Sangre De Toro (Old Draft - Now Published!)

Chapter 30 - Found You

'I see you arrested Valero Cotillion again. Prison's the best place for that cutthroat,' Silvio said to Dominguez, who'd found somewhere permanent to rent and was dropping by to fetch his stuff.

'He grew up in this village, right?' Dominguez patted Pepelito over the fence and fed him a huge carrot. Pepelito didn't understand any of what they were on about. But they were relaxed, so, so was he. He craned his neck to eat the carrot; the pain was now a dull ache and only really bothered him when he was sad, stressed or hungry.

Swishing his tail, he looked over at the bottom of the field. The brown splodged cow he liked had wandered up to the fence. Out of all the cows in that field, she was his favourite. It was driving him crazy with frustration. He liked the way she interacted with him, the way she smelt.

He had to figure out his way in.

'That's one way to put it. He's a bad lot. His father was a brute without shame, and the son is worse,' Silvio said disdainfully.

'He's not gonna see the outside for a long time after what he's admitted to,' Dominguez said, as Pepelito gulped back the last of the carrot. For once, Maribel wanted to play with him. She nudged him with her nose, kicking Silvio's old tractor tyre towards him.

'I've put in some new alarms and I've had no more trouble, you'll be happy to know. Think Valero getting done has put the frighteners up our mutual acquaintance.' Silvio laughed.

'Just be careful, won't you. Don't underestimate Castella. Though I'm surprised he finds the time with all those women after him.'

'Women? What do they want with someone who stabs a poor bull whilst dressed up like an idiot?'

'You're asking the wrong guy.' Dominguez always brought nice vegetables. Pepelito grabbed the cucumber he was being offered.

Patting him, Dominguez went on, 'Hope Rita's gonna be OK. I'm kinda worried. Sanchez told her to have some time off, but yesterday she was still working. She won't want any time off but I think the bastard's right. She had some sort of panic attack right before we arrested Valero.'

'All you and Rita do is work these days. Much too hard. I'll be glad when you've caught this scoundrel.' Silvio's voice was disapproving.

'Me too,' Dominguez said through gritted teeth.

'What do you think, Pepelito? You agree.' At first, Pepelito had found it disconcerting when Silvio spoke to him like a human, but now he knew the old man was showing his love.

'This one knows about the value of work, don't you, amigo,' Dominguez laughed, stroking Pepelito under his neck. The bull turned away and went to join Maribel, pushing the tyre towards her with his snout. Near the fence, the splodged cow stood watching. 

This game reminded him of happy memories, playing with other young bulls on the farm he grew up on. While he'd been one of the lucky ones, kept back for the ring until he was 5, violence was never far away. But he'd had fun with his friends in their spacious field. He missed them.

When bad things came into Pepelito's mind he reminded himself where he was. He had food, and a lot of space and freedom. Maribel and his human protectors loved him, and he loved them back.

But Silvio was an old man, and the others were often stressed and sad. While they believed they were keeping him safe from cruel, evil people, Pepelito increasingly saw it the other way round. They weren't made for the violent world of humans, the world people like Castella and Valero had forced him to live in.

He was the one who had to protect them.  

*

That night, Pepelito and Maribel slept in the barn together as usual. Pepelito shifted around in the straw until he was comfortable. It was easy to keep cool here.