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儿童英语读物 A Horse Named Dragon CHAPTER 4 Tracking the Hoofprints

时间:2017-12-04 05:22来源:互联网 提供网友:qing   字体: [ ]
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Henry raced Lightning across the ranch1. He rode and rode until he saw the huge branch that had crushed the wire fence. “Whoa, boy,” he said, pulling back on the reins2. Henry climbed down and tied Lightning to a tree, then went to take a look. The heavy branch had pulled down two fence posts and snapped the fence wire. The ground was littered with small brown leaves and long brown pods from the tree branch.

A shiny new car drove up the road near the broken fence. Slim the vet3 was driving, and he rolled down the window and waved to Henry. “What’s all this?” Slim asked, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

“The branch fell and broke the fence,” said Henry.

Slim nodded. “So, that’s where Honey and Bunny escaped. Good to know they weren’t stolen. Well, I’m off to buy medicine for the horses. See you later.”

Henry tried pulling the branch, but it was too big and heavy. Kurt drove up on a small tractor. In back were a big toolbox, rope, some fence wire, and a post digger.

“That branch must have blown down during the night,” Kurt said. He picked up the rope and tossed one end to Henry. “Here, wrap this around the branch and I’ll pull it off with the tractor.”

Henry went to work winding4 the rope around and around the branch. Jagged bark scraped his arms, and branches scratched his face. Sharp twigs6 snagged his clothes. The long brown pods slipped underfoot. Henry worked hard, tying the rope good and tight.

“Ready,” he said.

Whirrrrrr, whirrrrr. The tractor strained, slowly pulling the branch away from the fence. Dead leaves and pods fell off.

“I’ll take this over to the burning pit,” Kurt said. “That’s where we pile the brush that needs burning. When I come back, we’ll fix this fence.” And he drove off, dragging the branch away.

Henry patted Lightning as he leaned against the tree to wait for Kurt. Someone had carved a heart into the tree bark. Inside they’d carved TA + LM. The heart looked faded from many years of freezing winters and hot summers. There was a hole in the bark below the heart. No woodpecker made this hole. It was as big as Henry’s finger, and perfectly7 round. Someone drilled this hole. But why?

He walked around the other side and found two more holes. A scrap5 of paper poked8 out of one.

Henry reached up and pulled it out. Someone had written: Gray Arabian. Brown spotted9 pony10. Maybe this was the way ranch hands left messages for each other, Henry thought.

Lightning whinnied again. “Easy, now,” said Henry, putting the paper back. When Kurt returned, Henry would ask about the note, and about the heart carved into the tree.

“Hold still!” cried Jessie.

“I’m trying.” In the corral, Violet gripped the bridle11 of a white horse that kept pushing her with its nose.

Jessie pointed12 the camera, trying to take a picture. “He keeps moving.”

“That’s because he wants the whole apple.” Violet reached into her pocket and took out another piece of cut-up apple. “Get ready,” she said, holding the apple in her fist under the horse’s nose.

Jessie aimed her camera until she could see the whole horse from its nose to its tail, and its ears to its hooves. “Ready!”

Violet slowly opened her fingers. “Now!”

Jessie clicked the camera as the horse gobbled the apple. “Got it!” said Jessie.

Cookie brought tall glasses of lemonade to the girls. “You’re doing a fine job,” she said.

“We’re only half done,” said Violet. “Dare to Dream has so many horses.”

Cookie laughed. “This is nothing. When I was a little girl, we had a couple of hundred horses on this ranch. And we had cattle and chickens and I don’t know what-all. My folks had lots of help back then. Whole families lived here. My best friend, Trevor, lived right in that bunkhouse where you’re staying.” Her blue eyes twinkled. “Oh, how my six year-old heart broke when his family moved to Texas to start their own ranch.” She grew quiet for a moment. “That was a long, long time ago. Big ranching13 is too hard for an old woman like me. Now, I just keep a few horses for people like you and your grandfather to come and ride.”

“We’re glad you do,” said Jessie.

“And I started taking in rescue horses, trying to make them well,” said Cookie.

“Does it cost a lot for people to adopt a rescue horse?” Violet asked.

Cookie looked surprised. “Why, Violet, we don’t sell our horses. We give them away to good homes for free. I’m always trying to find people who want to adopt.”

“We can help!” said Jessie. “We can put photos of the rescue horses on the Internet. That way, people all around the country can see them.”

Cookie looked embarrassed. “I guess I should have done that a long time ago. Slim’s the only one around here who’s any good on the computer. He’s always going online to buy the horses’ medicines and such. I’m afraid that I’m not much good on the computer.”

“We’re good on the computer,” said Jessie. “We’ll teach you.”

“Goldfish?” Benny bent14 over a big old bathtub someone set in a pasture. Inside, swimming around the horse’s drinking water, were several bright goldfish.

“Yup,” said Bucky. He took off his hat with the feathers and wiped sweat off his forehead. “Horses are messy drinkers, always dropping in bits of grass and hay from their mouths. Also, mosquitoes lay their eggs in water. These goldfish love to eat all that stuff. They keep the drinking water clean and help cut down on mosquitoes.”

