Kylie Jean Rodeo Queen Read online

  For Katie Rose, with love for Rick —M.P.

  Table of Contents

  All About Me, Kylie Jean!

  Chapter 1: Spring Round-Up

  Chapter 2: Rodeo Dreams

  Chapter 3: Get a Rope

  Chapter 4: Little Bull Rider

  Chapter 5: A Pony Named Star

  Chapter 6: Follow Directions

  Chapter 7: Estrella Guesses

  Chapter 8: Barrel-Racing Girl

  Chapter 9: One More Week

  Chapter 10: Little Cowgirl

  Chapter 11: Rodeo Queen

  About the Author

  About the Illustrator

  Glossary

  Talk!

  Be Creative!

  From Momma’s Kitchen

  The Fun Doesn’t Stop Here!

  Copyright

  Back Cover

  My name is Kylie Jean Carter. I live in a big, sunny, yellow house on Peachtree Lane in Jacksonville, Texas with Momma, Daddy, and my two brothers, T.J. and Ugly Brother.

  T.J. is my older brother, and Ugly Brother is . . . well . . . he’s really a dog. Don’t you go telling him he is a dog. Okay? I mean it. He thinks he is a real true person.

  He is a black-and-white bulldog. His front looks like his back, all smashed in. His face is all droopy like he’s sad, but he’s not.

  His two front teeth stick out, and his tongue hangs down. (Now you know why his name is Ugly Brother.)

  Everyone I love to the moon and back lives in Jacksonville. Nanny, Pa, Granny, Pappy, my aunts, my uncles, and my cousins all live here. I’m extra lucky, because I can see all of them any time I want to!

  My momma says I’m pretty. She says I have eyes as blue as the summer sky and a smile as sweet as an angel. (Momma says pretty is as pretty does. That means being nice to the old folks, taking care of little animals, and respecting my momma and daddy.)

  But I’m pretty on the outside and on the inside. My hair is long, brown, and curly.

  I wear it in a ponytail sometimes, but my absolute most favorite is when Momma pulls it back in a princess style on special days.

  I just gave you a little hint about my big dream. Ever since I was a bitty baby, I have wanted to be an honest-to-goodness beauty queen. I even know the wave. It’s side to side, nice and slow, with a dazzling smile. I practice all the time, because everybody knows beauty queens need to have a perfect wave.

  I’m Kylie Jean, and I’m going to be a beauty queen. Just you wait and see!

  On Saturday morning, I’m standing on Main Street with Momma, Daddy, and my brothers. The sky is as baby blue as a robin’s egg, and there is a cool breeze jiggling the new green leaves on the trees. Bright yellow flowers that look like tiny stars are popping up everywhere. Yup, it’s springtime, all right!

  Today is the Great Spring Round-Up. Once a year, the cowboys have a parade right down Main Street. It happens two weeks before the Wild West Rodeo.

  Ugly Brother really likes to come see the cowdogs. He thinks they are something else. I do too. “Did you know a cowdog can make a big ole cow move any ole place?” I ask Ugly Brother.

  He answers, “Ruff ruff!” Two barks means yes, and one bark means no.

  I wish the parade would hurry up and start so we could see some of those dogs. When the Round-Up starts we’ll hear a lot of noise, but I don’t hear anything yet. But as I’m peering down the street, I see Pa walking toward us. He’s wearing his Western shirt, jeans, boots, and a big cowboy hat.

  “Kylie Jean, just look at you in that pink cowboy hat!” Pa calls. He knows pink is my color. He gives me a big squeezy hug. Then he gives Momma one, too.

  “Are you ready to see some real cowboys?” he asks.

  “Sure am,” I say. Just then we hear people start to whoop and whistle.

  Daddy’s the tallest of all of us, so he can see the farthest down the crowded street. He shouts, “Here they come!”

  Soon, I can hear the horses’ hooves as they tap-dance down the brick street. I jump up and down, up and down, but all I can see are the backs of a whole lotta folks.

  “Daddy, I can’t see!” I whine.

  Daddy laughs. He asks, “How about a piggyback ride?” Then he bends down so I can jump on his back and hug his neck real tight.

  All the people push up to the street just like waves in the ocean. Everyone wants to see!

