Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest. John R. Erickson
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Название: Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest
Автор: John R. Erickson
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Учебная литература
Серия: Hank the Cowdog
isbn: 9781591887119
isbn:
“Sinister, you got lucky this time, but next time . . .”
He made a move in my direction and I sold out, didn’t slow down until I limped up to the gas tanks. I found Drover hiding beneath his gunnysack bed.
“Drover, you’ll be interested in knowing that, even without your help, I just suffered an incredible beating.”
He stuck his nose out the west side. “Well, I didn’t think it would help for both of us to get beat up.”
“That’s very noble of you, son, and I promise I won’t forget this.”
“Thanks, Hank.”
“And the next time you need someone to come to your rescue, call a cat.”
I flopped down on my gunnysack. Everything hurt, especially my pride. For a dog, there is nothing to compare with the humilification of being pounded by a sniveling cat—even a big sniveling cat.
I cancelled night patrol and went to sleep.
Chapter Two: The Giant Baldheaded Lizard
I awoke the next morning at the crack of noon. What woke me was the sound of a car coming down the road towards the house.
I leaped to my feet and . . . oh mercy! . . . was suddenly reminded that only hours before I had been mauled by a bobcat. I limped and hobbled out to challenge the trespassers and . . . oh, it was Loper and Sally May, back from their trip to Hospital, wherever that was.
When I realized that we had a friendly car coming onto the ranch, I shifted out of Serious Barking Mode and limped out to greet them.
Loper got out and rubbed me on the head. “You’ve got ticks,” he said, and went around to the other side of the car.
He opened the door and helped Sally May out. She was carrying something in her arms, something wrapped up in a pink blanket.
Drover had joined me by then and he saw it too. “What’s that?”
“Groceries, what do you think?”
“I thought groceries came in a brown sack.”
“Most of the time they do, Drover, but now and then they wrap them up in pink blankets.”
“Oh.”
Sally May was smiling, beaming. I’d never seen her in such a good humor. Those must have been pretty good groceries. I figgered this might be a good time to mend a few fences, so to speak, with the lady of the house, so I went around to the other side of the car.
“Oh look, Molly, there’s old Hank, and there’s little Drover.”
That was odd. She seemed to be speaking to the groceries. But that was okay because she was still smiling. As long as Sally May’s smiling and not throwing rocks, I don’t care what she talks to.
“Dogs,” she said, “I’ve brought home a special surprise for you.”
I glanced at Drover. “You see? She went to the grocery store and got us some nice juicy bones.”
“Oh good! Boy, do I like bones!”
“But I get first dibs, son. Don’t forget who’s in charge here.”
Sally May uncovered the top part of the bundle and bent down so that we could . . .
When I saw what was inside that blanket, fellers, the hair shot up on my back and my throat began making a sound that was something between a growl and a gurgle.
Holy smokes! Sally May had brought home a giant lizard from the grocery store!
Well, you know me. When confronted with something new and ugly and terrible, I don’t just stand there looking foolish. I bark.
Yes indeed, I barked. I had no idea why Sally May had brought that thing home or what she planned to do with it, but I staked out my territory and barked up a storm. And just in case the lizard attacked, I also retreated a few steps.
You know what Sally May and Loper did? They started laughing. Beat anything I ever saw. I mean, they had just brought a strange and possibly dangerous animal onto the ranch, and then . . .
Sally May gave me another look at the thing’s head, which was unnecessary because I’d already seen all I needed to see. “Hank, don’t be silly. It’s just a baby.”
“It’s just a baby,” Drover said.
I glared at the runt. “I seem to be hearing an echo.”
“No, that was me. I said . . .”
“I heard what you said and I heard what she said, and you don’t need to repeat everything you hear. I’m not deaf and that’s no baby. It’s the first full-grown Giant Baldheaded Lizard I’ve ever seen on this ranch.”
“But Hank, it’s not a lizard. It’s Sally May’s new baby.”
HUH?
I studied the creature again: two eyes, two ears, one mouth, one nose, red skin, and wrinkles, and inside the blanket, two arms, two legs, and a nightgown.
Hmmmmm. The pieces of the puzzle were beginning . . . okay, maybe it wasn’t a . . . let’s put it this way: that was a very strange looking baby, and any dog who was in charge of Ranch Security would have . . .
“All right, Drover, I think I’ve got this thing puzzled out. Sally May went to the town of Hospital and bought herself a baby at the grocery store. Instead of putting it in a brown paper sack, as they usually do, they wrapped it up in a pink blanket, and what we have here before us now is NOT a lizard.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“It’s a human baby child.”
“That’s what I said.”
“And we can only hope that the poor little thing gets more attractive with time, because it certainly looks like a Giant Baldheaded Lizard to me.”
“I think she’s kind of cute.”
“Anyone with a face like yours would think that a lizard was cute.”
Sally May bent down and held the thing, uh, the baby up where I could see it, her, whatever it was. “Hank, this is Molly. And Molly, this is Hank. Hank, I want you to take good care of little Miss Molly. She’s a real treasure.”
I eased my nose towards the face and sniffed it several times. Okay, what we had here was a human baby child, a girl named Molly. She belonged to Sally May and Loper, and right then and there I took an oath to protect and defend her against monsters, snakes, СКАЧАТЬ