3- Andi's Fair Surprise

 If six-year-old Andi can't take Taffy to the 1875 California State Fair, she doesn't want to go. What fun is a fair if Taffy can't win a blue ribbon? But the fair turns out to so exciting that Andi is glad she came . . . until her brother tells her she can't keep the prize she won fair and square!

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Chapter 1

Ribbons and Roosters

Andi Carter jumped off the back porch and ran across the yard. She was always running . . . or jumping.

Right now she was carrying her very own lasso.

“Here, Duke!” she called.

Andi wound her lasso into big loops and called Duke again. Where was that dog?

Just then a big yellow dog ran up, tail wagging. His tongue came out. He licked Andi’s face.

Andi wiped her cheek. Yuck! Dog kisses.

But she patted Duke on the head and said, “Good dog. Now, sit.”

Duke plopped down. His tail thumped the dusty ground.

Andi backed up. She took one step, two steps, three steps . . . all the way to ten steps.

“Hold still, Duke,” she told the dog.

Duke cocked his head and whined, but he sat still.

Andi swung the lasso over her head. Then she threw it out as far as she could.

Thunk!

The rope came down in a tangle on Duke’s nose. He yelped and dashed away.

“Come back here!” Andi shouted.

Duke kept running.

“How am I ever going to learn to be a cowboy if you don’t let me practice roping you?” she yelled at Duke.

Andi kicked the dust. She wished she could lasso a real calf. But her big brother Chad would not let her. He said a calf was too big and too wild for a six-year-old girl to rope.

Roping a horse was Andi’s second-best idea. Her pony Coco always stood still when Andi tried to throw a lasso around his neck. She missed every time. Coco was a little bit too tall.

That left the ranch dogs. But they always ran away when Andi’s lasso hit them on the head.

Andi wound her rope into loops again and let out a big breath. “What is left to lasso on this ranch?”

Then she smiled. The chickens!

“Here, chick, chick, chick,” Andi called to the hens scratching in the dirt.

She looked around to see if Henry the Eighth was nearby. That mean old rooster would not like it if she lassoed his hens.

For once, Henry was nowhere in sight.

“He’s probably waiting to jump out and peck me,” Andi said to herself. She did not like that rooster.

Not one teensy bit.

But Henry the Eighth was not waiting to jump out at Andi. He could not jump out and peck anybody. He was sitting in a cage near the chicken coop.

Andi’s friend Riley was standing right next to him.

Andi dropped her rope and ran over to Riley.

“What’s Henry doing in that cage?” she asked.

“I’m getting him used to it,” Riley said. “I’m taking him to the fair next week. I figure he’ll win a blue ribbon. He’s a beautiful rooster.”

“He’s a mean rooster,” Andi said. But her heart started to thump. A blue ribbon!

“I want to win one of those ribbons too,” she told Riley. “So I’m going to take Taffy to the fair. She’s the prettiest foal in all of California. She’ll win a blue ribbon for sure.”

Riley laughed. “You can’t take Taffy to the fair. They don’t have contests for baby horses.”

“Just because you’re eight years old doesn’t mean you know everything,” Andi huffed. “If you can take Henry to the fair, then I can take Taffy.”

Riley shrugged and pointed. “There’s Chad. Go ask him and see what he says.”

Andi’s big brother was heading for the barn. Riley’s Uncle Sid—the ranch foreman—was with him. The men were talking and laughing together.

Andi skipped over to her brother. She gave him a big smile.

“Guess what, Chad,” she said. “I’m taking Taffy to the fair. She’ll win a blue ribbon, on account of she’s so pretty . . . and smart.”

Chad didn’t say anything.

Sid raised his eyebrows and didn’t say anything either.

“Riley’s taking Henry, so I can take Taffy,” Andi explained. “Right?”

Chad shook his head. “Not this year. Taffy’s too little, and so are you.”

Andi stamped her foot. Dust flew up. “I am not too little!”

Everybody was always telling Andi she was too little.

“I’m sorry, but you are not taking Taffy to the fair,” Chad said.

“Taffy is my very own horse,” she told Chad. “I can take her if I want to. I’m going to get her ready right now.”

Andi turned and stomped away. “You are not the boss of me!” she yelled over her shoulder.

