The Cow-Pie Chronicles
Read The Cow-Pie Chronicles Online
Authors: James L. Butler
Tags: #kids, #animals, #brothers and sisters, #cow pies, #farm animals, #farm adventures, #adventures, #bulls, #sisters, #city life, #farm life
THE COW-PIE CHRONICLES
by
James L. Butler
Illustrated by
Lonnie Millsap
Copyright 2013 by Publishing Syndicate LLC
Copyeditor: Dahlynn McKowen
Proofreader: Pat Nelson
Published by
Publishing Syndicate
PO Box 607
Orangevale California 95662
http://www.PublishingSyndicate.com
http://www.Facebook.com/PublishingSyndicate
Twitter: @PublishingSynd
Print Edition ISBN: 978-1-938778-32-2
EPUB Digital Edition ISBN: 978-1-938778-33-9
Library of Congress Control Number 2013945068
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations used for reviews.
To my mother
who gave her best to her children
no matter how hard life was.
Table of Contents
NOTE: click on
BOLD
words
for direct link to the glossary
Chapter 1
“Tim, get in here! I'm not going to tell you again.”
“It ends in five minutes, Mom. Please?” Tim Slinger said.
“Come right now! You can watch cartoons anytime!”
Tim walked slowly over to the television and turned it off. As he did, he looked down at the newspaper, which was spread out on the living room coffee table. The headline read: “Kennedy's Mission to the Moon.” Tim thought the president's announcement of sending a man to the moon was exciting. It was 1961, things in the world were changing so fast, and to Tim, anything was possible, even for himâa 10-year-old boy growing up on his family's Indiana farm.
Mrs. Slinger's voice now came booming from the kitchen. “If you expect to have a birthday of your own later this year, you better get in hereânow!”
“Okay, okay,” Tim said. He drug his feet as he headed into his family's small kitchen, with its simple wood and metal furniture, unpainted cabinets and a stove under one window. On the kitchen table were two brightly wrapped presents and a cake covered in white frosting. And on top of the cake were nine burning birthday candles.
“Sit down and wish your sister âhappy birthday,'â” Mom said.
Tim had a
smirk
on his face when he sat down across from his sister, Dana Slinger. “Happy birthday,
Dee-Dee
,” he said in a mean, brotherly tone.
“Poop Slinger!” Dana said back. She then grabbed a fork to stab her brother, but Mom snatched it from her.
“Stop it!” she said.
Dana crossed her arms in disgust. “He started it.”
“Calm down. It's just a nickname. It's your initials for âDana Darlene.'â”
“No, you're wrong,” Dana said. She pointed angrily at her brother. “He told me it means âDevil Dana.'â”
“Don't be silly,” Mom said. She then turned her attention to Tim. “You don't think your sister is a devil, do you, Tim?”
“
Dana Darlene,” Tim said, choosing to go with the safest answer for now. He had called his sister “Devil Dana” before, but didn't want to get in trouble and get a
whooping
. The two of them teased and picked on one another whenever they had a chance.
Man, I'd love to send her to the moon
, Tim thought to himself.
Dana glared at Tim and he stuck his tongue out at Devil Dana the second Mom turned away.
Deciding to ignore her brotherâwhich she knew would make him even angrierâDana asked her mom, “Where's Dad?”
“Finishing the milking,” Mom replied. “He'll be here in a few minutes.”
Tim studied the melting wax dripping down the sides of the birthday candles. “The candles won't last that long.”
“You're probably right. Okay, go ahead and make a wish, Dana.”
Dana glanced at her mom then pointed at her older brother. “He has to sing to me first.”
Tim crossed his arms and glared at Dana. “I'm not singing by myself.”
“Everybody will sing âhappy birthday' to you at your party Saturday at Grandma's house,” Mom said.
Dana scowled at Tim then took a deep breath and blew out all the candles.
“Do you want to eat cake or open your presents first?” Mom asked.
“Presents!” Dana said. She quickly reached for the closest one.
“That one is from Tim. The other one is from Dad and me.”
Dana dropped Tim's present and picked up the one from her parents. She pulled the wrapping paper off, opened the large box and gently took out a very pretty red-and-white checkered dress with a white shawl. “It's beautiful!”
“I thought you would like something new to wear Saturday,” Mom said.
Tim pushed his present toward his sister. “Open mine now or I'm taking it back.”
“Probably something stupid,” Dana said. She removed the wrapping paper and slowly opened the box just enough to peek inside.
“
Wow!” was Dana's reaction when she realized what was in the box. She quickly tore the box open and pulled out a shiny toy
six-shooter
in a holster. “It's a real cowgirl gun! I can't believe it!”
“Tim picked it out himself. Now you don't have to use a stick when you play cowboys together,” Mom said.
“Mine's still more real,” Tim bragged.
Dana pulled the six-shooter from its holster and pointed it at Tim. “I dare you to say that again.”
Wanting to stop a make-believe shootout in the kitchen, Mom quickly asked, “Who wants cake?” Both kids instantly raised their hands, forgetting the words just exchanged between them. Getting sweets like cake and ice creamâwhich were their favoritesâwas a rare treat.
Mom cut pieces from the cake, slid them onto small plates and served her children. Tim and Dana ignored each other and dug into their cake, eating huge forkfuls. Curious as to all the excitement in the kitchen, the family's black Cocker SpanielâSkipperâtrotted in.
“Want some cake, Skipper?” Dana asked.
Mom had other ideas. “Get out of here, Skipper,” Mom said, swatting at him. “We don't feed cake to the dog, Dana!”
“But it's my cake and my birthday,” Dana said.
Suddenly, everyone looked up as the back door slammed shut and Mr. Slinger walked in.
“
I guess I'm just in time for the good part,” he said, realizing things were beginning to get a bit heated in the already very warm kitchen.
“
Good. You can
referee
for a while,” Mom said. She quickly wiped her hands with a dishcloth and left the arguing in the kitchen to her husband.
“Happy birthday, darling,” Dad said, patting Dana on top of her head.
“Thanks, Dad. I love my new dress.” Dad smiled, happy that his daughter was happy.
Feeling a little bit jealous, Tim said, “What's the big deal about turning nine? I'm going to be 11 in December and Dad's going to teach me how to drive the tractor in the fields.”
Dad's smile disappeared when Tim mentioned the fields. He turned his head to stare out the kitchen window. To Tim, his dad looked lost. “If we still have a tractor by then,” Dad said.
“Why wouldn't we have a tractor?” Tim asked, confused.
“Never mind,” Dad said, turning back to his children.
“But you promised!” Tim said.
“Just finish your cake and get to the barn, understand?” Dad said. He helped himself to a piece of cake and wandered into the next room to talk with his wife.
“Yes, sir,” Tim said. After cleaning the last of the cake crumbs from his plate, Tim went to the back door, put on his rubber boots and headed for the barn.
It was a short walk along a dirt path to the huge wooden building. A barn was the center of life on every family dairy farm in the country in the 1960s, and this was true for Tim and his family.
The Slinger's barn was as tall as a three-story house, as long as a football field and divided into three main sections. The center section was open clear to the roof and had huge sliding doors so tractors and other farm vehicles could bring in feed, bedding and supplies for the cattle. The upper levels of the two end sections of the barn were
lofts
âone loft was used to store bales of green hay to feed the cattle, and the other loft was used to store yellow straw for the cattle to sleep on during the winter. The lower section of the barn was the home to the
milking parlor
and pens for newborns calves. And outside the barn was a tall, round concrete structure called a
silo
. It was filled with chopped corn stalks used to feed the cattle during the summer months.