Show MYK FRI E N D 7 al 11 L I 1 K AM ka marya M A HARA allara I 1 liS lBS THE STORY 80 farl too tea year old ken ivi cLaughlin liven given an opportunity to choose any yearling colt on his fam ilys wyoming ranch picks the fill buy y ot 01 a feoco ft oco mare named rocket nil ills choice merely adds add to his fathers father anger which li is alrea already aroused doused soused by the tact fact that ken ba lias falle ailed ills school work and has hai shown no BO sense of 0 responsibility it 19 was wa kens mother who finally persuaded captain ln that having the colt might be good food for or ken and the change in him has proved she was right flicks Is badly hurt trying to jump the corral fence but even captain has to admit that the little oily filly may not be loco alter after all now C continue with we the story CHAPTER an ken would stand in front ot of her and say 1 I am ken th that t was important tor for her to know and I 1 am your frie friend nd flicks I 1 am so sorry so very sorry you a aie e hurt and I 1 hope it hurt he found a nicer place for th the filly A fence ran from the corrals of the cowburn cow barn straight north dividing the calf pasture from the pra practice c field a path led along this fence and about three hundred yards from the corrals reached a spot where several cottonwood trees madi made a wall of foliage under the boughs of the trees the path sloped sharply down tor for ten feet or so to a flat area of beautiful green turf through which lone tree creek ran when the creek was in food flood all this flat part was covered but now in sW summer it was dry and the grass suan a vivid green that coming upon it from the dryer land roundabout it was startling to the eye golden sunlight lay up upon on part of it part of it was dark and pleasant with the shade of the cottonwood trees that hung over the hill and sent their ro roots winding down its face to bore underground tor for water here without having to hunt for it blicka had rich grass to eat and running water to drink there was both sun and shade ken called the place Flick fackas as nursery and each morning and evening he walked down the little path carrying a can of oats to empty into the wooden teed feed box which he had set near the roots of the cotton L A woods standing as tall as she could at the toot foot of the bank flicks could just see over the top ot of it and catch sight of ken coming coining he could see her too it made him tingle all over the first time he saw her head just the pretty face with kai blonde bang over her forehead and the dainty pricked ears framed in the down hanging banging branches ot of the cottonwoods cotton woods and realized that she was looking for him and waiting for him ken bragged about it that night at supper but howard said hutst ashes lookin for her oats not for you I 1 mclaughlin answered shar sharply ply oats or the bringer of oats in the long run it gets to be the same thing 9 and nell neil added dryly are human burnan beings any different no doubt about it flicks did love lova her oats As ken stooped over to empty the can into the feed box she would be close beside him reaching her nose in but when he put out his hand to stroke her she pulled back she would not let him touch her the last week or so all ken and howard had been doing with their colts was to lead them by the halter around the pasture saying whoa now and then at the same time halting the colt and making them go different speeds from a slow walk up to a brisk trot when they had bad walked them enough they took them back into the pens removed the lead ropes and played with them patted and whacked them waved blankets around them leaned on their backs fed them oats out of their hands right over the fence from the calf pasture where the boys worked with their colts was the practice i field and here for many hours a 9 day kens mother landfather and father and the broncobuster bronco buster worked with the four polo ponies rumba blazes don and gangway at last the day came when the work was done the tour four ponies were loaded into the truck and mclaughlin drove them to the station tobe to be shipped with sargents Sar gents bunch then the little broncobuster bronco buster left they all gathered around the battered sedan packed full of saddles and equip equipment men t and said goodby good by to him and wished him luck at the rodeo tf dont take chances nell me tug hlin said but I 1 notice youre pretty careful ross boss steady blue eyes looked at her in his direct and respectful manner and he be answered A man that monkeys no around wild horses dont I 1 kid himself any missus it dont dono do no good then he grinned 1 I may be in hospital agin after the rodeo but if I 1 aint ill be back to see how ken makes out with his filly he grinned at ken and ken grinned back then he took off his sombrero shook hands bands all around climbed into the drivers seat and rattled off and the next nest thing that happened was the rodeo ken was entirely alone ion the finch that day with flicks when suddenly she be get up from I 1 the ground it was vas the last day of the rodeo the studebaker had gone into cheyenne on each of the tha four our days of the big show FRONTIER DAYS called by cheyenne boosters boasters bo the daddy ot of em all ken went the first day and saw lady and calico and buck and baldy in the parade ridden by four of the city fathers all dressed up in ten gallon bats h ats and fringed chaps he saw the famous bucking horse midnight throw every rider that mounted him but ken go in again not even on this last day when there was going to be the wild horse race and it annoyed his father but mclaughlin ln said it was up to him it if held hed rather be alone on the ranch than at the rodeo with his family why he could suit himself but one thing was certain no one was going to stay with him not gus or tim either because both been promised the day off gus would be back on the four bus to milk the cows and until then ken would be alone ken said he mind hed have flicks ken stood by the car to see them off and the last thing his father stuck his head out the window and called to him all right kid leav ing you in charge its all youral and the studebaker carrying his km 1 9 A I 1 A t 11 liv ti pa A the bottom strand of the fence was broken mother and father and howard and gus and tim slid down the hill rattled over the cattle guard and bowled smoothly down the roid road ken stood there watching it until it disappeared how different everything was now that they had gone all yours he felt the responsibility his father had Is laid id upon him I 