you send somebody?â
âIâm here. I was just headed to your place. You got tools to cut it?â
âYes,â she replied, âBut I canât get close enough to do anything.â
âThe best way to do this is to tranq him, but I donât have any drugs. Do you?â
âNo. I donât. I called Kevin, but heâs on another emergency call on the other side of Duncan. Even if he left now, heâs still over an hour away.â
âKevin?â Zac repeated with a frown. âWhoâs Kevin?â
âKevin Clarkson,â she replied. âHeâs my vet.â
âThat bullâs not gonna stand there and wait on him.â
âI know that.â She gnawed her lip. âWhat can we do?â
âHang on until I get there, okay? Weâll figure it out. Just promise me you wonât go near him, Delaney. I know youâve been handling them for a few years, but bad shit happens even to the most experienced ranch hands when it comes to bulls. Promise me you wonât put yourself in danger.â
âI promise, Zac,â she sighed. âI know when Iâm in over my head.â
âIâm coming now. Just tell me where you are,â he said, whipping the truck around. The only safe way out of this predicament was with the help of another cowboy and a coupla solid roping horses. Seconds after getting her location, Zac was pounding on the bunkhouse door.
âCâmon, olâ timer,â he called out to Bart. âGet your gear. We got us a bull to rope. And bring a shotgun . . . just in case.â He hoped they wouldnât need it, but with an injured bull, they had to be prepared for anything. Bulls were unpredictable under even the best of circumstances. Injury made them even more dangerous.
Zac then headed straight to the corral. It wasnât hard to pick his horse from the bunch. The star-shaped scar on the bayâs ass told him the old gelding had experience with bulls. Heâd know better than any of the other horses not to turn his backside to one. Zac was already tightening the saddle girth by the time Bart appeared with saddle slung over his shoulder and rifle in his hand.
âWhereâs the fire?â the old man mumbled as Zac grabbed the shotgun.
âItâs gonna be under your ass if you donât move it along,â Zac shot back. Ignoring the old-timerâs grumbling about whippersnappers, Zac slid the rifle into his saddle holster. âCanât wait on you, old man. Catch up quick as you can, okay?â Bart grunted back something unintelligible as Zac threw a leg over his horse. Plying a spur to the bay, he rode out at a full gallop.
Twenty minutes of hard riding had Delaneyâs ATV in sight. It was parked along the fence, but he didnât see her. Where the hell was she? He prayed sheâd heeded his warning. He exhaled in relief when he spotted her about ten yards south of the vehicle, standing maybe twenty feet from the tangled bull, wire cutters in hand. She turned her head slowly at his approach. He was glad to see she had sense to keep her body positioned toward the bull.
Although the animal was still standing, which heâd initially taken as a good sign, on closer inspection he found the bull wide-eyed and panting with blood dripping from his rear legs, where the wire was coiled tightly around its canon bones and pasterns.
âZac! Youâve got to help him?â Delaney cried tearfully. âCaesar retreated with only a few scratches, but Romeoâs all tangled up. Thank God he hasnât panicked yet.â She darted a worried look to the bull. âHeâs bleeding pretty badly, Zac. What are we going to do?â
Rubbing his chin, Zac appraised the situation. The animalâs back legs were bound together with tangled wire, which hampered his mobility, but Zac knew not to underestimate his strength. If he had Bart, they could rope his head and front legs