The Quest for the Great White Quail by John R. Erickson

Author:John R. Erickson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Hank the Cowdog
ISBN: 9780142411070
Publisher: Puffin
Published: 2008-05-15T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven: Drover Is Injured in the Line of Duty

I hadn’t planned on taking Little Shakespeare on the mission, but when he finished his business in the plum thicket and saw me streaking away, he figured out that something was afoot, and he came scampering after me.

“Hank, wait up! Where are we going?”

“We? We aren’t going anywhere, you little buttinski, but I’m going out on an important mission.”

“Oh goodie, how fun! Can I go?”

I slowed down to a walk. “Absolutely not.”

“Gosh, how come?”

I stopped and gave him a scorching glare. “Drover, after that incident with Miss Beulah, I’m ashamed to be seen with you. You’ve brought disgrace to the entire Security Division.”

“Gee, all I did was . . .”

“Furthermore, you tried to steal my girl with cheap tricks and mawkish poems.”

“I thought they were pretty good.”

“They were dreadful. That last poem you did, the one about blood pressure and kidneys . . . Drover, it sounded like an autopsy report!”

“Yeah, but she liked it.”

“She hated it. And then, right in the middle of your presentation, what did you do?”

“Well . . .”

“You ran to the bathroom!”

“It was a plum bush.”

“Drover, I knew what you were doing, and so did Beulah.”

His head sank. “You really think so?”

“Of course she knew. Everybody knew.”

“She didn’t laugh, did she?”

“You didn’t hear? Drover, she laughed her head off!”

“I thought she was crying.”

“She laughed until she cried. Does that make you proud of yourself?”

He let out a groan and fell to the ground. “I couldn’t help it, I had to go! Oh, I’m so embarrassed! I’ll never be able to face her again.”

He moaned and blubbered for, oh, three minutes at least, until I said, “Get up, son, you’ve suffered enough.” He didn’t budge. “Drover, you can’t punish yourself forever, just because you . . . well, behaved like an idiot.”

“Yes, I can! I’m going to stay here forever!”

“Drover, every cloud has a silver lining, but I must remind you that you’re not a cloud.”

He peeked up at me. “I’m not?”

“You’re a dog. You’ll always be a dog, and you’ll never be a cloud. Are you feeling better now?”

“Not really.”

I whopped him on the back. “Good! Now, let’s get out of here, we’ve got work to do.”

I trotted off to the north, and he caught up with me. “I thought you said I couldn’t go.”

“I changed my mind. After all the suffering you’ve done, you deserve a promotion.”

His eyes lit up. “No fooling? Gosh, thanks! A real promotion, how neat! What am I going to do?”

“We’re going to be traveling through coyote-infested canyons, and I thought we might let you go out on a scout patrol.”

All at once, he stumbled and let out a yell. “Help! Get out of the way!” Before my very eyes, he nosed into the ground and did four forward rolls.

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