“That's true.” Genie checked her watch. “You'd better hurry,” Genie told her “You're supposed to meet your parents in the yard in five minutes.”
Ali nodded. “I guess I won't win a hat myself now,” she said sadly. “We only have one more activity left and I only have one horseshoe, so there's no way I can get three.”
Genie cocked her head to one side, her ponytail bouncing. “Shhh!” she whispered. “I hear someone talking.”
Ali listened too, and recognized Tim's voice. He was standing on the other side of the barn, out of sight. Just to be on the safe side, Ali helped Genie tuck her hair back into her holster
“We'll steal them tonight,” Tim was saying.
Steal? Ali clapped her hand to her mouth to smother a gasp.
“We'll wait until after midnight,” Tim went on. “Everyone'll be asleep then, including Cowboy Joe. They won't hear a thing!” He laughed. “Then we'll be rich!”
It sounded like Tim was plotting to steal something valuable from Cowboy Joe's ranch that very night!
“Did you hear that, Ali?” Genie whispered, peeking up at Ali.
Before Ali had a chance to reply, she heard footsteps coming around the side of the barn. Quickly, she slipped through the door and waited inside, her heart pounding. She saw Tim hurry past the open door He was putting his cell phone into his pocket.
“Tim's a thief!” Genie climbed out of the holster, looking very excited. “What are we going to do to stop him, Ali?”
“I don't know,” Ali replied. Trigger was staring at them from his pen, so she went over and gave him the apple.
“Ah, thank you,” Trigger said with satisfaction. “That looks like a mighty fine apple!” He crunched it up and swallowed it in two bites.
“We've got to do something, Ali,” Genie went on urgently. “We can't let Tim get away with stealing!”
“Yes, but we don't know what he's planning to steal,” Ali pointed out.
Trigger's ears pricked up. “Don't worry, girls,” he said, licking his lips to get the last bits of apple. “I was scared at first too. I thought Tim was planning to steal us mules, but he isn't.”
Ali and Genie turned to stare at Trigger
“You mean, you heard what Tim was saying?” Genie demanded, jumping from Ali's arm onto the top bar of the pen.
Trigger nodded. “Yep, he's been planning it forever,” the mule explained. “And he's only going to steal those noisy longhorns. This place will be a lot more peaceful when they're gone!”
Ali and Genie stared at each other in dismay.
“Tim's going to steal Cowboy Joe's cattle!” Ali exclaimed.
“Jake was right,” Genie said. “There are cattle rustlers on this ranch!”
“We have to stop him!” Ali said. “We'd better tell Cowboy Joe right away.”
“But will he believe us?” Genie asked.
“I don't know,” Ali said slowly. Would anyone believe them? After all, Jake had been talking about cattle rustlers ever since they got to the ranch, and no one had taken him seriously. Ali didn't want everyone to think she was copying Jake!
“We'll have to stop the rustlers our selves!” Little Genie declared. She snapped her fingers, and with a wisp of pink smoke, a star-shaped silver badge appeared on her cowgirl shirt. Ali bent over to see what it said.
“Sheriff,” she read out. “Genie, what do you think you're doing? We can't stop Tim and the rustlers on our own!”
“Sure we can, pardner!” Genie strutted up and down the top bar of Trigger's pen. “We'll save those longhorns if it's the last thing we do.”
Trigger looked puzzled. “You mean you don't want those noisy longhorns to be stolen?” he said. “How strange!”
“I know what we'll do,” Genie went on, still pacing. “We'll rope Tim and we'll hog-tie him. Then we'll take him to Cowboy Joe and make him confess!”
“Hog-tie?” Ali repeated.
“That's when cowboys tie up the roped cattle with a piggin' string,” Trigger explained helpfully. “A piggin' string is a short piece of rope.”
“Genie, as much as I would like to, we are not going to hog-tie Tim.” Ali frowned, thinking hard. “We have to catch him and his buddies in the act, and make sure we have witnesses. We'll sneak out tonight and keep watch when everyone's asleep!” Ali knew her parents would never approve of such a thing—but they didn't know that she had her own genie to keep her safe.
