Cowpokes and Desperadoes Read Free Page A

would they want to eat breakfast in the middle of the night?”
    “It’s early morning. Time to ride the range and do all that cowboy stuff, remember?”
    “I remember. I just don’t see what’s wrong with doing it in the daylight.”
    Amos stumbled down the stairs behind Dunc. He followed him into the kitchen where Maria had stacks of pancakes waiting. Juan and Woody had already finished eating and were outside doing the chores.
    Amos ate with one eye closed and his head propped up on Dunc’s shoulder.
    When they finished, Maria told them Juan was waiting for them out by the barn. They found her feeding the chickens. She let them help find the eggs, then showed them how to feed the horses and the milk cow.
    When the chores were finished, Juan decided it was time for a riding lesson.
    Amos was excited. He stepped up to Gomer and lifted his foot to the stirrup. The old horse moved. Not far, just a few inches. Amos stepped closer and lifted his foot again. The horse moved again. Every time Amos lifted his foot, Gomer moved.
    Amos stepped around and looked the horse in the eye. “You don’t by any chance know a dog named Scruff, do you?”
    Gomer looked at him with big innocent brown eyes.
    “No, I guess that’s too long a shot.”
    Amos moved back to the stirrup and lifted his foot. Gomer craned his neck around and took a nibble out of Amos’s shoulder.
    “Aha!” Amos jumped back. “So you do know him.”
    Juan held Gomer’s reins. “Now try it, Amos.”
    “You wimps having a hard time getting on your horsey? Maybe I could get you a ladder.” An older boy had been watching them from the barn. He was laughing and pointing.
    Juan put her hands on her hips. “Nice of you to show up, Billy Ray, now that all the chores are finished.”
    “You’re not my boss, little girl. So quit acting like you are.” The boy spat a wad of tobacco onto the ground and swaggered toward the house.
    “Who was that?” Dunc asked.
    Juan made a face. “That was a slimeball. His name is Billy Ray. He works here. Actually,he loafs here. The best way to handle him is to ignore everything he says or does.”
    “Why does my uncle put up with him?”
    “He doesn’t know how awful Billy Ray is. I haven’t told him because I know how short-handed we are.” Juan picked up the reins of Amos’s horse. “Okay, let’s try it again.”
    Amos climbed up on Gomer, and after a few lessons both boys were able to stop, go, and turn.
    “You guys are doing great.” Juan reached down and opened the gate. “Give your horses some rein and let them follow Molly, my mare. You’ll be fine.”
    “Where are we going?” Amos asked.
    “We’re going to ride some of the ranch trails. Maria packed us a lunch so we can take our time. And while we’re riding, we’ll also be looking for El Diablo, your uncle’s prize bull.”
    Amos stopped his horse. “Bull? As in big, with horns?”
    Juan nodded.
    Amos gulped. “I think I have something important to do in the house.”
    Dunc rode up beside him. “Come on, Amos. You wanted to be a real cowboy. Now’s your chance.”

• 6
    The path narrowed, and the horses had to walk in single file. They were following a cattle trail up a canyon toward the mountains. Suzy, the collie, stayed ahead of the horses. She ran back every now and then and sat in the trail to make sure they were still coming.
    “This would be a great place to shoot a western,” Amos said. “I can just see the Indians swooping down from the rim of the canyon.”
    Juan turned in her saddle. “Actually, you’re not too far off. This is Ghost Canyon. Legend has it that a battle did take place not too far from here.”
    She pointed up the canyon. “They say atroop of cavalry soldiers carrying a shipment of gold ran into the Apaches and never made it out of this canyon. Some people think the soldiers’ ghosts roam around up here protecting the gold.”
    “Maybe that’s what those two guys on the plane are after,” Dunc said.
    Juan