Let's Mooove!

by Courtney Sheinmel

  “The horses are already saddled up,” Helen said. “Let’s get you two riding.”

  “We’ve never been horseback riding before,” Molly admitted. “I mean, I’ve read about it, of course, but have never actually done it.”

  “Don’t you worry, I’ll show you both the ropes,” Helen said. She pushed a little stepladder up to Rocket’s left side. “Finn, why don’t you go first? Step up and swing your right leg over to the other side.”

  Finn did exactly what Helen said. He climbed the stepladder and swung his right leg over the horse’s back. “Hey, Molly, look at me! I’m on a horse!”

  Helen handed Finn the reins, and Finn shook them gently. Rocket took a few steps.

  “Well, look at that,” Helen said. “You took to riding like a horse takes to oats. Pretty soon it’ll feel as natural as breathing.”

  “Good boy,” Finn said to the horse, patting his brown-and-white coat.

  Ella, the girl they’d seen at breakfast, trotted down the hall on a white horse with black speckles. “Hey!” she called to Finn. “Rocket really likes you.”

  “Cool,” Finn said, patting Rocket’s mane. “I like you, too, boy.”

  “Let’s ride together once we get out on the trail,” Ella said.

  “You bet!” Finn replied. He was excited. He didn’t expect to be in Colorado this morning, and he had no idea how to get home. But as long as he was here, he might as well have fun.

  Molly shifted her feet uncomfortably.

  “Now your turn,” Helen told her. She slid the ladder over toward Dasha.

  Molly looked up at the horse. She looked back at the ground. It seemed as if there was at least six feet between them.

  “You’re not afraid of heights?” she asked Finn.

  “Nah,” he said. “It’s just like jumping to catch a fly ball.”

  “I’ve never caught a fly ball,” Molly reminded him.

  “But you’ve seen me do it plenty of times.”

  All right, Molly thought. If Finn can do it, then I can do it.

  She stepped on the ladder, took a deep breath, and leapt up. But instead of landing on Dasha’s back, she went tumbling to the ground as the ladder slipped out from under her.

  “Neigh!” Dasha called.

  Molly had fallen into a pile of hay.

  “When a cowgirl falls, it’s important to get back on the horse,” Helen said. “Unless you land on a cactus, in which case you may want to scream in pain for a little while. But no cacti here. Let me give you a hand.”

  She pulled Molly back up to her feet.

  “Thanks,” said Molly.

  Helen locked her hands together. “Give me your left foot, and I’ll hoist you up.”

  With a big boost, Molly finally landed in the saddle. It didn’t feel so bad. In fact, it was kind of cool. Molly twisted around to tell Finn, but when she did, she accidentally kicked Dasha in the side with her boot.

  Dasha took off at a gallop. She bolted out the barn door with Molly on her back.

  Molly could hear Finn calling her name. Helen was shouting, “Pull back! Pull back!”

  But Molly could only hold on to the reins with all her might. Dasha kept on running, past a crowd of people, a few horses, and so many cows! There was no sign of slowing down.

  Molly squeezed her eyes shut. She was too scared to see what would happen next. Would she crash? Would she die?

  She didn’t see the hand that reached out and grabbed the reins. But she felt herself slowing down. Carefully, she opened one eye, then the other. Right beside her and Dasha was another horse and rider, and that rider now had Dasha’s reins in his hands.

  “Whoa, girl. Easy,” the rider said, giving the reins a last, strong tug.

  Dasha quickly stopped, and Molly had to hang on to the horse’s neck so she didn’t fly over her head.

  “Howdy, partner,” the man said. “I’m Roger. I’ll be leading the cattle drive to Black Mountain. And who are you, tenderfoot?”

  “What?” Molly asked, breathless.

  “That’s cowboy speak for a new person,” Roger said. “What’s your name?”

  “Molly,” she said. Her heart was still pounding.

  Finn and Rocket trotted up beside Molly. Finn thought her face looked as white as a brand-new baseball. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Molly said.