1 he was in charge the two dogs kim the collie who looked like a coyote and chaps the black spaniel were standing beside him they too were watching the empty road they were used to doing that and they knew the difference the road with the stu studebaker debaker on it going or coming the road empty and silence all around ken went up to his room and stood before his book shelf he picked out the jungle book then ran downstairs and out across the green into the calf pasture and down the path by the fence to Flick ss nursery she was drinking at the brook when he came he greeted her with a stream of talk he visited with her a while standing as close to her as she would let him then he seated himself on the bank of the hill under the cottonwoods cotton woods and began to read blicka wandered around her nursery sometimes she vv wanted anted sunshine and stood under the dappled golden light until she was warmed through then a few steps took her into the shade of the trees ken glancing up saw her standing quite near watching him h amr he began to read aloud to he her and her ears came forward sharply as if she was listening Flick as head turned As kens voice went on she moved over to the empty feed box sniffed it put out a long pink tongue and licked up a few stray grains left over from her breakfast then she stood quietly broadside to ken switching her cream crea m colored tall tail to keep off the flies now and then ken stopped reading put his book down and lay back on the hill with his arms under his head looking up through the branches of the trees he could see a patch of blue sky with a little vague halt half moon floating in it the daytime moon called the childrens moon because it Is the only moon most children ever see at arst he thought it was a little soft cloud it was another hot day but down i here it was pleasant and shady there a sound bound elc except pt tor for the ripple of the stream where it ran over stones and shallow sandy places now and then the splash 0 of a trout that flipped out and in again and all the time a faint hum the b buzzing zwing of the racing flies files that were always always in the out of doors it was a sound that went with summer part of the silence he sighed well it was time to eat he must go up to the house and get his lunch blicka was still standing up when he left led when he came back run ning down the path with the dogs at his heels his eyes were fastened on the spot just ov over e r the brow ot of the hill where he so often saw Flick as face watching for him but it there he ran down the hill and saw that she was sat flat on her side As she heard him coming she made an effort to get up and fell baek back again it stopped ken dead in his tracks then he ran to her and tell fell on his knees beside her oh folcka he cried what Is the matter blicka happened to you she was dying she had been dying all along or something had happened while he was away at lunch perhaps shed fallen and hurt herself again perhaps her back was broken hardly knowing what he was do ing he patted her face and kissed it he went behind her crouched down put his arms around her head and held it at last he went back to the bank banit of the hill and sat down wishing that the afternoon would hurry by and that gus would come the bus would drop him at four out on the highway it would take him a half hour to walk to the house change into his blue jeans hed be all dressed up in a tight shiny blue serge suit with a ten gallon hat and fine shoes and be ready to milk the c cows aws ken was to bring the cows in and have them waiting in the corral and he w was e sto to measure out the cow feed and put i it t in the feed boxes for the cows so gus would have nothing to do but drive them in and milk them folcka seemed to have gone to sl sleep beep presently ken lay down on the hillside and fell asleep too A sound came into his sleep A loud distressed crying it got loud er and louder and then was a terrible anguished bellowing and ken was sitting up straight wide awake and tense with fear it anything to do with flicks but she too was holding her head up from the ground listening it was waa a cow bellowing the sound came from the east beyond the calf pasture that Tha was cros bys by land it one of the goose bar cows then ken was frightened and sickened by the sound something awful must be happening what ought he to go and find out youre in charge maybe the mountain lion his thoughts jumped to the winchester where was it in the back of the studebaker no no the officers had been shooting with it and afterwards his father had put all the guns back in the gun rack in the dining room yes he be could get it could go see what was the matter the boy got slowly to his feet should he get the winchester first or go to the cow first would he be able to use the winchester it was wa a heavy perhaps better to get his own little twenty two perhaps go first and see what was th the e matter indecision paralyzed him then suddenly he came to life turned and ran eastward he new flew along the edge of the brook crossed and re crossed wherever the tooting footing was best some places the willows cr crowded 0 eded down thick to the edge of the stream and he had to go around the bellowing continued well anyway if it was the wildcat I 1 it i got her she was making a k ith plenty of noise maybe it had ad got her calf ken ran fast so he be frightened he saw the red hide of Ofa a hereford cow not one of their own she was standing on the edge of the creek cheek where a barbed wire fence crossed it As ken rolled under the fence and went around to her he see that anything was the matter then he saw and it made him sick the bottom strand of the wire fence was broken some other old wires were tangled with it and the whole web of wire was wrapped around the cows udder ken put his hand to the hind pocket of his overalls he had been told by his father never let me cat catch ch you ou out t without a pair of wire cut in your pants pocket 11 but the cutters there he remembered clean blue jeans this morn ing and the cutters lying on the table in his bis room he headed tor for the cowburn cow barn there would be cutters there while he ran he was wishing w that gus would come he H e wondered if he should wait tor for GUI G u to cu cut t the cow loose its all yo yours u r no hed do it himself it took him fifteen minutes to get back to the cow with the cutters then he had bad been running so hard he be had to kneel beside her tor for a lew few minutes until his breath came easily and his bis hands bands were steady enough to begin work TO BE CONTINUED |