Horse Named Dragon (2 page)

Benny scooped a handful of oats and held them out. Lots-o’-Dots gobbled them down and snorted for more.

“Are you sure no one will steal him?” asked Benny. He didn’t want to leave, but his stomach was growling for breakfast.

“I’ll keep an eye on him for you,” said Bucky. “Now, you’d better hurry. Cookie serves the best flapjacks in the county.”

“Flapjacks?” asked Benny.

“They’re like pancakes, but a whole heap bigger. And Cookie serves ’em up with powdered sugar and hot maple syrup.”

That did it! Benny jumped down from the fence and raced Violet all the way to the ranch house.

At the door, he stopped and looked back at the corral. Lots-o’-Dots poked his nose through the fence, waiting for Benny to come back.

The dining room rang with lively voices. There were wranglers who worked with the horses and volunteers who helped nurse the rescue horses. Cookie sat with the children at a long wooden table. A skinny man with thick black hair sat at the head of their table.

“This is Slim,” said Cookie. “Our regular doc broke his leg and can’t work for a couple of months. Slim here is filling in as the ranch’s veterinarian.”

“Wow, you’re an animal doctor!” said Benny.

“Like the vet who takes care of Watch.”

“Is Watch your horse?” asked Slim.

“Watch is our dog,” Benny said. “Watchdog. Get it?”

Slim grunted. “I love dogs,” he said. “Know all about ’em. Heck, I once wrote a book about how to raise dogs. It was called
How to Raise Dogs.
Yes sir, next to horses, I like doctoring dogs the best.”

Slim reached his arm across Benny for the syrup. Even though Slim’s hair was black, the hair on his arm was red. “Soon as I settle in,” Slim was saying, “I mean to get me a dog. Maybe two. Heck, maybe three.” Benny stared at Slim’s throat. A bump in the middle bounced up and down when he talked.

“Will you look at Dragon’s leg after breakfast?” Jessie asked. “Kurt said I can’t ride Dragon unless you say it’s all right. Dragon is right out in the corral.”

Slim frowned. “I told Alyssa to keep him out in the west pasture for a few more days. Until he heals.”

“Please,” Jessie begged. “He isn’t limping or anything.”

Slim leaned back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs. “I have a lot to do this morning. But I’ll try to check him out later.”

“Oh, thank you,” said Jessie, crossing her fingers as hard as she could.

“Slim, here, is real good at finding rescue horses,” said Cookie. “In the month since he moved here, he’s brought in a whole bunch.”

“That’s because people all across these United States know I like to help horses in need,” Slim said proudly. “I’ve been helping rescue horses for years.”

Benny watched the bump in Slim’s throat dancing up and down. Grandfather had a small bump in his throat. “It’s called an Adam’s apple,” he’d said. “It’s where the voice box is.” But Grandfather’s Adam’s apple never danced like Slim’s. Benny’s mouth hung open. Henry tapped his foot against Benny’s. Benny kept staring. Henry leaned over and whispered, “Stop staring.” Benny tried. But he just couldn’t help himself.

“There’s Alyssa,” said Cookie, waving. The wrangler’s shoulders sagged as she walked across the dining room. She took off her red hat and sat next to Cookie. “I searched everyone of our pastures,” she said. “Honey and Bunny are gone.”

Cookie picked up a spoon and clinked her water glass. The room grew quiet. She told everyone about the missing horses.

“Did any of you see or hear anything unusual last night?” she asked. Benny raised his hand.

“Yes, Benny?”

“I heard a horse whinny,” he said. Everyone burst into laughter. Benny slid down in his chair, embarrassed.

“Thank you, Benny,” said Cookie. “But here on the ranch, it would be strange
not
to hear horses whinny now and again.” She looked around the room. “Did anyone else hear anything?”

Benny was going to tell them about hearing a truck start up in the middle of the night. But he was afraid they’d laugh at that, too. So he just reached for the maple syrup and poured it all over his second helping of Cookie’s famous flapjacks.

After breakfast, Cookie and Alyssa walked the children back to the corral to see their horses. Benny spotted Lots-o’-Dots standing with Bucky in a shady corner. “Here, boy,” he called. Benny held out a biscuit he’d saved from breakfast. Lots-o’-Dots trotted over and gobbled it down.

