The Ninth Nugget (4 page)

Josh gently poked his heels into Barney’s sides. “Okay, nice horsey” he said. “Giddyup!”

Barney shook his mane and turned his head to look at Josh. His ears twitched, but he didn’t take a single step.

“Please?” Josh said.

Barney snorted, then started to walk briskly away from the barn.

“This is easy!” Josh called to Dink and Ruth Rose. “But you gotta say please!”

The other five horses fell in line behind him. Soon they were on a narrow trail surrounded by shrubbery and trees. The horses thudded over a wooden bridge that crossed a stream.

As the group moved through the trees, the ranch quickly disappeared.

The horses clip-clopped along in single file. Barney seemed to know where he was going, and the others followed. Jud, riding Bullet, was last in line.

Soon the riders entered a meadow. A blue pond nestled among the wildflowers. Josh’s horse stopped under a pine tree and began nibbling a patch of weeds.

“We can let ’em graze here,” Jud said. He helped the kids dismount, and the riders tied their horses where they could reach grass and shade.

“This is awesome,” Josh said.

“Folks around here call it Paradise Meadow,” Jud said. “There’s fat trout in the pond if you’d like to feed them.”

From his saddlebag pocket, he pulled a bag of bread crumbs from lunch. “Just sprinkle it on the surface and they’ll come.”

“Will you teach me to throw a lasso?” Josh asked Jud.

“Ask Thumbs when he gets here,” Jud said. “He’s the rope expert.”

Jud tipped his head back and looked at the sky. A few dark clouds were mixed with white ones.

“There’s rain coming,” he said. “You’ll find ponchos in your saddlebags, just in case. Storms come up pretty fast in these foothills.”

“Can you identify any of these flowers?” Bonnie asked.

Jud grinned. “All of ’em. Tell you
what, I’ll take whoever wants to on a little nature hike.”

“We’d enjoy that,” said Bonnie.

Jud looked at the kids. “You want to come along or wait here for Thumbs?”

“I want to feed the fish,” Ruth Rose said.

“Me too,” said Dink, reaching for the bag.

“Can I borrow your rope?” Josh asked. “Maybe I’ll lasso a fish!”

Jud handed Josh his rope.

“Thumbs’ll make you a rodeo star in no time,” he said. “We won’t be far off.”

Jud, Seth, and Bonnie hiked toward the other end of the meadow. The kids walked to the edge of the pond. Dink yanked off his sneakers and waded in the water while Ruth Rose tossed crumbs. Almost immediately, trout gathered and gobbled them up.

“Watch this!” Josh said. He made a
loop in Jud’s lasso and tossed it at a tree stump. The loop crumpled in midair and flopped to the ground.

“How do the cowboys do it?” Josh muttered, gathering in the rope to try again.

Just then hoofbeats sounded behind the kids. They turned to see Thumbs riding into the meadow on a big black horse.

“Hi, Thumbs,” Dink and Ruth Rose said together.

Thumbs nodded but didn’t answer. He dismounted and tied his horse near the others.

“Are you going to ask him to show you how to use that lasso?” Ruth Rose asked Josh.

“I don’t know,” he whispered. “There’s something creepy about him.”

“Don’t be silly,” Ruth Rose said. She walked over to Thumbs and said, “Josh
wants you to show him how to throw a lasso.”

Thumbs glanced behind her, where Josh was trying to coil the rope.

“I suspect maybe I can,” Thumbs answered. His dark eyes swept the meadow. “Where’s everyone at?”

“Jud took Mr. and Mrs. Clyde on a nature hike,” Dink said.

Thumbs grunted. Then he walked over to Josh, took the rope, and quickly formed a large circle. He swung the loop over his head three times, then let it fly. The lasso whistled through the air and landed around the stump.

“How’d you do that?” Josh asked.

“It’s all fingers and wrist,” Thumbs said. He showed Josh how to hold the rope just as Jud and the Clydes appeared.

“Storm’s moving in faster than I thought it would,” Jud said. “We’d
better head back to the ranch. Sorry to cut this short, folks.”

Overhead, the few dark clouds had formed a wall of thunderheads. They were blowing out of the north, casting moving shadows over the meadow.

Within minutes they were all saddled up, wearing yellow hooded ponchos. Thumbs led this time, with Jud at the back of the line.

The sunny day had turned windy and cool. Sudden rain splattered through the trees. Dink felt and heard the drops as they splashed on his head and shoulders.

Thirty minutes later, seven wet horses carried their riders into the barn.

“I’ll unsaddle Blackie for you,” Jud told Thumbs. “Why don’t you let Lulu know we’re back so she can rustle us up some hot chocolate and cookies.”

Thumbs jumped to the ground,
handed Blackie’s reins to Jud, and jogged toward the main house.

The rain had almost stopped and a stiff wind was blowing the clouds past. Everyone dismounted and led the horses into the barn.

Suddenly, the dinner bell began to peal.

