The Renegade Read Online Free

Sam.
    What? If he thought she’d purposely egged Slocum into making a fool of himself, Jake was wrong.
    “Hey, you two-thousand-pound cheeseburger,” Slocum shouted, “show the little lady what you got!”
    Flinging his bulky body toward the fence, Slocum started to climb.
    Maniac didn’t warn again. He trotted two surprisingly graceful steps, feinted his horns to the left, then slammed forward into the fence.
    Slocum fell. The side of the corral was still shuddering when he stood, dusted himself off, and gave a breathless laugh.
    The bull stood huffing, eager for another dare.
    “I guess you’re right,” Sam said quickly. She didn’t want him to tease the bull anymore. “He’s fierce.”
    “Darn tootin’ I’m right. And I’m not the only onewho thinks so.” Slocum beckoned Sam to come closer.
    Struggling to be polite, she moved toward him.
    “Last week, d’you know who I had out here?”
    Sam shook her head.
    “Karla Starr, of Starr Rodeo Productions. She’s just getting started and you might not have heard of her yet, but you will.” Slocum rubbed his hands together. “She’s a cowgirl. Just a little bit of a thing, not much bigger than you, but tough. Oh my, yes, tough as a boot heel and ready to go up against the big boys who breed rough stock for rodeos. That’s bucking bulls and horses,” Slocum added, “in case you didn’t know.
    “Karla gets rough stock the old-fashioned way. She doesn’t breed ’em on a big fancy ranch. She buys renegade horses and outlaw bulls from cowboys--and ranchers like me.”
    Sam could tell he liked the sound of that. Puffed up with pride, Slocum gave the words “ranchers like me” a chance to echo around the hot, silent ranch yard.
    If only he knew how ignorant he sounded.
    Renegade horses weren’t born man-haters. Most had been ruined by careless, impatient humans. Sam wouldn’t be surprised to learn it was the same with “outlaw” bulls.
    Some of the old ways had died out because rodeo fans couldn’t stand such cruelty. In the past, hundreds of mustangs were trapped, crowded into high-sided trucks, and driven hours across country. Once theyreached a rodeo arena, the thirsty animals stampeded out of the truck, only to be roped and blindfolded while men slammed saddles on their backs.
    Men were injured once in a while, but others usually twisted a mustang’s tail or bit his ear--anything to paralyze the horse with fear until a cowboy was jammed into the saddle. Sam imagined the horses could only compare men’s weight and spurring to a cougar attack.
    Those were the “good old days” of rodeo. Slocum should be smart enough to know they’d ended for a reason.
    “Karla Starr thinks Maniac and some of my other Brahmas could be rodeo celebrities.” Slocum savored the syllables as they rolled off his tongue. “She’s willing to give my critters a try in a late-fall rodeo in California--if I sweeten the deal a little.”
    Sam noticed Jake was still nearby, listening, but since he didn’t ask the question, she did.
    “What does that mean, ‘sweeten the deal’?” Sam asked.
    “Well, she was looking for light-colored bucking horses, mainly. Had her eye on the palominos, but Kenworthy won’t sell.”
    Sam wondered where Slocum had found the nerve to even ask the Kenworthys to sell the last of their palominos. Before they went broke and sold out to Slocum, the Kenworthys had been known not only for their prime cattle but for Quarter horseswith palomino coloring.
    Only four of the horses remained. Two were mares, Mantilla and Silk Stockings, the skittish horse Jen called Silly. The other two were geldings. Jed Kenworthy rode Sundance in cutting competitions and Gold Champagne was the horse Slocum called Champ.
    Sam was afraid to ask why Slocum hadn’t sold Champ to Karla Starr, but he must have read her frown.
    “I would’ve thrown Champ into the deal, but he just won’t buck no matter what you do to him.”
    The words made Sam sick. So how had he