You’re in trouble, mister.” McKenzie stared daggers at Slingshot.

“You too, Burp-Breath,” said Kate, arms crossed.

The boys were just crawling back into their bedrolls when Kate and McKenzie crashed into their camp, mad as wet cats. Burp quickly hid the pup behind his back.

“Where have you guys been?” growled McKenzie. “Instead of playing cops and robbers, or whatever it was you were off doing, you should have been here helping us.”

“We should have been helping you with what?” Slingshot asked. “We already told you — NO poop scooping.”

“Not that,” said Kate, uncrossing her arms. “You should have been helping us look for the runaway pup. That half-wild mutt must have broken out last night and taken off somewhere.”

“We’ve looked everywhere,” said McKenzie, “even in your bedrolls. Talk about gross.” She held her nose. “Don’t you two take your boots off before crawling into bed? Anyway, the point is, the pup has vanished. And it’s probably your fault.”

“Our fault! You’re nuts,” said Burp. “How do you figure that?”

“Because he probably followed you out to wherever you snuck off,” said Kate. “Bet Mom and Dad would like to know where you —”

Right then, Burp started squirming and twisting sideways. The pup was licking every finger on both of his hands.

“Hey, why are you wiggling like that?” McKenzie asked.

“Yeah! What are you hiding?” said Kate.

Two dusty gray ears poked out from under Burp’s arm.

“That’s him!” shouted McKenzie. “Give him back, you dog nabbers.”

Kate reached to take him from her brother. “How could you? Did you do this because of the playhouse?”

“Hang on, Burp!” said Slingshot. “Don’t let them take the pup. They’ll mess him up worse than a poodle or one of their frilly dolls.”

“But that’s our job,” said McKenzie. “We get paid to give dogs makeovers. Then they aren’t so dirty and stinky or, in his case, wild.”

“But this one wants to be a cowboy dog and ride with us,” said Slingshot. “He wants to be wild and free. Besides, we almost got eaten alive rescuing him, so we deserve to keep him.”

“Give him back,” said McKenzie. “His owners are paying us to wash the wild out of him, so stop playing cowboys. After his bath, we’ll jazz him up and make him look like a show dog.”

“That would ruin him. He doesn’t want that. Why do you think he ran away?” said Slingshot. “Besides, you’re the ones who lost him, not us. We saved him. Why do you think we even went out there in the dark?”

But the girls wouldn’t listen. Kate reached out to take the pup from the boys. “C’mere, Jackpot,” she cooed. “It’s bath time for you.”

The cowboys’ eyes about popped out of their heads. Did Kate just call the pup Jackpot?

“What did you just call him?” asked Slingshot.

“Jackpot,” said Kate.

“That’s his name,” said McKenzie.

“Jackpot!” said Burp. “That’s just what we said when we found him out there in the Boneyard.”

“Whoa!” said Slingshot. “I think the pup should stay with Burp and me. We’re like three brothers from the same ranch.”

McKenzie rolled her eyes. “Oh, brother. Now who’s nuts?”

“I have an idea,” said Burp. “How about we let Jackpot pick who he wants to be with?” Without waiting for the girls to say yes or no, he set the pup down on the ground between them.

The girls dropped to their knees. “Here, boy! Here, boy!” they called.

The boys dropped, too. “Stay, boy! Stay, boy!” they coaxed. Jackpot ran around in circles, nipping and fake-growling at the boys first, then the girls. Then he chased his own tail.

“Who’s going to make you look pretty?” Kate cooed.

“Baked beans and jerky for breakfast — all you can eat!” Slingshot pleaded.

“Lemon verbena shampoo,” McKenzie sang, “with lavender rinse.”

“Red bows and green nail polish,” Kate wheedled, flashing her nails.

“We’ll give you bones,” Burp promised.

The pup looked from the girls to the boys and back again. He sniffed the air and wagged his tail double time. Finally he bounced over to Burp . . . Liiiick!

“Hah!” said Slingshot. “He wants to be with us.”

McKenzie shook her head and made a face. Then she and Kate huddled and whispered. Finally McKenzie announced, “You can borrow him . . . on one condition.”

“Name it,” said Slingshot.

“You have to promise to give him a bath and hand him back to us by noon tomorrow. That’s when his owners are coming to pick him up. What do you say?”

“It’s a deal,” said Slingshot and Burp, crossing their hearts.

Grabbing the skull and Bloody Eyes, the boys ran off yippee-ki-yaying. Jackpot, that half-wild desert pup, chased after their boots like they were escaping armadillos.

“That was close!” gasped Slingshot.

“I thought for sure they were going to turn us in,” said Burp. “We would have done two years in jail this time.”

“Let’s go show Big Jim the loot we found!” Slingshot said. “Windy’s spur, Bloody Eyes, the skull.”

“And don’t forget Jackpot,” said Burp. “He led us right to it.”

“Just wait till Big Jim hears about our brush with the Ghost Cat,” said Slingshot. “He won’t believe that we almost had to take that cowboy killer on with nothing but our bare hands. C’mon! What are we waiting for?”

“Aw, I’m done for!” said Burp. “I can’t move a muscle. Besides, Boots and Saddle isn’t open this early.”

Slingshot rubbed and polished the spur on his jeans, then held it up to the morning sun and whistled. “We were close, Burp. Close! And I’ve got a feeling the rest of Windy’s loot is right near where we found Jackpot. It has to be.” He pulled out Big Jim’s map, studied it, and marked an X on the spot.

“And his bones,” said Burp, yawning.

Just past the ditch, the cowboys holed up under a bush, hidden from any dead outlaws, howling mountain lions, or rattlesnakes. They set Bloody Eyes back inside the safety of the skull, then settled down with Jackpot for forty winks.

Hat over his eyes, Slingshot said, “After we catch some z’s, it’s straight to the Shelf of Honor at Big Jim’s with Windy’s spur. Then we hightail it back to the Boneyard for more loot.”

“And bones,” said Burp. “Don’t forget the bones.”

“Deal?” said Slingshot.

“Deal,” said Burp. “Just as fast as Thunder and Lightning can get us there.”