January
The Mystery Tracks
In the little town of Dusty Gulch, snow dusted the rooftops like sugar on a cookie.
In the little town of Dusty Gulch, snow dusted the rooftops like sugar on a cookie. It was the very first morning of a brand-new year, and Deputy Dodge — the bravest young deputy in the West — wanted to be the first one in town to see the sunrise.
“Come on, Hans! Race you, Reena!”
Off they went — clip-clop, woof, meow! — Dodge on Thunderpaws Hans, Ranger Reena on her pony Milky Way, and Tumbleweed Nubi clinging to Reena’s shoulder. Up, up, up Sunrise Hill they climbed.
At the very top, someone was already there: a friendly man in a tall white hat, flipping something golden and sweet-smelling over a little crackling fire.
“Bonjour, young ones!” he called warmly. “I am Chef Pierre. I have traveled a very long way across the sea to make my new home here in Dusty Gulch. This morning I carried my crepe pan all the way up the hill, to cook warm crepes for anyone who comes to greet the new year. It is my way of saying hello to my new neighbors!”
“Welcome to town! I’m Deputy Dodge, and this is Ranger Reena,” said Dodge. “We’ll be your very first customers!”
But just then, Dodge stopped short. “Wait — look! Footprints. Little ones. Somebody else beat us up here!”
The friends bent down to study the snow. The tracks were tiny and round, two by two, and they wandered everywhere — looping in circles, doubling back, zigzagging like a wiggly worm.
“That’s strange,” said Reena. “Whoever it was kept changing their mind.”
They followed the first trail… straight to a snow-covered bush, where it simply stopped. A dead end.
“Hmm,” said Dodge, scratching his head. “A puzzle.”
But clever Reena spotted something the tracks had left behind: a tiny tuft of soft white wool, snagged on a thorn. And a little farther along — tinkle — a small brass bell, half-buried in the snow.
“Wool… and a bell,” she said slowly. “That’s not a person. That’s a little animal who has lost its way!”
Hans put his nose to the bell, took a big sniff — snuffle! — and was off, following a scent the friends couldn’t see. Around the rock, under the fence, behind a frozen log…
…and there, shivering on a narrow, icy ledge just below the trail, was a tiny white baby goat, no bigger than Nubi.
The ledge was steep, and slippery, and the drop was high. But Deputy Dodge didn’t hesitate for a second. “Hold my hat,” he said. He climbed carefully down the icy rocks, reached out, and scooped the trembling little goat safely into his arms. “Got you,” he whispered, and climbed back up.
Reena wrapped the shivering goat snugly inside her warm coat. “You must belong to Old Walt’s new herd,” she said. “Did you sneak out in the night to chase the very first snowflakes?”
The baby goat gave a tiny “maaa,” as if to say yes.
Just then they heard a worried “MAAA!” echo up the hill — the mama goat, searching everywhere. The friends carried the little one down, and the two goats nuzzled nose to nose, together again.
Old Walt came puffing up the trail. “My littlest goat! She slipped right through the fence. I’ve been looking since midnight. Thank you, young deputies!”
Right then, the sun peeked over the mountains, painting the whole sky pink and gold. And there at the top stood Chef Pierre, holding out warm, golden crepes for everyone.
“To my very first friends in Dusty Gulch,” said Pierre, with a happy little bow.
So they watched the first sunrise of the year together.
“Here’s to a year of mysteries,” said Reena.
“And solving every one of them together!” said Dodge
The End
How the illustrations in this story were made
Setup — Race You to the Sunrise!
Cozy illustration storybook: on a snowy new-year dawn, Deputy Dodge (young blonde cowboy, blue eyes, tan hat, red bandana, denim shirt, gold star badge) rides giant Thunderpaws Hans (caramel back, white belly, pointy ears) racing up Sunrise Hill beside Ranger Reena (light-brown skin, brown eyes, dark curly pigtails, olive flat-brim hat, green shirt, olive vest, pink accents) on Milky Way (creamy dappled pony, turquoise blanket), Nubi (sandy-orange tabby, cream belly and paws, curly tail) on her shoulder, toward Chef Pierre (French chef, no mustache, white toque, blue crepe cart) flipping crepes over a hilltop campfire; snow-dusted town below, soft pink dawn sky. Kid-friendly, never dark.
Mystery — The Wiggly Little Tracks
Cozy illustration storybook: Deputy Dodge (young blonde cowboy, blue eyes, tan hat, red bandana, denim shirt, gold star badge) and Ranger Reena (light-brown skin, brown eyes, dark curly pigtails, olive flat-brim hat, green shirt, olive vest, pink accents) crouch in snow over a trail of tiny looping footprints ending at a bush; Reena holds up a tuft of white wool, a small brass bell glinting in the snow; Thunderpaws Hans (giant light brown lab, caramel back, white belly, pointy ears) sniffs the bell; Nubi (sandy-orange tabby, cream belly and paws, curly tail) leans in alert. Bright snowy hilltop, curious and gentle. Kid-friendly, never dark.
Resolution — Reunited at Sunrise
Cozy illustration storybook: at golden sunrise a rescued tiny white baby goat (with a brass bell) nuzzles nose-to-nose with its mama goat; Deputy Dodge (young blonde cowboy, blue eyes, tan hat, red bandana, denim shirt, gold star badge) kneels proudly by the goat; Ranger Reena (light-brown skin, brown eyes, dark curly pigtails, olive flat-brim hat, green shirt, olive vest, pink accents) has her coat open, Nubi (sandy-orange tabby, cream belly and paws, curly tail) on her shoulder, Milky Way (creamy dappled pony, turquoise blanket) close, Thunderpaws Hans (giant light brown lab, caramel back, white belly, pointy ears) wagging; Old Walt (old rancher, grey mustache, wide-brim hat, plaid shirt) thanks them; Chef Pierre (French chef, no mustache, white toque, blue crepe cart) offers warm crepes; pink-and-gold sky. Kid-friendly, never dark.