Summary: There’s nothing better than a new friend during the dog days of summer.<\/p>\n
Rating: G, Word Count: 1216<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Boy’s Best Friend<\/strong><\/p>\n Hoss and Jimmy were walking around the fields to check on the fences when a stray dog joined them.<\/p>\n \u201cHello, pup. Where did you come from?\u201d Jimmy asked kneeling to pet the dog.<\/p>\n It was a mix breed with wiry fur.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t have a collar on him,\u201d Hoss said.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think my parents would let me have it?\u201d Jimmy asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. I guess we\u2019ll have to ask. Let\u2019s finish checking the fences and we\u2019ll head back home and see what they say.\u201d<\/p>\n They had gone down a way when they heard a rattle. Jimmy and Hoss stopped and looked around and saw the snake was near Jimmy\u2019s foot. Jimmy stood still and held his breath. Hoss started to pull out his gun when the dog ran up and grabbed the snake and played with it. He flung it around and finally killed it. Jimmy breathed and Hoss took his shoulders before Jimmy could fall down in relief.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I think so. That was so scary, Uncle Hoss,\u201d Jimmy replied in a shaky breath.<\/p>\n The dog trotted over and licked Jimmy\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to keep him, Uncle Hoss. He saved our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe saved your life. That snake was near you. Let\u2019s go talk to your parents,\u201d Hoss suggested.<\/p>\n Jimmy nodded and they went back to the horses. The dog followed.<\/p>\n Jimmy and Hoss went back to the Ponderosa and explained to the family about the dog and the snake.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I don\u2019t know. Will you take care of him, Jimmy?\u201d Emma asked.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Ma, I will. He could be a good watch dog and help around the house,\u201d Jimmy said.<\/p>\n Emma looked at Adam and he at her. They silently communicated.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, Jim. But you must take care of him,\u201d Adam said.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Pa. Thank you, Ma,\u201d Jimmy said hugging both parents.<\/p>\n Mary was petting the dog.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so happy for you, Jimmy!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks, Mary. You can always play with him too,\u201d Jimmy replied.<\/p>\n She smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you going to name him?\u201d Hoss asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019ll name him Buster.\u201d Jimmy replied.<\/p>\n Buster and Jimmy became inseparable as time went on. Buster ran and took care of the cattle and even the family.<\/p>\n There had been animals coming around to get the chickens and Buster would chase after the foxes and other predators. Jimmy had done as he promised and took good care of Buster. Adam and Emma had asked those around Virginia City if anyone lost a dog. They had wondered where he had come from and thought perhaps someone lost him. Nobody had lost a dog and they decided to let it drop and enjoyed the dog.<\/p>\n Jimmy decided to ride around the Ponderosa. Buster followed and ran ahead and then waited for Jimmy to join him. Buster was always careful around the horse. They had gone up a few canyons. Jimmy loosely tied his horse up to some brush and went hiking. Buster followed and sniffed around for anything harmful. A low rumble sounded and Jimmy looked at the sky.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d best get back, Buster,\u201d Jimmy said.<\/p>\n They started hiking down to the horse when the heavens opened and rain poured down. Jimmy tried to get down as fast as he could but he slid down the side and landed on his left leg but only spraining it. He cried out in pain. Buster whimpered and licked Jimmy. Jimmy tried to drag himself to a cave he had seen when going up the hill but couldn\u2019t move. The pain shot through him when he tried to move. Thunder cracked above loudly sending Jimmy\u2019s horse running. Jimmy watched his horse run away and he groaned. Buster sat next to him whimpering.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all right, boy,\u201d Jimmy assured the dog.<\/p>\n Though he was more trying to assure himself that things would be all right. Suddenly, Buster ran off.<\/p>\n \u201cBuster, come back! Please come back! Don\u2019t leave me!\u201d Jimmy\u2019s cries were drowned out by the thunder.<\/p>\n He flinched as more lightning and thunder cracked loudly overhead. The lightning flashed quickly showing the running dog. Jimmy started to cry. His best friend was gone and now nobody would find him. \u201cWhat is it boy?\u201d Adam knelt to pet the dog.<\/p>\n He then saw Jimmy\u2019s horse.<\/p>\n \u201cPa, Hoss, Joe, come out here!\u201d Adam called out.<\/p>\n The three men and Emma came out.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d Ben asked.<\/p>\n \u201cJimmy\u2019s horse is here and Buster is too.\u201d<\/p>\n Buster started spinning around and barking.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he wants us to follow him,\u201d Hoss said.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease bring him home safe,\u201d Emma pleaded.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will,\u201d Adam promised.<\/p>\n The three men ran back in to gather their guns, hats and jackets. They followed Buster to the canyon. \u201cJimmy!\u201d Adam called out as they got closer but every time he\u2019d yell it would thunder.<\/p>\n He grew frustrated but then heard a small cry. They went on and stopped where Buster stopped and barked at them to follow him. They got off their horses and followed the dog and could hear Jimmy yelling. They found Jimmy curled up shivering. Buster was by Jimmy licking his tear stained face. Adam took his jacket off and wrapped Jimmy in it. Though it was wet, Adam thought there might be a little warmth inside.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you all right?\u201d Adam asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI sprained my ankle coming down the side. I was going to go home when I heard thunder but the rain came so fast I couldn\u2019t make it and my horse ran off,\u201d Jimmy explained.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s at the Ponderosa,\u201d Adam replied.<\/p>\n They got him on Adam\u2019s horse. Adam got on behind and they headed for home.<\/p>\n When they got home, Emma had been boiling water for Jimmy to get in a bath. It was still warm when they got home.<\/p>\n \u201cI am so glad you are all right, Jimmy,\u201d Emma said as she hugged her boy when they got in the house.<\/p>\n Adam was still holding him and went into the kitchen where the bath was. Adam took care of Jimmy getting him warm. Emma got his pajamas. They had always kept an extra set of clothes at the Ponderosa in case they ended up having to stay there. After Jimmy was dried and in the living room with the others, Buster jumped on the settee and laid on Jimmy\u2019s good leg. Hoss had bandaged Jimmy\u2019s ankle. They would call the doctor in the morning to check it out. Jimmy noticed he was clean and dry.<\/p>\n \u201cI gave him a bath in the bunk house,\u201d Mary said.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Mary,\u201d Jimmy said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sure have a good dog,\u201d Emma said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do. I\u2019m glad he found us. He\u2019s been a good dog for the whole family,\u201d Adam said scratching Buster\u2019s head.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope you\u2019ll be more careful when you go in the canyon, young man,\u201d Ben said pointing his pipe at Jimmy.<\/p>\n \u201cI will.\u201d Jimmy promised smiling.<\/p>\n Jimmy hugged Buster. Buster licked Jimmy\u2019s face which made the boy smile.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n From the Brandsters.\u00a0 The story was originally written and published on the Bonanza Trail Riders site.\u00a0 Brand is happy to offer this story a new home.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: There’s nothing better than a new friend during the dog days of summer.
\nBuster ran to the Ponderosa and started barking as he got to the house. Adam walked outside to see what the noise was about.<\/p>\n
\nRain hit against their faces as they raced to the canyon following Buster.<\/p>\n
\nRating: K, Word Count: 1216<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12475,"featured_media":62121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,7,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actionadventure","category-a-u","category-drama","wpcat-2-id","wpcat-7-id","wpcat-23-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BTR.png?fit=442%2C255&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/62121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}