Storm Watcher Read Online Free Page A

good Black Angus cattle ranch into a kennel.”
    “Black Angus? Really?”
    She laughed. “Yep. And just to make him madder, she’s feeding the dogs his prize-winning Black Angus steers. One at a time.”

    CHAPTER 3
    The Peck-and-Run Maneuver
    Bored, Luke prowled around the house the next morning. He’d already walked both Hounddog and Moondoggie, watched two hours of the Weather Channel, and cleaned out his backpack. Finally, he jumped on his bike and pedaled to Storm Watcher Kennel. Willajean and Megan ran a chubby German shepherd named Tanner through a scent trail in the training yard.
    With hardly a hello, Willajean sent Luke to fetch dogs. Before he left, Megan raised her eyebrows at him. Probably wondering why he was here, but Luke just shrugged, not sure either.
    He spent the rest of the afternoon laying tracks through the cornfield for the dogs to follow. He placed scent pads filled with small treats along the route to encourage the dogs to follow his scent from one pad to another. Then he wrapped the dog treat in the glove at the end. The leaves of the corn tickled his calves as he walked through the rows, careful not to step on any plants. Willajean had said the change in terrain would be a challenge for a few of the dogs. Tracks laid on the grass were the easiest to follow, then parking lots. Woods and city streets were the hardest.
    The sun blazed and sweat soaked his T-shirt as Luke completed five different tracks. Luke marveled as Willajean or Megan ran behind each dog. These dogs were smarter than his brothers. The bloodhounds and German shepherds stayed on his scent path and discovered the gloves. As an extra reward, all the dogs were praised, then treated to a rowdy game of Frisbee. Fun for the dogs, Luke, and Megan.
    “Luke, get lost,” Willajean ordered.
    “What?” Luke’s mouth hung open, stunned by her harsh words.
    “Lost in the woods.” She pointed to the trees surrounding the farm. “Tracks in a cornfield are okay for AKC titles, but I’m training Lance to be an air-scenting search and rescue dog.”
    Puzzled, Luke asked, “What’s the difference?”
    “A tracking dog tracks with its nose to the ground, focusing its attention on contact and ground scent. But an air-scenting dog picks up airborne human scent.” Willajean bent over and scratched Lance behind his ears. “Once, at a demonstration, I saw a dog find a specific man in a large crowd. The dog’s nose was in the air the whole time. Amazing.” Willajean shook her head as if she still couldn’t believe what she had witnessed.
    Willajean gave Luke a white towel. He wiped his sweaty face on it and handed it back. Then he hiked through the woods for a half an hour, crunching through the dead leaves, and zigzagging past bushes before he found a great spot to hide next to a fallen tree. Dirt still clung to the roots, and its leaves were still green. Luke laid flat, breathing in the scent of wet earth. Insects buzzed overhead. How long should he wait? What if Lance didn’t find him?
    After a while, other sounds reached him. The shuffle of a small animal, scurrying through the underbrush. Birds flying from limb to limb, calling out to each other. A loud mockingbird perched nearby, showing off by singing all its songs. Luke counted the different calls for something to do. Thirteen. Not bad, little bird.
    A distant bark silenced all the noise. Then the unmistakable tread of footsteps and jingle of dog tags. In no time, the German shepherd leapt over the tree trunk. Excited, Lance jumped on Luke, licking his face and slobbering all over him. Eww .
    “Lance, heel,” Willajean said, coming up behind the dog. “Sorry about that. He’s young yet. Another six months should help him mature.”

    Luke had learned more about dogs during the one week he’d worked at Willajean’s than he had in a lifetime living with Dad. Fascinated by Willajean’s knowledge, he had turned his days off into half-days. Plus there’d been no rain and no