A Star Discovered Read Online Free PDF Page A

it!” Mary yelled. Before Jody had even reached the grassy field with Star, Mary was back with the length of rope.
     The girls led Star through the field of equipment until they came to the place where the harrow sat.
    “I know how to tie a slip knot!” Jody bragged. “My dad taught me. Here, Mare, you hold Star and I’ll get the rope ready.”
    Mary allowed Star to drop his head and begin grazing while Jody threaded one end of the rope around a harrow tooth and expertly
     tied a knot that could easily be untied by pulling on that end, but not the other end, no matter how strongly Star might pull
     back. Jody clipped the rope to Star’s halter, but he was so busy grazing that he didn’t even notice the transfer from his
     lead rope to the long rope.
    “See, he was starving for grass,” Mary said. “He’s going to love this!”
    Mary and Jody sat down a short distance away and watched Star wander in a circle, sniffing the grass as if looking for the
     most succulent blades. Suddenly he turned and blinked at the girls once, raised his head, and looked around. Seeing no fence,
     and sure that he was free of restraints, he threw up his head and trotted away.
    “Uh-oh!” the girls said in unison, jumping up from their seat on the grass. But before they could reach Star, he came to the
     end of his rope. His head jerked around and he was thrown off balance, but he stayed on his feet. He snorted and shook his
     head, and the surprised look on his face made the girls laugh in spite of their worry about him breaking his neck.
    “Oh, Star, are you OK?” Jody said sympathetically, patting him on the shoulder.
    “Good thing he didn’t get up much speed,” Mary observed. “I think he knows now that he’s tied. But we’d better watch him for
     a while to be sure.”
    So the girls sat down once again and watched Star go back to grazing. He didn’t try another trot, but occasionally he would
     come to the end of the rope at a walk. When he realized he could go no further, he would turn quietly and go another route.
    “He’s getting the hang of it now,” Jody said proudly. “He is so smart!”
    “I think we could leave him out overnight, don’t you?” Mary suggested. “I’ve got to get home soon, and so do you. It would
     be a shame to take him in so soon, when he’s enjoying himself so much. And he understands the rope now, I think.”
    “Hmmm, I don’t know, Mare. Do you think he’ll be OK?” Jody worried.
    “Sure he will. We’ll be back first thing in the morning. He can eat all this grass down tonight, and tomorrow we’ll tie him
     someplace else. I really think the grass will help him calm down, and then he’ll be good for the show next week!”
    “Well, OK,” Jody agreed, “but we’ve got to get him a bucket of water. Help me carry it over from the stable.”
    So the girls carried the water, one on each side of the bucket, to Star’s grazing spot. They watched him a little longer to
     make sure he was concentrating on grazing and not escaping, and then rode home on their bikes in the summer twilight.

5
    Trouble in the Field

    THE NEXT MORNING dawned bright and sunny, and Mary and Jody, by pre-arrangement, met earlier than usual at Lucky Foot Stable.
     The instant their bikes were parked on the gravel lane, they were off to the grassy field behind Mr. McMurray’s tractor shed
     to check on Star.
    “I wonder if he drank all his water,” Mary said as the girls skipped across the lane toward the shed. “We’ll have to get the
     bucket and fill it up again.”
    “I think we should bring him in right away and try loading him again, like Willie said,” Jody suggested. “He left the truck
     parked on the barn hill for us.”
    The first thing the girls noticed when they rounded the corner of the shed was that the water bucket had been knocked over.
     The second thing they noticed was that Star was lying down.
    “Star!” Mary called across the field. “Get up, you lazybones!”
    “That’s