The Case of the Mysterious Voice
John R. Erickson
Illustrations by Gerald L. Holmes
Maverick Books, Inc.
Publication Information
MAVERICK BOOKS
Published by Maverick Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 549, Perryton, TX 79070
Phone: 806.435.7611
www.hankthecowdog.com
First published in the United States of America by Viking Children’s Books and Puffin Books, members of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2010.
Currently published by Maverick Books, Inc., 2011
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Copyright © John R. Erickson, 2011
All rights reserved
Maverick Books, Inc. Paperback ISBN: 978-1-59188-158-2
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
Dedicated to the memory of Soren Dahlstrom.
Contents
Chapter One Sally May Plans a Picnic
Chapter Two Alfred’s Great Idea
Chapter Three Bathing the Cat
Chapter Four The Police Arrive
Chapter Five Loper’s Present
Chapter Six A Voice in the Night
Chapter Seven We Bark at the Moon
Chapter Eight A Victory for Science
Chapter Nine Sally May and I Patch Things Up
Chapter Ten I Give Pete a Crushing Defeat
Chapter Eleven Company Arrives
Chapter Twelve The Villain Is Exposed
Chapter One: Sally May Plans a Picnic
It’s me again, Hank the Cowdog. The mystery began on a Friday morning in May, as I recall. Yes, I’m sure it was May, because we’d finished branding our spring calves and were enjoying a period of quiet before hay season started.
Loper and Slim were sitting in lawn chairs in the backyard, drinking coffee and enjoying the cool of the morning. It was something they didn’t do very often. Drover and I had finished our morning patrol and had assembled at the yard gate. There, we watched and listened.
Loper said, “It sure is peaceful out here.”
“Yep.”
“Every once in a while, a man needs to slow down and notice the wonders of God’s creation.”
“Yep. When do you reckon that’ll start?”
Loper gave him a stern look. “Right now. That’s what we’re doing. We had a hard week getting the branding done, and now we can relax a little bit.”
Slim took a slurp of coffee. “Okay with me.”
Loper filled his lungs with fresh air and looked up at the sky. “For the next two days, I’m going to stick around the house—help Sally May with the yard work and take care of those little fix-up jobs that always seem to get put off. I might even take Alfred fishing.”
Slim flashed a grin. “I’ve heard this before.”
“Oh yeah? Well, you just watch. A man needs to stop and smell the roses.”
“Loper, you wouldn’t know a rose from a dandelion . . . and speaking of dandelions, you’ve got a bunch of ’em growing in your yard. I’ll loan you my pocketknife if you want to start digging ’em up right now.”
“Thanks. I’ve got my own knife, and I’ll put dandelions on my list of things to do.”
“That’s just what I figured.”
Loper shook his head and muttered something under his breath. “Slim, do you know what your biggest problem is?”
“Poverty.”
“No. You have a sour attitude about your fellow man.”
“Not all of ’em, just the ones I know.”
“Five bucks says that I spend the next two days doing chores around the house.”
“I hate to take money from a fool.”
Loper snapped his fingers. “Step up, son. We know you’ve got the mouth. Do you have five dollars to back it up?”
Slim dug out his wallet and peeked inside. “Yes, I do, and I think I’m fixing to double it.”
“You’re fixing to lose it, and when you do, I don’t want to hear you whine and moan. A deal’s a deal.”
Slim bobbed his head in agreement. “A deal’s a deal.”
At that very moment, the back door opened and out stepped . . . oops. Sally May. All at once, I felt . . . you know, sometimes when she shows up, I’m seized by terrible feelings of guilt. It’s as though I’ve done something naughty and she knows it.
She has these eyes that can penetrate skin and bones, don’t you know, and she can see right into the gizzardly depths of a dog’s soul. But the crazy thing was that, on that particular morning, my soul was as clean and pure as freshly fallen snow.
I hadn’t done anything wrong! I hadn’t even thought about doing anything wrong, and yet . . .
Before I even had a chance to think about it, I slipped into a program we call Leaving Town. I mean, it happened in a split second and without even thinking about it, I began creeping for the nearest exit.
But then I noticed an important detail: Sally May wore a radiant smile. If she’d picked up any Naughty Signals from me, she wouldn’t have been smiling.
I stopped slinking away and heaved a sigh of relief. “Drover, she seems to be in a good mood this morning.”
He had been staring off into space, and his eyes drifted down to me. “Oh, hi. What’s good mud?”
“Good mud? Well, when you add good moisture to common dirt, you get good mud, and good mud is good for the plants and flowers.”
“I love it when the grass is green and the wildflowers bloom.”
“Yes, and we’ve had a nice spring, haven’t we?”
“Yeah, if I could just get rid of these allergies.” He sneezed. “By dose gids stobbed ubb all the tibe.” He sneezed again. “See whud I beed?”
“Yes, I see what you mean. I’m sorry you’re having trouble.”
“Thags.”
“You’re welcome.” There was a moment of silence. “Drover, you said something about