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Choose from these exciting, original kids’ audio stories.
Clem
the Detective Dog | Sheriff Daisy: The Only Law in Coyote GulchGather ‘round, and I’ll tell you the story of what happened on that hot summer morning in 1876 when Rufus Red and his Bad Red gang of outlaws came up with the perfect plan to rob the bank in the Old West town of Coyote Gulch. It all began with the four redheaded outlaws hiding in an abandoned gold prospector’s shack at the bottom of Ugly Buzzard Canyon, just outside of town. That’s when Rufus Red, the gang’s leader, bribed a passing traveler to take a phony message to the sheriff of Coyote Gulch saying that a stagecoach had been held up 15 miles south of town. Tiny Red -- a gigantic dude with a dummy’s moon-face and size 18 boots -- acted as lookout from behind a pile of rocks on the rim of the canyon. Suddenly he yelled, “They fell for our trick! The sheriff is leading a huge posse out of town to try to catch the robbers.” “C’mon,” said Rufus, whose bushy red beard made him look more like a pirate than a cowboy. “Sheriff Spurs will be gone all day – which means there’s no one left to stop us from grabbing the gold!” As the Bad Red Gang galloped into Coyote Gulch, Blacky Red -- a super-skinny dark-skinned dude with a gravelly voice and a curly red Afro – said, [deep voice] “Let’s grab the gold quick and hightail it back to our hideout.” “So sorry, señor,” interrupted Chili Red, a little pumpkin-shaped man with sleepy eyes and a drooping red moustache. “It ees simply not possible to lift all that heavy gold on an empty belly.” “Chili’s right – we have plenty of time for chow.” So instead of heading straight to the Howling Wolf National Bank, the scruffy crew of red-headed outlaws made their way to the Ugly Moose Hotel. There they each gobbled three plates of buffalo chops and two dozen baked prairie dogs, washed down by a gallon of root beer. That filled up everyone except big Tiny, who ordered a roasted antelope for dessert. After breakfast, the over-stuffed outlaws didn’t have enough energy to walk up the street to the defenseless bank. Instead, they flopped down on rocking chairs on the hotel porch to sleep off their meal. That’s when the stagecoach from the East arrived, stopping right in front of the still-sleeping bandits. Two kids, dressed like total dudes, stepped carefully down onto the dusty street. Dorothy, age 11, was a thin, tall girl with blond braids. She wore black leather shoes and a proper blue coat over a frilly pink dress. The second kid, Homer, was Dorothy’s younger brother, a super-skinny eight-year-old with a crew cut, stick-out ears, and thick glasses. Homer wore a dark blue sailor suit with short pants, and a little white sailor’s cap. I guess I don’t need to tell you how ridiculous those two city kids looked standing there on Main Street. After a quick worried look at Rufus and the Bad Red Gang dozing on the hotel porch, the two kids picked up their shiny brown leather suitcases and scurried into the sheriff’s office. Immediately they saw two pieces of paper hanging on the wall behind the sheriff’s desk that together told them what they had already half guessed – they had arrived in Coyote Gulch from Philadelphia for their summer vacation smack dab in the middle of big trouble. The first notice was a printed poster. It said: WANTED The second paper was a handwritten note that said:
“Let’s hide in the closet until our uncle – er, I mean the sheriff – gets back,” Homer said. “Those Bad Red guys aren’t south of town someplace –they’re sleeping on the porch across the street.” “Hide! No possible way!” replied Dorothy. “Since every grownup in town has gone on a wild goose chase, this is our chance for action.” Picking up a star from the sheriff’s desk and pinning it over her heart, she added, “I’m making myself temporary sheriff. From now on, Homer, call me Sheriff Daisy.” “Okay Doro … I mean Daisy, but only if you do two things for me. First, make me your chief deputy, and second, stop calling me Homer. From now on I only answer to the name Bud,” the skinny boy said, doing his best to puff out his chest. “Okay then, Deputy Bud, here’s your first assignment. I want you to scurry around town out of sight of the outlaws and find as many kids as you can. If we’re going to stop these Bad Red dudes, we need kid power.”Bud slipped out the back door of the sheriff’s office and found himself in an alley that also ran behind the general store and the White Lace Ladies’ Emporium.He scooted up the stairs that led to the several apartments above the businesses and knocked lightly on the first door.No one answered for the longest time.Then slowly a small round face with a light dusting of freckles and a turned-up nose under a huge mop of curly brown hair peaked out from behind a red-checked curtain.When she saw her visitor was only a skinny kid with stick-out ears wearing a sailor suit, she flung open the door and blurted, “I’m Emmy Lou. I’m almost, almost six. I never saw you before.”After Bud explained that he was trying to round up a