“Dad’s ladder. I should have thought of it before. It’s in the shed. I can climb up on to the top of the wall, and then pull it up after me and put it down on the other side. It’ll be fine, Gran.” Ava crossed her fingers hopefully behind her back. “I do stuff like this in gymnastics club all the time.”

“Throwing ladders around?” Gran muttered. “Get the ladder, Ava, and let me see how stable it is. You won’t have anyone to hold it on the other side. Oh, maybe I should just have rung your mother…”

Ava threw open the shed door and grabbed the ladder. Luckily it was right by the door and she didn’t have to face the enormous spiders that lived in the shed. And it was lighter than it looked, too. She carried the ladder back down the garden and set it up by the wall.

Gran, Lucy and Bel caught hold of it, and Ava climbed up, trying to ignore the wobbling and creaking, and the thumping of her heart.“I’m going to climb on top of the wall now,” she said, refusing to let her voice shake. “And then can you help me pull up the ladder, Gran?”

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“Be careful,” Bel called. “Please don’t fall off, Ava!”

“I won’t.” Ava hugged the top of the wall and lifted her closest leg over so that she was sitting with one leg either side. Just like the beam at gymnastics, except a bit higher up, that was all… She reached down and pulled the ladder up behind, feeling grateful that it was so light.

“I’m coming, Tiger,” she murmured, looking over at the huddled pile of brown fur by the gate. “Don’t be scared. It’s going to be OK.”