Kaden and Emmett walked past the purple cow. A white board hung from its neck with the daily special written on it in purple marker. As they opened the door, the sound of a cow mooing announced their entry.
Inside, the walls were covered with photos of fiberglass cows. There was a Cow-boy with a Stetson hat, a bandana around its neck and spurs on its hooves. There was a Moss-Cow, a Cow-ch Potato, and a Cow-culator. Emmett slid into a booth by a Cow-lendar, a bright yellow Cow-ard, and a Cow-lifornia Cow on a beach towel wearing big sunglasses and a yellow polka-dot bikini. Kaden sat across from him, looking toward a mural of the inside of a dairy barn with three cows, their backsides facing into the restaurant. As part of the decorations, a real pitchfork leaned against the wall in the corner next to the mural’s painted haystack.
It was before the dinner stampede, as Pillie called it, and they were the only ones in the restaurant. Elana pushed open the swinging door from the kitchen. She was the most popular girl in Kaden’s class, but except at Pillie’s, Kaden rarely spoke to her. At school, Kaden tried to stay clear of Elana, because wherever she was, Luke was always close by.
“Hi, Kaden. Hi, Emmett. What can I get you guys?” Elana said.
“Three Jumbo Lightning Moo-Creams,” Emmett said.
“Three?” Kaden and Elana both said at the same time.
“Of course,” Emmett said. “One for me, one for Kaden, and you’ll need one, too.”
“Me?” Elana said at the same time as Kaden said, “Elana?”
“Certainly. We don’t want to eat in front of the young lady.”
“I’m supposed to be helping,” Elana said.
“You will be,” Emmett replied. “Helping yourself to a delicious sundae.”
“I mean . . . ,” Elana started to explain.
“Oh, don’t worry, your mom won’t mind.” Then in a loud voice Emmett yelled out, “Hey, Pillie, you mind if your daughter joins us for a sundae?”
Pillie came out of the kitchen. “No, I don’t care, as long as she gets the salt and pepper shakers filled before the stampede. What are you having?”
“Jumbo Lightning Moo-Creams,” Elana reported.
“Coming right up,” Pillie said.
Elana followed her mom into the kitchen.
“Why are you getting Elana one?” Kaden asked. But before Emmett could answer, Elana returned holding large canisters of salt and pepper. Emmett kicked Kaden under the table.
“Ouch,” Kaden said. “Why’d you kick me?”
“Go help her,” Emmett whispered, giving his head a jerk toward Elana.
Kaden rolled his eyes at Emmett but slid out of the booth.
“Want some help?” he asked. He could feel his face turning red.
“Sure,” Elana said. “Salt goes in the cows. They have four holes in their heads. Pepper in the bulls. They have horns and only two holes. Don’t get them mixed up. Mom got really annoyed when Luke helped me.”
Kaden had heard about Luke’s pranks. Showing off to Elana, they had been going on for weeks. At first, it was just minor stuff like putting salt and pepper in the wrong shakers. But then Pillie caught Luke red-handed leaving a dried-up cow patty on the floor under one of the mural’s cows. She grabbed the pitchfork from the corner and chased Luke from the restaurant.
Mr. Woodhead, Luke’s father, threatened to file assault charges against Pillie, but Sheriff O’Connor didn’t want to be on Pillie’s bad side. The Purple Cow was the only place in town to get a good cup of coffee. The sheriff made Luke clean up the cow manure and Pillie banned Luke from her restaurant.
Now as Kaden picked up a bull and poured in pepper, Pillie brought out three enormous sundaes. She put two purple flashlights on the table and headed back to the kitchen.
Kaden started to slide into the booth but Emmett stopped him. “Ladies first, Kaden.”
Kaden stepped aside and let Elana slide in.
“What are these for?” Kaden asked, picking up one of the flashlights.
“You get one every time you order a Jumbo Lightning Moo-Cream,” Elana said. “Mom read that cows’ horns sometimes glow during a lightning storm. They’re supposed to represent the lightning.”
Without saying another word, the three of them dug into their ice cream, as a clock that looked like a cow ticked off the seconds, its tail twitching back and forth. Soon their spoons were scraping the last bites from the dishes.
“Moo-chas gracias, Emmett,” Elana said as they slid from their seats. “See you Monday at school, Kaden.”
“Yeah, see ya,” Kaden answered.
When they left the restaurant, Kaden turned to Emmett. “Why did you invite Elana to have ice cream with us?”
“I thought it would be a good distraction,” Emmett said, grinning. “Worked, didn’t it?”