The Case of the Red Rubber Ball

By John Erickson and Nicolette G. Earley

Fall is an important time of year on a ranch, mostly because it means that winter is coming soon! And, on Hank’s ranch, that means that the cake house is about to be filled with bags of feed to get the cattle through the long, frozen days ahead. Unfortunately, this particular feed-delivery is accompanied by a town mutt named Roy who gets Hank into big trouble with some local yellow jacket wasps. Once the cake house is full, Slim puts Hank in charge of guarding their winter supply from marauding coons – a responsibility that could only be handled by the elite forces of the Security Division. However, when Hank suddenly finds himself pitted against the notorious Eddy the Rac, he realizes that this mission will require every ounce of cunning he possesses. Will Hank be able to keep the cake house safe, or will Eddy’s sneaky tricks win the day?

• Language: English
• Publisher: MAVERICK BOOKS INC
• Release date: Oct 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781591887751

Book preview

9781591881759.jpg

The Case of the Red Rubber Ball

John R. Erickson

Illustrations by Nicolette G. Earley

In style of Gerald L. Holmes

Maverick Books, Inc.

Publication Information

MAVERICK BOOKS

Published by Maverick Books, Inc.

P.O. Box 549, Perryton, TX 79070

Phone: [phone]

www.hankthecowdog.com

Published in the United States of America by Maverick Books, Inc., 2020

Copyright © John R. Erickson, 2020

All rights reserved

Maverick Books, Inc. Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59188-175-9

Hank the Cowdog® is a registered trademark of John R. Erickson.

Printed in the United States of America

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Dedication

To our bossy sons, Scot and Mark, who have insisted we rebuild the house we lost in the fire.

Contents

Chapter One - Morning At Slim’s Place

Chapter Two - A Raccoon Crosses the Road (Major Clue)

Chapter Three - A Town Mutt Shows Up At the Ranch

Chapter Four - I Give Roy Some Schooling

Chapter Five - Drover Becomes a Smarty Pants

Chapter Six - Our Prison Song

Chapter Seven - I Run Afoul of Radar Woman

Chapter Eight - I Go Searching for Drover

Chapter Nine - Eddy Walks Into My Trap

Chapter Ten - The Chase-Ball Olympics

Chapter Eleven - Forced By Circumstances to Say Please

Chapter Twelve - Incredible Ending, Amazing

Chapter Thirteen - Chapter Deleted, CLASSIFIED, Sorry

Chapter One: Morning At Slim’s Place

It’s me again, Hank the Cowdog. The mystery began in the fall, as I recall, on a Monday. Or was it Tuesday? Wait, it might have been Thursday.

You know what? I really don’t care what day it was, and neither does anyone else. I’m telling the story and I can make it whatever day I want, and I say it was Monday.

There! A dog has to step up and take charge.

So, yes, it was a normal Monday in a normal week on the ranch. Monday followed Tuesday and Tuesday followed Wednesday, and now we’re ready to get on with the business.

What were we discussing? I don’t remember.

This is frustrating and it makes the Security Division look like a bunch of goofballs, dogs who wake up in a new world every day and can’t tell you whether it’s raining or Tuesday. That might describe Drover but not me.

Wait. The weather. Now we’re cooking.

Okay, Tuesday started out as one of those gorgeous days we get in the fall: soft air, not much wind, and golden light that made long shadows. The leaves on the elms and chinaberry trees had turned yellow, and the wild plums and skunkbrush added splashes of bright red to the overall so-forth. In other words, we had us a beautiful autumn day on the ranch, the kind of day that dogs and people would like to hang onto for a long time.

Drover and I had spent the night at Slim’s place, down the creek and two miles east of headquarters. As usual, I flew out of bed before first light and was ready to go out and face the new day. Drover remained conked out on the living room floor, sleeping his life away.

I found Slim in the kitchen, slurping on his first cup of coffee and cooking breakfast. That’s a joke, by the way, cooking breakfast. He’s a bachelor and doesn’t cook anything for breakfast. He boils his coffee in a pan, and if he eats breakfast, it comes out of a can or a box…although once in a while, he’ll eat a left-over boiled turkey neck.

Have you ever looked at a cold, boiled turkey neck first thing in the morning? Gag.

But, most usually, if he eats breakfast, it comes out of a box or a can, and on this particular morning, a Thursday, as I recall, it came out of a box of Roastie Toasties. That’s a brand of cereal, don’t you see. He dumped some flakes into a bowl and added a splash of milk.

You’ll be proud to know that I was right there at his feet, cheering him on to a good, nourishing breakfast and…well, hoping he might share some of it. Not a lot, just a few morsels. I mean, dogs need nourishment too.

I moved my front paws up and down and scootched a little closer.

He shoveled the first bite of Toasties into his mouth and crunched them up. His soggy eyes popped open and the spoon froze in mid-air. Huh. That milk’s a little blinky.

Blinky? Never heard of it.

He gazed into the bowl. And what are those things? He looked closer. They’re swimming around. You want to finish this, pooch?

What? Yes, of course! What an amazing piece of good luck.

He set the bowl on the floor in front of me and I flipped all the switches for the Obedient Dog Program. It’s a silly little ritual, and we have to play along with it. We have to sit like perfect doggies until he gives us permission to eat. I told you it was silly.

Tensing every muscle in my highly-conditioned body, I looked up at him and waited for his command. He lifted his right hand. I leaned toward the bowl.

Not yet.

Fine. I could wait.

Hank, we need to start with our Thought For the Day.

Could we get on with this?

Here it is. Pay attention.

Oh brother.

See no weevil, eat no weevil. His hand swept downward and pointed toward the bowl. Go for it!

I hit the Launch button and began lapping milk and…you know, it had an odd taste, the milk did, kind of…not terrible, but not so great either. No problem. I plunged on with the