Dude Ranch Read Free Page A

nuisance 364 days a year, but on their birthday, he was her
brother
. Their parents always made a fuss about it. The twins usually had a poolside party with a cookout. Stevie would miss that this year, a lot. Still, she was determined not to upset anybody else with her own problem. She’d just have to miss it this year. And she was lucky to be on such a neat trip. There would be lots of other years, lots of opportunities to have birthday parties. It wouldn’t matter at all. Much. She abandoned her lonely thoughts and listened to her friends talking once again.
    “So there is a swimming pool?” Lisa asked eagerly.
    “Not a pool. A hole. It’s a place where the beavers dammed up the river and there’s a nice deep swimming spot.”
    “Are there still real beavers there?”
    “Somebody’s got to be sure the dam’s in working order!” Kate said. “But don’t worry—they spend most of their time underwater. You probably won’t see them. Of course, you may feel one with your feet. You’ll know it by the soft fur and—”
    “Don’t listen to her,” Carole said as Lisa shuddered. “She’s been spending too much time with Eli.”
    Lisa nodded. “And if she teases us ‘dudes’ too much, we won’t give her her present, will we?”
    “What present?” Kate asked, suddenly very interested.
    “Tell us the truth about the beavers,” Carole said.
    “I’ve never seen one. Or felt one,” she said. “And that’s the truth.”
    “Okay, we’ll give you your present. In the bunkhouse.”
    The pickup truck pulled off the two-lane highway it had been following since leaving the airport. The road was now a rutted dirt path. First they drove through a stand of trees that bordered a creek. “Swimming hole’s that way,” Kate announced, pointing to the right. The road wound around a hill. On either side, there were pastures, enclosed by wooden post fences.
    “We’re on our property now,” Kate said. “Those cattle over there belong to Bar None. And here’s home.”
    The truck drew to a stop in front of a sprawling ranch house with a wooden porch. It looked like it belonged on a postcard, too. There was a bam behind the house and there were a number of smaller cabins circling the main house. Stevie suspected they were the guesthouses, or bunkhouses.
    “Look, there’s even a triangle by the door. Don’t tell me that’s how your mom calls everybody in for lunch!” Stevie said.
    “Nope. I get to ring it! You can have turns, too. Maybe,” Kate joked.
    Eli dropped the tailgate of the truck and helped the girls down. Kate’s parents appeared on the porch and welcomed the girls warmly.
    “Colonel and Mrs. Devine, it’s
great
to be here!” Carole bubbled.
    “Well, it’s great to have you here,” Kate’s mother said. “All of you. But we have one firm rule here on the ranch and that is no last names. Everybody calls us Phyllis and Frank. Now come on in and have some supper. I’ll have the wranglers put your bags in your bunkhouse. You all must be exhausted from your long trip.”
    “Plum tuckered out,” Lisa said, nodding sagely. Her friends broke into laughter at her use of the un-Lisa-like expression.
    “I think she’s been watching too many cowboy movies,” Stevie said, poking her.
    Lisa grinned. “If we’re about to eat, can I ring the triangle?”
    “You could,” Phyllis agreed. “But since everybody else has already
had
supper, you might confuse everyone. Why don’t you wait until morning? Breakfast is served at six-thirty on the dot. You can ring it then.”
    Lisa stifled a yawn. “I think, under the circumstances, that I’ll wait until lunch to ring it, okay?”
    “No problem,” Phyllis said.
    The girls followed her inside to the dinner table, where a rich and filling stew awaited them. The girls were both hungry and tired. The Devines talked with Carole, catching up on her family news. Carole knew them originally because her father and Frank had been in the Marine Corps together