1 Fall Is Here!

  The sun glimmered through the clouds as I raced around the barn. There was a fresh, crisp scent in the air. And all the trees were bursting with color.

  Out in the barn, Wyatt and Imani, my human brother and sister, were busy sweeping the leaves.

  I raced toward them as fast as I could to get a better look. But I got a little too excited and tumbled right into the pile!

  Oops! Golden-yellow, orange, and bright red leaves flew everywhere.

  As I ran around in happy circles, the leaves made a loud crunching noise. And the brown ones were the crunchiest.

  “Hey, Zonks!” I greeted him as I ran over to the pen. “Look at these colorful leaves! I wonder why they change.”

  “That’s because fall is here! The leaves always change when the wind gets cooler,” Zonks explained. “It just makes sense, like pigs and mud.”

  Zonks was right. Some things just made sense. And that’s all that mattered.

  When I ran back to where Imani and Wyatt were, they had now started a new pile.

  I was so tempted to jump back in. But then I heard Jennica, my human mom, call my name.

  “Hey, Bo! Come here, boy!” she yelled. She was holding a pup-sized sweater with maroon and orange stripes. “Look what I knit for you!”

  Was it a present for me? It wasn’t even my birthday!

  I excitedly ran to the porch and sat down in front of her.

  “Good boy! Now lift your feet so I can slide this on.”

  She pulled the sweater over my body as I lifted my paws one at a time. I couldn’t wait to see how I looked. So when she held open the screen door, I dashed inside and ran to the mirror. I turned this way and that as I admired my reflection.

  I had never understood why humans loved to wear clothes. Why wear clothes when you have fur? Having thick warm fur is one of the best perks of being a dog. But now it finally made sense: this was the coziest sweater ever!

  2 Pumpkin Patch Trouble

  I darted out the front door at the speed of light. I couldn’t wait to show off my new sweater that was perfect for this chilly weather. The first friend I ran into was Clucks the hen.

  “Hiya, Clucks!” I woofed. “My humans made me a sweater. What do you think?”

  “Who needs clothes when you have feathers,” Clucks said coolly. “But I have to admit, that sweater does look pretty cozy.”

  Clucks wasn’t easy to please, so I knew she meant it. I ran around in a happy circle so she could get a good look.

  But on the third lap around, I stopped short when I realized we weren’t alone. King and Diva came slinking around the corner. And as always, I could tell they weren’t in a good mood.

  “Wow, what do you know? Your sweater matches that pile of leaves!” Diva said with a smirk.

  “Yeah, I’d watch out if I were you,” King added. “You might blend right in and get lost!”

  I shook my head and dug my paws into the ground as they walked away, hissing with glee. Those barnyard cats didn’t know what they were missing. Jumping into a pile of crunchy leaves was the best!

  I wondered who I should show my sweater off to next. And that’s when I saw exactly who I wanted to see—my friend Comet the foal!

  “Hi there, Comet!” I called. “What perfect timing!”

  But as she came closer, I could tell something wasn’t right.

  “Oh, no, Comet, what’s wrong?”

  Comet neighed and shook her mane nervously. Zonks and Clucks rushed over as well after hearing her voice.

  “Oh, Bo! You have to come with me to the pumpkin patch,” she said. “Something’s not right!”

  So with that, Zonks, Clucks, and I followed our friend across the field.

  Every year, my human family grows some of the biggest orange pumpkins you’ll ever see. Around this time of year, all of us animals know to stay out of the pumpkin patch. Even King and Diva follow the rules!

  So when we got there, I couldn’t believe what I saw. Almost all the pumpkins had strange dents, and some of them were completely smashed open!

  3 Is It… the Pumpkin Ghost?

  And it turns out, that wasn’t even all of it!

  “If you think this is bad, the apple orchard is worse,” Comet said.

  When we ran over to take a look, we saw that Comet was right. Just like the pumpkin patch, the ground was entirely littered with damaged apples.

  “Who on Earth could have done this?” Zonks asked with a pout.

  “Maybe it’s a big hairy monster?” I asked. “Something spooky like a pumpkin ghost?”

  “Oh, Bo, that’s silly. But this is quite odd,” Clucks said.

  “What do we do now?” Comet asked worriedly.

  I started pacing back and forth, trying hard to think. After going around in circles, I looked back at my paw prints. And that’s when I got an idea: we would retrace our steps and look for clues!

  So we trudged back up to the pumpkin patch. But as we neared the opening, both Zonks and Clucks stopped to admire the new corn maze. Dogs like me can’t pass by a squirrel without going for a chase. But I didn’t know pigs and chickens liked corn mazes!

  Darnell, my human dad, had built a secret path through the cornfield. I could tell my friends were tired and feeling down. Lucky for me, I knew the perfect game that would cheer them up!

  “Hey, this maze is perfect for hide-and-go-sheep!” I cried, forgetting our original plan. “Want to play?”

  My friends perked up as I led the way. But as soon as we drew closer, we saw that a whole row of cornstalks was broken!

