Read Online Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World by Mildred Pitts Walter - Free Book Online Page A

horn.
    â€œWhy doesn’t he hold on to the saddle, Grandpa?” Justin asked.
    â€œIf he touches the saddle horn, he will be disqualified and cannot win a prize.”
    The crown, up on its feet, roared while that horse tried to toss the rider. The horse started to run and the pickup men rushed in and pulled the rider off its back. The rider had won.
    The horse ran all over the arena snorting and kicking as the crowd still stood, roaring.
    Justin wondered what would happen if that horse jumped over into the stands.

    â€œThat rider is good,” Grandpa said. “He’syoung, too. He might outbest Jesse one day, but he isn’t there yet.”
    Then the cowgirls’ turn came. Women in pretty costumes rode fast-moving horses around barrels. The crown watched to see which rider could race around four barrels then back to the field in the shortest time. Justin’s heart seemed to stand still as one rider, moving as fast as the wind, rode very close to the barrels. He felt sure she would run into a barrel and fall off her horse. But she didn’t touch a single barrel and became the winner. Justin shouted with joy.
    When the crowd settled, the announcer was telling about calf roping and of another famous Black cowboy, Nat Love. Justin remembered Nat Love, nicknamed Deadwood Dick. He looked at Grandpa and smiled as the announcer went on, “Not only did Nat rope and tie calves, he roped and tied wild mustangs, too. Today, let’s watch a young cowboy from Prairie View, Texas, rope and tie calves.”
    Justin jumped to his feet as a black calf came out of one gate and a cowboy on ahorse came out of another. The race was on. Finally the cowboy threw his lasso and stopped the calf. The cowboy slid off his horse, threw the calf to the ground, folded its legs, and tied three of them together. Then he raised his hands to let the judges know he was done. The horse moved slowly backward, tightening the rope just enough to keep the calf in place.
    Would the calf stay tied six seconds so the cowboy could win? Justin waited. The calf did not wriggle loose. Justin roared with the crowd. “What will his prize be?” Justin asked.
    â€œMoney,” Grandpa answered.
    At last the event Justin had been waiting for arrived. The bulldogging began. A big black steer with long sharp horns raced out of a gate. Two cowboys on horses shot out after it. Suddenly, one of the cowboys jumped off his horse and grabbed the steer’s horns. He wrestled the steer to the ground, twisting its head back until its nose was up. This was done so quickly and easily that Justin stood and cheered with the crowd.
    â€œThat’s the way Bill Pickett did it, eh, Grandpa?”
    â€œYes, but even faster and easier,” Grandpa said.
    When Justin was sadly thinking all the fun was over, the voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “All boys and girls ten years and younger can now become cowboys and cowgirls. We are going to let loose some baby Brahman bulls. Three of them will have red ribbons on their tails. The boy or girl who gets a ribbon will win a prize.”
    Justin listened and wondered if he should try. A cowboy needs a hat , he thought. If only I had a cowboy hat . Suddenly he said to himself, If I win prize money, I will buy a hat . “Grandpa,” he asked, “can I try?”
    â€œSure you can. And bring back a ribbon, you hear?”
    Justin waited at the gate with the other boys and girls who also wanted to try. The sharp horsy smell floated over him. He felt good and at ease with that smell he loved so much.
    The gate to let the baby Brahmans outopened at the same time as the gate to let the boys and girls onto the field. The scramble was on as the blue-gray Brahmans raced about.
    Justin waited. Then he saw a baby bull that he could head off and chase in the opposite direction.
    The bull calf stopped and faced Justin. Justin stopped, too. He put his hands on his hips and looked at the bull.