Murder in the Middle Pasture. John R. Erickson
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Название: Murder in the Middle Pasture
Автор: John R. Erickson
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Учебная литература
Серия: Hank the Cowdog
isbn: 9781591887041
isbn:
Why did she want me to go with them on the trip? Maybe by the time she reached the car, she’d thought things over and decided she wanted extra protection for the baby. That made sense. I mean, it’s common knowledge that in spite of our gruff exterior, we cowdogs are very protective of children.
Well, I can tell you that I had other things to do. I had about two weeks’ work lined up and going off on a trip really didn’t fit into my program. But a guy can’t ignore the call of duty.
If Sally May wanted me to go, by George I had to go. So I hopped into the car and sat down in the backseat.
Her eyes came up and stabbed me. Her nostrils flared. “Get your dirty paws out of my car! Scat, shoo! Loper, come get your dog out of the backseat!”
Huh?
Loper appeared at the door. “Dang it, Hank, get out of the car.”
Now wait a minute . . .
“Come on, boy, out. Don’t we have enough trouble getting away on a trip without you?”
I whapped my tail on the seat and looked from one face to the other. I didn’t know what to do.
“He’s getting mud all over the seat!”
“Hank, for crying out loud! Come on, get out.”
Loper reached in, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, and pitched me into the snow. He aimed a boot at my tail end, but I got out of the way, just in time.
I don’t know how you please these people. One minute they want you to . . . never mind.
At last they got the baby and the luggage loaded. Slim came out to say good-bye. “Y’all have a good time, and don’t worry about the ranch. Me and Hank’ll take care of everything.”
Loper laughed and shook his head. I didn’t see anything funny about that.
“Keep an eye on those heavy heifers. They’ll start calving any day now. And try to keep the house halfway nice. We don’t want to come home to a wreck.”
“You just have a good Christmas and don’t worry about a thing,” said Slim.
They shook hands and Loper climbed into the car. As he was backing out the driveway, Loper looked at me and shook his head. I wagged my tail and barked the car all the way up to the county road.
The car tires rumbled over the cattle guard and they were gone. I trotted back down to the house. Big soft flakes of snow were falling from the . . . well, from the sky, of course. I was ready to knock off and get some sleep, but on my way down to the gas tanks I heard a terrible racket up at the machine shed.
It sounded like a dogfight. One of the dogs involved was Drover, and unless my ears deceived me, he was coming out on the short end of the tussle.
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