In another minute, they swung off that narrow paved road onto a dirt driveway and stopped in front of a metal gate. Monty reached out the window and pushed a button mounted on a fencepost, and the gate slowly swung open with the hum of an electric motor. They drove through and Monty swung the rig around in front of a corral, then backed the trailer up to the corral gate.
"I have to unload these bulls, then we can go up to the house," Monty said.
"OK, give me the truck keys and when you've unloaded the bulls, unhook the trailer too," Ranny ordered.
Monty didn't see any alternative, but he wasn't happy about this turn of events. He handed Ranny the keys, then Laura joined him and helped him by opening the corral gate and the end doors on the trailer. She watched as the big black bulls jumped out of the trailer and seemed happy to trot around the corral, enjoying freedom after their long ride. She saw that Ranny wasn't watching closely as Monty fiddled with the trailer hitch, and she noticed that he didn't do everything he'd done before. He lowered the supports used to hold the trailer up when it was unhooked, locked them in place, and turned the handle which cranked the trailer up so that it cleared the big hitch ball in the middle of the pickup bed. But Laura noticed that, while he appeared to be working strenuously at the crank, he had only raised the trailer enough to clear half the height of the ball. Anyone trying to drive the truck would find the trailer being dragged, and the support stands would be digging into the ground. A small thing, but she thought maybe Monty had some plan in mind.
The three of them trudged up the path to the ranch house, each of them wondering what would happen there.