It reminded Daniel of how she used to rope and barrel race back inhigh school. He couldn't believe she still had it after seven years. She looked as beautiful and graceful as ever in the saddle. He hadn't tested his own rodeo skills of steer wrestling and team roping for years, but he'd been pretty good back in the day.
Twenty minutes later, Flash made a break for it again, bolting straight toward the edge of the steep rocky slope. If he made it over, he'd end up at the bottom of the thirty-foot drop with multiple broken bones. They'd have to put him down.
Riley unstrapped her rope and kicked Misty in the flanks, racing after the steer.
Daniel followed, in case she wasn't successful in roping the runaway. They would need to head him off before he got too close to the edge.
When Riley threw her rope, she only managed to snag a single horn, which Flash promptly shook off with a flick of his head before increasing his speed. He headed straight for the veritable cliff.
Daniel swore and urged Rebel to run faster. He'd never seen a seven-to-eight-hundred-pound steer move so fast.
"Be careful, Daniel!" Riley shouted, following him. "If you don't turn him soon, all three of you will go over."
Daniel judged the distance to the steer—just over ten yards—then he checked the distance to the edge of the precipice—roughly thirty yards. His stomach clenched. Riley was right. If he didn't turn this steer soon, they were all in trouble.
Getting beyond Flash would bring him and Rebel much closer to the cliff's edge than he wanted. That left only one option. Take Flash down.
He hadn't wrestled a steer in ten years, but he knew what needed to be done, and he was a lot stronger now than he used to be.
He guided Rebel up beside the steer. "You know what to do, boy."
Daniel took a deep breath, focused on both Rebel's and Flash's movements, ignored whatever it was that Riley shouted at him, and let go of the reins. He kicked his feet from the stirrups and with a final glance at the edge of the cliff that was less than twenty yards awaynow, he launched himself off Rebel's back, doing his best to divert the horse's direction as he dropped onto the steer's neck.
Although he landed where he needed to, his right hand slipped off Flash's horn initially. Laying on the steer’s neck, he scrambled and managed to hook his left arm around the horn in the proper hold. He was harder to shake off than Riley's rope and the steer's momentum slowed considerably. Slowed, but didn't stop.
Daniel pulled his right arm in as tight as he could and lifted his left elbow, wrenching the steer's neck down and to the side. He dug in his heels. The wily animal was not only faster than he looked but he was stronger too. Which was saying something because he looked plenty strong.
Daniel renewed his efforts as the edge of the cliff drew closer. Engaging his core, he curled his right shoulder forward, pulled his left elbow back a little farther, and brought the steer to the ground with a thud.
When the bovine finally dropped, an audible pop sounded next to Daniel's ear and splitting pain pierced his shoulder. Groaning in agony, he kept Flash down until Riley rode Misty between them and the cliff. It felt like an eternity, but probably wasn't more than a few seconds.
"Are you crazy?” Her voice was high-pitched and so loud it echoed off the rock walls below them. “I can't believe you did that."
Daniel released Flash's horns and rolled away, attempting to cradle his arm by his side, but the slightest movement intensified the excruciating pain in his shoulder. He was vaguely aware of Riley pushing Flash toward the herd and Jake yelling something at them, but it all felt muddled and disjointed in his head, overpowered by the sound of the blood pulsing in his ears. The throbbing in his left shoulder kept time with the pounding in his head.
Hoof beats vibrated the ground beside him, and Riley slid down from Misty's back before the horse even came to a stop. "What's wrong? Why are you still laying there?" She dropped to her knees.
"I wrecked my shoulder." The words came out through clenched teeth.
"Let me see." She cupped her hand under his elbow and began gently probing up his arm.
The closer she got to his shoulder, the more her gentle touch hurt. He groaned and flinched.
"Sorry," she said.
Not sorry enough to stop probing, however.
More hoof beats drew near as Riley hit the shoulder joint. Daniel sucked in a sharp breath then let it out in a hiss. It was all he could do to keep from letting loose a string of swear words.
Jake reined in Thor on Daniel's other side. "What happened?"
"Daniel dislocated his shoulder when he wrestled that stupid steer to the ground."
"I knew that beast was going to give us trouble again." Jake shook his head. "I'll be glad to get rid of that one." Jake took a knee beside Daniel. "Are you going to try to set it out here?"
Riley chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before answering. "I'd love to be able to give him some pain meds before I do, but riding back to the ranch will be extremely painful if we don’t set it first."
"You can say that again." Daniel pushed himself upright then regretted the movement as another sharp wave of pain pierced his shoulder. He groaned, again biting back curse words.
