Mal braced his feet as Dan herded the big four-wheeler up the steep and twisting road. The trailer bumped and bounced behind them. Finally, the road leveled out in a cienega area, well above the ranch, but also well below the highest part of the mountain range that now towered above them.
He looked ahead and saw the cluster of men and horses, but couldn’t tell what was going on.
As they pulled up close to the group, Dan gave a whoop. “Hey, they’ve got him up! That’s the best sight I’ve seen since sunrise.” He bailed out of the cab almost before he brought the truck to a stop.
“We got him up,” several of the cowboys yelled, almost as one. Fred came over to stand at Dan’s side. “About half an hour ago,” he explained, “we could see he was coming around from the shock. All at once he got up
