The Case of the Hooking Bull by John R. Erickson Read Free Book Online

’em might try to get into your pocket.”
    The boy nodded.
    â€œNow,” Slim pressed his lips together, “if the bull don’t want to cooperate, I may have to take more drastic measures, such as put my nylon around his horns and drag him into the trailer. It could get a little western, so keep out of the way.”
    â€œOkay, Swim. But I don’t want you to wope the bull.”
    â€œNeither do I, Button, but that’s up to him. I’ll take Hank with me.”
    HUH?
    I, uh, eased down on the floorboard and tried to make myself invisible. Maybe if I flattened myself on the floor, he might think . . .
    â€œHank, come on. I may need you to put some bite on that bull’s nose.”
    At that moment, Drover spoke. “I think Slim wants you for something.”
    â€œNo, I think he was calling you.”
    â€œNo, he said ‘Hank,’ I’m almost sure he did, and my name’s Drover, so I guess he decided to put in the first string, and I’ll just have to sit this one out.”
    â€œI’ll bet that breaks your heart.”
    â€œYeah, I was sure looking forward to going a round or two with that old bull.”
    â€œHank! Get out of that pickup, let’s go.”
    I pushed myself up and, hmm, noticed that my legs were trembling. “All right, you little weasel, I’ll do your dirty work for you, but this will go in my report—every word of it.”
    â€œOh rats, but I’ll bark from here, Hank. Maybe that’ll help.”
    â€œThanks a lot, Drover.”
    â€œOh, it was the least I could do.”
    â€œYes, I’m aware of that, you little . . .”
    It seems that Slim got impatient and reached in and grabbed me by the tail and hauled me outside, and that really wasn’t necessary, I’d only wanted to take care of a little business with Drover and . . .
    Slim stepped into the saddle and pulled his hat down. Then he glanced down at me. “You ready for this, pooch? Let’s go exercise that old bull.”
    He rode forward through the herd. The cattle stared at him with big stupid eyes and parted to let him through. I fell in behind the horse. My enthusiasm for this project was, well, running at a fairly low level, mainly because my involvement was depriving Drover of valuable, much needed experience.
    Slim maneuvered his horse around until only one animal stood in his path. The bull’s ears were cocked and he was watching the horse’s every move.
    â€œHyah, go on, bull! Get on out of here!”
    The bull sensed that he had been cut off from the herd. He moved to the right and Slim cut him off. He moved to the left and Slim turned him back again. The bull shook his head and stood his ground.
    Slim took down his catch rope, pulled the loop down to where it was just a knot, and let out about seven feet of slack. Then he flipped the rope so that the knot popped Mr. Bull on the nose.
    WHAP!
    That got his attention! He whirled around and started trotting away from the herd. Well, that had been easy enough, and I figgered this might be a good time for me to install my Anti-Bull Procedures. Barking at the top of my lungs, I rushed past the horse and sank my teeth into the left rear hock of this large but cowardly . . .
    One detail a guy tends to forget about these bulls is that, while they’re very large and appear to be slow and dim-witted, they’re actually none of those things except large. I mean, it’s hard to believe that a bull weighing in at 1,300 or 1,400 pounds can turn on a dime and give you the change.
    But they can. And he did.
    And I sure wasn’t expecting him to do that. And I don’t think I’ll tell you what happened next.

Chapter Eight: What Happened Next

    H ey, I had worked bulls before. I knew they were capable of inflicting big damage if they got half a chance, but I also knew that once you get a bull turned and running off in the right direction, 97.4 percent of the time