Excerpt from ‘The Case of the Dancing Cowboy’

Editor’s note: Below is an excerpt from the children’s book, “The Case of the Dancing Cowboy,” written by John R. Erickson and reprinted with permission via Newspapers in Education. To catch up on the story, read the previous excerpt in the e-paper edition of Saturday, May 9.

Chapter 7 (cont.)

“Oh, surely it’s something simple. It happened all at once.”

“I know, but that’s how all these problems start. Kill it and let me check the oil.”

She turned it off and came around to watch. Slim reached into the motor and came out with the dipstick. I knew what was coming. I looked around for Drover, but the little dummy had stayed inside. “Hank, come here.”

Well, there was nothing I could do but answer the Call of Duty. I stepped forward and offered my ear to the Cause. He wiped the dipstick on my left ear, said “Good dog,” and plunged the it back into the motor.

The dipstick, not my ear. Miss Viola seemed to think this was funny. “Do you always wipe the dipstick on Hank’s ear?”

“Most usually. I’ve used the hair on his back before but the ear is better.” He brought the dipstick out again and squinted at it. “It saves going for a rag or using my jeans. Huh. Oil’s okay.

Maybe the oil pump’s gone bad.

We’d better tow it to town and get a mechanic to look at it.” “Oh my, surely it’s not that bad.” “Yes ma’am, it sounded pretty bad to me.”

She pressed her lips together. “But Slim, shouldn’t you always start with the simplest explanation first? A loose wire or something?”

“Well, yes, but when your engine is missing like this one is, you can pretty well be sure that it’s something serious.”

“Now, it seems to me that I’ve heard Daddy say something about loose wires.”

“Yes ma’am, you do have wires and sometimes they get loose, but they don’t make the kind of sound this one is making. This motor’s got big troubles and we might as well find the nylon tow rope and start for town.”

She placed her hands on her hips. “Slim, I’m just sure it’s not as bad as you think. It ran fine until…well, it didn’t start making that funny noise until I reached your mailbox. Maybe if I started it again, you could check it one more time.”

“Well, I guess we could, but I’m pretty sure we’re looking at a major overhaul here. Fire it up.”

Miss Viola started the car again, but this time she got out and left it running. She joined

Slim and they listened to together.

“What is that clicking sound?” it she asked.

“Oh, it could be a busted crankshaft or push rods or a scalded piston. It ain’t good, I can tell you that.”

“Oh dear.” She frowned at the motor for a moment. “Slim, what is that little thing there?”

“What thing?” He leaned over the fender. “That’s a spark plug wire.” “And…does it do anything?” “Oh, sure, yeah. You’ve got to have your spark plug wires and… you know, that thing’s worked loose.”

Miss Viola looked away. “My goodness.”

“Here, I’ll just…” He reached in and took hold of the spark plug wire. That turned out to be a big mistake.