Dude Ranch Read Online Free PDF Page A

“No, I was just wondering,” she said.
    Carole glanced at Stevie. She could tell something was on her friend’s mind, and she thought she knew what it was. “Isn’t your birthday coming up soon?” she asked.
    “Yeah, it’s on Saturday,” Stevie answered nonchalantly.
    Carole knew from the way she’d responded that
that
was what was on Stevie’s mind. Carole had something upher sleeve for Saturday, but she didn’t want Stevie to know about it. She just said, “Oh,” noncommittally.
    Stevie returned her attention to her vanilla ice cream until her whole bowl was empty. So was everybody else’s.
    Kate glanced at her watch and then at the door. As she did, there was a very loud bang.
    Lisa jumped in her seat. “What was
that
?” she asked.
    “Let’s go see!” Carole said, standing up from the counter. The girls paid for their ice cream and dashed to the door. There had been three more loud bangs just while they were paying.
    Stevie could barely believe what she saw when she stepped out onto Two Mile Creek’s main street. A crowd of people was gathered around just watching as a disaster was unfolding in front of them!
    They were right across the street from the bank. Three cowpokes were backing out of the bank, holding large sacks of money.
    “Don’t nobody try to follow us!” one of them hollered, brandishing his gun at the crowd. “Ain’t gonna spend my life behind bars!”
    Three horses were hitched in front of the bank. As the men backed away from the doorway, they unhitched their horses and began to mount. Another shot rang out across the street. This one was louderand turned out to be the report of a rifle. It came from the roof across the street. One of the horses jumped. The rider spun around, dropping to the ground and rolling in the dirt. He aimed his six-shooter at the source of the rifle shot and got off two rounds.
    There was a loud shriek of pain. “You’ll never get away with this!” the man cried from the roof. Then, as the girls watched, he dropped and rolled off the roof, clutching his side in pain.
    The crowd went “Ooooh!”
    “Let’s get out of here, boys!” one of the robbers said to the others. The three leapt onto their horses and turned to leave town at a gallop. But before they could go, the sheriff and a posse arrived on the far end of the street, completely blocking the way.
    The lawmen began shooting at the robbers in an impressive show of strength. It was clear they were shooting to warn, not to kill. The robbers heeded the warning. Before any of the bullets found their mark, the robbers tossed their guns into the street and raised their hands.
    The crowd went “Aaaaah!”
    “Okay, McClanahan,” the sheriff said fiercely. “The game is over. You and your boys have stolen your last payroll. And you’ll swing for the murder of Marshall Ellsworth, and for my deputy there.” He pointed to where the man had fallen off the roof.
    The sheriff neared the robbers and was about to put handcuffs on them when McClanahan reached into his boot and brought out a pistol. “I said you wasn’t gonna take me alive and I meant it!”
    Then another shot rang out, this time from the roof of the bank. McClanahan dropped down off his horse.
    The crowd went “Yaaaaay!” Stevie was just about to get really angry at all these people standing around just
watching
all this bloodshed when she realized suddenly what was going on. It wasn’t real at all! It was a show for the tourists—the
dudes
—and she’d been taken in completely. She wouldn’t let Eli know about that!
    The remaining bank robbers began to flee, but the sheriff and his deputies shot them both before they reached the edge of town.
    The bank president met the sheriff in the middle of the street, took the heavily laden bags containing the “payroll” from him, and thanked him.
    “Sheriff Bradford, seems to me the town’s payroll’s been a lot safer since you took over!”
    “I’m just doing my job, Mr.