“The bear is loose! The bear is loose!”
“Wake the Señor!”
Ramon jerked awake. “Betsy, wake up!”
The grizzly stormed toward his bull at the water tank.
He jumped to his feet. “Ayeeee! Toro!”
The bear whirled around, saw Ramon and Betsy. Within moments it towered over them like a mountain. Betsy covered her face, screamed. Dripping saliva from its mouth, the bear gnashed its teeth and opened its jaws. Ramon threw his arms over Betsy and cringed for the attack.
The earth rumbled. The bear grunted. Toro thrust his horns into the bear’s side. The force of the charge knocked the grizzly to the ground. Ramon pulled Betsy to her feet and they darted out of the way of the two titans. Toro spun around for another charge but the bear regained its balance, rose on its hind legs, and growled at the bull’s challenge. Toro pawed the dirt and charged. The grizzly seized the bull’s horns with its claws and threw him to the earth. The bear lunged for the bull’s neck but Toro arched his back, dropped his head, and slipped free.
Outside now, the whole rancho clung to fences, roofs, ladders, and posts, watching the fight. Ramon and Betsy, mesmerized by the battle before them, slowly backed away to the corral fence.
Señor Ortega and Luis pushed their way through the crowd. Luis leaned on the fence, grabbed Ramon, pulled him tight against it.
“Aaaaah!” Ramon turned his head. “Oh, Papa, look, its Toro! He will be killed! Shoot the bear!” He lunged forward, clutched Betsy around the waist.
“Ramon—Betsy, stay back, you will get hurt.” Luis grasped both of them.
The bull, panting heavily, muscles tight, charged full speed. The bear jumped aside, cuffed Toro behind the head, tearing away a chunk of hide. The spectators groaned.
Ramon leaped up and down. “Again Toro, spike him again!”
The bleeding bull spun around and drove his horns deep into the bear’s shoulder. Blood streamed out. Eyes ablaze, teeth gleaming, the grizzly struck at the bull’s flank but the blow missed its mark. Toro plunged another bloody horn into the bear’s side.
Ramon, pinned against the fence, prayed to the Virgin Mary. “Please, Mother—spare him.”
The grizzly rotated, grabbed the bull’s horns with its paws, and threw Toro to the dirt. The bear pounced on the struggling bull, ripped at him with giant claws, and tore away a piece of the bull’s shoulder. Blood poured out of the wound onto the ground.
The crowd gasped, waited for the kill. Ramon’s dark eyes flashed. He broke his father’s grip, grabbed a section of buck rail lying by the fence, and bolted toward the combatants. Betsy fell to the ground in terror.
“Ramon!” Luis climbed the fence.
Señor Ortega stopped him. “Luis, my men will help him.”
“Ramon is my son. It is up to me.” Luis started to hop the fence but his injured arm gave way and he fell back.
“Toro, Toro!” Ramon yelled at his fallen bull. He gripped the log with both hands, leaped high as he could, and whacked the grizzly across the back of its head.
The bear, dazed for a moment, let out a shattering roar and turned to the boy standing a few feet away with a broken piece of rail. Ramon backed away, dropped the board, and dashed across the corral toward Betsy. The enraged grizzly dropped on its four paws, chased Ramon, and cornered them both.
Betsy, dazed, looked up at the furry monster about to smother them. “Aieeeeek! Ramon!”
Ramon shoved her aside and faced the bear alone.
The crowd pushed against the fence. The rails quivered. “Kill the bear! Kill the bear!”
Señor Ortega waved to his men. “Get your rifles.”
Teeth flashing, spitting saliva, the grizzly reared on its hind legs above Ramon. The boy dove for the fence but hit his head on a rail and bounced backward. He cowered beneath the bear, waiting for the deathblow.
A short time earlier, Ed and Kathleen Crowley had pulled up in their buggy at the rancho’s main house. They heard the shouts and cries coming from the corral. “We’d better see what’s going on.” Ed helped his wife out of the buggy.
“I want to find Betsy,” she said.
They saw the crowd surrounding the corral and hurried to it. The bear towered over everyone.
“The grizzly’s loose!” Mrs. Crowley ran to the gate and saw her daughter lying in the dirt. “Betsy! The bear will kill her. Oh my God! Ed—shoot it!”
