Dude Ranch by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page A

potatoes,” Phyllis said.
    Washing dishes was better than peeling potatoes any day. Stevie rolled up her sleeves to help.
    “What did Eli say we should bring along?” Kate asked.
    “Socks,” Stevie told her. “And he said not to bother with bedrolls, since we wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway.”
    Kate and her mother exchanged glances and burst into laughter. “He’s something, isn’t he?” Phyllis asked.
    “Yep,” Stevie agreed, trying to sound like Eli.
    “Well, could you go back out there now, Stevie?” Phyllis asked. “Eli needs to tell me if he’s going to want beans in the chuck-wagon chili or plain.”
    “Beans or plain?” Stevie asked. She hated to think how Eli was going to answer that one.
    “Yep,” Eli told Stevie when she asked him the question.
    “Is that beans or plain?” she reiterated.
    “Yep,” he said.
    She returned to the kitchen.
    “Find out if he wants mashed or boiled potatoes,” Phyllis told her once she’d gotten the answer about the chili.
    Stevie shrugged, slightly annoyed, but she headed back to the barn. Eli was now busy with the familywith four little children. Since it appeared that the pressing question of mashed or boiled could really wait a few hours, she didn’t even try to talk to him. Instead, she went into the bam and visited with Peanuts.
    The buckskin-colored horse was munching happily at his fresh hay. Stevie climbed up onto the gate that enclosed the stall and patted the horse’s nose and forehead. She told him about the dumb things she was doing that morning. Peanuts seemed to understand completely, and he didn’t give her any totally dumb answers to her questions. He whinnied and nodded his head. That made her feel better.
    “Ready to ride?” Carole asked, entering the barn with Lisa about a half hour later.
    “Sure you’re done with the potatoes?”
    Stevie thought she saw a puzzled look pass between Lisa and Carole.
    “Of course they are,” Kate said, coming up behind them. “All the chores are done. Time for a trail ride and a lesson on roundups.”
    Eli helped the girls get their horses out of the corral. By then, each girl could manage her own tack, even with Eli’s suspicious gaze watching every motion, so they were saddled-up and ready to ride in just a few minutes.
    Eli was on his horse, too. The five of them left the corral and, instead of taking the trail the girls had riddenbefore, they headed for the open range—the same direction Stevie’s mysterious visitor had taken.
    Eli didn’t say much as they rode, but what he did say turned out to be worth listening to. He told them that their first concern had to be the calves. “Where there’s a calf, there’s a cow,” he said. “Watch out for her if she thinks you’re going to hurt her young ’un. And sometimes a big old bull will get an idea that he ought to be in charge of the roundup. If that happens, you get out of the way. He’s bigger than you. Probably smarter, too. Me and the dog will show him the way.”
    He explained that they’d begin by riding to the far end of the property, where the herd had been seen grazing the week before, and they’d drive them all back to the ranch.
    “We’ll see some strays on the way out, but we’ll pick them up on our way back. They’re easier to herd if we’ve got a hundred and fifty head with us to convince them along.”
    He told them what to expect if the cattle got frightened and he explained how they’d stay nearby while they camped. Stevie was glad to see that with Kate there, he didn’t make a lot of smart remarks about rattlesnakes and dudes.
    “Most of the time,” he told the girls, “we’ll be riding along like this.” It was a pleasant pace. The horses walked smoothly across the open land, giving the girlsthe time to admire the landscape with its snow-topped mountains as a breathtaking backdrop. “And sometimes, it’s like this,” Eli said.
    In an instant, Eli’s horse began to gallop, as if he were chasing a