Shady the Detective and the Case of the Monster Under the Bed

Looking out the kitchen window of my Boulder Colorado farmhouse, I chuckle watching my Labrador retriever, Shady, race across the lawn and under the pasture fence.  What a character and if I didn’t know better I’d say she is living a secret life.  Maybe she is Shady the Detective who solves clues for all the animals living around us.

Shady the Detective is feeling exuberant!  Happily she speeds off through the meadow.  She stops to drink the cool water at the edge of Boulder Creek when suddenly the Mallard Family, who had been lazily swimming on the creek, takes flight in a burst of feathers. 

“Hurry!” quacks Father Mallard. 

“Be careful or you’ll be gobbled up!” quacks Mother Mallard.

Startled by the noise, Shady springs up the bank and over the field. 

“Too bad those folks are so spooked,” thought Shady. Refreshed from her drink Shady took off running full speed through the meadow.

Suddenly, Dodie the Quarter Horse was running and calling his family to follow him, “Hurry, run this way!”

“What’s gotten into them,” wondered Shady. She stopped to watch the entire herd of horses run to the pasture’s edge where they turned and snorted in Shady’s direction.

“Hello everyone! Say, why were you so spooked?” inquired Shady.

“We thought it was that terrible monster again!” exclaimed Dee the beautiful horse. 

“Yes, Shady and when my parents say RUN they MEAN IT!  I run so hard I think my heart will explode.  It’s kinda cool having a monster in our pasture. My dad won’t let me stick around to get a good look so I have to gallop and look over my shoulder,“ said Red the smallest of the spring foals.

“I bet it’s hard to stand up and run when Dodie gives the signal,” said Shady.

“Horses don’t lie down to sleep.  We lock our knees and fall asleep standing up,” said Dee.

“The adult horses all form a protective circle around the foals while they sleep.  But we wake when the monster emerges from under our feet,” said Dodie.

“Where is this,“ asks Shady who is collecting clues for the case.

“We sleep in the same place every night, on the small slope at the base of the cottonwood tree,” said Dodie

Shady suddenly became very curious about the cottonwood tree. Everyone says goodbye and Shady trots off to the Cottonwood Tree.  Sniffing around the base of the old tree, Shady is greeted by her friend Owl.  “It seems our local detective has found herself a new case right here at the bottom of my tree” said Owl.

The Case of the Empty Nest

    I  work clearing fallen leaves at the base of the maple tree, the old robin’s nest falls to the ground at my feet. As I pick it up and remember the joy we had last summer watching the Robin family. Shady nudges my hand with her wet nose; I bend down so she can inspect the nest. She is very curious about the old nest just like she had been all summer when the robin family lived in our tree. From the moment the robins began scurrying around our yard she was fascinated by them.  What a character our Labrador has become, if I didn’t know better I’d say she was living a secret life helping animals around the farm and those beyond our pastures fences!

“Shady, can’t you find any twigs?  I need to get this nest finished quickly because my eggs are coming,” urgently called Mother Robin Redbreast. “Shady, I need you to dig up some fresh mud to use as glue to hold the twigs together,” she urges Shady again.

Shady finds a nice spot in yard, near the tree and begins to dig a big hole which soon fills with rain water and the dirt becomes mud to be used in the Robin’s nest.  At the bottom of the muddy hole Shady finds a rotten old bone she had buried last year which is now just stinky enough for a good chewing.

The next morning Mrs. Robin calls, “Shady, we have good news!  Last night I laid 3 eggs. They are a beautiful color called Robin's Egg Blue!”

“Congratulations!” exclaimed Shady. “I can’t wait to meet the chicks.”

“We’ll have to wait 2 weeks for the chicks to finish growing inside their eggs.  Then they will be strong enough to crack the shells to come out into the world,” Mrs. Robin explained.

Later in the springtime, Shady glances up at the Robin’s nest and is surprised to see 2 fluffs of feathers standing on the edge of the nest.

“Be careful little birds!  You’re scaring me!” shouted Shady.

“Shady, don’t worry it’s just flying lessons,” said Mother Robin.

With all this stress of flying lessons Shady decides to lie down directly under the nest, in case a tiny bird doesn’t quite know how to fly and needs her soft Labrador stomach for a landing pad.

Little Regina Robin flaps her tiny wings and jumps off the nest and into the blue sky!  She climbs up through the air when suddenly and very quickly little Regina Robin begins to fall through the branches.....

The Case of the Missing Lunch Money

Shady the Detective is out for her stroll around the meadow on a cold Colorado winter morning when Bam!  she is knocked hard to the snowy ground.  Suddenly she feels hot breath in her ear and hears a snarling voice, "Stay out of our side of the meadow, or else!"

Shady is not going to be beaten down by these Bullies of the Meadow.  Unfortunately the Coyote Family has been bullying residents of the meadow for years.  In this story, Shady the Detective stands up to the Coyote Family and protects those who aren't strong enough to fight the pack .

The mystery in this story is the missing (or stolen?) lunch money.  Fawn Mule Deer has been lying to her parents and teachers about losing her lunch money, as well as, many of her other belongings. The Mule Deer family calls in Shady the Detective to solve this case for them. After all the hard work, Shady being true to form, helps everyone understand their unique importance to the healthy meadow neighborhood.

This is a clever story that addresses Bullying from all sides:  the victim and their family, the Bullies and their family and all the witnesses to these crimes. In this story not only are the Bullies controlled but they are brought to a place of self awareness and confidence so they are more likely to leave their fighting ways behind.

Join us for a twisting, turning tale of good brought about by that smart Detective, Shady!

We, of course, have always loved Shady the Detective but now our blog is allowing more people to view the stories.  As of today, Shady the Detective blog has been viewed by 7 countries:  USA, Russia, Germany, Qatar, Canada, Japan and South Korea.  This amounts to a total of 212 page views mostly from the US and Russia.

We'd like to say "Hello" to our friends in the US, Qatar and Japan, and "Welcome" to those folks from Russia, Germany, Canada and South Korea.

Stay tuned for more mysteries from Shady the Detective!