Janet McNulty - Mellow Summers 06 - Where Trouble Roams by Janet McNulty Read Free Book Online Page B

is a good sign.”  He checked the packs attached to the saddle.  “Looks like most of our supplies are here.”
    Jedidiah scanned the badlands.  “Well come on,” he said, “Northwest is that way and daylight is burning.”  He took the reins of the horses and led them onward with the rest of us trailing behind.
    We found a narrow trail that stretched along the top of the canyon.  Though we had to walk single file, the trek went fairly smoothly.  Idle chatter filled our traveling and for a moment I thought that the worst of our trip was behind us.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.
    Soft stomping stopped us in our tracks as we crested over a hill.  The agitation of the horses told me that we had stumbled upon something that didn’t bode well.  Then, I saw it: a real live buffalo.
    Its wooly, brown fur coated its body and I could tell it was thick.  I had never seen a buffalo up close before and had no idea what to do.  Nor did Jackie, Rachel, or Aunt Ethel.  Jedidiah on the other hand was a different story.
    “Nobody move,” he said.
    “Why not?” asked Jackie.  “I thought buffalo were harmless.”
    “In storybooks,” laughed Jedidiah.  “This here is a wild buffalo and he’s a bull.  Just remain calm and back up slowly.”
    “But he’s just a buffalo,” said Rachel.
    “Even in the wild they’re dangerous and unpredictable,” said Jedidiah.  “And three of us are not ghosts.”
    The click of a camera caught our attention.  Aunt Ethel had pulled out her brand new digital camera and snapped pictures repeatedly unconcerned that her actions might frighten the animal.  Another click sounded as she took another picture.
    “Quick, Mellow dear,” said my aunt, “Get closer to it.  I’ll take your picture and you can show it to your friends when you get back home.”
    “Or post it at her funeral,” muttered Jackie.
    The camera took another picture.
    “Come on, Mellow darling,” said my aunt waving her arm, “don’t disappoint an old lady.”
    “Ma’am,” said Jedidiah, “you really might want to stop that.”
    My Aunt took another picture.
    The buffalo’s head snapped up as it eyed my aunt.  Vapor formed before its nostrils as it snorted in frustration.
    I took a step back.  Instantly, the buffalo jerked its head toward me forcing me to stop.
    “Wow!  This thing records video,” said Aunt Ethel as she fiddled with her camera.  “Maybe it was a good thing that I allowed that charming young man at the store to talk me into buying one of those SD cards as he called them.  32 GB.  Whatever that means.”
    Aunt Ethel pointed her camera at all of us and did a scan capturing the entire situation on video.
    “Here we are,” narrated my aunt, “out in the wilds of the Dakotas face to face with a buffalo.  Note the sternness of its scowl as it studies three people who clearly do not belong.  Friend or foe he is asking himself.”
    “Aunt Ethel,” I said, “please put your camera away.”  Even I noticed the buffalo becoming increasingly agitated.
    Suddenly, the camera made a bunch of weird noises causing my aunt to lose her grip on it.  Instinctively, she reached out to catch the camera and ended up juggling it as she tried to ke ep it from hitting the ground.
    “There,” she said as she finally got a firm grip on her new toy, “There are so many little buttons on here.  Guess I’ll have to read the instruction manual someday.”
    “Aunt Ethel, please,” I hissed.
    “Oh look, dear!”  Something had caught Aunt Ethel’s attention forcing her to completely forget about the an gry buffalo standing before us.
    Undoubtedly having enough of our presence, the buffalo charged my aunt.  It snorted violently as its hooves crashed into the frozen ground heading straight for my oblivious family member.
    “Aunt Ethel, look out!” I screamed.
    Jackie leapt for my aunt shoving her out of the way just in time.  The painful scream she released told me that she had injured