Bucky limped over carrying the empty oat buckets. “I told you he’d be here,” said Bucky. As Bucky climbed through the fence, his hat with the orange feathers fell off. Lots-o’-Dots picked it up in his big horse teeth. Everyone laughed. Bucky grabbed it back, then glanced shyly at Cookie as he put it on. Cookie smiled, her eyes twinkling.

“Are we going to ride now?” Benny asked.

“Not yet,” Cookie said. “When you live on a ranch, you have to do your chores first.”

“We cowboys have a saying: ‘No dessert until you finish your mashed potatoes,’ ” said Bucky.

“I
always
finish my mashed potatoes!” exclaimed Benny.

Cookie laughed. “What Bucky means is, we don’t get treats—like riding our horses—until we finish our work.”

“What can my job be?” Violet asked cheerfully.

“Your grandfather tells me you’re a wonderful artist,” said Cookie. “I’m putting you in charge of the barn project. That big barn over there faces the highway. Lots of people drive by every day. I’d like to paint a mural on the side.”

“A mural?” asked Benny.

“A big painting on the side of a building, or on a wall,” said Violet. “Like the dancing fruits and vegetables painted on the wall at Faber’s Finer Foods.”

“Right,” said Cookie. “A nice big mural could show people that the Dare to Dream Ranch has horses to ride and horses to adopt.”

Violet looked at the huge barn. “I … I don’t think I can paint that all my myself.”

“You just make the drawing,” Cookie said. “Bucky here will round up our volunteers to do the painting.”

Kurt Krupnik rode up. The ranch manager’s blond moustache was as dusty as his horse.

“I think I know what happened to Honey and Bunny. A big tree branch fell on the fence in the far pasture,” he said. “It tore down a whole section. Honey and Bunny probably saw the opening and just walked on out of here. I’ve sent a couple of my men to look for them. You never should have called the police, Alyssa.”

“I … I thought the horses were stolen,” Alyssa said.

“If you had more experience, you wouldn’t panic.” Kurt looked at the horses in the corral. “Why is Dragon still up here?” He glared at Alyssa. “He’s supposed to be out in the west pasture, in the old corral.”

Alyssa jutted her jaw. “I think his leg is healed.”

“You’re not the vet,” Kurt said. “Dragon stays out in the old corral until Slim gives the okay.”

“Let me take a look,” said Bucky. He climbed into the corral and lifted Dragon’s back leg.

Jessie stared at Dragon’s shoe. Most horseshoes were shaped like a “U” but Dragon’s had a square toe. “What’s wrong with his foot?” she asked.

“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Bucky. “I noticed that Dragon here liked to ‘wing it’ when he ran. Kicked his leg up to the inside. This square-toe shoe helps him run nice and straight.” He set Dragon’s foot back down. “His leg looks healed,” he said.

Kurt frowned at the white-haired man. “No one rides Dragon until the vet checks him out,” he told Bucky.

“You’re the boss,” said Bucky. He grabbed hold of Dragon’s bridle. “I’ll put him in his stall until Slim can look at him.”

“You’d better,” Kurt grunted, riding off.

“Why is Kurt so angry?” asked Henry.

“He hates me,” said Alyssa. “He thinks I’m too young to be the head wrangler. He wanted his best friend, a wrangler in Kentucky, to get the job.”

“Now, now,” said Cookie. “Kurt’s just looking out for the horses. I swear, sometimes he’s like a mother hen protecting her chicks.”

Honk. Honk.
A green van roared up to the corral and screeched to a stop. A woman jumped out. Her long hair flew crazily in all directions and her wrinkled clothes looked like she had slept in them. She waved a stack of purple flyers. “Have any of you seen my horse?” she asked, passing out flyers. They said:

STOLEN HORSE—REWARD

HAVE YOU SEEN BUTTERCUP?

There was a phone number and a photo of a beautiful gray horse with a white patch on its nose. Its tail was white and black. “Buttercup’s been missing for two days,” said the lady.

“Two of our horses are missing!” said Benny.

