Long Shot
A myrockandrollbook in the Watch Out For Joel series by Sigmund Brouwer.
Copyright 2011 by Sigmund Brouwer. All rights reserved.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Sigmund appreciates it if you do not sell this ebook or give it away. (He also appreciates it when you send your friends to find more of Sigmund Brouwer’s ebooks at www.myrockandrollbooks.com.)
Other myrockandrollbooks in the Watch Out For Joel series:
Fly Trap
Bad Bug Blues
Strunk Soup
Camp Craziness
Mystery Pennies
Chapter One
In the summer, Joel and his older brother Ricky went to a farm to visit their cousin Lisa.
It was a Saturday morning. Lisa’s mother and father went into town for the day.
Joel and Lisa and Ricky stood outside near a barn and a fence.
“I have an idea,” Lisa said. She pointed at a pond near the barn. “I want to build the biggest slingshot in the world. Then we could shoot a big rock into the water of the pond.”
Joel pointed at the ducks in the pond.
“What if you hit a duck?” Joel asked.
Lisa was thirteen years old. So was Ricky.
“What do you know?” Ricky asked Joel. “You are only seven years old.”
“What do you know?” Lisa asked Joel. “If we use a big rock, they will see the shadow of the rock before the rock gets close. The shadow of the rock will scare the ducks. And the ducks will fly away before the rock can hit them. The rock will not hit the ducks.”
“What do I know?” Joel said. “I am only seven.”
So Ricky and his cousin
Lisa started to build the biggest slingshot in the world.
Chapter Two
First, Ricky and Lisa pounded two big fence posts into the ground. The big fence posts were ten feet apart.
Then Ricky and Lisa found six bicycle tire tubes. They cut them into long rubber strips.
Ricky and Lisa nailed the ends of three tire tubes near the top of one post. They nailed the ends of the other three tire tubes near the top of the other post.
Ricky and Lisa tied the loose ends of all the rubber strips to a big patch of leather.
They had made the biggest slingshot in the world.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Joel asked.
“What do you know?” Ricky and Lisa said. “You are only seven.”
Lisa found a rock.
“Look,” she said. “This is the right size.”
She showed the rock to Joel and Ricky. The rock was the size of a baseball.
“You are right,” Ricky said. “It is the right size.”
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Joel asked.
“What do you know?” Ricky and Lisa said. “You are only seven.”
Ricky and Lisa put the rock in the leather patch.
Ricky and Lisa pulled the rubber bands tight. They held onto the rock and stepped back.
They stepped back some more.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Joel asked.
“What do you know?” Ricky and Lisa said. “You are only seven.”
Chapter Three
Ricky and Lisa stepped back even farther until the rubber was so tight they could not hold on any more.
They let go. They shot the big rock at the pond. The rock went high into the air. Just like it had been shot from a cannon.
“Wow,” Lisa said.
“Wow,” Ricky said.
The rock went higher and higher.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Joel asked as they all watched the rock.
“What do you know?” Ricky and Lisa said. “You are only seven.”
The rock went higher and farther. It went over the pond. It went far over the pond.
The rock went straight toward the cows on the other side of the pond.
“Oh no,” Ricky said as he watched the big flying rock go toward the cows.
“Oh no,” Lisa said as she watched the big flying rock go toward the cows.
“What do I know?” Joel said as he watched the big flying rock go toward the cows. “I am only seven.”
Chapter Four
“Move all you cows!” Ricky shouted.
“Move all you cows!” Lisa shouted.
The rock kept going right at the cows.
The cows did not move.
“Run away!” Ricky shouted.
“Run away!” Lisa shouted.
The cows did not move. The cows did not run. The cows just stood there and ate grass. That is what cows do all day.
“Move all you cows!” Ricky shouted.
“Move all you cows!” Lisa shouted.
The rock from the biggest slingshot in the world started to drop from the sky. Right in the middle of all the cows.
“Run away!” Ricky shouted.
“Run away!” Lisa shouted.
Thump! The rock hit a cow in the head. Slowly it fell over. All the other cows ran away.
That is when Ricky and Lisa saw that they had not hit a cow. No, they had hit a big, big bull named Old Black.
Old Black did not get up.
“This is not good,” Ricky said.
“You are right,” Lisa said.
“What do I know,” Joel said. “I am only seven.”
Chapter Five
“Ricky,” Lisa said as she looked at the big black bull on the ground. “I think you just killed the bull.”
“Me?” Ricky said. “The slingshot was your idea.”
“You helped me build it. You helped me shoot a rock. The rock hit the bull in the head. I did not do this alone.”
“What will we do?” Ricky asked Lisa.
“My Mom and Dad will be back in about an hour,” Lisa said. “We have got to hide the bull from them. Later, we can think of something else.”
