Ruthie's

Adventure

On The Farm

This book was created
especially for

Ruth Ann Joyce
at the age of 10


With Love From
Aunt Sandy and Uncle John
December 25, 2003

 "Rooster is up to his old tricks again," sighed Harriet Holstein. "If we don't find him soon, it will be one of those days again. By the way, who's that girl standing over there?"
Dasher Hound, who knew absolutely everything about what happened on the farm, looked over and saw a young girl walking around the barn.
"If my eyes don't deceive me," said Dasher excitedly, "I think it's Ruthie Joyce, that famous child detective. I've heard that she has solved more mysteries in 10 years than Sherlock Holmes solved in his lifetime. This could be our lucky day."

 "Lucky day!" sighed Harriet Holstein again. "You must be kidding. Do you remember the last time Rooster disappeared? Why, Penny Pig was so angry about missing her breakfast that she didn't speak to Rooster for 3 days, and you know how much Penny Pig likes to talk!"
"Hey, here comes Ruthie," said Dasher. "She looks cool."

 The animals turned to greet Ruthie. "Welcome to our farm," said Dasher. "I've heard that you are one of the best detectives in the whole world. I have a nose for these things, you know."
"You have a nose for everything," kidded Penny. "In fact, there's enough nose on you to share with everyone on the farm."
Dasher didn't mind making jokes about his own nose. However, he did mind it when others made jokes at his expense.
"Silence!" he shouted at Penny. "At least I have a nose."

 Dasher turned back to Ruthie. "We have a major problem here," he explained. "You see, Rooster has disappeared and when that happens the farm, well, the farm kind of falls apart. Rooster knows this and he likes to hide and make everyone look for him. But no one has ever found him - he's just too clever. Perhaps a world famous detective, such as yourself, could find him."

 Ruthie looked at the worried faces of Dasher, Penny and Harriet. "But why don't you just wait for Rooster to come out of his hiding place?" she asked, puzzled.
"And you call yourself a detective!" wailed Charlene Chicken who had just arrived to join the conversation. "We can't wait. Don't you know what happens when Rooster isn't here?"
Ruthie didn't know. But that didn't matter. "I'd love to help," said Ruthie happily. "And so will Anne, Jocelyn and Alisha."
"If only I knew why this is so important," she whispered to herself.

 Ruthie asked Dasher to gather the farm animals for an important meeting. Everyone was soon in attendance. There was Charlene Chicken, Penny Pig, Harriet Holstein, Rhonda Rabbit, Cheshire Charlie, Hoot Owl and Clydesdale.
Dasher didn't waste any time getting to the point. "Rooster is hiding," he said.

 "Not again!" shrieked Cheshire Charlie.
"Why us!" cried Rhonda Rabbit.
The other animals moaned and whined.
"No problem," said Hoot Owl. "I'll do the job." This only made everyone moan and whine louder.
Dasher finally shouted to get everyone's attention. "We are going to find Rooster," he said. "Right here, right now, right on this farm, is Ruthie Joyce, the world famous detective. She has come here from Zion and has promised to find Rooster."
"No I didn't," protested Ruthie to no avail. "I said I'd try to find Rooster."
No one heard her. All the animals were cheering wildly. The pressure was on Ruthie.

 Detective Ruthie put on her thinking cap. Well, it wasn't really a thinking cap, just her favorite old hat, but she always had better ideas when she wore it. More importantly, she looked awesome in it.
Ruthie turned slowly to Anne, Jocelyn and Alisha. "I have a plan," she said. "Let's go to the pond."

 Four ducks were swimming in the pond. Ruthie looked at them very, very closely. Three ducks were good swimmers, while one seemed to be struggling to stay afloat.
"Do you know where I can find Rooster?" she asked.
"It's not possible to find Rooster," the duck replied. "No one ever has, and no one ever will find him. He's too clever."
Ruthie's eyebrows twitched. This always happened when she discovered a clue.

 Next they walked to a field where some crows were hurriedly eating their dinner, while Scarecrow took one of his frequent naps.
"Can I ask you crows a question?" began Ruthie. "Does anyone know where Rooster is?"
"Everything is not always as it seems," said one crow.
Just then Scarecrow opened his eyes. All the crows flew away, except the one who had talked to Ruthie. He ran away.
Ruthie's eyebrows twitched.

 Then Ruthie went with Anne, Jocelyn and Alisha to visit the pig pen. Penny Pig was glad to see them and started talking excitedly. Ruthie scanned the pen and turned her attention to a rather thin looking pig.
"Do you know where I can find Rooster?" she asked.
"No one on this farm knows where Rooster is," the pig answered. "But I'll give you a clue. Rooster is never far from the action."

 The next stop was the barn where all the cows were settling down for the night. Ruthie walked around the stalls, carefully watching where she stepped. She turned to a cow standing close to Harriet Holstein and asked, "Why is everyone so upset about Rooster not being here?"
"That would be obvious," the cow replied, "if you lived on a farm. Why, without Rooster, these poor cows, whoops, I mean, us poor cows would have too long a night's sleep, our udders would fill up with milk, and we would be very uncomfortable."
Ruthie's eyebrows twitched again.

 "Where are we going next?" asked Anne, Jocelyn and Alisha.
"To visit the horses," replied Ruthie, "and watch where you step when we get there." Ruthie did not know everything about life on a farm, but she did know about watching her step around cows and horses.

 The horses seemed restless. Clydesdale was nervously pacing back and forth, his big hooves making large footprints in the dirt. Another horse was pecking corn off the ground. Ruthie's eyebrows twitched rapidly.
The horse, who was eating corn, suddenly realized that Ruthie was watching. Quickly he turned his attention to a pile of hay.
Ruthie turned to Dasher. "Please ask the other animals to meet me in front of the barn, and make sure the sheep are there."
"I will," replied Dasher, "if they are not in the baa-throom." Dasher laughed at his own joke as he went out to gather the animals.

 All the animals gathered in front of the barn, but Ruthie was nowhere to be seen. The sheep were very calm, except for one, who kept looking nervously back and forth.
Suddenly, one of the sheep stood up on two legs. "This is unusual," said Clydesdale in a slow drawl. "Sheep can't stand on two legs."
He was right. It was really Ruthie in disguise. "Guess what," she said. "Someone else is also in disguise." She pulled a mask off a startled Rooster. He had been caught!

 "How did you solve the case?" asked a disappointed Rooster. "No one has ever done that before."
"It was easy," replied Ruthie. "You had trouble swimming like a duck, you didn't fly away like the other crows, you were too thin to be a pig, and horses don't peck corn. Case closed."
"Rooster is found!" shouted the farm animals. "Now he will wake us up tomorrow. He has the most important job on the farm."
Detective Ruthie had saved the farm. She had also discovered why Rooster was so important.

 The next morning at 5:37 a.m. Rooster woke up. Several minutes later, everyone else was awake thanks to a rather vigorous cock-a-doodle-doo.
Owl closed his eyes and went to sleep. "I could have done that," he said. "No one gives a hoot about my feelings."