The Beef Princess of Practical County by Michelle Houts

Author:Michelle Houts [houts, michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-375-89186-1
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2009-10-19T04:00:00+00:00

When school let out, the countdown began.

Six more weeks until the Practical County Fair. Five more weeks until the Practical County Fair. Most years I counted the days with excitement, anticipating the most celebrated week of the year. I looked forward to running around the midway with Carol Ann, bumping into class-mates I hadn't seen all summer, chewing on gooey caramel apples, and, of course, devouring the tastiest burgers ever made by the Cattlemen's Association.

This summer, the huge feeling of anticipation was still there, but I found that when my thoughts turned to the Practical County Fair, a certain, well, uncertainty made my stomach flip-flop just a little. The carefree days of being the little sister were behind me. I had the responsibility of showing Mule. And I had the Beef Princess pageant staring me in the face. Even the thought of a juicy Cattlemen's burger was less appetizing than it had been in the past.

Ronnie and I took Mule out to the feedlot daily to practice walking and setting up his feet so that he would stand just right for the judge. By the end of the month, I was feeling more confident in Mule's ability to behave himself at the fair.

“It looks like you're my only shot at Grand Champion, Mule,” I told him after a fine practice session. For the first time, I was convinced of something Dad and Granddad had known for a long time: Mule was indeed a Grand Champion contender.

If only I had been able to find that same sense of confidence about the Beef Princess pageant. Things in that department were not going well at all. Ohma had definitely overheard the part of the conversation between Carol Ann and me when I said I'd enter the pageant, and she had no doubt told her sisters, who were taking advantage of every opportunity to point out that the title of Practical County Beef Princess had remained in the Darling family for years.

The Darling sisters were easy enough to ignore once school was out, but in a town the size of Nowhere, you run into folks everywhere. And the canned-goods aisle at the IGA is no exception.

That was where I was on a Friday evening in June, when I ran into Lil and Ohma. Mom and Frannie were on the other side of the store, and I was searching for a can of marinated artichokes. The two younger Darling sisters were fighting with each other. I heard them before they even came into view.

“Shut up, Lil. You don't know what you're talking about.”

That was Ohma, for sure. I would have known that low, grumbling voice anywhere.

“Oh, please. You are just jealous that I can wear the dress and your pinky toe won't even fit in it.”

Ouch. That was severe, even for Lil.

“Oh, yeah, well, I wouldn't wear that stupid dress if I had to. It's ugly.”

Just then they rounded the corner. Lil had on a short flowered skirt, a hot-pink tank top, and flip-flops with a giant daisy on her big toe.

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