  I can see the tip-tops of the flags carried by the three riders in the front of the parade. The flag on the right is the red, white, and blue of the U.S. of A. In the middle is the cowboy flag. It’s brown, with a yellow cowboy riding a bucking bronco. On the left is our very own Texas Lone Star flag.

  You have to be a special celebrity to carry a flag. Plain folks just don’t get to do it.

  The flags are passing us now, but behind them I can see the chuckwagons. The lead wagon has lots of shiny pots hanging down the sides, and it’s neater than a pin.

  Up on the buckboard, holding the reins, is Pa’s brother, Uncle Bay.

  “Uncle Bay!” I shout. “It’s me, Kylie Jean, from your family!”

  He grins and waves at me. I wave back my beauty queen wave: nice and slow, side to side. Uncle Bay is a world-famous chuckwagon cook. He won the National Cowboy Cook-Off. His barbecue is good, but it was his peach cobbler that done it for him. Momma says it tastes like heaven on a spoon.

  Next, I see the cows. I yell, “Get ready, Ugly Brother! Here come those cowdoggies!”

  “Ruff-ruff, ruff-ruff!” Ugly Brother barks. He runs round and round, so full of excitement that he gets all tangled up in his own leash. Momma can hardly keep him from running right into the cows passing by us.

  “You wish you could be a cow doggie, don’t you, Ugly Brother?” I ask when he stops running. He doesn’t answer me. He’s too busy watching cows.

  Some of the cows are black, some are brown, and some have white spots on them. Ugly Brother really likes those black and white cows. They look like him, but bigger.

  The cow doggies run from one side of the street to the other, barking and showing those heifers who’s boss! Ugly Brother is jealous. I can tell just by looking at him.

  The rodeo clowns follow the cows. They wear bright, colorful clothes and have white-painted faces with red noses. Some of the clowns roll right down the street in big brown wooden barrels with their heads poking out.

  Those clowns scare Ugly Brother. He covers his face with paws and whines. T.J. rolls his eyes. “You’re just a big puppy,” he tells Ugly Brother. “Real dogs aren’t afraid of nothing.”

  I narrow my eyes. “Don’t you worry, Ugly Brother,” I say. “We both know T.J. just wants to be the boss of us.”

  The riders come at the tail end of the parade. Everyone is cheering. Main Street is loud with whistles and whoops.

  Momma nudges me. “Look, there’s Nanny!” she says.

  Nanny is riding a tall, golden Palomino horse and wearing her Western shirt with yellow roses on it. She’s also wearing her special Silver Star rodeo belt buckle, the one she won barrel racing.

  I wave both my arms. “Nanny, it’s me!” I yell. “Your little angel!”

  She smiles and blows me a kiss as she passes by. Then, just like that, the last pony passes by us. The parade is over, and it’s time to go home.

  I can hear the crowd in the stands at the Wild West Rodeo. They’re all cheering for me.

  I’m sitting in my pony in the middle of the arena, wearing my pink cowboy hat with a tiara on the front of it. The diamonds on the tiara sparkle in the sunlight.

  The announcer says, “Here is your new rodeo queen, Ms. Kylie Jean Carter! She is a real rodeo star.” He pauses and listens to all the cheering. Then he tells me, “Wave to your fans!”

  I flash a sm
ile as sparkly as a tiara. Then I wave nice and slow, side to side, just like a real true beauty queen. The crowd goes wild. I ride in a circle all around the arena so everyone can see me up close.

  Then it’s time for the closing ceremony, and I’m the one carrying the Lone Star flag! But just as I lift up the flag, rain starts to fall, and I feel something rough on my face. I open my eyes and see a big, wet, pink, doggie tongue coming at me.

  Ugly Brother licks me again. That’s when I realize the truth. I was only dreaming that I was a rodeo queen!

  I push Ugly Brother and his slobbery tongue away. “Quit that,” I tell him. “I thought I was a real true rodeo queen at the Wild West Rodeo, but it was just a dream. I should have known it, because I don’t even have a pony!”

  I flop back onto my pillow. Then an idea hits my brain like a red nose on a rodeo clown. Maybe I can be a rodeo queen!