“Yee-haw!” Genie yelled loudly, making Trigger jump. “Me and my deputy Ali are gonna stop those darned rustlers!”
“Could you please stop shouting?” Trigger neighed.
“Tim's going to find out that this ranch ain't big enough for the three of us!” Genie vowed.
Ali couldn't help smiling at Little Genie's determination, even though she secretly felt very nervous. Could they really stop the rustlers tonight and save Cowboy Joe's cattle?
Ali opened her eyes, yawning. She'd been having an awesome dream about lassoing the biggest longhorn on the ranch and earning three horseshoes. Just as Cowboy Joe was presenting her with a Stetson, something had gently tickled her nose and woken her up. …
A soft pink light filled the room, and Ali realized that Little Genie's Lava lamp was glowing. A large, fluffy white feather was hovering just above Ali's face, but after a few seconds it vanished in a haze of pink sparkles.
“That was my special genie alarm!” Genie explained, popping out of her lamp. She was wearing bright pink and purple striped pajamas and furry purple slippers. “Time to catch those rustlers!”
Both Ali and Genie got dressed in their cowgirl outfits, and Genie took her place in Ali's holster
“Ready?” Ali whispered, going over to the bedroom door
“Ready!” Genie announced, giving Ali a thumbs-up.
Ali carefully opened the door The cabin was silent and dark except for the moonlight coming in through the windows. Everyone was asleep.
Ali crept across the main room, holding her breath, careful not to make a single sound. As she stepped outside and closed the cabin door behind her, she let out a sigh of relief.
“I thought Jake was never going to go to sleep!” she whispered to Genie as they made their way across the yard to the barn. “He was so excited after winning his last horseshoe.”
The very last activity of the vacation had been horseshoe pitching in the yard, followed by a movie under the stars. Jake, Dad, and Gran had all tied for first place, and received their third horseshoes, and even though Ali had won second place, she still didn't have enough horseshoes to get a cowboy hat. Everyone else would be presented with their hats before leaving the ranch tomorrow.
“And I'm the only person in the family who won't get one,” Ali said glumly.
“Don't worry,” Genie said. “You've still got one wish left. You could wish for your own cowboy hat!”
“It wouldn't be the same,” Ali said, shaking her head.
Trigger was asleep in his pen when Ali and Genie entered the barn. He was snoring loudly, and he only woke up when Genie tickled his nose through the bars with a piece of straw.
“Hey!” Trigger whinnied. “What's going on?”
“We're going to stop the rustlers,” Ali said. “And we need your help.”
“What?” Trigger flapped his long ears at Ali. “You know I'm scared of cows. And I'm scared of the dark. By the way, I'm scared of rustlers, too!”
“I'll give you the biggest, juiciest apple I can find if you help us,” Ali promised, leading Trigger out of the pen.
“Two apples,” Trigger snorted as Ali quickly saddled him up.
“Deal,” Ali said. “Now don't make a sound!”
Genie sat on the saddle in front of Ali as they rode out of the barn.
“Let's patrol the paddocks, pardner,” suggested Genie. “Them there rustlers must be somewhere close by!”
Ali and Genie rode around the outside of the paddocks, looking for anything suspicious. But the night was silent except for the chirping of cr
ickets and an occasional moo, and the ranch seemed calm and peaceful.
“How are we going to get everyone outside to catch the rustlers in the act?” Genie mused aloud as they rode along. “I know! I could blink up a marching band! That would wake everyone, wouldn't it, Ali?”
Ali grinned.
“And I can use my quick-freeze spell,” Genie went on. “That means I can freeze Tim and the rustlers in the act of stealing the cattle and unfreeze them when Cowboy Joe and the others arrive!”
Ali looked impressed. “Can you really do that, Genie?”
“Well …” Genie looked rather embarrassed. “I'm great at freezing spells, but not so great at unfreezing ones. Once I accidentally froze my teacher, Miss Sunshine, and I couldn't unfreeze her for days!”
