Sangre De Toro (Old Draft - Now Published!)

Chapter 21 - Peckish

'Get him in quickly. That crazy bastard in there's probably got a gun.' Someone took hold of Pepelito's tail and pulled it so hard he thought it would come off. His struggling didn't make any difference. Trusting humans had been stupid. Someone else kicked him hard in the side as he stood in front of the truck, trying to resist being forced in.

He dug his feet into the ground and kicked out with his back legs, knowing his life depended on it. From behind, someone hit him hard with a stick and he staggered halfway up the ramp, feeling blood on his feet.

He knew who that was.

He ran at the knackered out horse across the sand. The crowd screamed with delight. Maybe that would stop all these problems, all this pain, maybe the horse had something to do with it? He never liked horses, so unfriendly. Then, too late, he saw the spear in the rider's hand -

'Fuck is wrong with you?' the man spat at Pepelito as the bull tried to kick his legs. But as his tormentor waved the stick again, hooves slammed against the ground and heavy breathing grew louder. Maribel powered fast towards the truck, running straight for him, headbutting him so hard he fell into the fence and landed in a clump of stinging nettles. He swore, then let out a screech as the retired dairy cow stood on his groin.

One of the others kicked her. She pivoted towards her attacker, slamming her hind foot into the head of the man sitting in the nettles. He groaned, hit his head on a water trough and slumped into the plants. The rope slackened as Maribel scattered them. Pepelito heard them smacking her. She gave a frightened moo as one of the men grabbed her tail.

He couldn't let them do that.

As the rope loosened he reversed off the ramp towards Maribel's attackers. Pepelito tossed his head and caught one of them in the stomach. The scent of blood was powerful as it ran down his horn. The man shrieked and staggered backwards, clutching the wound. Maribel headbutted him in the back as he fell.

But moving his head so fast brought the pain from Pepelito's injuries back savagely. He tried to shuffle away backwards, thirsty and tired, as his feet stuck to patches of mud.

'Let's go, and run that cow over so we don't have trouble leaving,' one of them spat, the enclosure keeper who had beaten him for comforting Ladron.

The man Pepelito had caught with his horn scraped himself off the ground, gasping and grunting, as the bull tried to walk after Maribel, trembling with fear. As he tried to follow her the rope jerked hard, pulling his head back, dragging him away from his field, towards the truck, up the metal ramp. The cold, hard flooring hurt his feet. Unlike in Silvio's truck, there was no bedding or water. His head slammed into the side of the truck furthest from the door.

'That's what you get for escaping, toro manso,' another man said, wrenching at his tail as the rope was tied behind him. Was it the one he'd stood on earlier? He couldn't tell. He shut his eyes, crying silently.

'Let's just do the cow in and go. Come on, get in.' The enclosure keeper walked round to the front and got in, slamming the door hard. The door to the back of the truck crashed down and shook when it shut.

Pepelito couldn't see anything. He hated not being able to move. He tried to free himself. It was no use, everything he did restricted his movements even more. Ladron had known not to expect anything else. He'd given up in the end, he'd just acted how they wanted. Pepelito wondered if he should do the same.

'Andres?' Pepelito heard another guy shout, somewhere in front of the truck as the engine started. There was a soft hiss somewhere behind him.

'Andres? Wake up. Oh - fuck! Wake up! Wake up, will you!'

'We need an ambulance!'

'Don't be stupid, Tomas. Let's go, we've got what we came for,' the enclosure keeper shouted, as a chorus of honking and squawking grew louder. The man Pepelito had gored groaned in pain from the truck's passenger seat.

'Hospital,' he wailed.

'There's no pulse! He's dead!' Pepelito heard Tomas shout from outside. His whole body tensed up at the noise. Forced to keep his neck in one place, the still healing muscles were in agony. Something slammed against the door of the truck, startling him. As he struggled unsuccessfully to free himself, a clattering of wings, honking and hissing, drowned out the men's voices.

'Stupid bird. Get away from me! No!' Something hard and heavy thumped the side of the truck again. There was a loud squawk, a tremendous hiss as clothes tore and feathers flapped. Something clattered deep inside the farmhouse.

'Hijos de...get them away!' As the men shouted, there was a heavy thud, followed by two smaller ones and the sound of ripping fabric. One of the men yelled incoherently. The closest one to where Pepelito was trapped collapsed to the ground, sobbing.

'It's 5 in the morning, what's this crap, boys?' Silvio was shouting. The truck's back door slid open a crack and Pepelito took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the fresh air.

'What are you doing to my prize winning bull, son?' Silvio snarled. He marched up to the truck and tugged the door fully open. Pepelito saw two of his tormentors sobbing like babies, shielding themselves from the geese and their vicious, jagged beaks.

Their clothing was cut to ribbons. There were gashes on their faces. A third lay on his side in the mud, not moving, as two geese with bloody bills sat on him and pecked at his throat.

'He's a rescue, how dare you treat him like that?' Silvio said in a cold voice, jabbing one of the men with a stick. The man got to his feet, slowly and painfully, his eyes wild as they stared at the lifeless corpse.

'Who sent you, son?'

'Castella,' came the mumbled reply.

'Castella? What's the matter with him, man, can't he come himself?' Silvio gave him a withering look. He walked round to the front compartment of the truck, opened the door and reached past the back seat to the end of the rope. It tightened, then slackened, becoming looser. The skin on the top of Pepelito's head was rubbed raw and he flinched as the farmer freed him.

'Dear, oh dear,' Silvio shook his head, turning towards the body of Pepelito's other torturer as it lay in the stinging nettles. As the sun appeared on the horizon Maribel watched triumphantly from some distance away. With Castella's minions looking on miserably, covered in blood, mud and goose poo, Pepelito trotted over and nuzzled her. The old girl mooed softly and headed back through the gate.

Perhaps he'd misjudged her.

'Police and ambulance. There's been an attempted livestock theft,' Pepelito heard Silvio say as he and Maribel ambled back into the field together, a single goose trailing behind them.

He could be happy here.

AN: This scene felt so fucking good to write after the previous ones with Castella and Henry ahahaha, I know it was gruesome 💀🪿🐄 🐂

Also isn't Silvio the fucking boss lol