Ramon Montiel saves a bull calf from drowning and loves him as a pet. Toro is a fighting bull but won't fight a grizzly to save the rancho.
PROLOGUE
Nightfall descended on the open range. Lightning streaked across the dark sky. Rain pounded the dusty land with the fury of a full-blown storm. Ten-year-old Ramon Montiel kicked his pinto in the sides and galloped from arroyo to arroyo toward Rancho Ortega.
Near the base of the mountains, he reined up hard, almost slid over a gully’s bank. Below, in the gulch’s bed, fast filling with rushing water, lay the remains of a cow and a bull; their necks and flanks ripped apart. Eyes bulging, tongues protruding, the animals still writhed in their blood. Wailing beside them was a small, pure-black calf, trying to stand on shaky legs, in the rising torrent.
Ramon took one look at the soaring water surrounding the calf and leaped off his pony. He grabbed his reata and tied one end to the saddle horn. Pulling the rope tight as the pinto backed away, he worked his way down the muddy bank.
Thunder boomed overhead. The frightened calf shied away from Ramon, flopped in the swelling water, and struggled to stand. It bellowed in its small way until its nose was almost under water.
Ramon lunged for the calf but slipped, fell into the water, and was swept downstream. Grasping his rope, Ramon pulled himself back and grabbed the wet calf. His pony stood fast, kept the reata taut. Ramon squeezed the calf and slipped the lariat around its neck. The calf lurched into the water but Ramon held tight and pulled it to the bank.
The cow and bull carcasses lay in mud, their blood washing into the raging stream. The wind roared like a grizzly just before a kill. Ramon turned toward the sound, his eyes big and searching. He stood still, waited. Cold rain pelted his lean face. His hands tightened around the reata, cut into his fingers.
A few minutes later, Ramon cradled the calf in his arms and inched up the slippery bank. He fell twice but squeezed the calf to his chest until he climbed to level ground. “You are safe now, little Toro.” Lifting the calf over the pinto’s neck, he mounted, pressed one hand on the calf’s flank, and held the reins with his other hand.
Across the gorge, a lone horseman eased his large horse down the slick embankment into the water. “Ramon! Ramon!”
Startled, Ramon turned toward the sound. “Papa! I found a calf. Its mother and father were killed.”
Luis Montiel forced his horse through the swift water, dismounted, and limped toward Ramon. “The Señor’s prize bull and cow. A grizzly must have done this.” He picked up the loose end of the reata and looped it around the calf’s and pony’s necks. “That should keep him on. Now, Ramon, you get out of here, the bear may still be around.”
“Yes, Papa.” Ramon turned his pinto, patted the wiggling calf on the head, and urged his mount toward the rancho.
That's the first time I've seen the word reata. So I looked it up and, as expected it is Spanish for a noose. Forgive me, I don't read Western novels. ;-)
Also, I wasn't sure how Ramon returned to the Rancho unless he crossed that raging torrent that his father crossed a moment before. If I know anything about flash floods, even with a horse, they would be difficult to cross until the water subsided. It looks like you are setting me up a battle between the saved bull and the grizzly that killed the bull's prized parents.
There certainly was plenty of action and suspense in this short excerpt.
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