“Okay. No freezing spells!” Ali said firmly as they hid behind a large clump of tall cacti.
Half an hour later she was beginning to wonder if the rustlers had changed their minds about robbing Cowboy Joe that night. There was no sign of anyone in any of the paddocks.
“I'm tired,” Trigger grumbled. “And I'm cold. How much longer do we have to wait around?”
Ali was cold and tired too. She glanced down at Genie, who was trying not to yawn. “Let's go back to bed,” Ali said. “It looks like the rustlers aren't coming after all.”
Looking much happier, Trigger trotted along the trail, back toward the ranch. But as they neared the place where Jake had noticed the footprints, Ali froze in the saddle.
Three shadows were bending over the paddock fence!
Ali reined Trigger in behind a nearby tree. “Look, Genie!” she whispered. “It's the rustlers!”
In the dim moonlight Ali could see that Tim was one of three men. They were whispering together, although Ali and Genie couldn't hear what they were saying. Then the men lifted out a large section of the paddock fence and laid it down on the grass. Ali's heart began to thump. It looked like the robbery was really happening, right under their noses!
“What are they doing?” Ali asked as the men hurried over to their horses, which were tethered close by. “They're not leaving, are they?” Then, as the men rode toward the fence gap, she gasped. “They're going to drive the cattle out of the paddock. We have to stop them, Genie!”
“You could lasso them one by one,” Genie suggested as the three rustlers rode into the paddock.
“I wasn't great at lassoing,” Ali pointed out. “It could take me all night!”
The men were skillfully rounding up the cattle now, and herding them toward the gap in the fence. A few longhorns had already escaped through the gap, and they ran past Ali and along the trail.
“Why don't we go back to the barn and hide?” Trigger said, glancing nervously at the escaped cows.
Ali ignored him. She had to do something. Suddenly a thought popped into her head. “Genie!” she whispered. “I still have one wish left, don't I?”
Genie checked the watch on her wrist. “The sand's still flowing through the hourglass,” she announced, beaming at Ali. “So yes, you do!”
Ali thought for a moment. “I wish the men would get rounded up!” she said.
“Ooh, great wish!” Genie exclaimed. “Let's get these darned rustlers penned up like cattle!”
The next moment there was the sound of galloping hooves. The three horses dashed out of the paddock through the gap in the fence, the men bouncing wildly up and down on their backs.
“What's happening?” Ali heard Tim shout. “My horse is out of control!”
“Mine too!” the other men yelled.
The horses rushed down the trail with the men clinging to their backs. When they drew close to Ali's hiding place, the horses stopped, reared up, and dumped their riders on the ground in a heap.
Ali stared in astonishment as a large group of cacti growing by the side of the trail came to life with a twitch and a shiver, just like her fluffy-topped cactus. With a stiff-sounding rustle, they marched toward the men like a prickly green army. They surrounded Tim and the other two men, penning them firmly inside a small circle.
“Owww!” Tim shouted. “I'm getting covered with prickles!”
Little Genie laughed as she scrambled back into the holster “You'd better raise the alarm, Ali.”
Quickly Ali rode into the yard. She jumped off Trigger and ran over to the morning bell, which hung outside the canteen.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The noise echoed around the yard as Ali rang the bell as hard as she could. Lights went on all over the cabins, and a few moments later, people came rushing outside.
“What's going on?” Cowboy Joe called out. He was wearing bright red long johns and his Stetson.
“Ali!” Mrs. Miller exclaimed as she, Gran, Jake, and Mr. Miller stumbled sleepily out of their cabin. “Did you ring the bell?”
Ali nodded. “I heard noises and I came out to see what was going on, and I found Tim and two other men stealing Cowboy Joe's cattle!” she cried.
“Rustlers!” Jake gasped with excitement. “I knew it!”
Cowboy Joe frowned. “Where are they now?” he asked.
“Over there,” Ali replied, pointing in the direction the horses had bolted.
Cowboy Joe and his ranch hands fetched a couple of flashlights and everyone went in search of the rustlers. As they drew near the spot, they could hear loud groans.