  “I think I can make my dream come true,” I tell Ugly Brother. “What do you think?” He runs around the room, jumps up, and barks twice.

  I hear Momma’s voice call, “Kylie Jean, are you awake?”

  “Oh no!” I whisper. I push Ugly Brother off the bed. “If Momma catches you on this bed, we’re both gonna be in trouble!” I tell him.

  “Ruff,” he replies. He puts his paws over his face. I can tell he feels mighty bad about being a rulebreaker.

  I give him a quick hug. We have a talk about how everyone makes mistakes sometimes. I know he sure is sorry.

  That afternoon after church, we go to Lickskillet Farm. While Nanny’s mixing up the lemonade, I sit in the sunny kitchen and ask her lots of rodeo questions.

  She doesn’t know much about the rodeo queen. “All I know is that the queen is chosen from all of the women who compete in the rodeo,” she says.

  Rats! I don’t have a horse. I can’t compete in the rodeo! This is gonna be a lot harder than I thought.

  The next day I wear my pink cowboy hat to school. I think maybe it’ll help me come up with something I can do at the rodeo. But even though I wear it all day long, even in gym class, I can’t think of anything. Nothing comes to me.

  When I get home from school, Ugly Brother is waiting for me in the driveway. He knows we have a lot to do.

  But I’m not sure my dream will come true. The Wild West Rodeo is only two weeks away, and I am fresh out of ideas.

  I put down my pink backpack and sit beside him. But just as I sit down, he springs up and runs off. He must be chasing Boots, the neighbor’s cat.

  I close my eyes to think hard. Then I feel something heavy land on my feet.

  Something long and brown is coiled on top of my shoes. “Snake!” I shout, trying to jump up.

  Then I realize it’s only a rope from the garage. Ugly Brother is standing in front of me, looking really pleased with himself.

  “Is this for the rodeo?” I ask.

  “Ruff, ruff,” he replies.

  “What do I do with it?” I ask.

  Ugly Brother stares at me. He spins around in a circle. Then he stares at me again.

  This is a for-sure puzzle. While I’m thinking about it, T.J. comes out to shoot baskets. He says, “What’s up, lil’ bit?”

  “What can cowboys do with a rope?” I ask.

  T.J. laughs. “That’s easy!” he tells me. “Rope tricks.”

  I hug Ugly Brother and ask, “Do you think I should do rope tricks at the rodeo?”

  He barks, “Ruff, ruff!”

  I give him a big squeezy hug and whisper, “Thank you for helping me!”

  I know what he wants. He wants to wear my cowboy hat! I put it on his head and pull the string tight, right under his chin.

  T.J. looks over at us. “Take that pink hat off that dog right now!” he tells me.

  “No way!” I say. “He likes it!” I know Ugly Brother wants to be a real true person.

  “That is a boy dog! Take that hat off of him,” T.J. demands. He adds, “Ugly Brother, what is wrong with you? Don’t let her treat you like that.”

  I look at Ugly Brother. “Don’t you listen to him, Ugly Brother,” I say. “Besides, Daddy wears pink shirts, and he looks real nice in them. Boys can wear pink too.”

  Then I tell T.J., “We’re going to the library, so please tell Momma so she won’t worry. We’ve had enough of your attitude.”

  The library is just four blocks from our house. When we get there, I tie Ugly Brother to the bike rack. He looks real nice in my hat.

  “I’ll be out soon,” I tell him. “Don’t you worry one little bit.”

  Inside, Ms. Patrick, the librarian, smiles when she sees me. Then she puts a finger over her lips and whispers, “Shhhh!”

  I didn’t even say anything yet! Although it is true that I am known for being loud, on occasion.

  “Do you have a book on cowboy rope tricks?” I whisper loudly.

  Ms. Patrick nods. She types something into a computer. Then she walks to a shelf and looks around. She finds a book and brings it to me. It has a big star on the front and is called Star Rope Tricks.

  I pull my library card out of my pocket and hand it to her. “You sure do have lots of interests,” Ms. Patrick says as she scans my card and the book.

  “Yes ma’am,” I say. “I surely do.” Then I skip out into the sunshine.

  Outside, Ugly Brother has wiggled my pink cowboy hat off. Now it’s lying on the ground. I put it on my head.