“I don’t have my gun,” he said. “Ortega! My daughter—do something!”
Spectators screamed, waved hats, bandannas, and shirts. The distracted bear turned toward Betsy and blared louder. The wild-eyed girl cringed, opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The grizzly reared higher.
Just then, a bellow shattered the early-morning air. Cut and battered, Toro charged and rammed his horns into the bear, breaking its back. The grizzly reeled dizzily, bleeding profusely, and slumped on its haunches. The bull attacked again, thrusting his horns into the bear’s neck. Each time Toro slammed into his enemy, blood poured out in gushes. The grizzly exhaled a dying groan and fell backward over Ramon.
The crowd sighed. Señor Ortega slapped Luis on the back.
“Ramon, Ramon...” Luis took a deep breath when he saw his son’s arm sticking out from the furry prison.
Señor Ortega and the other men leapt into the bloody battleground and quickly dug Ramon from underneath the grizzly.
Toro, bleeding and panting, trotted to the corral’s center. The big Spanish bull wheeled toward his kill, snorted, and blared like a locomotive ready to jump track. His eyes blazed; he pawed the earth for the charge.
The crowd stirred again. Their chattering turned into cries, shouts. “Toro’s wild! A killer! Get Ramon and the girl out!”
Señor Ortega pulled the dazed Ramon to his feet, wiped dirt and blood off his face.
Ed Crowley leaped over the fence and picked up Betsy. “Oh, honey.” He hugged her.
“Daddy.”
Luis limped into the corral, put his arms around his son, and gave him a long hug. “Are you all right?”
Ramon spit out dirt, blinked his eyes. “I think so. What about Betsy?”
“Her father’s with her.”
Ramon looked at the bear, then at Toro; he started toward the bull.
Luis held him tight. “Toro has just killed the beast. He is no longer safe.”
The anxious throng watched Ramon struggle with his father. Their scattered shouts grew louder. “Stay back, Ramon! A killer bull! The fight’s still with him!”
Ramon paid no attention to the crowd. He broke free from Luis’s grip. The crowd moaned. Some of the women fainted.
“He is still my friend.” Ramon ran to his wounded bull, still snorting and spraying dirt. Crying and laughing, he threw his arms around the bull’s bloody neck. “Toro, my Toro.”
The bull pawed the ground, slowly dipped his head, and wagged his tail. He nudged Ramon with his nose. Ramon squeezed the bull’s neck tighter and laid his head between Toro’s horns.
Betsy ran to Toro and wrapped her arms around his neck next to Ramon’s. He looked at her, smiled, and put a hand on her arm.
The aroused rancho relaxed, broke into shouts, and clapped their hands. “Olé! Olé! Viva Toro! Viva Ramon!”
Luis and Señor Ortega watched the boy, his bull, and the young girl, and smiled at each other.
Kathleen Crowley rushed into the corral. “Betsy, you’re safe—thank God.”
Betsy looked up. “Thanks to Toro—he saved my life.”
“I saw.” Mrs. Crowley embraced her daughter. “Ramon and his Toro are very brave.” She motioned to her husband.
Ed Crowley stood next to Señor Ortega. “Under the circumstances, I think we can extend your mortgage. Or maybe we will come up with a new contract.”
Señor Ortega smiled gratefully.
“There’s a new market opening up and you may have
the cattle to fulfill it,” Crowley said. “And as for the fighting bulls, I think Toro ha
s demonstrated their worth.”
“Gracias.” Ortega shook Ed Crowley’s hand hard and walked over to the two warriors. He put one hand on Ramon’s shoulder and patted the bull with his other hand. “You won after all, my boy. Toro will never fight again. He will become the sire of the greatest line of fighting bulls ever produced.”
Ramon looked up at the Señor. “Thank you, Padrone.” He rushed to Luis, wrapped his arms around his father. “I love you, Papa.”
Luis squeezed his son. “Your mother would be proud.”
“I wish she was here with us.” A tear started down Ramon’s cheek.
Luis looked skyward. “I am sure she is looking down on us.”
Toro stood quietly beside them. Luis, eyes wet, glanced from Ramon to Toro. He embraced his son tighter.
Applause broke out again and flowers began falling on the grim battleground.
The Bear and the Bull Page 7