  “Riding a horse is just like riding a bike,” Roger said. “If you fall off, you have to get right back on again.”

  Her heartbeat slowed down. She could do this. “Okay,” Molly said.

  “Think you’re ready to go on a cattle drive?” Roger asked.

  Molly nodded. “Yeah.”

  “Me too,” Finn said.

  Roger waved his hat in the air and cried, “YEEHAW!”

  Being outside in Colorado was different from being outside in Ohio. There were no paved streets, only miles of emerald-green grass. From on top of their horses, the twins looked out over the wilderness. Red jagged rocks sprouted up from the ground. Snow-topped mountains could be seen in the distance.

  All the people who’d been in the mess hall at breakfast, plus Roger, were on horseback in front of them.

  And then there were the cows: White cows with black splotches, brown cows with white patches, big cows, baby cows. It was like an endless sea. But instead of water, there were cows, cows, and more cows. Finn had tried to count them, but it was impossible to keep track of them all when they were moving. His best guess was at least five hundred cows.

  “Look at that!” Finn called to his sister, pointing to one cow that didn’t look like any of the others. She was white with no splotches. A couple of ranch hands were riding their horses beside her. “That must be Snowflake!”

  “She’s beautiful,” Molly said. “I mean, beautiful for a cow.”

  “Beautiful for a cow,” Finn repeated. “That’s so weird. And you know what else is weird?”

  “What?” Molly asked.

  “We’re riding horses next to cows,” said Finn. “This is the weirdest day of my life!”

  “Mine too,” Molly said. “And Mom and Dad don’t even know we’re here. Do you think they’re awake by now?”

  “Probably,” Finn replied. “They must be really mad.”

  “They must be really scared,” said Molly. “I hope our work is done soon so we can get home.”

  Roger turned to look over his shoulder. “Great job keeping up the rear!” he called.

  “ ‘Job,’ ” Molly repeated. “That’s another word for ‘work.’ ”

  “Do you think this is the work PET was talking about?” Finn asked. “To follow a bunch of cows on horseback?”

  “Maybe,” Molly said. She patted Dasha’s soft neck. “I wish PET had been more specific.”

  Ella circled back and steered her horse in between Rocket and Dasha. “Where are you from?” she asked.

  “Harvey Falls, Ohio,” Finn answered. “What about you?”

  “I live here,” Ella said.

  “You do?” Molly asked.

  “Well, actually, I split my time between the Snowflake Ranch, where my dad lives, and Orlando, where my mom lives.”

  “Who’s your dad?” Finn asked.

  “That’s him,” Ella said. She pointed to Roger! “I spend every summer here with him. During the school year, I live in Orlando with my mom.”

  “Orlando is in Florida, by the way,” Molly told her brother. “It’s where Disney World is. But Orlando isn’t the capital. That’s Tallahassee, and Denver is the capital of Colorado.”

  “Do you know you sound like a textbook again?” Finn asked.

  Molly sighed. Then Dasha sped up, and Molly’s hands clutched the reins tighter. “I wouldn’t mind being in Disney World right now,” she said. “I bet the rides there aren’t as scary as this!”

  “Oh, the horseback rid
es here are way better,” Ella said. “You don’t have to wait in long lines to go on them. And each time it’s a whole new adventure.”

  Dasha neighed as if she was agreeing. Molly gripped the reins even tighter.

  “What are all the cows for?” Finn asked.

  “We’re leading the cows,” Ella explained. “That’s why we’re on horseback.”

  “Leading them where?” Molly asked.

  “To their pasture, so they can graze,” Ella answered.

  “The cows don’t know how to get there themselves?” asked Finn.

  “No,” Ella said. “But cows are awesome in lots of other ways. They have really strong senses of smell, and they’re extremely curious. If we weren’t leading them right now, they’d probably wander off to check out that clover field. I bet they can smell the clover from here!”

  “So we ride with the cows,” Finn said. “Is that all we do?”

  “We also have campfires and white-water rafting,” said Ella. “And a square dance!”

  “A square dance?” Molly asked. “What’s that?”