  “Hey, Bo,” Comet whinnied. “We should probably play hide-and-go-sheep another time.”

  Comet was right. Now was not the time to play. The damage was out of control, and we had a serious Davis farm mystery to solve!

  4 The Pumpkin Patch Culprit

  After the short corn maze detour, my friends and I were back on track. We arrived at the pumpkin patch, and it was time to look for clues.

  It’s a good thing dogs have good noses. I can smell things from a mile away! So I put my head down and started walking along.

  Soon I noticed some footprints by a large broken pumpkin. Then when I peeked around it, I spotted a shiny black feather, too!

  This feather must belong to the pumpkin patch culprit! I thought.

  I studied the footprints but didn’t recognize them at all. Zonks saw me digging at them and came over to look at them too.

  He looked at the prints for a few seconds until his eyes grew wide.

  “Hey, Clucks,” he called. “Could the chicks at the coop have wandered over here somehow?”

  “They certainly did not!” Clucks clucked loudly. “Thank you very much!”

  “Well, it’s just that these tracks look like small bird prints, and I thought…” Zonks trailed off quietly.

  Clucks held her head high and strutted over to where we were standing.

  “Look here, I can tell you why it wasn’t any of the chicks,” Clucks said. “See this feather? It’s black! The chicks have yellow feathers, of course.”

  Zonks and I examined the feather and nodded our heads.

  “And these footprints in the dirt are most definitely not a chicken’s!”

  I stared at Clucks’s feet and at the prints in the ground. She was right again! While the culprit’s footprints were similar, they weren’t the same shape.

  I was so glad that we could rule out all the chickens. But that meant we still didn’t have any leads. So I grabbed the black feather in my mouth and headed over to the apple orchard. Whoever the culprit was, I knew there were more clues to find.

  And sure enough, when we went back to the orchard, we found the same mysterious footprints and more black feathers.

  I looked around and chased my tail until I saw something fly by out of the corner of my eye.

  I stopped and got low to the ground. And then suddenly I heard a fluttering of wings. I spun around quickly, but the bird was already getting away!

  5 Coco the Crow

  “Hey, wait!” I called out. “Come back!”

  But the bird was too fast. I chased it through the forest as fast as I could.

  At last, the bird landed on a tree branch, and Zonks, Clucks, Comet, and I finally caught up to it. The bird peered down at us from up in the tree and said, “Why are you following me?”

  “Um, hi there. My name is Bo. What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Coco,” the bird replied matter-of-factly.

  “I’ve never seen you around the farm before,” I said.

  Living on a farm full of all kinds of animals, I’ve seen my share of birds come by—the robins and blue jays are some of the nicest birds you’ll ever meet! Lots of pigeons like to come by the farm too. But I had definitely never seen a bird like Coco before. She had jet-black feathers all over her body.

  I looked over at my friends to see if they recognized the black bird. But none of them did.

  “Well, I’m a crow, and I don’t live on a farm,” Coco responded before looking away. Then she ruffled her feathers in a way that reminded me of King and Diva.

  I looked hard at her black, glossy feathers. “Um, Coco, have you been coming to the pumpkin patch a lot lately?” I asked, choosing my words carefully.

  Right away, Coco puffed up her chest.

  “I haven’t got the slightest idea what you’re asking,” she cawed.

  But just then, a single black feather drifted down from Coco’s perch and landed on the ground at my feet.

  I didn’t

want Coco to fly away, so I stayed quiet. But all my doggy senses were on high alert. If we were going to get this bird to talk, I knew we’d have to get to know her first.

  So I grabbed my friends for a game-time huddle. We needed a plan B. Fast.

  And that’s when Zonks whispered the most perfect question.

  “What about finishing that game of hide-and-go-sheep?”

  I jumped up and gave my pig pal a high-five. No matter who you are, every animal likes to have fun. So I took a deep breath and gave it a shot.

  “Hey, Coco, do you want to play hide-and-go-sheep with us in the pumpkin patch?” I asked.

  My friends and I all looked up and waited.

  And waited some more.

  Until finally Coco nodded and led the way back to the pumpkin patch.

  6 Hide-and-Go-PEEP!

  “Hey, Clucks. You, Zonks, and Comet stay together,” I said, breaking us into teams. “I’ll play with Coco.”

  Then Coco and I decided to hide first. And I found the perfect hiding spot right away. In the center of the patch, there was one large pumpkin that was big enough to hide both of us.

  I crouched down. The secret to hide-and-go-sheep was to not make a sound. Not even a little peep. But I quickly realized that Coco didn’t know the rules!

  She flapped her wings, kicked up dirt, and littered seeds all over the place. I couldn’t believe it. For such a small bird, she sure was an expert at making a big mess.

  I tried to calm her down. But nothing worked. And not only that, but Coco also kept on talking—and oh boy, could she talk a lot!

  She had so much to say. She wondered why not all animals can fly. And why pumpkin vines were long and twisty. And then she asked me if I knew why birds sat in trees.

