Between the Living and the Dead by Bill Crider Read Free Book Online Page B

come out of the saddle to wrestle it to the ground.
    Wrestling the bull to the ground was out of the question, but Rhodes thought he might at least be able to get its attention and distract it from the child, who now appeared frozen in place. His mouth was open, and maybe he was screaming. Rhodes couldn’t hear him because of the roaring of his own blood in his ears.
    Rhodes released the rope, ran forward, and took the bull by the horns.

 
    Chapter 5
    Twisting the head of a steer when you’re coming off a horse isn’t easy. Twisting a bull’s head when you’re running alongside of it is next to impossible, or at least it was for Rhodes. The bull snorted and flipped its head, and Rhodes felt himself being lifted off the ground. He somehow hung on and kept twisting. The bull didn’t fall. It didn’t stumble. It didn’t even slow down. It did, however, turn slightly to the left, which was the side Rhodes was hanging on to.
    Encouraged, Rhodes tried to dig in his heels. He couldn’t, but the bull did turn a bit more to the left.
    Rhodes wondered if Alton Boyd was still hanging on to the rope. He didn’t dare look back, and for that matter he couldn’t really see what was ahead of him. Everything was pretty much a blur at the moment.
    After a couple of seconds Rhodes realized that someone was on the right side of the bull, running along and flapping a cowboy hat at it. Steadman, Rhodes thought. He was trying to help Rhodes turn the bull away from the mobile homes, and they were succeeding.
    The bull sped up, and Rhodes felt his feet skidding along the ground. He was no longer doing much to turn the bull. He was just hanging on for the ride. He thought about letting go, but he knew that wouldn’t be a good idea. Hanging on to the bull was bound to be better than bouncing off an asphalt parking lot.
    Steadman kept pace with the bull, swinging the hat. The bull flipped its head again as if trying to get rid of a particularly annoying insect. Rhodes felt his legs fly out almost parallel to the surface of the parking lot. He wondered what would happen if the bull just kept going like that battery-powered bunny in the TV commercials. Would the bull and Rhodes wind up in Mexico? Or maybe Canada, depending on the direction the bull took? Surely the bull would run down before that happened.
    Rhodes saw something in front of them. He tried to focus. It was the trailer, and now he heard yelling on his left. Several of the bull’s former pursuers were there, waving their arms and jumping around as if they were on a trampoline.
    Rhodes thought at first that they wanted to warn him about something, but then it occurred to him that they were trying to guide the bull into the trailer. With Steadman on one side and the men on the other, they’d formed a sort of corridor. If Rhodes could guide the bull down the middle and keep him from running over anybody, it might even work.
    Rhodes didn’t like to think about what might happen once he and the bull got into the trailer, assuming that they would. The trailer was big enough to hold the bull, and there would be plenty of room for Rhodes, too, but not if the bull decided to crush him against the side.
    Before Rhodes could think too much about that, it was too late for him to worry. The bull slowed, but not enough for Rhodes to take the chance of letting go, and then they were at the trailer. This was the critical moment. If the bull turned quickly, someone was going to get trampled, and if it didn’t go straight into the trailer, Rhodes was going to get raked off by the side.
    The bull didn’t turn. It ran up the middle of the ramp and into the trailer, coming to an abrupt stop just in time to avoid smashing into the front of it. The bull stood there trembling, its hot hide quivering. Rhodes let go of the horns and scrambled as quickly as he could up the board sides of the trailer.
    He flipped over the top and climbed down. He was