Horse Named Dragon Read Free Page A

the head wrangler. He wanted his best friend, a wrangler in Kentucky, to get the job.”
    “Now, now,” said Cookie. “Kurt’s just looking out for the horses. I swear, sometimes he’s like a mother hen protecting her chicks.”
    Honk. Honk. A green van roared up to the corral and screeched to a stop. A woman jumped out. Her long hair flew crazily in all directions and her wrinkled clothes looked like she had slept in them. She waved a stack of purple flyers. “Have any of you seen my horse?” she asked, passing out flyers. They said:
STOLEN HORSE—REWARD
    HAVE YOU SEEN BUTTERCUP?
    There was a phone number and a photo of a beautiful gray horse with a white patch on its nose. Its tail was white and black. “Buttercup’s been missing for two days,” said the lady.
    “Two of our horses are missing!” said Benny.
    The woman gasped. “Were they stolen, too?”
    “They may have walked out through a broken fence,” said Henry.
    Violet felt sorry for the lady, whose eyes were red from crying. “Maybe your horse wandered off, too,” she said.
    “No.” The woman’s eyes brimmed with tears. “Someone cut the lock on our gate. Buttercup was definitely stolen. Your missing horses may have been stolen, too.” Her hand trembled as she held up a flyer. “You should make flyers like this to pass out to people.”
    “I don’t have photographs of my horses,” Cookie said.
    “Then you’d better take some,” warned the woman as she climbed back in her van. “Right this very minute.” And she drove away.
    Jessie studied the flyer. “I brought my new birthday camera,” she said. “I can take photos of all the horses on the ranch.”
    “Are you sure? It seems like an awful lot of work,” Cookie said.
    “I’ll help,” said Violet. She held up the flyer. “This picture shows people exactly what Buttercup looks like.”
    Bucky walked by, leading Dragon by the bridle. He nodded at the flyer. “Too bad we don’t have photos like that of Honey and Bunny to show around.” He winked at Cookie. “It’s no use closing the barn door after the horses get out.”
    Cookie’s cheeks blushed red. “Oh, all right,” she said. “You girls best get started while the horses are still in the corral. Once we turn them out to pasture, they scatter every which way.” The girls ran off to get Jessie’s camera.
    “What’s my job?” Henry asked, eager to begin.
    “Your grandfather told me you’re handy with tools,” said Cookie. “I want you to saddle up and go help Kurt mend that broken fence.” Henry dashed off to saddle Lightning.
    “What about me?” asked Benny.
    “You’ll water the horses,” Cookie said. “That means filling water buckets, tanks, and barrels all around the ranch. Bucky has a map that shows where they are.”
    “Let me put Dragon in his stall,” Bucky told Benny. “Then I’ll get you started. Be right back.”
    Benny waited at the corral. He watched Henry throw a blanket over Lightning’s back, then cinch on the saddle. “It’s no fair,” he grumbled, when Bucky came back. “Henry gets to ride and I don’t.”
    “I’ll tell you a secret,” said Bucky. “Of all the jobs on the ranch, yours is the most important.”
    “Really?” said Benny.
    The old man pushed his hat back. “Benny, I’ve been a rancher over fifty years. And one thing I know is true is that horses can’t live without plenty of fresh water. Each one of them drinks ten to twenty-five gallons of water a day.” Benny pictured the big gallon milk bottle in his refrigerator back home. He tried to imagine drinking twenty-five of them. It made his stomach hurt just thinking about it.
    “Besides,” Bucky smiled, “watering the horses is the most fun job … and the coolest.” He took a map out of his pocket. “Here—this is a map of the ranch.” He pointed to a big circle in the middle. “Here’s the corral, where we are now. And these,” he pointed to small red X es all around the map, “these are water