Benny’s eyes grew wide. “But … but don’t the horses eat the fish?”

“Nope,” said Bucky. “Watch.” A colt and its mother walked over for a drink. As soon as they put their noses into the bathtub, all the fish swam to the other side and stayed up near the top. When the horses finished drinking, the goldfish swam back down in the tub. “Pretty good trick, huh?” said Bucky.

“My dog Watch does some tricks,” said Benny. “But I didn’t know you could train goldfish.” He picked up the hose and added fresh water to the bathtub.

“Good job,” said Bucky. He held his hand under the hose and wiped cold water over his face. “Where do you go next?”

Benny spread out the map and studied the Xes. He’d filled most of the water cans and buckets. But there were a few left before he reached the corral. “Here,” he said, pointing.

“That’s right,” said Bucky. “You can finish the rest on your own. I’ve got to help unload the new shipment of feed. See you at lunch.”

Benny felt very grown-up. He had to do an important job by himself. If he didn’t water the horses, they would go thirsty. If they went thirsty, they’d get sick. He would not let them down. “See you tomorrow,” he said to the goldfish, then ran to the next X on the map.

This X marked a small wooden shed with a fence around it. It was out in a pasture all by itself. As Benny unhooked the water bucket from the fence, a pony peeked15 out from the shed. It was all brown without a single speck16 of white or black. The mane between its ears stood straight up, like the bristles17 on Mrs. McGregor’s scrub brush. “Hi, Brownie,” said Benny. The brown pony tilted18 its head and stepped out of the stall. It watched Benny clean the bucket and fill it with water.

Benny accidentally splashed the pony. “Sorry, Brownie.” The pony snorted.

Benny laughed. “I’ll bet that water felt nice and cool.”

A dark blue pickup19 truck rattled20 along the pasture road. It pulled a small silver trailer carrying two horses. The trailer was covered with little dinosaur21 stickers. Benny noticed that the front license22 plate had a picture of a cowboy on a bucking23 bronco. Benny tried to sound out the name of the state. It began with a W and had a “y” in it.

“Hey, kid,” called the driver. He was a skinny man with bright red hair. Instead of a cowboy hat, he wore a white baseball cap turned backwards24. The Adam’s apple in his throat bobbed up and down like Slim’s. “Which way to the main house?”

Benny opened his map and set it on the ground. He tried to figure out how to get to the main house from where they were.

“Come on,” said the man, “I haven’t got all day.”

Benny pointed. “I … I think it’s over that way.” The man drove off without even saying thank you.

The brown pony snorted again. It looked hot. Benny pointed the hose at the sky. The spray fell like rain. The pony whinnied and stuck his nose in the spray. Then he walked right through. Then he walked through again.

“You’d like running through our sprinklers back home,” said Benny. The water ran off the pony and onto the ground. It puddled around Benny’s feet. Luckily, Benny wore the yellow rubber work boots Bucky gave him. He filled the pony’s drinking bucket nice and full.

“See you tomorrow,” he told the brown pony.

A breeze brought smells of something cooking. Benny’s mouth watered. He hurried off to finish his work. Just a few more water buckets to clean and fill, and then he could dig into Cookie’s delicious lunch.

Out in the pasture, Henry paced up and back along the broken fence. When was Kurt coming back with the tractor? It was boring just waiting around with nothing to do. He walked to the hole in the fence. Carefully, he stepped over the leaves, brown seed pods, and broken fence wire to the other side. A dirt path ran between the fence and the road. Henry saw hoofprints going out of the pasture onto the dirt. It looked like Kurt was right—Honey and Bunny had just walked away.

Alyssa rode up. “What did you find?” asked the wrangler25. Henry showed her the hoofprints. She smiled with relief. “Thank goodness they weren’t stolen.”

“Why do people steal horses?” Henry asked.

“To sell, or else to keep for themselves without having to pay,” Alyssa said. “I never thought it could happen here because we give our rescue horses away. Who would steal a horse that they could have for free?” She took off her red hat and used it to shoo flies from her horse’s ears. “But when Honey and Bunny disappeared, and that woman brought flyers of her stolen horse …” Alyssa turned her horse around. “Thanks, Henry. Honey and Bunny won’t have walked far. We’ll find them.” She rode away.

Henry walked farther, following the hoofprints along the side of the road. Suddenly, the tracks stopped. Had the horses walked out onto the road? Henry looked, but there wasn’t a single hoofprint there. He knelt down. Tire tracks began where the hoofprints stopped.

Fear prickled the back of Henry’s neck. His heart raced as he followed the tire tracks. Honey and Bunny hadn’t wandered off! Someone had loaded them into a truck and stole them away. Henry ran back and untied26 Lightning from the tree. Then he rode as fast and as hard as he could to tell Kurt what he’d found.
 


