Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 John was at the edge of panic, when a giggle rose from the grass just a few yards ahead. Franny's freckled face popped up. She grinned at him. "Boo!" "Franny!" "Tricked you!" she said. "You didn't trick me," John lied. "I knew exactly where you were hiding."

"How did you know?" Franny asked with a frown. "I could smell you," John said, wrinkling his nose. "You stink worse than Princess." Princess was their cow. Franny had picked her name. Actually, Franny smelled a little like apples and Ma's soap. But John needed to get even with her for scaring him. Franny's smile fell away. Her eyes started to tear up. "I do not stink!" she said. "All right," John said. He hated to see Franny sad. "But don't do that again. I thought I lost you, Fran. You scared me." Franny burst out laughing. "That's a funny joke, Johnny," she said. "I know you're never scared." John's heart lifted a little. It was good having a little sister who thought he was brave.

They rushed the last mile to the schoolhouse, which was about a quarter mile past Main Street. It was just a small, unpainted building, more like an overgrown dollhouse than a school. The school was barely big enough to fit all fifteen students. The big and little kids squeezed together in the one room. Miss Ruell had to figure out how to teach all of them. Luckily, John and Franny weren't late. The schoolhouse door was still closed. Kids were milling around outside, waiting for the bell. Franny went to join a jump rope game. John looked around, wishing he had someone to talk to. Back in Chicago, he had more friends than he could count. Before school he and his pals would shoot marbles or bug the girls they liked. But here, there were only three boys his age: Rex, Peter, and Sven. They'd been friendly to John last fall, when he was brand-new. But John always felt uneasy around them, afraid he would

say something wrong and make a fool of himself. So he avoided them. Now they mostly ignored John — or maybe it was John who ignored them. He wasn't sure. But what did it matter? He'd missed his chance. And anyway, they probably knew John didn't belong here. He had nothing in common with those tough pioneer boys. Peter and Sven were standing nearby, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. But then Rex came sprinting toward them, and Peter and Sven perked right up. Rex wasn't funny like Peter. And he didn't have big muscles like Sven. He was quiet, and serious. But Rex was their leader, without a doubt. His family had been in Dakota longer than anyone. Rex skidded to a stop, huffing and puffing. "I found him!" Rex exclaimed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Found who?" asked Peter. "King Rattler!" Rex burst out.

The boys gasped. John's ears pricked up. King Rattler was a huge rattlesnake that all the kids talked about. There were rattlesnakes everywhere in Dakota — stretching their gold-and-brown bodies out on rocks, slithering through the tall grass, curling up in haylofts. Of all the sounds of the prairie, nothing chilled John's blood more than the shshshshsk shshshshsk shshshshshk of a rattler shaking its tail. Get away, get away, it was saying. Get away or I'll kill you! And King Rattler wasn't just any rattlesnake. He was the biggest and most vicious snake there was, a killer that had been terrorizing people for years. John had never seen him, but he'd heard the guys telling stories. Most snakes bit only if you stepped on them by accident. King Rattler would chase you down, right to your door. He'd bite your horse and then leap up and sink his fangs into your neck.

Or so the guys said. "I saw him at the creek," Rex went on, his voice rising. "I followed him! I found his den. I saw where he lives!" "You found King Rattler's den?" Peter gasped. This was big news. Folks had been searching for years, John had heard. "There's a hole, a big, nasty hole, right under a rock," Rex said. "I saw him go in. I saw it with my own eyes!" John shuddered as he imagined the snake. The glistening fangs. The pink needle tongue. The deathly yellow eyes. "So now," Rex said, his eyes narrow and fierce. "We can kill King Rattler!" "We'll be famous!" Peter hooted. Sven grinned. Rex looked over and saw that John was listening in. John flicked his eyes down. Too late, though. He'd been caught spying.