儿童英语读物 A Horse Named Dragon CHAPTER 5 The Runaways Return

Clang, clang, clang. The metal cowbell rang out over the ranch 1. “Come and get it!” yelled Cookie. Clang, clang, clang.



The dining room quickly filled with hungry workers. Benny climbed in between Violet and Jessie.



“What happened to your boots?” asked Violet.



Benny looked down. His yellow boots were covered with brown stains. “I don’t know,” he said. He looked around the dining room. “Where’s Henry?” Benny asked.



“I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” said Jessie.



Cookie brought out bowls and plates of food. The children dug into big cups of chili 2 served with fresh-baked corn bread. Benny heaped his plate with macaroni and cheese made with three creamy cheeses and baked until the top turned a crusty brown. Jessie cut a thick slice off a large meatloaf, then squirted ketchup 3 on top. Violet filled a bowl with steaming vegetables picked fresh from Cookie’s garden. She added a dollop of sweet butter, sprinkled on salt and pepper, and stirred it all around.



On every table, a giant platter overflowed 4 with celery and carrot sticks, tomato and cucumber slices, and strips of zucchini and peppers. Baskets of fresh-baked biscuits were passed with apple butter, homemade jams, and pitchers 5 of gravy 6.



Alyssa burst into the dining room and let out a shrill 7 whistle. “I have great news,” she said. “Honey and Bunny are home. A new neighbor just brought them back.” The ranch hands clapped and cheered.



Benny remembered the man with the bright red hair and big Adam’s apple. “I saw him,” said Benny. “He asked where the ranch house was and I told him.” He felt proud he had helped.



“Where did the man find the horses?” asked Violet.



The wrangler 8 smiled. “In his pasture. He saw Honey and Bunny grazing with his horses this morning.”



“Are they all right?” Jessie asked.



Alyssa nodded. “Bucky is cleaning them up in the stable, so after lunch, you can go and say howdy.”



Cookie came out of the kitchen carrying a plate heaped high with fresh-baked chocolate-chip, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin 9, and snickerdoodle cookies. The excited children quickly told her the good news about Honey and Bunny. Cookie looked puzzled.



“I didn’t even know I had a new neighbor.” She brightened. “I bet he bought the old Cedar 10 Meadow Farm. I’ll be sure to bring him a big thank-you box of my homemade cookies.”



As Benny licked cinnamon sugar from the top of a snickerdoodle, he told the girls about the goldfish that lived in the horse’s drinking water. Jessie and Violet described how hard it was to get horses to stand still to have their pictures taken.



Cookie set down a bowl of fresh fruit. “Did you have a chance to photograph the horses in the west pasture?”



“More horses?” exclaimed the girls.



“Not too many,” said Cookie. “I never took you riding in the west pasture. You have to ride through a big hay field, and there’s not much to see. There’s an old barn out there we didn’t use for years and years. It was Slim’s idea to use it for all the rescue horses people send him. He brought in a couple of his own volunteers to help him out. We’re lucky to find a vet 11 that takes such good care of his patients.” She plucked a grape from the bowl and popped it in her mouth. “So, do you think you gals 12 have the energy to take more photos?” Cookie asked.



“Aren’t we ever going to get to ride?” moaned Benny.



“Soon,” Cookie said. “We need to finish a few more chores. I’ll ring the bell when it’s time to saddle up.”



Jessie rumpled 13 her little brother’s hair. “Come help us,” she said. “You can feed apples and carrots to the horses so they’ll hold still.”



“I’m good at that,” said Benny. He followed his sisters into the big ranch kitchen. Violet took apples from a barrel and cut them into chunks 14. Benny found a crate 15 of carrots and stuffed big bunches into a bag.



“You’d better change shoes,” Violet told Benny. He ran to the stable and took off the yellow boots. He put them with the yellow boots the ranch hands used when they worked around water and mud. Benny’s were the only pair with brown stains. “Hurry up,” called Jessie. Benny pulled on his cowboy boots and ran out of the stable. Then the three children headed out across the ranch toward the west pasture.



They had walked five minutes when a horse and rider came toward them. “It’s Henry,” cried Benny, waving.



Henry pulled Lightning to a stop. “I found where Honey and Bunny got out!” In a rush, Henry told them about the broken fence and the hoofprints in the dirt, and the tire tracks. “I think someone saw Honey and Bunny on the road, then stole them.”



Violet laughed. “No, no. A neighbor found them in his pasture and brought them home.”



Henry frowned. “But … but I saw their hoofprints. I saw the tire tracks.”



The four children tried to puzzle this out.



“Maybe there just happened to be tire tracks near the fence,” said Violet. “People could have stopped to look at the broken fence after the horses got out. They could have driven over the horse’s prints and erased 16 them. That would explain why you couldn’t see them.”



Henry patted Lightning’s neck. “That’s what Kurt said. He said the hoofprints stopped because the horses wandered onto the road.”



Jessie looked at her brother. “You don’t think so, do you?”



Henry blew out a huff of air. “It just seems a great big coincidence to find a broken fence, hoofprints, and tire tracks all in the same place. And I don’t like coincidences. But if Honey and Bunny are back, then I guess they weren’t stolen.” He noticed Jessie’s camera and the big bag Benny was carrying. “Where are you going?”



“To photograph horses in the west pasture,” said Violet.



“You’d better hurry and eat lunch,” said Benny, “before the food’s all gone.”



Henry smiled at the thought of Cookie ever running out of food. “See you in a little while.” Then he and Lightning took off across the field.



Henry walked Lightning into the stable. Bucky was washing a stout 17 horse with a giant sponge. Another stout horse stood tied nearby. Bucky’s hat with the feathers hung on a nail in the wall, and his cowboy boots stood under it. He wore yellow rubber boots while he slopped soapy water on the horse.



“Did you and Kurt mend the fence?” Bucky asked.



“Yes.” Henry unbuckled Lightning’s saddle and set it on the saddle stand. Then he took off his riding helmet and hung it on the wall.



Bucky frowned at Henry’s face and arms. “Where’d you get all scratched up like that?”



“Tying rope around that broken tree branch.”



“Better wash those cuts so they don’t get infected,” said Bucky. “By the way,” he said, patting the soapy horse, “this here’s Honey, and that there’s Bunny.”



Henry ran his hand over Honey’s smooth hide. “How did she get out of the pasture without that tree branch scratching her up?”



“She must’ve walked around it,” said Bucky.



“No way,” said Henry. He searched but he couldn’t find a single scratch or scrape on either horse. “I could barely squeeze between the branch and the fence post, and I’m a lot skinnier than these two.”



“An elephant’s skinnier than these two,” said Bucky, laughing.



“Who brought them back?” Henry asked.



“Some neighbor from up the road.” Bucky squinted 18 one eye. “I don’t recall seeing him before. ’Course, I’ve been gone from here a lot of years. Moved away when I was around eight years old. Most of the people I used to know are long gone.”



“Henry Alden!” Cookie strode into the stable. “If you don’t get some food in your belly 19 right this minute, your grandfather will have my hide. Bucky, are you keeping this boy from his lunch?”



Bucky’s face turned bright red. Even the tips of his ears looked on fire against his white hair. He looked down at the ground where his boots were getting muddy from the running hose. “Sorry,” he said. “Didn’t mean to.”



“Come on, Henry,” Cookie said, “I’ll heat some food for you. We have a long afternoon’s work ahead of us.” As they walked out, Cookie glanced back at Bucky and, Henry thought, Cookie’s face seemed to turn a bit redder, too.