  I didn’t know what to say. But I had to admit, she had good questions that made me think too.

  And one thing was for sure: Coco was a one-of-a-kind bird with a very loud voice. I knew my friends would find us quickly. And just like that, they did!

  “Found you!” Zonks oinked as he rounded the corner with the others.

  “That was way too easy,” Comet said. “We could hear you from all the way over there!”

  I came out of our hiding spot with my tail between my legs. This round wasn’t our best. But hide-and-go-sheep was one of my favorite games. And I knew it was never too late to turn things around. Maybe Coco would be better at seeking.

  After we counted down, Coco and I searched and searched. I sniffed the ground for clues while Coco followed, leaving a trail of pumpkin seeds behind us.

  I was sure that my friends would have a hard time hiding. Trying to hide a horse wasn’t going to be easy.

  But Zonks, Comet, and Clucks were much better hiders than I thought.

  We couldn’t find them anywhere! And I could tell Coco was getting tired. After all that nonstop talking, suddenly she was super quiet.

  So finally I let out a loud bark to let my friends know that we had given up.

  After hearing my voice, my friends came out from behind a massive tree trunk.

  Losing is never easy. But I knew my friends had won fair and square.

  That’s when I looked over at Coco, but she was nowhere to be found. After all that chaos, she had disappeared without a trace!

  7 Telling the Truth

  This time Zonks, Comet, Clucks, and I teamed up to find Coco. We looked in the pumpkin patch and ran over to the orchard, but we couldn’t find any clues.

  As I paced back and forth, that’s when I remembered what Coco had said about birds sitting in trees. So my friends and I ran to the forest to the spot where we first met her.

  And sure enough, there she was.

  “Hey, Coco, are you okay?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, Bo, I didn’t mean to be so bad at the game,” Coco muttered quietly. “Sometimes when I get excited, I peck and nibble at everything!” She flapped her wings as she let out a little caw. “It happens when I’m nervous, too,” she continued. “So the only thing I’m good at is making big messes!”

  “Oh, Coco, don’t feel bad,” Comet neighed sweetly.

  “Yeah, we’re all good at different things,” I added.

  Zonks oinked and Clucks cooed in agreement.

  Coco puffed up her chest as she let out a deep breath.

  “I want to believe that,” she began. “But I’m the one who’s been making a big mess all over the farm.”

  I could tell Coco had more to say. So I sat up and waited for her to continue.

  “I just can’t help it!” Coco cried. “When I saw all the new pumpkins and apples, I needed to check them out.”

  Coco let out a sad caw and kept her head low.

  “None of you would understand,” she went on. “And there’s no way I can fix all the damage.”

  Coco was right. Dogs and crows are definitely different.

  But animals know animals best. And we all have our own quirks.

  “Coco, we know you didn’t mean any harm,” I said gently.

  “Yeah, Coco. Don’t be so sad,” Zonks agreed. “No problem is too big to fix on this farm.”

  Coco let out a loud caw of relief and hugged each of us before flying off for the day.

  Now, my friends and I didn’t want Coco to feel too bad. But we weren’t sure what to do anymore. Turns out that some messes are way too big for a dog, chicken, horse, and pig to figure out. Luckily for us, though, I had a good puppy dog feeling my human family would know exactly what to do.

  8 Only One Solution

  When I got back to the house, Wyatt and Imani were snuggled on the couch. I was so tempted to hop up and join them under the blanket.

  But I knew I had a job to do. So I ran in circles and barked at the top of my lungs. As I ran off with one of Wyatt’s socks, I almost bumped into the mirror.

  And that’s when I saw that my new sweater was filthy! It was covered in corn kernels, pumpkin seeds, and a whole lot of mud.

  “Bo, what did you do?” Jennica cried. “You’re an absolute mess!”

  Wyatt stood up and got ahold of me. Then he pulled the sweater over my head and examined it.

  “We need to go check out what’s going on at the farm!” he cried. “There are pumpkin seeds all over this!”

  So finally my family followed me outside. Clucks, Comet, and Zonks were already there waiting for us at the pumpkin patch.

  “Whoa, what in the world has happened here?” Imani asked as she stepped over a broken squash.

  As the kids started picking up some broken pumpkin pieces, I jumped up and down to get Darnell’s and Jennica’s attention. They needed to see the mess at the apple orchard and corn maze, too.

  When we got to the orchard, Darnell picked up a smashed apple.

  “I’m afraid this is the handiwork of a very curious crow,” he said, his face growing serious.

  I barked and wagged my tail. Sometimes humans were much smarter than I gave them credit for.

  “A crow?” the kids cried as they ran over at top speed.

  “Yes, it looks like you’re right,” Jennica replied. “And there’s only one solution for that.”

  9 What’s a Scarecrow?

  “Scarecrow?” I perked up. “What’s that?”

  Zonks shook his head. “Beats me, Bo! Never heard of that one before.”

 

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