Free Soiled Dove by Brenda Adcock Page B

finally move. She watched the steer turn away again as the heifers approached. “You want me to get him for you?” Clare called out with a laugh.
    Ino waved his hand at her dismissively as he opened the loop at one end of his rope. Clare watched as the vaquero swung his rope and released it, letting it fall over the steer’s head. Zeke draped a second rope around its neck. They pulled the slack from the ropes and began up the hill, dragging the reluctant steer behind them. Clare turned in her saddle in time to see the steer jerk against the ropes attempting to escape, nearly pulling Ino from his saddle in the process.
    “Ino! Let’s go!” Clare yelled back at him. She was about a hundred yards ahead of him and his stubborn friend.
    “Yeah, yeah!” he called back with a smile.
    “Ino!” Zeke yelled suddenly as he began backing his horse up.
    Clare’s eyes widened as she saw the rope in Ino’s gloved hand go slack. Before he was able to react, the animal lowered its head and charged into the side of his mount. The horse managed to stay on its feet, but reared, tossing Ino from the saddle. He hit the ground hard, momentarily stunned. Zeke tried valiantly to keep the steer under control and avoid another charge as Ino scrambled to get to his feet. In a limping run, Ino reached his horse, but couldn’t bring his leg up far enough to remount or release the rope. It was all he could do to avoid being trampled by his own horse’s hooves or hit by the angry steer. He managed to pull his rifle from its case near the saddle and chambered a round.
    “Ino! No!” Clare hollered as she raced back toward him. Her rope was already in motion and Ino lowered his rifle. The steer pawed the ground and lowered its head once again. As the big steer leaped toward Ino, Zeke was nearly jerked from his saddle.
    Ino grabbed the saddle horn with both hands and leapt onto his horse’s back as Clare launched her rope and caught one of the steer’s hind legs, stopping quickly and jerking the animal’s feet out from under him. Once the animal was on the ground, Ino collapsed over his horse’s shoulder for a moment to catch his breath. As soon as Caleb joined them, Clare transferred her rope to him and moved her horse alongside Ino and touched his shoulder.
    “What the hell happened, Ino?”
    “Dunno. Maybe he got hold of some loco weed or something, but he sure as hell wasn’t ready to go anywhere,” he answered, shaking his head.
    “You all right?”
    “Landed on a rock when I fell. Hurts like a son-of-a-bitch.”
    “Turn around and let me look.”
    Ino turned slightly in the saddle and bit his lower lip as he unbuttoned his coat. Clare lifted it and sucked in a breath. Blood soaked the back of the vaquero’s shirt. Carefully she pulled the shirt out and looked under it. There was a two inch tear below his right shoulder blade.
    “Might need a few stitches,” she said. “Other than this cut are you hurt anywhere else?”
    “No, just knocked the wind out of me, I reckon.
    I’m sorry, Clare.”
    “Not your fault,” she said.
    She dismounted and checked the condition of Ino’s horse. She patted the animal’s neck when she finished her inspection. “Might have a bruise or two, but otherwise he looks okay,” she reported.
    Ino smiled as he stroked his horse’s mane. “Sorry, fella.”
    “He’ll have a couple of days to rest until we get back from town,” Clare said. “Think you can manage those heifers while we take care of this bad boy?”
    “Yeah. No problem,” Ino nodded.
    Zeke and Caleb both had ropes around the steer’s head and forced him up the mountain between them even though he managed to fight them most of the way. He was fast becoming one of Clare’s most disagreeable animals and would find himself curing in the smokehouse by the next winter if they couldn’t keep him calmed down. Even though he was one of her best breeders, he could be replaced.
    By the time they released their strays to mingle with