Inhaltsangabe
Although he has lived on the Double Diamond ranch all his life, Drew Diamond has never had a dog of his own, and when he finds a little Labrador puppy, he wants to keep it, but his father will not let him get another dog. Original.
Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.
Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.
Chapter One
"But, Andy, it's only a small dog," I told Drew's father.
Drew shot me a grateful grin.
"He's small now, Chris, because he's a puppy." Andy Diamond treated me almost like a daughter, since Drew and I had grown up together on the ranch. My dad was the foreman of the Double Diamond, and Andy was the owner. "But how do you know how big he's going to get? You don't know who the father is."
"We know the mother," Drew said. "Willy says she's a real nice dog, and she's not too big, only medium."
We sat on our horses, watching the cows and their calves graze in the pasture, surrounded by the peaks of the Rocky Mountains. I was on my chestnut mare, Belle, the prettiest horse I'd ever seen, and you see a lot when you live on a dude ranch.
It was late afternoon. Drew and I had left Maggie, the head wrangler, to guide the trail ride the rest of the way home, then we cut across country to find Andy. We knew the best time to talk to him was out on the range. Back at the house he spent most of his time dealing with business stuff or socializing with the guests.
Andy took off his hat and scratched his head. "I'd call a Labrador retriever on the big side of medium. They're pretty hefty dogs."
"Please, Dad," Drew said. "Won't you even come into town with me and look at the puppies?"
"This is the busy season, son. It's hard to get away. Maybe later."
I shrugged and gave Drew the "Let's go" sign with my thumb. I knew a losing argument when I saw one.
We wheeled our horse around and headed for our favorite pond, where we were going to meet Serena Chang. She and her family had recently moved to the Lazy B, a ranch halfway down the mountain. We were in the same class, both of us going into sixth grade, and she was turning into a good friend.
"I don't get it, Chris," Drew said as we jogged through the pink trees. "This ranch is huge, big enough for any size dog. Why does Dad care?"
"Sounds like a wobbly excuse to me," I said. "Most ranches have two or three dogs, but we haven't had one since Shep died."
"Dad loved Shep. Why has he turned antidog all of a sudden?"
"I don't know. Sometimes it's hard to figure out how a grown-up thinks." Sweat trickled down my neck, and I swiped at it. "Why now, Drew? How come all of a sudden you want a puppy? You've never asked for one before."
"I didn't have to," he said. "They were always around when we were little. Remember Brownie, and Lulu, and Pepper? After they were gone, we still had Shep, even if he was really Dad's dog."
"But he'd play with us sometimes, too."
"Anyway, it's not so much that I want a dog. It's just this one puppy. I saw him when I was at Willy's house last week, and, Chris, he's really something. There're seven in the litter, but this one took to me right away. He was only five weeks old then, but you could see how smart, how super he is…"
He went on raving about this one pup, and I half listened while I wiped away the sweat. In midsummer the Colorado sun can be fierce.
We rode past the mares and foals in their pasture. Aside from being ranch foreman, my dad was in charge of breeding the horses, and he said this year's crop of colts and fillies was the best ever. Watching them kick up their heels as they played in the bright sunshine, I had to agree with him.
We turned left at the fork in the path. I touched my heels to Belle, and we loped up to the top of the ridge overlooking the pond.
Drew pulled up beside me, and we looked down at the big, clear pool surrounded by aspen trees. Serena's shiny dark hair cut a wake through the calm water. "She's already here," he said.
"I see her. Let's go. It's hot enough to fry a sausage in your hat today. I can't wait to get wet."
Belle and Steamboat carried us down the hill at a good pace. We'd been out on the trail all day with the ranch guests, and the horses knew they'd have a nice long break in the shady grove while we went swimming.
Serena waved as we dismounted under the trees and tied up next to Sneakers, the gentle white gelding she'd been riding. She had been afraid of horses until recently, but she was turning out to be pretty good in the saddle. Of course, I was keeping her on mounts like old Sneakers to build up her confidence, but she'd be ready for a more challenging horse before long.
"Serena, did you ride up here alone?" I asked as I peeled down to the one-piece bathing suit I wore under my jeans and shirt.
"No. Your new wrangler, Jamie, came with me until the path forked," she said, swimming over to the edge of the pond. "Then I walked Sneakers the rest of the way."
I nodded. "Good." I was glad to see she wasn't getting too sure of herself too soon. That happened sometimes. After a couple of days in the saddle, a guest sometimes decided he'd turned into a rodeo rider, and he'd start taking foolish chances. Even though Drew and I were only junior wranglers, we always kept an eye out for overnight cowboys.
"What do you think of our new wrangler? Jamie only arrived yesterday." I stepped out on the rock that overhung the pool. I always dove in from there, enjoying the shock of hitting the cold water in one fierce, shuddering splash.
"Jamie? He's awfully handsome," she said, rolling her almond-shaped eyes. "He and Maggie would make a cute couple, wouldn't they? They're both so blond and tall."
