Middle Grades Historical Fiction Adventure- Tahoe in the 1800's!

The sun had not yet risen when Joe Sampson stood before his bedroom window, hesitating as he studied the distance to the ground below. It occurred to him that this might have been one reason that his father had added a second story to their log house in the Tahoe wilderness, to make it harder for his twelve-year-old son to sneak out with no one noticing. It might be harder, Joe thought to himself, but not impossible. 

Everyone got up early on a ranch because there was so much to do but at this hour no one else was awake yet, not even any of the many hired ranch hands over in the bunkhouse. Joe reached out to grab a thin branch that his Pa had probably considered too narrow to support anyone’s weight so he hadn’t bothered to trim it off. He was wrong. Joe was a slim boy and short for his age. That flimsy branch would hold his weight just fine. He knew because he had done it before.

He took minutes to descend noiselessly using the tree. Joe chuckled to himself. It was a good thing his was the only window on this side of the house or he might wake someone up passing by. As he landed softly, he welcomed the gentle tongue and wagging tail of his faithful red and white cow dog, Bear. Joe patted the dog with a grin and made off toward the tree line. He would still have to move quickly to get to the pond before one of his brothers, his Pa or a nosy hand spotted him. Along the way, he grabbed his bait pail from where he had stashed it.