The woman gasped. “Were they stolen, too?”

“They may have walked out through a broken fence,” said Henry.

Violet felt sorry for the lady, whose eyes were red from crying. “Maybe your horse wandered off, too,” she said.

“No.” The woman’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Someone cut the lock on our gate. Buttercup was definitely stolen. Your missing horses may have been stolen, too.” Her hand trembled as she held up a flyer. “You should make flyers like this to pass out to people.”

“I don’t have photographs of my horses,” Cookie said.

“Then you’d better take some,” warned the woman as she climbed back in her van. “Right this very minute.” And she drove away.

Jessie studied the flyer. “I brought my new birthday camera,” she said. “I can take photos of all the horses on the ranch.”

“Are you sure? It seems like an awful lot of work,” Cookie said.

“I’ll help,” said Violet. She held up the flyer. “This picture shows people exactly what Buttercup looks like.”

Bucky walked by, leading Dragon by the bridle. He nodded at the flyer. “Too bad we don’t have photos like that of Honey and Bunny to show around.” He winked at Cookie. “It’s no use closing the barn door after the horses get out.”

Cookie’s cheeks blushed red. “Oh, all right,” she said. “You girls best get started while the horses are still in the corral. Once we turn them out to pasture, they scatter every which way.” The girls ran off to get Jessie’s camera.

“What’s my job?” Henry asked, eager to begin.

“Your grandfather told me you’re handy with tools,” said Cookie. “I want you to saddle up and go help Kurt mend that broken fence.” Henry dashed off to saddle Lightning.

“What about me?” asked Benny.

“You’ll water the horses,” Cookie said. “That means filling water buckets, tanks, and barrels all around the ranch. Bucky has a map that shows where they are.”

“Let me put Dragon in his stall,” Bucky told Benny. “Then I’ll get you started. Be right back.”

Benny waited at the corral. He watched Henry throw a blanket over Lightning’s back, then cinch on the saddle. “It’s no fair,” he grumbled, when Bucky came back. “Henry gets to ride and I don’t.”

“I’ll tell you a secret,” said Bucky. “Of all the jobs on the ranch, yours is the most important.”

“Really?” said Benny.

The old man pushed his hat back. “Benny, I’ve been a rancher over fifty years. And one thing I know is true is that horses can’t live without plenty of fresh water. Each one of them drinks ten to twenty-five gallons of water a day.” Benny pictured the big gallon milk bottle in his refrigerator back home. He tried to imagine drinking twenty-five of them. It made his stomach hurt just thinking about it.

“Besides,” Bucky smiled, “watering the horses is the most fun job … and the coolest.” He took a map out of his pocket. “Here—this is a map of the ranch.” He pointed to a big circle in the middle. “Here’s the corral, where we are now. And these,” he pointed to small red
X
es all around the map, “these are water containers that need filling.”

“There’s so many,” sighed Benny. “I can’t fill them all.”

“Sure you can. The trick is to start with the first one,” Bucky ran his finger up the map to the farthest
X,
“then fill the next and the next. Just take them one by one. Before you know it, you’ll be right back here in time for lunch.”

Benny watched Henry climb up on Lightning and ride off across the pasture. “I really really really wish I could ride right now,” said Benny.

“You’ll be riding soon enough,” said Bucky. “but, first …”

“I know, I know,” said Benny, looking at all the
X
es on the map, “first I need to go finish my mashed potatoes.”

Henry raced Lightning across the ranch. He rode and rode until he saw the huge branch that had crushed the wire fence. “Whoa, boy,” he said, pulling back on the reins. Henry climbed down and tied Lightning to a tree, then went to take a look. The heavy branch had pulled down two fence posts and snapped the fence wire. The ground was littered with small brown leaves and long brown pods from the tree branch.

A shiny new car drove up the road near the broken fence. Slim the vet was driving, and he rolled down the window and waved to Henry. “What’s all this?” Slim asked, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“The branch fell and broke the fence,” said Henry.

Slim nodded. “So, that’s where Honey and Bunny escaped. Good to know they weren’t stolen. Well, I’m off to buy medicine for the horses. See you later.”