I backed up a few paces to get a running start. "One, two, three!" I hit the water in a perfect cannonball, sending up spray that was still falling when my head shot to the surface. "Whoa! That's cold!"
The only way to warm up was to swim fast. Half a dozen laps across did it. The pond was five times the size of the artificial pool at the ranch and ten times nicer to swim in. Once you got used to the temperature of barely melted snow.
Drew was halfway through his wade-in routine. Inch by inch, he'd work his way in deeper and deeper. I called that slow torture. He called my system just plain loco.
"Yeah, Jamie's good-looking enough." I swam over to where Serena floated on her back and picked up the conversation. "But don't go pairing him up with Maggie. He's much older---he must be at least twenty-five--and she's only twenty-one and still has to earn her way through two more years of college. Besides, she's head wrangler, so she's his boss."
"But I think she likes him," Serena said. "Have you noticed the way she looks at him, kind of dreamylike?"
"Dreamy? Maggie?" I stared at her. Maggie was a pure no-nonsense type of person. "She's too smart for that silly love stuff."
"Maybe…" She didn't argue the point.
We floated a while in peaceful silence. That was one thing I liked about Serena. She didn't feel a need to plug up the quiet with words all the time.
I was enjoying the hot feel of the sun on my face when something grabbed my foot and pulled me under. Startled, I sucked in a good gulp of water before I realized what was up.
"You just cut that out, Drew Diamond!" I yelled as soon as my head reached air.
He bobbed up beside me, grinning. "Gotcha!"
"No, you didn't. I knew it was you all the time. Who else would pull a dumb trick like that?"
"Hah! I had my eyes open, watching you. You looked plenty surprised to me." He splashed water in my face.
Naturally, I splashed him back, then Serena got in on it. Pretty soon we were all half-drowned, so I shouted, "Race you across to Turtle Rock!"
Drew won, but that was only because he was a year older than us. He'd be going into seventh grade in the fall. That had caused a few problems early in the summer, but his attitude had improved now.
We hauled ourselves out on Turtle Rock. It was shaped like a giant guess-what?
"Drew, did you get a chance to ask your Dad about taking one of Willy's puppies?" Serena tipped her face to the sun.
"Yeah, but he won't even go look at them with me." He shook his head. "I don't get it. He...
"But, Andy, it's only a small dog," I told Drew's father.
Drew shot me a grateful grin.
"He's small now, Chris, because he's a puppy." Andy Diamond treated me almost like a daughter, since Drew and I had grown up together on the ranch. My dad was the foreman of the Double Diamond, and Andy was the owner. "But how do you know how big he's going to get? You don't know who the father is."
"We know the mother," Drew said. "Willy says she's a real nice dog, and she's not too big, only medium."
We sat on our horses, watching the cows and their calves graze in the pasture, surrounded by the peaks of the Rocky Mountains. I was on my chestnut mare, Belle, the prettiest horse I'd ever seen, and you see a lot when you live on a dude ranch.
It was late afternoon. Drew and I had left Maggie, the head wrangler, to guide the trail ride the rest of the way home, then we cut across country to find Andy. We knew the best time to talk to him was out on the range. Back at the house he spent most of his time dealing with business stuff or socializing with the guests.
Andy took off his hat and scratched his head. "I'd call a Labrador retriever on the big side of medium. They're pretty hefty dogs."
"Please, Dad," Drew said. "Won't you even come into town with me and look at the puppies?"
"This is the busy season, son. It's hard to get away. Maybe later."
I shrugged and gave Drew the "Let's go" sign with my thumb. I knew a losing argument when I saw one.
We wheeled our horse around and headed for our favorite pond, where we were going to meet Serena Chang. She and her family had recently moved to the Lazy B, a ranch halfway down the mountain. We were in the same class, both of us going into sixth grade, and she was turning into a good friend.
"I don't get it, Chris," Drew said as we jogged through the pink trees. "This ranch is huge, big enough for any size dog. Why does Dad care?"
"Sounds like a wobbly excuse to me," I said. "Most ranches have two or three dogs, but we haven't had one since Shep died."
"Dad loved Shep. Why has he turned antidog all of a sudden?"
"I don't know. Sometimes it's hard to figure out how a grown-up thinks." Sweat trickled down my neck, and I swiped at it. "Why now, Drew? How come all of a sudden you want a puppy? You've never asked for one before."
"I didn't have to," he said. "They were always around when we were little. Remember Brownie, and Lulu, and Pepper? After they were gone, we still had Shep, even if he was really Dad's dog."
"But he'd play with us sometimes, too."
"Anyway, it's not so much that I want a dog. It's just this one puppy. I saw him when I was at Willy's house last week, and, Chris, he's really something. There're seven in the litter, but this one took to me right away. He was only five weeks old then, but you could see how smart, how super he is…"
He went on raving about this one pup, and I half listened while I wiped away the sweat. In midsummer the Colorado sun can be fierce.