  “It’s the state—” Ella began.

  But Finn interrupted her. “What’s that noise?”

  “What noise?” Ella and Molly asked.

  “That one,” Finn said. “Shh.” The girls listened. In the distance they could make out a steady knocking sound. It came from above them, in the trees. The knocking sound got faster and faster. “Is it…?”

  “Is it what?” Molly whispered.

  “You don’t think it’s one of those rogue cowboys the grown-ups were talking about at breakfast, do you?” Finn asked.

  “I don’t think rogue cowboys live in tree branches,” Molly said.

  “They don’t,” Ella said. “I told you, the rogue cowboys don’t really exist. The sound is just a family of woodpeckers.”

  “Woodpeckers!” Molly exclaimed. “I’ve never seen one in person!”

  But when she looked up, all she could see were rustling leaves in the branches of the towering birch trees.

  Roger circled back to check on the kids. “Thanks for helping our new buckaroos, Ella. Now, kids, look over yonder, about two miles as the crow flies,” he said. “That’s the Blue River, which flows into the great Colorado River. And see that, way up over there?”

  “Oh wow,” Finn said. “Is that Mount Everest?”

  Molly giggled. “Mount Everest isn’t in Colorado,” she said. “It’s not even in the United States.”

  “That’s Mount Lincoln, right, Dad?” Ella asked.

  “Right you are, young lady,” Roger said proudly.

  “Well, it could’ve been Mount Everest,” Finn muttered. “It looks like the biggest mountain in the world.”

  “It’s not even the biggest mountain in the Rocky Mountains,” Roger told him. “That’d be Mount Elbert. We’re a few days away from that sight. For now, we’re going to set up camp just ahead of that clearing.”

  “Whoa,” Molly said. “A few days?”

  She looked over at Finn, knowing he was thinking the same thing she was: How long was this work in Colorado going to take?

  “Look over there!” Roger said. “There’s a gang of elk!” Then he gave his horse a kick to return to the front of the herd.

  The kids looked toward the elk. They were huge, deerlike animals with tall antlers coming out of their heads.

  “There are a lot of elk in these mountains,” Ella said. “The moose are a little shyer, but sometimes you get to see them, too.”

  They kept riding. They didn’t see any moose, or any more elk for that matter—though they did see two prairie dogs, three rabbits, and best of all, a bald eagle soaring overhead.

  Finally, they reached the clearing where Roger said they were to set up camp. Finn climbed down off Rocket. Then Finn and Ella helped Molly carefully get down from Dasha. The adults busied themselves hammering stakes into the ground, stretching out tents, and gathering the wood and water they’d need for the night.

  “Did you hear that?” Finn asked.

  “Another woodpecker?” Molly guessed.

  “I don’t think so,” Ella said. “It sounds like horses.”

  Suddenly, the camp was filled with the thundering sound of horse hooves crashing through the woods. Three cowboys with red bandannas tied around their mouths and big brown cowboy hats shading their faces rode through the clearing. Their horses kicked up giant clouds of dust. They galloped out to the pasture of grazing animals. Their white horses slowed down for a split second, and then the cowboys took off back into the woods as fast as they arrived. The white cows with black splotches, the brown cows with white patches, the big cows, and the baby cows were all mooing in confusion and concern.

  And Snowflake…

  Wait! Where was Snowflake?

  The most famous cow in Colorado was gone.

  “The rogue cowboys!” Molly whispered. “Do you think they took Snowflake?”

  Ella and Finn were too shocked to respond.

  “How did this happen?” Roger yelled at Snowflake’s bodyguards.

  “You asked us for help with the bedrolls,” one of the bodyguards said. “We can’t watch the cow and help you at the same time.”

  “I didn’t think you’d both turn your backs on Snowflake,” Roger said.

  “Do you think it was the EZ Cheezys who took the cow, Dad?” Ella asked.

  “No doubt about it,” Roger said.

  “Who are the EZ Cheezys?” Finn asked.

  “Remember what Cliff said? They’re the people who want to hook Snowflake up to machines,” Molly said. “They want her milk so they can make cheese and sell it.”

