Buck Johnson: Dragon Roundup

By Wyatt McLaren

A successful dragon drive two months ago should have filled Buck Johnson’s and Skeeter Evans’ pockets. And it did – for a few weeks.
Now they’re back to wrangling dragons to recoup their losses, attempting to round up unclaimed dragons in the mountainous Leptok Territory. But inadvertence, rogue dragons, and just sheer bad luck make this little venture more challenging than either of them expected. That’s why Buck grudgingly accepts help from Snort Jones, as well as from the Terullians Karlok and Xerlax, and welcomes an unsought and utterly unexpected development – something he thought was forever behind him.
Think of “Star Trek,” “The Rounders,” and a little “Lonesome Dove” all shaken together and poured out, and you’ll have some idea of what you’re about to taste when you step into Buck Johnson’s life. It’s a wild mix of Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Western, and Science Fiction.

“Buck Johnson: Dragon Roundup” is a short story (approximately 6,800 words).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wyatt McLaren
• Release date: Oct 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301227105

Book preview

Buck Johnson: Dragon Roundup

Wyatt McLaren

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Wyatt Mclaren

This is a work of fiction. The characters and situations are nothing more than inventions of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance of anything in here to real persons, places, or institutions on Earth is purely coincidental.

Buck Johnson: Dragon Roundup

Korths—which approximately resemble a three-toed cross between an ox and a horse—are anything but quick and agile. They are, however, strong, possessing amazing pulling power, and fast on a straightaway—attributes that come in pretty handy for catching and roping dragons. Still, they aren't the best sort of mount for steep, rough terrain. And that’s why Buck Johnson was now sitting on a smallish boulder, nursing a skinned elbow and a sore shoulder, and cursing his current lot.

Buck had been attempting to maneuver his barely-past-green-broke korth down the side of a steep draw, having a spotted a likely looking dragon at the draw's head. This young korth he'd cut out and saddled that morning had been showing a lot of promise. He was a quick learner, didn't shy from the rope, and seemed to have stamina. Buck really liked his looks, too. So Buck had decided to get two jobs done at once—putting some miles and training on the korth and maybe roping and bringing back to camp a dragon or two. But things had gone slightly awry.

As Buck was coaxing the korth over the edge of the draw, the animal decided to come untrained. Having just clambered over the lip of the draw, the korth sat back on his haunches. Buck spurred him to get him moving on down the steep incline, and the korth lunged forward, kicked a time or two, and then commenced pitching in earnest, trying to unseat Buck and get back to the level ground he preferred. But Buck got his feet forward, squeezed with his knees, and managed, just barely, to keep his seat. He also began a series