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 ranch dAUzk     
n.大牧场,大农场
参考例句:
  • He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
  • The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。
2 reins 370afc7786679703b82ccfca58610c98     
感情,激情; 缰( rein的名词复数 ); 控制手段; 掌管; (成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的)保护带
参考例句:
  • She pulled gently on the reins. 她轻轻地拉着缰绳。
  • The government has imposed strict reins on the import of luxury goods. 政府对奢侈品的进口有严格的控制手段。
3 vet 2HfyG     
n.兽医,退役军人;vt.检查
参考例句:
  • I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
  • Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。
4 winding Ue7z09     
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈
参考例句:
  • A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
  • The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。
5 scrap JDFzf     
n.碎片;废料;v.废弃,报废
参考例句:
  • A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
  • Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。
6 twigs 17ff1ed5da672aa443a4f6befce8e2cb     
细枝,嫩枝( twig的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Some birds build nests of twigs. 一些鸟用树枝筑巢。
  • Willow twigs are pliable. 柳条很软。
7 perfectly 8Mzxb     
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
  • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。
8 poked 87f534f05a838d18eb50660766da4122     
v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 );戳出;拨弄;与(某人)性交
参考例句:
  • She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
  • His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 spotted 7FEyj     
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的
参考例句:
  • The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
  • Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。
10 pony Au5yJ     
adj.小型的;n.小马
参考例句:
  • His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
  • They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。
11 bridle 4sLzt     
n.笼头,束缚;vt.抑制,约束;动怒
参考例句:
  • He learned to bridle his temper.他学会了控制脾气。
  • I told my wife to put a bridle on her tongue.我告诉妻子说话要谨慎。
12 pointed Il8zB4     
adj.尖的,直截了当的
参考例句:
  • He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
  • She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。
13 ranching 7f1bd23143dfa7632bbf9189e8e2d9f4     
adj.放牧的
参考例句:
  • They cleared large tracts of forest for farming, logging and ranching. 他们清除了大片的森林以经营农耕、采伐与畜牧。
  • This is a trade center in a ranching and oil-producing region. 这是一个牧场与产油区的贸易中心。
14 bent QQ8yD     
n.爱好,癖好;adj.弯的;决心的,一心的
参考例句:
  • He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
  • We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。
15 peeked c7b2fdc08abef3a4f4992d9023ed9bb8     
v.很快地看( peek的过去式和过去分词 );偷看;窥视;微露出
参考例句:
  • She peeked over the top of her menu. 她从菜单上往外偷看。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • On two occasions she had peeked at him through a crack in the wall. 她曾两次透过墙缝窥视他。 来自辞典例句
16 speck sFqzM     
n.微粒,小污点,小斑点
参考例句:
  • I have not a speck of interest in it.我对它没有任何兴趣。
  • The sky is clear and bright without a speck of cloud.天空晴朗,一星星云彩也没有。
17 bristles d40df625d0ab9008a3936dbd866fa2ec     
短而硬的毛发,刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • the bristles on his chin 他下巴上的胡楂子
  • This job bristles with difficulties. 这项工作困难重重。
18 tilted 3gtzE5     
v. 倾斜的
参考例句:
  • Suddenly the boat tilted to one side. 小船突然倾向一侧。
  • She tilted her chin at him defiantly. 她向他翘起下巴表示挑衅。
19 pickup ANkxA     
n.拾起,获得
参考例句:
  • I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。
20 rattled b4606e4247aadf3467575ffedf66305b     
慌乱的,恼火的
参考例句:
  • The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
  • Every time a bus went past, the windows rattled. 每逢公共汽车经过这里,窗户都格格作响。
21 dinosaur xuSxp     
n.恐龙
参考例句:
  • Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击?
  • He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。
22 license B9TzU     
n.执照,许可证,特许;v.许可,特许
参考例句:
  • The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
  • The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。
23 bucking a7de171d35652569506dd5bd33b58af6     
v.(马等)猛然弓背跃起( buck的现在分词 );抵制;猛然震荡;马等尥起后蹄跳跃
参考例句:
  • a bucking bronco in the rodeo 牛仔竞技表演中一匹弓背跳跃的野马
  • That means we'll be bucking grain bags, bustin's gut. 那就是说咱们要背这一袋袋的谷子,得把五脏都累坏。 来自辞典例句
24 backwards BP9ya     
adv.往回地,向原处,倒,相反,前后倒置地
参考例句:
  • He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
  • All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。
25 wrangler poQyt     
n.口角者,争论者;牧马者
参考例句:
  • When the strangled wrangler dangles the mangled spangles on the bangle jangle.被绞死的辩论者晃荡时,手镯上撕碎的小金属片发出刺耳的声音。
  • A wrangler is a cowboy who works with cattle and horses.牧马者是放牧牛马的牛仔。
26 untied d4a1dd1a28503840144e8098dbf9e40f     
松开,解开( untie的过去式和过去分词 ); 解除,使自由; 解决
参考例句:
  • Once untied, we common people are able to conquer nature, too. 只要团结起来,我们老百姓也能移山倒海。
  • He untied the ropes. 他解开了绳子。
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