[Cow-Country by B. M. Bower]@TWC D-Link bookCow-Country CHAPTER TWO: THE TRAIL HERD 20/23
But the herd was crazy for the water, and the foremost were plunged headlong into the soft mud where they mired, trampled under the hoofs of those who came crowding from behind. Someone shouted, close to the wagon yet down the bank at the edge of the water.
The words were indistinguishable, but a warning was in the voice. On the echo of that cry, a man screamed twice. "Ezra!" cried mother fiercely.
"It's Frank Davis--they've got him down, somehow.
Climb over the backs of the cattle--There's no other way--and GET HIM!" "Yas'm, Missy!" Ezra called back, and then Buddy saw him go over the herd, scrambling, jumping from back to back. Buddy remembered that always, and the funeral they had later in the day, when the herd was again just trail-weary cattle feeding hungrily on the scanty grass.
Down at the edge of the creek the carcasses of many dead animals lay half-buried in the mud.
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