  “Let’s go, Ugly Brother,” I say. “I can’t wait to read this rope trick book!”

  As soon as we reach our house, I sit down on the front porch steps with the brown rope coiled up next to me.

  The book says to start with a sixteen-foot-long rope. I go to the garage and get Daddy’s tape measure.

  Ugly Brother tries to hold the end of the tape measure with his paw, but it keeps slipping out as we’re trying to measure the rope.

  I get so frustrated that I throw the tape measure on the ground. “Ugh!” I say. “How am I supposed to get a sixteen-foot rope if I can’t get the dumb tape measure to stay still?”

  Then I hear a voice across the street. “Hey, Kylie Jean!”

  It’s my friend Cole. He lives in a little brown house just across the street from me.

  “Hey, Cole,” I call back.

  “You look mad,” he tells me. He starts walking across the street.

  “Yeah, I am,” I say when he reaches me. I point to the tape measure. “Ugly Brother’s tryin’ to help me measure, but I guess his paws just won’t do the trick.”

  Cole looks at his hands. “Maybe I can help,” he says.

  We measure the rope to exactly sixteen feet. Then Cole cuts it with his pocketknife. He hands it to me and asks, “What are you using this rope for, anyway?”

  I show him my book. “Got this at the library today,” I explain. “I need to learn a rodeo trick right quick.”

  Cole shakes his head. “Rope tricks are real hard,” he tells me. “You better practice a lot.”

  I laugh. “Looks like jumping rope,” I say. “I bet I can figure it out lickety-split.”

  I pull the rope and make a lasso. But every time I twirl the rope, it falls flat. The rope gets all tangled up.

  “You sure are having trouble,” Cole tells me. “Maybe rope tricks are not for you.”

  “It looks easier in the pictures,” I say sadly. “I think I’m just too short to make these rope tricks fly.”

  “Could be,” Cole says. “I think you could do it if you practiced a lot. But the rodeo is in less than two weeks.”

  That’s not enough time to learn those tricks, and we both know it.

  I’m not a quitter, but I know when I need to change my plan, and it’s that time. “What else do cowboys do?” I ask.

  “Ride broncos, ride bulls . . .” Cole begins.

  “That’s it!” I shout. “I can ride a bull!”

  Cole raises an eyebrow. Ugly Brother puts his head down and whines.

  The next day after school, Momma makes me a snack. She cuts cheese w
ith a star-shaped cookie cutter and serves it with crackers.

  Yum!

  Momma and I always sit down and chat for a few minutes while we eat our afternoon snack. Today my head is full of questions, so I jump right in and start asking them.

  I ask, “Did you ever ride a bull? How does Uncle Bay train those boys to ride those bulls? Can I call Uncle Bay on the phone?

  She replies, “No, I never did ride a bull, and yes, you can call Uncle Bay. Ask him about training bull riders.”

  I dial up Uncle Bay right away.

  “Howdy,” he yells into the phone. There is a lot of noise in the background. I hear whooping and whistling.

  I shout, “Uncle Bay, it’s me, Kylie Jean. Can I ask you some questions?

  “Why, hello, sugar. I’m out at the bullpen,” he tells me. “Have your momma or daddy bring you by later.”

  “All right,” I say.

  I decide to get all my homework done before Daddy gets home. Then I just know he’ll take me to see Uncle Bay at Rocking Star Ranch.

  I’m just getting my math facts finished when I hear Daddy’s truck in the driveway. Then the front door slams. “Hello! Anybody home?” Daddy calls.

  I shout, “Me! I’m home.” Then I run into the living room and give him a big squeezy hug.

  “What did you do today, sugar?” Daddy asks.

  “I learned that spiders and bugs ain’t the same, and also that Momma can use a cookie cutter to cut cheese, not just cookies,” I tell him. “And I’m all done with my math facts, so can you drive me over to Uncle Bay’s ranch?”

  Daddy laughs. “Kylie Jean, I don’t know what any one of those things has to do with the other,” he says. “Why do you want to go to Uncle Bay’s ranch?”

  “He told me I could,” I explain. “I need to ask him a question. It’s important rodeo stuff.”

  “I don’t know, sugar,” he says. “It’s a school night.”