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48

Noah, black slicker slapping around his long legs, urged the remaining cattle toward the barn. Rain in general didn't bother the animals, but a storm like this that dumped pockets of dime-size hail and snapped tree limbs with cracks that mimicked rifle blasts agitated the beasts. The animals snorted and swished their tails, some wide-eyed as the wind whipped their black hides.

“Come on! Let's go! Yah! Yah!” Noah pressed the last six beasts, steering them through the open gate and toward the barn, as the rain whipped around him.

Once inside, he closed the double doors. His small, dripping herd that comprised twenty-two animals huddled together. Noah moved among the disconcerted bovines. He opened a few stall doors, in order to give them more room, and some trod into the cubicles and clus……