  “Oh, right,” Finn said.

  “What if we never see Snowflake again?” Ella said.

  “They’ll have to change the name of the ranch,” Finn said. “They can’t have a Snowflake Ranch with no Snowflake.”

  Ella looked like she was about to cry.

  “Sure they can,” Molly told him. “They can call the ranch whatever they want. They can call it the Brontosaurus Ranch, even though there aren’t any dinosaurs.” She paused, and then added, “But it may be too sad to look at all those T-shirts and mugs with white cows on them, knowing Snowflake is gone.”

  “We need a plan,” Roger said. “First, we’ll cut this trip short. Inexperienced ranchers should head back to the Snowflake Ranch and—”

  “Now hang on,” someone said. It was the man from breakfast. He was in his new flannel shirt—the one that Finn saved from a ketchup spill. “We paid good money for a real cattle drive experience, and I’m not turning back just a day into the trip.”

  “We can help find those rogue cowboys,” the man in the green button-down offered.

  “No, it’s too dangerous,” a woman said.

  “Who cares about a stinkin’ cow anyway?” another man asked.

  The group gasped.

  “What? Cows are a dime a dozen out here,” he said. “We can continue on without her, right?”

  “We cannot continue without Snowflake,” Roger said.

  The grown-ups kept arguing. Nobody could agree on a plan.

  “This is terrible,” Ella said. “The longer they fight, the more time passes. And the more time passes, the farther away those guys are taking Snowflake.”

  “Ella, listen,” Molly said. “How well do you know these trails?”

  “Pretty well,” Ella said. “I’ve ridden them every summer of my whole life.”

  “Good,” Molly said. “We’re going to look for Snowflake ourselves.”

  “We are?” Finn asked.

  “That’s right,” said Molly. “We have work to do.”

  “And if we find her, what do we do? It’s not like the three of us are any match for those cowboys,” said Ella.

  “We’re not going to fight them,” Molly said. “We’re going to trick them. I�
�ll tell them I’m lost and looking for my parents. I’ll be really upset and even pretend to cry. I’m really good at that. When I was in the school play this spring, I read a whole acting book on how to make yourself cry.”

  “You did? But you were a tree!” Finn said.

  Molly shrugged. “What can I say, I like to be prepared. The book said if you want to cry, either you have to get into the character’s head or, if you can’t do that, think of something that makes you really sad.”

  “So you can cry. Then what happens?” Finn asked.

  “Then they’ll turn around to look at me, and their backs will be to Snowflake. That’s when you two come in,” Molly continued. “You’ll be watching from behind a tree or a rock, and you’ll move in as fast as you can, grab Snowflake, and lead her back to camp.”

  “Wait a second,” Ella said. “What about you? The cowboys are going to notice Snowflake is gone, and what if they blame you? There’s three of them and one of you. Plus, they’re big and you’re little. They’ll catch you for sure.”

  “Yeah, and Mom and Dad will freak out if you’re captured by rogue cowboys,” Finn said.

  “Unless…,” Ella said.

  “Unless what?” Molly asked.

  “Unless we set booby traps,” Ella said.

  “Do you know how to make them?” Finn asked.

  “Course I do,” Ella said. “My dad taught me. All we need are some logs and rope.”

  Finn turned to his sister. “I’m not sure about this. I think the grown-ups—”

  “The grown-ups are fighting too much to come up with a plan,” Molly said.

  “You heard them,” Ella added.

  “I guess you’re right,” Finn said. “Let’s get to work!”

  Molly, Finn, and Ella rode out of the camp and into the woods while the grown-ups continued to argue. Ella spotted four sets of hoof tracks—three for the cowboys’ horses and one for poor Snowflake. The kids followed them across a field to a tree-lined trail, beside a gurgling brook, and eventually down a narrow pathway shaded by tall spruce trees.

  “We need to be on the lookout for small logs,” Ella said as they rode their horses single file. “If you see a good one, let me know. We can string it up between two of these spruces.”