“Well, don't that beat all!” Cowboy Joe burst out laughing as he trained his flashlight on the scene before them. “Looks like these fellas aren't going anywhere!”
Everyone, including Ali and Genie, laughed too as they saw Tim and the other two men caught in the pen of spiky cacti. They were completely hemmed in by the prickly plants and couldn't move an inch.
“Ohhh!” Tim groaned, trying to pull a cactus prickle from his arm. He glared at the other men. “You two are idiots! This is all your fault!”
“I don't know how you three managed to get stuck in there, but you're in big trouble now,” Cowboy Joe said, shaking his head. He turned to the ranch hands. “The police are going to be mighty interested in our friends here.”
Mrs. Miller took Ali's hands in hers. “I can't believe you've been outside late at night with cattle thieves around!”
“It could have been really dangerous!” her dad said. “Why didn't you tell anyone?”
“I didn't think you'd believe me,” Ali said sheepishly.
“Well, it was a brave thing to do, but a silly one!” Ali's mom gave her a hug. “Don't you dare do anything like that again!”
“I promise I won't, Mom. But all I did was ring the bell when I realized what was going on,” Ali pointed out. “I didn't really do anything else.”
Which was true, actually. It was Little Genie and her magic moving cacti that had saved the day!
“Gather round the flagpole, folks!” Cowboy Joe called. “It's time for the awards ceremony.”
It was the following morning after breakfast, and several families, including the Millers, were packed up and ready to leave the ranch. But first, everyone who'd won three horseshoes would be presented with their hats.
Ali felt a little sad as she saw the big pile of Stetsons that were to be given out. It looked as if everyone had won a hat except her
“Don't look so down, Ali,” Genie whispered from inside the holster. “I bet you're the only person here who has their very own genie!”
That made Ali feel better
“First up, the Miller family. Mrs. Miller!” Cowboy Joe announced.
Ali and the rest of the family cheered as Mrs. Miller went up to receive her cowboy hat, followed by Gran and Mr. Miller Jake was next, and he looked thrilled when he was given a small black Stetson that fit him perfectly.
“And now we have a special prize,” Cowboy Joe said. “This is for a very brave girl who stopped a gang of rustlers from stealing my valuable longhorns.” He grinned at Ali. “Come and collect your award!”
Blushing, Ali walked over to him, the cheers of her family and the oth
er guests ringing in her ears. She hadn't expected this!
Cowboy Joe held out a shiny pair of silver spurs. “You can wear these on your blue boots,” he said as Ali stared at the spurs in delight.
“You mean I can keep the boots?” Ali asked with a grin.
“You sure can. Besides, what else would you wear with your new hat?” Cowboy Joe put a Stetson on Ali's head. “Catching those cattle rustlers is worth fifty horseshoes to me!”
Ali gasped. “Thank you so much, Cowboy Joe!”
“You're a fantastic cowgirl!” Gran said proudly giving her a big hug.
“Great job, Ali,” her dad said as the rest of the family—even Jake—lined up to hug her too.
After the awards ceremony was over, Ali and her family went back to their cabin to change out of their cowboy outfits before leaving for home.
“I get to keep the boots!” Ali said to Genie, twirling around her bedroom and admiring the spurs glittering on her heels.
“The spurs are gorgeous.” Genie sighed. “I wish I had some.”
“Well, we did catch the rustlers together,” Ali replied. “So you should get some too!” She thought for a moment, and then she opened her suitcase and took out a pair of earrings. Quickly she slipped off the silver backs and attached them to Genie's cowgirl boots.
“My very own spurs!” Genie cried, dancing happily up and down on the bed. “Thanks, Ali.”
“I can't believe how well my wishes have worked out,” Ali said. “So thank you, Genie!” After all that worrying, Ali couldn't have imagined this vacation without her special friend.
“Ali, time to go,” her dad called.
Ali and Genie had just enough time to dash to the barn to say goodbye to Trigger and give him the promised two apples before they had to join the rest of the family in the minivan. Cowboy Joe and the ranch hands came to wave them off.
Home on the Range Page 4
