The Adventures of Cherokee Read Online Free PDF

specific instructions about the horses when he was ready.
    It was mid afternoon when Bobby rode back to the ranch, unsaddled his mare and turned her loose to graze. He ambled back to the corral of new horses to reevaluate them. He didn’t change his mind about any of them. He walked to the house, got a glass of cold tea and sat on the porch for a while, composing a letter in his head for his brother. After supper, he mentioned the tracks he found earlier in the day.
    “I’ll bet it’s those two young ones we had seen before we rounded up the herd,” said J.D.
    “Perhaps,” agreed Bobby, “But there were four sets of hoof prints, not two.”
    The cowboys looked at each other. Marty said, “I’m goin’ out to look at the ones in the corral.”
    The rest of them went along to see what he was up to. As they approached the herd of mares and colts, Marty looked them over and said, “Yep! Just what I thought!”
    “Well! What?” asked J.D.
    “There was two spring fillies when we rounded ‘em up that ain’t there anymore.”
    The rest of the cowboys looked at each other. He was right.
    “How did those two fillies get away without us knowing?”
    “Maybe it happened when that stallion made a fuss trying to get his whole herd back,” suggested J.D. “Anyway, we’ll go look for them tomorrow, boss.”
    Bobby nodded his head in agreement.
    Meanwhile, Cherokee, Sunee, Little Sister and Yellow Bird were trying to stay out of sight of the ranch hands and still remain where they could watch their family. It was good that there were lots of hills and plenty of water and they did not have to hunt for grass, but the young fillies were impatient and wanted their mothers. Right now! Sunee tried to calm the fillies, telling them that if Asga ya galun Latí meant for them to be together again it would happen. If not, she would look after them until they could look after themselves.
    Cherokee left Sunee and the two young ones in a copse of trees, safe and out of sight of man and beast. He planned to search for a better place to hide his young charges. It was then that he saw the man looking at the trail they had used earlier in the day. He wondered what it meant. He tried hard to think. Then he remembered one of Grandfather’s lessons. Grandfather said, “If your mind is closed as a drawstring, nothing can get in or out. If this happens, walk. When the feet are busy, the mind relaxes and can think.”
    So Cherokee walked. And walked. Finally he remembered! He had found Man in the past byseeing the tracks he made, so maybe that was how Man found him! He must let Sunee know what was happening. Man knew they were here.
     

-5- A Big Mistake  
    Early the next morning J.D., Marty and two other men rode out to the area where Bobby had first spotted the hoof prints. They figured on tracking from there since the sign was still fresh. In less than an hour they found the right place. Upon closer examination, J.D. noted that the tracks led to and from the water and the tall red oak trees.
    The men rode into the trees looking for more sign, but it was fall and so many leaves were on the ground, the only thing they found was the place where the horses had rested.
    “Let’s try circling around and watch for tracks coming out somewhere else. We’ll split up and if anyone finds anything, give a Yahoo!’ so the others can come running. That O.K. with you?” asked J.D.
    “Yep.” the men answered, whirling their horses and heading off in the opposite direction from J.D. and Marty. But it wasn’t only tracks that the two men found. Within 30 minutes they came up on all four horses, startling them, as well as the cowboys! As Cherokee broke into a run with Sunee and the fillies directly behind him, one of the men gave a loud, “Yahoo!” and chased after them.
    Cherokee knew he and Sunee could outrun the men, but the fillies could not. In his haste to escape the cowboys, Cherokee made a mistake and headed directly for the ranch! When