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Fire Thunder’s gaze turned back to the old bull Gaining on him, he whirled his lariat in the air over his head

Black Hair was riding side by side with the bull He swung his lariat and cut the air in front of the bull’s nose

Fire Thunder reined his horse off to the side, his ani ht his coiled rope down over the old bull’s nose

The rope landed with a whack The old bull snorted and turned, his horn tips barely

Fire Thunder swung his rope in the air in a wide circle, then slung it over the old bull’s head and tightened it

The longhorn yanked and jerked against both ropes, then snorted and stood quiet

Breathing hard, Fire Thunder watched his warriors round up the rest of the herd, the stor on past them overhead

The herd’s panic evaporated, with only a few continuing in wild plunging lopes

The warriors cut in front of the longhorns, moved them into a mill, then turned the ain

“I thought we had lost them,” Black Hair said as he rode beside Fire Thunder toward the river

“Longhorns are a stubborn lot, that is for sure,” Fire Thunder said, s at Black Hair “But not as stubborn as you or I, my friend”

Black Hair laughed and nodded

Fire Thunder yanked his wat

er-soaked, red cotton bandanna from around his brow and used it to wipe the rain froth, coal-black hair back from his shoulders as he stuck the bandanna into the pocket of his buckskin shirt His fringed buckskin outfit clung to hiood protection against rope burns, were noet, tight, and abrasive

“We will cross the border with the steers at the Rio Grande under the cover of darkness, go on until we reach the foot of our ht,” Fire Thunder said He looked upward The moon was only a tiny sliver in the sky

“Yes, that is best,” Black Hair said, nodding “The steers are tired after their run They would et them safely up the mountain pass”

“Even I“But it has been a good day for us, horns stolen froo e lived in Texas Now that we live in Mexico, we have enough land to take back the steers that were stolen from us And we shall, until the number we steal matches that which was stolen from us”

Reins slack in his hands, Fire Thunder let his steed pick its oay through the darkness It was now a night of scudding clouds, which inter the dark seem blacker in sudden contrast

The air was horns