Moo Read Online Free PDF Page B

was a black lump.
    That lumpy thing? Luke said.
    Eez not lumpy! Mrs. Falala replied. Go see.
    Neither of us moved.
    What? You eez afraid? Of cow ?
    We are not afraid , I said. We are—just—cautious.
    Pah! Afraid! Afraid of cow! Mrs. Falala tossed her braid from one side to the other. Afraid of cow!
    Come on, Luke , I said. Come with me . I opened the pasture gate. Let’s go see this lumpy cow.
    Eez not lumpy! Mrs. Falala said.
    Halfway across the field, Luke whispered to me: Is too. Lumpy!
    The lump, we could now see, was definitely a cow, and it wasn’t all black. It was one of the Belted Galloways—black on its front and hindquarters and white in the middle—or at leastwhite where it wasn’t splattered with mud. It stared at us as we approached, making no movement except an occasional flick of its tail.
    Lumpy old lazy cow , Luke said.
    And then came the sound, the low rumbling from deep inside and the long, drawn-out Mooooooooo. Its eyes were as big as apples and its nostrils gaping black caves. Mooooooooo.
    Touch it, Luke said.
    What? Me? When you have a little brother, you don’t want to look weak. I stepped closer to the cow.
    On its head , Luke said. Pat its head, Reena.
    Oh, that was one mighty large head. I bet the head alone weighed a hundred pounds.
    It’s not used to us, Luke. I don’t want to scare the poor thing.
    Go on, pat its head so it will know we’re friendly.
    I leaned closer and quickly patted the top of its head. There, there, cow. Hi, there, cow . The fur was softer than I expected.
    Abruptly, the cow tossed its head and let out another lone, low, Mooooooooo.
    We headed back to the gate, maybe a little faster than we had come. I could see Mrs. Falala watching us, but she said nothing about our encounter with the cow.
    We did a few more chores for her before it was time for us to leave.
    Not so bad , Mrs. Falala said. Tomorrow, you meet Zora for official.
    Zora? Who’s Zora? Tomorrow? I’m not sure we can come back—
    Yes, yes, your papa says eez fine. Three mornings a week.
    But—
    Watch out for Paulie—
    The squealing hog that we’d seen on our first visit came barreling around the side of the barn, chased once again by the fat, golden cat. We plastered ourselves against the barn and let them pass.
    Paulie is—the hog or the cat?
    Paulie eez fat pig hog. Cat eez China. You come back tomorrow. They’ll be here. Zora, too.
    Zora?
    Zora eez cow.
    At the bottom of the drive, we stopped and stared back at the house, waiting to hear the flute music. It wasn’t long, only a few minutes, before the gentle melody drifted out of the attic window.

ZORA
    (As I said, way back at the beginning . . .)
    The truth is
    Zora was ornery and stubborn
    wouldn’t listen to a n y b o d y
    and was selfish beyond selfish
    and filthy
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  caked with mud
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  and dust
    and moody:
    you’d better watch it
    or
    she’d knock you
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  f l a t
    Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â  s p l a t . . .
    That’s Zora I’m talking about.
    Zora
    that
    cow.
    We found this out, me and Luke,
    on our next visit to Mrs. Falala’s.
    Bring her in , commanded Mrs. Falala.
    Erm. How—
    Get her. Bring her.
    Mrs. Falala tossed a halter in my direction.
    Come on, Lukey, we are going to do this.
    Surely I could imitate what I’d seen the kids do at the nearby Birchmere Farm. Surely I could just toss the loop over Zora’s head and pull her on in. Right?
    Lukey’s eyes were open so wide. He stayed well behind me.
    Zora was standing in a mud puddle when we approached her. When I tossed the loop at her head, she