Ricky frowned. “We can't just grab that bull by the ears and drag it away.”
“I have an idea,” Lisa said. “We can use my Dad’s tractor to drag it away.”
“Do you know how to drive the tractor?” Ricky asked.
“Yes,” Lisa told him. “My Dad showed me how to drive it.”
“Is it alright with your Dad if we drive the tractor when he is away?” Ricky asked Lisa.
“Do you want to tell him we killed his bull?” Lisa said.
“No,” Ricky said. “Let’s get the keys to the tractor.”
“Do you think that is a good idea?” Joel asked.
“What do you know?” Lisa asked.
“Right,” Joel said. “I am only seven.”
Chapter Six
Lisa drove the tractor to Old Black.
Joel and Ricky followed. They stood beside the big, big bull.
Old Black did not move.
Joel and Ricky and Lisa stared down on Old Black.
“This is a big bull,” Joel said. “Are you sure—”
“What do you know,” Ricky and Lisa said. “You are only seven.”
Lisa tied a long piece of rope to the back of the tractor. Ricky tied the other end of the rope around the horns of the bull. Ricky pulled the rope tight.
“Ready?” Ricky said to Lisa.
“Ready,” Lisa said.
Joel did not say anything. He was only seven.
Lisa hopped on the tractor.
She tried to drive it away.
Old Black was too big. The tractor could not pull the bull.
Lisa tried to drive the tractor away again.
This time, the knots on the rope pulled apart. The rope came off the horns of the bull. Lisa stopped the tractor.
She helped Ricky tie the rope to the horns of the bull again. They tied the rope even tighter than before.
Suddenly, the bull opened his eyes.
Cha
pter Seven
Old Black stared at Ricky and Lisa.
Ricky and Lisa stared at Old Black.
“Oh no,” Ricky and Lisa said.
Joel did not say anything. He started to run.
Old Black jumped to his feet. Old Black was not happy. Ricky and Lisa ran, too. Ricky and Lisa ran far.
Old Black did not run far at all. Old Black was still tied to the tractor with that long piece of rope. It was still tied to the tractor by its horns.
Old Black was mad. Old Black made a lot of noise. Old Black tried to pull the tractor backwards.
Ricky and Lisa stopped running.
They watched Old Black as it tried to pull the tractor.
Joel walked over to Ricky and Lisa.
“This is not good,” Joel said.
“What do you know?” Lisa asked. “The bull is not dead. I think this is very good.”
“What do you know?” Ricky asked Joel. “You are only seven.”
“I know there is a bull tied to a tractor,” Joel said. “I know when Lisa’s Dad gets here, he will see the bull tied to the tractor.”
“What do you know?” Lisa asked. “We will untie the bull and move the tractor.”
“What do you know?” Ricky said to Joel. “You are only seven.”
“Who will untie Old Black?” Joel asked. “That is what I want to know.”
Chapter Eight
When Lisa’s Dad came back from town, Joel and Ricky and Lisa were still watching Old Black.
Old Black was still tied to the tractor.
Old Black was still angry, too.
Lisa’s Dad walked across the field to Joel and Ricky and Lisa and Old Black and the tractor.
Lisa’s Dad was tall in his cowboy boots. When he reached Joel and Ricky and Lisa, he took his cowboy hat off. He scratched his head as he looked at Old Black tied to the tractor.
Lisa’s Dad turned around and looked at the biggest slingshot in the world.
He looked again at Old Black tied to the tractor.
“Well,” Lisa’s Dad said. “Would anyone like to tell me what happened?”
“Not me,” Joel said. “I am only seven.”
Old Black was still mad.
Old Black still made a lot of noise.
"I'm waiting," Lisa's Dad said. "Some one needs to tell me how come Old Black is tied to the tractor."
Chapter Nine
Ricky and Lisa told Lisa’s Dad what happened.
Behind all of them Old Black kept pulling on the tractor.
After hearing the story, Lisa's Dad did not know if he should be mad. Or if he should laugh.
"I know you did not hit the bull on purpose," Lisa's Dad said. "It was a mistake."
"Yes," Lisa said. "We are sorry."
"When you make a mistake, you should not try to hide it from your parents,” Lisa’s Dad said. “We love you and will help you learn from your mistakes.”
“Yes,” Lisa said.
“Yes,” Ricky said.
“Yes,” Joel said, even though he was only seven.
“Now I need to get an axe,” Lisa’s Dad said.
“Don’t hurt Old Black!” Lisa said.
“Of course not,” Lisa’s Dad said. “I need to chop the rope. But I will do it from the truck.”
Lisa’s Dad laughed. “I don’t want to be around on foot when Old Black gets loose!”