Riley Captures the Rustlers

 by Henry Paulton (ages 6-9)

Cowboy Riley walked to the barn and fed all the animals, and then he saddled up his horse, Lightening.  “Come on, Lightening, let’s go check the cows,” Riley said. 

It was summer on the ranch, and Riley needed to make sure the cows were doing good. He said, “Giddyup!” and they ran super fast to the pasture. 

When he got there, all the cows were missing! Riley almost fainted on top of his horse! 

“Oh my!” Riley said. He started looking around the pasture. To his surprise, he found cow tracks and horse tracks leading to a hole in the fence! “Come on, Lightening,” Riley said.  “Let’s go get help!”

He rode to his friend Andi’s ranch.  He found Andi in the barn.  “Andi!” he said.  “All my cows are missing!”

“Oh my!” she said.  “That sounds terrible!”

“I started to search around, and I found some tracks,” Riley said.  “Will you help me search for my cows?”

“Yeah,” Andi said, “but I think we are going to need some more help!”

Riley said, “Good idea.  Let’s go ask Joe and Charlie.”

Joe and Charlie were two cowboy brothers who lived near Andi.

“That’s a good idea,” Andi said.  “They are good cowboys.”

Andi got her horse Taffy saddled and went with Riley to find Joe and Charlie. When they got there, they knocked on the cabin door. 

Charlie answered the door. “Well who do we have here?” Charlie said.  “Hey, Joe!  Come on out, we have some visitors!”

Joe came to the door and said, “Hi Andi! Hi Riley! How are you today?”

Riley said, “Not so good.  All of my cows are missing!  I think cattle rustlers took them!”

“Can you come help us find them?” Andi asked.

Joe and Charlie said, “Yes!”

Then, Joe and Charlie saddled up their horses and went to the pasture.  They all went to the hole in the pasture and Joe and Charlie saw the tracks and started to follow them.  It took a whole day until they got to a big cave!

On their journey, they saw a pack of wolves, a porcupine, and a moose! 

When they got to the cave, they went inside.  Riley said, “Wow, it’s dark in here!” It was a huge cave, super-dark with a lot of carvings in the walls.

Joe said, “This wolf carving looks just like the wolf we saw on our journey!”

They kept walking in the cave and came to a big rope ladder leading to an upstairs. They climbed the ladder.  Around the corner, they saw some cowboys with guns and pistols!

They all whispered at the same time, “Are those the cattle rustlers?!”

Charlie said, “I think they are!”

Riley said, “They are!”

They made a plan.  They all snuck as quietly as possible to the end of the big room.  If a cattle rustler saw them, they would all run as fast as they could.

After they got to the end of the big room, each person (Joe, Charlie, Andi, and Riley) threw a lasso rope over each rustler.

The rustlers were very surprised! 

Joe, Charlie, Andi, and Riley tied the rustlers up. Joe and Charlie stayed to make sure they didn’t get away, while Andi and Riley went to find the cattle.

Once Andi and Riley got to the big pen outside, they grabbed the keys and opened up the gate.  Finally, they ran to get a sheriff! 

When the sheriff got there, he saw the cattle rustlers loaded with guns and knives but tied tight to the fence post! There was a whole wagon full of ropes, guns and all sorts of stuff!

Joe, Charlie, Andi, and Riley were glad the sheriff would take the rustlers to jail.  Then, they got on their horses, and started the journey back home.