“Why’s Lulu ringing now?” Jud said. “It’s nowhere near suppertime.”

When the clanging didn’t stop, Jud ran toward the barn door.

The Clydes and the three kids hurried after Jud. As they ran across the yard, the ranch truck pulled into the driveway.

Ma and Pa hopped out carrying bags of groceries. “What’s going on?” Pa asked Jud.

“Someone rang the bell,” Jud answered, leaping up the porch steps.

There was no one on the porch, but the bell was still swinging.

“Jud! Get in here!” Thumbs yelled
from inside the house. “I’m in the office.”

Jud sprinted through the screen door, with everyone else following.

Nine people crowded into the small office. Thumbs was kneeling on the floor in front of Lulu, who was gagged and tied to a chair.

While Thumbs untied the knots, Ma removed the gag. Pa was already on the phone, calling the sheriff.

“What happened to you?” Ma asked.

“The safe!” Lulu cried, pointing.

The safe door was wide open, revealing a stack of papers and one green accounts book. The only thing missing was Josh’s nugget.

“They got my gold!” Josh yelled.

“Can I have some water?” Lulu asked. She rubbed her wrists, which had red marks on them from the rope.

Bonnie ran to get water while Lulu told her story.

“I was in here watering the plants,” she said, “when someone grabbed me and shoved me into this chair. I started to yell, so he gagged me, then tied me up.”

“Who was it?” Pa asked. “Did you recognize him?”

Lulu shook her head. “He was dressed all in black, with a black hood over his face. Never said a word to me.”

“Say, where are Fiona and Ed?” Jud asked. “They should’ve heard the bell like everyone else.”

“Fiona made Ed lie down,” Lulu said. “She wrapped his ankle, and I got him a pair of crutches. I offered to call a doc, but he said he’d take aspirin and be fine.”

Jud ran out the door, and the kids followed. “Which cabin is Fiona’s?” he asked over his shoulder.

“That one,” Dink said, pointing to the cabin closest to the main house.

Jud thundered up the steps and banged on the door. “Fiona? It’s Jud Wheat. Are you all right?”

When he heard no answer, Jud opened the door and stepped inside. “Oh my … someone go get Ma, quick!” Jud yelled over his shoulder. Ruth Rose barreled off the porch and raced toward the main house.

Dink peeked past Jud. Fiona was tied in a chair with a gag tied over her mouth, just like Lulu.

Dink grabbed Josh’s arm. “Let’s go check Ed!” he cried.

Dink and Josh ran to Ed’s cabin. “Mr. Getz?” Dink called. “Are you okay?”

When no answer came, Dink opened the door. Ed Getz was lying on his bed. A scarf was covering his mouth. His hands were behind his back.

Dink untied the scarf and pulled it away.

“Thanks!” Ed said. “I thought I’d be here all day!”

He nodded toward his closet. “There’s a gym bag in there. Look for a small box. Inside is a key. The guy used my own handcuffs on me!”

Josh found the key. When Ed sat up, Dink and Josh saw that his hands had
been cuffed to the iron bed board. Josh used the key, and the handcuffs popped open.

“What happened?’ Dink said. “They tied up Fiona and Lulu, too!’

“Yeah, and the rat stole my gold nugget!” Josh said.

Dink noticed that Ed’s foot was tightly wrapped in a bandage. A pair of crutches was leaning against the bed.

“I was fooling around with my handcuffs, preparing to show you guys some tricks at dinner,” Ed said. “All of a sudden, someone dressed in black burst in here. Before I could move, he cuffed me to the bed and tied this scarf around my face.”

Ed shook his hands and rubbed his wrists. ’Boy, those things were tight!”

“Can you walk?” Dink asked. “Pa called the sheriff. We should probably all meet in the office.”

Ed propped himself up and stood on
his good foot. Josh handed Ed the crutches, which he slid under his arms. Holding his bandaged foot off the floor, he took a hop, then another.

“Let’s go,” Ed said. “Don’t walk too close to me. If I fall, I don’t want to land on you.”

With Dink and Josh leading, the three of them moved down the path toward the main house. Up ahead, Ruth Rose, Ma Wheat, and Fiona were standing with a man on the porch.

In the driveway, a few chickens were pecking the tires on a green-and-white car. The word SHERIFF was printed on the door.

Everyone crowded into the office. While the sheriff took notes on a pad, Lulu repeated her story. Fiona and Ed broke in to add details.

“So the way I understand it’s the sheriff said, “some man or woman dressed in black tied each of you up. Then he or she opened the safe and stole a hunk of gold. Is that about it?”

“Could it have been some stranger, someone just passing through?” Ma Wheat asked.

Lulu shook her head. “You can see a
mile in any direction from here, and believe me, I didn’t see a soul.”

“Maybe some passerby was hiding in the trees,” Pa said. “It
had
to be a stranger—the robber sure couldn’t be anyone in this room!”

Dink quickly glanced around the office. Everyone was doing the same thing, looking at everyone else.