He stared at me in wonder. “No fooling? But I thought . . .”
“I was thrown off the track once or twice, but every time I kept going back to the Clue List. That tells the story, Drover. Those clues, which we’ve amassed over the past twenty-four hours, point to one conclusion: very soon, the sky is going to fall. Fortunately, we’re in a place that will withstand the force of falling clouds and so forth.”
Drover let out a gasp. “Gosh . . . then J.T. was right all along. And so was Pete.”
I gave him a burning glare. “Drover, we threw out their testimony.”
“Yeah, but they were right.”
“They were right for the wrong reasons. We suspect there was a strong element of luck in their phony predictions, so we’ve removed them from our files, so to speak.”
“You mean . . .”
“Exactly. I predicted this all along. The sky will fall, Drover, and let the record show that I . . .”
Suddenly, as if the forces of nature had conspired to fillfull my prediction, the air was shattered by the sounds of the sky falling all around us. It was deafening, terrifying, scariest bunch of sounds I’d ever heard. There was a roar of wind, the screech of tin being ripped to shreds, the snap and groan of lumber being twisted into toothpicks.
See? Didn’t I tell you? The sky was falling around our very ears.
As you might expect, Drover and I hit the floor, covered our eyes with our paws, and . . . well, hoped for the best. When the sky starts falling, there’s not much else you can do. You just hunker down and wait for the sky to do its damage.
We waited and waited. The minutes passed. The wind slacked off, then fell to a whisper.
“Drover, are you there?”
“I think so.”
“Good. Nice work, son. I think we can come out now. On the count of three, we will remove our paws from our eyes and see what’s left of the outside world.”
I took a deep breath of air, counted to three, and opened my . . .
HUH?
Drover was the first to speak. “Hank? Oh my gosh! The sky’s still up there but . . . the roof’s gone!”
I cut my eyes from side to side. My mind was racing. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of this!”
“You said the sky was going to fall, but it didn’t. The sky stayed but the roof left.”
“That’s my whole point. Don’t you get it? I followed the clues, I had it all right, but I forgot one tiny detail.”
“What’s that?”
I clapped my paws together and laughed. “I forgot to decode the Secret Clue List! How foolish of me!”
Drover’s eyes were crossed. “I still don’t get it.”
“The Secret Clue List was written in code, Drover, to confuse our enemies in case they penetrated our systems. Here, listen to this.” In a burst of insight, I began pacing. “All the clues came out saying that the sky would fall, right? But when we decode the message, it comes out saying . . .”
Drover’s eyes popped wide open. “. . . the roof’ll fly off!”
I stopped pacing and whirled around, giving the runt a triumphant smile. “Exactly! Do you see what we’ve done, Drover? We’ve solved the mystery! Our systems and procedures worked to perfection. Twenty-four hours ago, we predicted that the roof would blow off this toolshed!”
“Yeah, and I even had a dream about it, remember?”
“Right. Great job, soldier. And the best part is that we have totally discredited J. T. Cluck, Pete the Barncat, and the entire chicken-house rabble. Congratulations, Drover, this may be our finest hour.”
Well, there isn’t much left to say. When they write the history of our ranch’s Security Division, I have a feeling they’ll point to this case as a classic example of cowdog intelligence, dedication, and determination.
And you had a front row seat and got to see the whole thing. And the crowning triumph of the deal was that the storm had cured me of my hiccups! Pretty amazing, huh? You bet.
So there you are. The sky didn’t fall and we had managed to pull the ranch through another dangerous event. Does it get any better than that? I don’t think so. See you around.
Case HICK closed.
Further Reading
Have you read all of Hank’s adventures?
1 The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog
2 The Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog
3 It’s a Dog’s Life
4 Murder in the Middle Pasture
5 Faded Love
6 Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
7 The Curse of the Incredible Priceless Corncob
8 The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse
9 The Case of the Halloween Ghost
10 Every Dog Has His Day
11 Lost in the Dark Unchanted Forest
12 The Case of the Fiddle-Playing Fox
13 The Wounded Buzzard on Christmas Eve
14 Hank the Cowdog and Monkey Business
15 The Case of the Missing Cat
16 Lost in the Blinded Blizzard
18 The Case of the Hooking Bull
19 The Case of the Midnight Rustler
20 The Phantom in the Mirror
21 The Case of the Vampire Cat
22 The Case of the Double Bumblebee Sting
23 Moonlight Madness
24 The Case of the Black-Hooded Hangmans
25 The Case of the Swirling Killer Tornado
26 The Case of the Kidnapped Collie
27 The Case of the Night-Stalking Bone Monster
28 The Mopwater Files
29 The Case of the Vampire Vacuum Sweeper
30 The Case of the Haystack Kitties
31 The Case of the Vanishing Fishhook
32 The Garbage Monster from Outer Space
33 The Case of the Measled Cowboy
34 Slim’s Good-bye
35 The Case of the Saddle House Robbery
36 The Case of the Raging Rottweiler
37 The Case of the Deadly Ha-Ha Game
38 The Fling
39 The Secret Laundry Monster Files
40 The Case of the Missing Bird Dog
41 The Case of the Shipwrecked Tree
42 The Case of the Burrowing Robot
43 The Case of the Twisted Kitty
44 The Dungeon of Doom
45 The Case of the Falling Sky
46 The Case of the Tricky Trap
47 The Case of the Tender Cheeping Chickies
48 The Case of the Monkey Burglar
49 The Case of the Booby-Trapped Pickup
50 The Case of the Most Ancient Bone
51 The Case of the Blazing Sky
52 The Quest for the Great White Quail
53 Drover’s Secret Life
54 The Case of the Dinosaur Birds
55 The Case of the Secret Weapon
56 The Case of the Coyote Invasion
57 The Disappearance of Drover
58 The Case of the Mysterious Voice
59 The Case of the Perfect Dog
60 The Big Question
About the Author and Illustrator
John R. Erickson, a former cowboy, has written numerous books for both children and adults and is best known for his acclaimed Hank the Cowdog series. He lives and works on his ranch in Perryton, Texas, with his family.
Gerald L. Holmes has illustrated numerous cartoons and textbooks in addition to the Hank the Cowdog series. He lives in Perryton, Texas.
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