8 /10 1 Votes
4/5 AbeBooks | 4/5 Goodreads Originally published 1996 Followed by The Mop Water Files | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preceded by The Case of the Kidnapped Collie Similar John R Erickson books, Hank the Cowdog books, Other books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Case of the Night-Stalking Bone Monster is the 27th book in the Hank the Cowdog book series.
Contents
Plot
While Hank is spying on the turkeys, Slim arrives in a gloomy mood and he and Loper deposit their checks to the IRS at the mailbox, leaving Hank to wonder what "IRS" means. Later on Hank tries to get steak bones from Little Alfred and Pete the local cat comes along and argues over them. While Hank chases Pete up a tree, someone (presumably Drover) steals the bones. Hank finds Drover with his bones and asks him if he stole them; Drover says that a Bone Monster stole them from Hank but manages to get out of explaining how he then got them. When Drover falls asleep, Hank steals the bones back and buries them in Sally May's garden, observed by Slim. He then tells Drover that the Bone Monster has stolen the bones again! Later on a truck comes up the road and in the back is the basset hound Ralph, Hank's long-time friend. The gorgeous beagle, Miss Scamper, also arrives, and Hank tries to impress her. Later, after she has left, Ralph's owner starts to drive away, and Ralph falls out of the back. Wallace and Junior the buzzards fly down and say they can help Ralph, but Wallace pronounces him dead. Just then Ralph wakes up, and after the buzzards fly off, says he's a chipmunk and he's in love with a beaver disguised as Miss Scamper the beagle. After Ralph returns to normal, he and Hank discover that the bones buried in the garden have disappeared and been replaced by sausage cans. He decides that the Bone Monster must have stolen them. Night has fallen, and Hank and Ralph run to the gas tanks and hide under a gunnysack while Drover keeps watch. Drover convinces himself, and then the other dogs, that they are under attack by dozens of Bone Monsters. They run for their lives to hide on the porch. The next morning Sally May yells at Hank and throws him off her porch, Drover and Ralph having returned to the gas tanks during the night. Ralph leaves, and Slim arrives, grinning at Hank and eating sausage from a can. Thus the mystery is solved, and Hank denies ever believing in a Bone Monster in the first place.