We rode past the mares and foals in their pasture. Aside from being ranch foreman, my dad was in charge of breeding the horses, and he said this year's crop of colts and fillies was the best ever. Watching them kick up their heels as they played in the bright sunshine, I had to agree with him.
We turned left at the fork in the path. I touched my heels to Belle, and we loped up to the top of the ridge overlooking the pond.
Drew pulled up beside me, and we looked down at the big, clear pool surrounded by aspen trees. Serena's shiny dark hair cut a wake through the calm water. "She's already here," he said.
"I see her. Let's go. It's hot enough to fry a sausage in your hat today. I can't wait to get wet."
Belle and Steamboat carried us down the hill at a good pace. We'd been out on the trail all day with the ranch guests, and the horses knew they'd have a nice long break in the shady grove while we went swimming.
Serena waved as we dismounted under the trees and tied up next to Sneakers, the gentle white gelding she'd been riding. She had been afraid of horses until recently, but she was turning out to be pretty good in the saddle. Of course, I was keeping her on mounts like old Sneakers to build up her confidence, but she'd be ready for a more challenging horse before long.
"Serena, did you ride up here alone?" I asked as I peeled down to the one-piece bathing suit I wore under my jeans and shirt.
"No. Your new wrangler, Jamie, came with me until the path forked," she said, swimming over to the edge of the pond. "Then I walked Sneakers the rest of the way."
I nodded. "Good." I was glad to see she wasn't getting too sure of herself too soon. That happened sometimes. After a couple of days in the saddle, a guest sometimes decided he'd turned into a rodeo rider, and he'd start taking foolish chances. Even though Drew and I were only junior wranglers, we always kept an eye out for overnight cowboys.
"What do you think of our new wrangler? Jamie only arrived yesterday." I stepped out on the rock that overhung the pool. I always dove in from there, enjoying the shock of hitting the cold water in one fierce, shuddering splash.
"Jamie? He's awfully handsome," she said, rolling her almond-shaped eyes. "He and Maggie would make a cute couple, wouldn't they? They're both so blond and tall."
I backed up a few paces to get a running start. "One, two, three!" I hit the water in a perfect cannonball, sending up spray that was still falling when my head shot to the surface. "Whoa! That's cold!"
The only way to warm up was to swim fast. Half a dozen laps across did it. The pond was five times the size of the artificial pool at the ranch and ten times nicer to swim in. Once you got used to the temperature of barely melted snow.
Drew was halfway through his wade-in routine. Inch by inch, he'd work his way in deeper and deeper. I called that slow torture. He called my system just plain loco.
"Yeah, Jamie's good-looking enough." I swam over to where Serena floated on her back and picked up the conversation. "But don't go pairing him up with Maggie. He's much older---he must be at least twenty-five--and she's only twenty-one and still has to earn her way through two more years of college. Besides, she's head wrangler, so she's his boss."
"But I think she likes him," Serena said. "Have you noticed the way she looks at him, kind of dreamylike?"
"Dreamy? Maggie?" I stared at her. Maggie was a pure no-nonsense type of person. "She's too smart for that silly love stuff."
"Maybe…" She didn't argue the point.
We floated a while in peaceful silence. That was one thing I liked about Serena. She didn't feel a need to plug up the quiet with words all the time.
I was enjoying the hot feel of the sun on my face when something grabbed my foot and pulled me under. Startled, I sucked in a good gulp of water before I realized what was up.
"You just cut that out, Drew Diamond!" I yelled as soon as my head reached air.
He bobbed up beside me, grinning. "Gotcha!"
"No, you didn't. I knew it was you all the time. Who else would pull a dumb trick like that?"
"Hah! I had my eyes open, watching you. You looked plenty surprised to me." He splashed water in my face.
Naturally, I splashed him back, then Serena got in on it. Pretty soon we were all half-drowned, so I shouted, "Race you across to Turtle Rock!"
Drew won, but that was only because he was a year older than us. He'd be going into seventh grade in the fall. That had caused a few problems early in the summer, but his attitude had improved now.
We hauled ourselves out on Turtle Rock. It was shaped like a giant guess-what?
"Drew, did you get a chance to ask your Dad about taking one of Willy's puppies?" Serena tipped her face to the sun.
"Yeah, but he won't even go look at them with me." He shook his head. "I don't get it. He...
„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.
Weitere beliebte Ausgaben desselben Titels
Suchergebnisse für The Wrangler's Secret (Double Diamond Dude Ranch)
Beispielbild für diese ISBN
Double Diamond Dude Ranch #2 - The Wrangler's Secret
Anbieter: HPB-Diamond, Dallas, TX, USA
Verkäuferbewertung 5 von 5 Sternen
mass_market. Zustand: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers S_474690598
Gebraucht kaufen
EUR 2,21
EUR 3,24 Versand
Versand innerhalb von USA
Versand innerhalb von USA
Anzahl: 1 verfügbar