bunch of kids to stop the outlaws, Emmy Lou pointed to the other three doors. But when Bud knocked, no one came.But when Emmy Lou dropped to her knees, scrunched down, and loudly whispered “prairie dog soup” three times under each of the doors, seven kids quickly popped out. Most were between the ages of seven and ten, except for Emmy Lou, of course, who was only almost, almost six.Bud led the kids back down to the sheriff’s office, where he saw that Daisy had turned herself into a Coyote Gulch girl. Not only had she tucked her pink dress into a pair of Sheriff Spurs’ over-big pants, held up by a pair of red suspenders, but, best of all, she had found a pair of cowboy boots that almost fit.Before anyone had time to say howdy, Daisy snapped, “If you want to help save the town from the Bad Red Gang, raise your right hand and repeat after me:“‘I swear to fight all dirty redheaded bandits like a hungry mountain lion and to obey Temporary Sheriff Daisy no matter what – and if I don’t, I’ll eat three dead buzzards with no gravy!’”At first a couple of kids seemed about to protest that Daisy was being too bossy, especially for a new kid, but since it was an emergency, everyone eventually repeated the oath, although little Emmy Lou said “bluzzard.”Next, Daisy handed out fistfuls of the Hot Shot firecrackers she had found in a box marked “4th of July.”Then, with everyone on tiptoe, Daisy led the way across the street. There, ever so carefully, all the kids got down on all fours and crept onto the porch, where Rufus and the Bad Red outlaws were still snoozing.As gently as if they were stroking a dove’s tummy, the kids fitted the firecrackers into the little spaces where the bottom of each bandit’s cowboy boot met its sole.Then, on Daisy’s signal, they lit the firecrackers and quickly scurried off the porch and around the corner of the hotel. Almost at the same moment, the firecrackers began to pop.You never saw four sleepy outlaws jump so fast. Why, before you could say “mountain lion pie” twice, they were off the porch and hopping up and down Main Street like kangaroos trying to jump across a field of red-hot razor blades.And things didn’t calm down until Tiny Red jumped into the muddy water of a horses’ drinking trough, followed by Rufus, Blacky, and Chili.That’s when Temporary Sheriff Daisy, who had added a black cowboy hat with a snakeskin band to her outfit, walked into the middle of the dusty street and stopped, facing the outlaws.Putting on her best lawgirl squint, Daisy stared Rufus in the eyes and said, “This is your first, your last, and your only chance to get on your horse and lead your men out of town before I get mad.”“Shut up, you little pest,” roared Rufus back. “We have no time to play kiddie games with undergrown girl dudettes. We have a bank to rob!”The other three outlaws, who were equally furious, also began to yell mean things.Fortunately for the kids, the Bad Red bandits got so involved in making up insults none of them noticed Emmy Lou scooting along behind their backs with a pail and brush, lightly daubing a big spot of honey on the seat of each of their pants.That’s when the two kids who were standing up on the roof of the general store dropped a wasps’ nest onto Main Street.When it hit the ground, the nest broke into a dozen pieces, scattering thousands of angry wasps. Smelling honey, most of them flew right for the outlaws’ behinds.Talk about howling.Talk about swearing.Talk about jumping.Talk about running.Coyote Gulch hadn’t seen such a fuss since the big tornado hit Curly Bill’s Rattlesnake Ranch back in 1874. In fact, things didn’t calm down until the bandits flopped into the nice cool mud of Mr. Dagget’s pig wallow on the east edge of town.But even then things weren’t back to normal, since the resident pigs began thrashing around trying to give the Bad Red dudes welcoming kisses. Apparently the pigs thought that Rufus, Tiny, Chili, and Blacky were long lost cousins.Eventually, after the wasps gave up buzzing and the pigs gave up smooching, the mud-covered outlaws straggled back to town.As they gathered in front of the Howling Wolf National Bank, still holding their you-know-whats, those Bad Red boys were hotter than a two-dollar pistol.In fact, Chili Red was so peevish he walked straight up to the bank door and kicked it in. But throwing a tantrum didn’t do the bandits a bit of good, since the huge safe behind the counter was wide open and totally, absolutely, and completely empty – empty, that is, except for a single sheet of paper which said:Sorry boys. While you were kissing your cousins, we grabbed the gold and hid it. But we’re just kids and you guys are experienced bandits, so it looks like a standoff.Here’s our deal. We’ll give you half the gold if you promise to leave the rest for the people of Coyote Gulch and skiddaddle out of town, pronto.And best of all, to find your half of the gold all you have to do is go on a fun treasure hunt. Just figure out four clues and you get the gold.Here is your first clue: “People come and go – to
and fro.”
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