David's Donkey Tales

Chapter 1

Surprise Visitors

David lay in his bed and watched the sky slowly lighten. He woke up early when he stayed on the farm with his grandparents. There were so many things to do. Today he looked forward to playing outside with his animal friends.

“Hee, haw. Ee, aaw.” David jumped out of bed when he heard the familiar barnyard sounds. He knelt at his window to look out. Two little donkeys looked back at him from the corral. Cocoa’s and Cotton’s brays said they were as anxious as he was to start their day of fun.

While he looked at the little animals, he saw a white car come up the driveway. “Who can that be this early in the morning?” First he noticed the lights mounted on top of the car, and then he saw words on the door. “Wow!” He whistled, “Look at that! It’s a sheriff’s car.”

David wanted to find out why the sheriff was there. He closed his eyes and listened, but he couldn’t tell what the voices at the front door were saying. He hurriedly dressed in the shirt and jeans he had worn the day before. He heard talking in the kitchen as he went down the stairs.

Both of his grandparents sat at the kitchen table with two men that he didn’t know. Granddad introduced them when David entered. “David, this is Sheriff Kyle and Deputy Caleb. They have come to give us some bad news.”

The sheriff shook hands with David. “As I was telling your grandparents, we just got word this morning that a man has escaped from jail in Kansas. We think he might be coming this way.”

“Why would he come here? Isn’t Kansas a long way from Texas?” David asked.

“Well, he robbed a bank in Texas ten years ago. He was caught, but the FBI never found the stolen cash. He lived in a shack down on the river at that time. The police up in Kansas think he may have hidden the money somewhere near here. They believe he might be coming back to pick it up.”

“Maybe I can find it first!” David cried as he jumped up. His eyes shone with excitement.

“Wait a minute, Pal,” Granddad said as he touched David’s arm. “You’ll have to stay close to the house until that guy is caught. Sheriff Kyle says he may be dangerous.”

“OK,” David said quietly as he looked down at his shoes. He was disappointed that no one else thought he could help. “I can be a good detective. I’ve read books with clues, and I know how to solve them,” he said to himself. “I’m good at figuring out riddles in my Highlights magazine.”

The kitchen screen door slapped shut as David hurried out to the corral area. Cocoa and Cotton stood waiting for him. They were anxious to run and play, but he had been told to stay close to the barn today. “I’ll be careful,” he said to himself as Granddad walked the men to their car. “I wish Curly could come to the farm with me,” he muttered. “He could sniff out the hidden money.”

But David knew that most donkeys--and especially miniature donkeys--don’t like dogs. So Curly had to stay at home in the city.

Even though Curly couldn’t be there, the farm had lots of other animals besides the donkeys. There were several cats, two goats, a few geese, and one old lazy cow. David liked all animals, but he loved the miniature donkeys the most.

Usually David took the donkeys out to explore the woods or hike by the river. He was allowed to go as far as he wanted. “Today I’m not sure I can even ride Cocoa in the pasture behind the barn,” he complained. “What can I do all weekend with a robber on the loose?”

David and Cocoa had many fun adventures together. He talked to her like she was a human friend. Sometimes it seemed as if she could talk back with her brays and snuffles.

Another little donkey named Cotton always went with David and Cocoa because donkeys like to have other animals along for company.

Miniature donkeys are less than 36-inches high. Cocoa and Cotton were both about as tall as Curly the dog. David didn’t like being the smallest boy in fourth grade, but he was still just small enough to ride the little donkeys. 

David made up adventures when he rode his favorite donkey Cocoa. Sometimes he pretended that a pack of wild animals chased them. When he imagined that the coyotes snapped at Cocoa’s heels, he rode harder. They kept just out of reach of the hungry jaws.

All day long the donkeys followed behind as David looked in the barn for possible hiding places.
“Where could the robber have put that money? I’d really like to find it,” he said to the donkeys. He imagined himself handing a million dollars over to the FBI.

“I’d get my picture in the paper. If I do, I’ll have to decide which hat to wear,” he said. Some kids at school made fun of his hair. He wore hats to avoid their teasing. “Maybe I can get a Sherlock Holmes hat for the picture. Then I’ll really look like a detective.”

After dinner that night he went to his bedroom to think about the mystery. His granddad watched an old John Wayne movie on TV in the living room, but David wasn’t interested. He had some things to figure out.
“It’s like The A-Z Mystery that Grandmom read to me last year. I think there was a hidden treasure. But now I can’t remember how they found it.”

He looked in the bookshelf for The A-Z Mystery: The Jaguar’s Jewel, but then he remembered he had taken it back home at Christmas.

David sat by the bookcase and thought about some stories he had read. When he was younger Grandmom had read several books to him from the Lemony Snicket series. She said she didn’t like a book where so many bad things happened to little children. David disagreed. “I don’t know why, but I really liked the Unfortunate Events books,” he said out loud.

He pulled out Black Beauty and turned through the pages. His all-time favorite books were what Grandmom called his “horse and boy adventures.” They were the old books that she had saved from when his dad was a little boy.

They were all horse stories --Black Beauty, Sea Star and Misty. David often begged Grandmom to read them to him again and again. While she read he closed his eyes and imagined how it would be to live those adventures. He could see himself riding those magnificent horses.

He pulled his new book called Leah’s Pony out of his backpack. He had bought it at his school’s book fair with his Christmas money. He hadn’t read it yet, but it was about a horse, so he knew he would like it.

“It says ‘5th Grade Level,’ but it’s not too hard for me,” David thought. He lay on his bed and read until he fell asleep with his clothes on. Granddad came in later. He covered his grandson with a blanket and turned off the lamp.

David was already dreaming about finding the hidden money.