The Bull Rider's Return by Joan Kilby

Author:Joan Kilby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781949068788
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Published: 2018-08-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Cody straddled the rails above the chute, elated at his good luck to have Baby Huey as his ride again in the short round. If nothing else he could be certain of a spirited performance from the black bull pawing and snorting in the chute.

Cody had a good feeling about this round in spite of the nagging pain in his shoulder that even heavy-duty painkillers couldn’t totally erase. This was his big moment. If he won he would get five thousand in prize money plus enough points to put him near the top of the PRCA ladder.

He could put some money down on that new truck. Or maybe forego that for a while and make a deposit on a small house…

Hearing the announcer introduce him by name he brushed those thoughts away and his immediate surroundings rushed back. The noise of the crowd, the smell of the bull, the heat and the dust, the awareness that Kelly and Ricky were out in the stands cheering for him.

Cody lowered himself onto Baby Huey’s back and hooked his hand around the rope, adjusting his seat as the two-ton monster stamped and snorted. He nodded at the cowboy holding the gate. It opened. The bull charged out, bucking and spinning. Baby Huey was having a king-sized tantrum. Cody gritted his teeth, keeping his free hand high in the air, gripping the wide belly of the bull with his legs till his thighs ached. He had no idea of his time, only that he was still riding the maelstrom. Every second felt like an hour. He was whirled and flung up, hitting the bull’s back in a bang, his spine wrenched this way and that, thrown about endlessly. But like a limpet, he held on. And on.

The buzzer went. His blood thrilled to the sound and he broke into a wide grin. He’d made it. The ride of his life. The crowd was roaring. As he started to disentangle his hand from the rope to dismount he looked up in the stands, searching for Kelly’s face.

Big mistake.

Baby Huey didn’t know the ride was over. He continued to buck and spin. Before the horse riders could pull him off, Cody slipped down the bull’s side. The rope tightened around his elbow. He was being dragged beneath the bull. A cloven hoof stepped hard on his calf. The rope got tighter and tighter, biting into his forearm. With a tremendous buck, the bull yanked and Cody’s arm was torn from its socket.

Pain shrieked through his shoulder. The bullfighters surrounded the bull, dancing him to a standstill long enough for Cody to roll out from under the sweating, panting beast. Another cowboy unwrapped the rope from Cody’s arm and helped him to the rails where two more men boosted him up and over. His arm felt loose and floppy, and it wouldn’t work when he tried to grab the rail. He fell to the ground on the other side of the fence. Winded and dazed, he sat there trying to summon the energy to get to his feet.

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