She Bought the Bull Nobody Could Handle…Every Rancher in the County Was at Her Gate by Spring.
Chapter 5
Emma didn’t sleep.
At dawn, she called Helen.
The veterinarian arrived with coffee and a worried expression.
“What happened?”
Emma showed her the ledger.
Helen read the page.
“Black Circle Stock?”
“You’ve heard of it?”
“No.”
“Then why do you look scared?”
Helen closed the ledger.
“Because your grandfather was not a man who wrote things like this without reason.”
Emma looked toward the pasture.
“Someone wants Midnight.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Helen hesitated.
“Maybe you should ask Wade Mercer.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
“I’d rather ask the bull.”
Helen smiled.
But the smile disappeared when Midnight suddenly kicked at the ground.
He had spotted a horse trailer approaching.
Wade stepped out.
Behind him were two men.
Emma walked to the gate.
“I told you to stop coming here.”
Wade ignored her.
“I brought a buyer.”
“I don’t care.”
“He’ll pay fifty thousand.”
“No.”
Wade stared at her.
“You don’t even know what he’s worth.”
“Apparently more than fifty thousand.”
“You’re making a mistake.”
“Maybe.”
Wade stepped closer.
“You should sell.”
Emma’s voice hardened.
“Why are you so desperate?”
Wade looked at Midnight.
“Because that bull isn’t just livestock.”
“What is he?”
Wade said nothing.
Emma stepped closer.
“Tell me.”
Wade’s jaw tightened.
Then he said:
“He is the last one.”
The words hung in the air.
“The last one of what?”
Wade turned away.
“You don’t want to know.”
Emma grabbed the gate.
“I already do.”
Wade looked back.
“Your grandfather knew.”
Emma froze.
“How?”
“He asked questions.”
“What happened to him?”
Wade didn’t answer.
Emma’s face changed.
“You know.”
Wade looked uncomfortable.
“I know he was warned.”
“By whom?”
“By people who don’t warn twice.”
Then he walked away.
That night, Emma returned to the ledger.
She found a hidden pocket inside the cover.
A folded map.
It showed the county.
Several properties were circled.
Mercer’s ranch.
The auction yard.
An abandoned feed mill.
And her own ranch.
At the bottom was a handwritten sentence:
They move them in spring.
Emma stared.
What did “them” mean?
She called Helen.
No answer.
She called Wade.
No answer.
Then she heard something outside.
Midnight was roaring.
Emma grabbed a flashlight.
The bull stood at the far fence.
Across the road, headlights were moving slowly.
A truck.
Emma watched it stop.
Two men got out.
They opened the gate to the pasture.
Midnight charged.
The men ran.
One dropped a tranquilizer rifle.
Emma realized what they were trying to do.
She sprinted outside.
“Get away from him!”
The men fled.
Midnight stopped.
His eyes were wide.
Emma approached.
He lowered his head.
She placed her hand against his forehead.
“You’re safe.”
Behind him, she noticed something on the ground.
A small metal tag.
She picked it up.
On one side was Midnight’s identification number.
On the other was a single word.
SURVIVOR.