Bossy old Chad. He was always spoiling her great ideas.

Andi ran toward the pasture, where Taffy and Coco were eating grass.

Suddenly, Andi felt something tight go around her. She felt a quick jerk.

Then thud! She was sitting on the ground.

Just like that.

Chapter 2

All Tied Up

Andi gasped. A rope held her arms tight against her sides. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t get up.

She was tied up tighter than a calf.

“Hold your horses,” Chad said. “You’re not going anywhere. Not until you settle down.”

“No!” Andi wiggled and squirmed. “Let me go!”

Chad pulled the lasso tighter. “Nope.”

Riley and Sid walked over. Sid was chuckling.

Riley’s eyes were big and full of surprise. He was not laughing. He looked at Andi and didn’t say a word.

He probably doesn’t want to get lassoed next, Andi thought.

Riley was a little scared of bossy Chad. But Andi wasn’t. Not one bit. Chad was always teasing her.

Only, this time he didn’t look like he was teasing.

“Are you ready to behave yourself?” Chad asked. “You are not taking Taffy to the fair.”

Andi scowled at Chad. But she didn’t talk back. Not this time. She didn’t like being tied up like a calf.

Chad squatted down beside Andi. He loosened the rope and pulled it over her head. Then he handed it to her.

“This is your rope,” he said, grinning. “You left it lying on the ground.”

Chad ruffled Andi’s hair and stood up.

Andi’s cheeks grew hot. Tied up with her own lasso! What kind of mean trick was that?

She jumped up and threw her rope on the ground. Then she made her hand into a fist. She swung at Chad.

“You’re mean and bossy!” Andi shouted.

“Whoa there,” Chad said, catching her arm. “I don’t have time for this. I have work to do.”

Still grinning, he picked Andi up. He turned her upside down and held her legs tight. Then he headed for the ranch house.

Andi felt dizzy. Her two braids dragged in the dust. She yelled and swung her arms. She tried to kick.

But no matter what Andi did, she could not wiggle free.

Chad turned her right side up and set her down on the back porch. “Here she is, Mother,” he said.

Then Chad walked away.

Andi looked up. She stopped yelling.

Mother stood there, looking down at her. She was not smiling.

Andi gulped.

Mother had not told Chad, Don’t tease your sister. In fact, it looked like Mother was glad Chad had roped Andi and brought her to the house.

It looked like Mother was on Chad’s side.

“Did you see what Chad did?” Andi said, all in a rush. “He lassoed me and told me I can’t take Taffy to the fair. Then he—”

“I saw what happened,” Mother said. She sat down on the porch swing. Then she pulled Andi onto her lap. “Chad’s right. You may not take Taffy to the fair.”

Andi’s shoulders slumped.

“Justin, Chad, and Mitch are taking lots of cows and horses to the fair,” Andi said. “You’re taking the jars of jelly you made. Melinda is showing her quilt. And Riley is taking Henry.”

She rubbed her eyes. “Everybody will win a blue ribbon. Everybody but me.”

Mother hugged Andi. “Not everybody wins a ribbon, sweetheart.”

“But Taffy would,” Andi said. “I know she would!”

Mother shook her head. “Caring for an animal at the fair is a lot of work. You may take Taffy when you’re old enough to do the work yourself. Not this year.”

She slid Andi from her lap and stood up. “And you will tell Chad you’re sorry for acting up about it.”

The talking was over.

“Yes, Mother,” Andi whispered.

Mother reached into her sewing basket next to the porch swing.

“Look,” she said with a smile. “I’m making you something special to wear to the fair. You’ll look cute as a button.”

Andi squinted at the dress Mother held up. It was a pretty, blue-and-white dress.

And what was Mother holding in her other hand? It looked like a straw hat with a wide, blue ribbon.

Uh-oh.

“I have to wear a fancy dress to the fair?” Andi asked.

“Of course,” Mother said. “Everybody dresses up for the fair.”

She plopped the hat on Andi’s head and held the new dress up to Andi’s shoulders.

Andi looked down. Cute as a button?

“Buttons are not cute,” Andi said. “Buttons are dull.”

Which is what this fair is beginning to sound like too.

But she didn’t say that part out loud.

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