A Black Horse Western
6 total works
It is 1858 and the new Texas is expanding, moving closer to the Comancheria, Indian Territory. Around the little settlement of Bantillo, precariously placed east of San Antonio, the bullets and the arrows fly. The land is teeming with comancheros, and sometimes the Comanche from up north raid over the Red River. A stage has been chartered, and the travellers inside all have their own stories. Leon Brett and Watt Duggan want to assemble a new community - the Liberocracy, living off the land and water by the shores of the Kimishi River - while Sir Thomas Rowan, speaker and writer, has a message of civilization. Then there is Miss Emily Nolan, actress and singer, out for her first trip West; politician Harvey Caldy and his dream of railroads; and finally there is the real celebrity: tall Joe Jardine, infamous gunman known as the Leveller - a man who puts right what the law has failed to do. But Jardine meets an old enemy - the man who killed the woman he revered - his wife. He's a hired gun in hell, and he has to get even with the killer he has hated, while saving the rest of the party from more danger.
Lord Harry Lacey, the youngest son of an English aristocrat, he has run away from debts at home to start a new life in America, using his skills with horses and guns to make a living as he journeys west to Colorado. Then he decides to give up his guns and start a new life as a public speaker in the new settlements where he believes people will be keen to experience culture. However, arriving in Broken Man en route for Denver, Lord Harry witnesses a young girl being badly wounded in crossfire and quickly learns that the town is being torn apart by a feud. Seeing an opportunity to do something useful, he tries to influence local leaders to resolve the situation - only to find that some disputes can only be settled with a gun.
Sometimes the past catches up with a man and he can't outrun it. Jack Brady, at just thirty years old, has seen more of the hard edge of life than most. He's worked cattle trails, ridden shotgun, and won a reputation as a hired gun. Then, as the American-Mexican War is breaking out, he is jailed after a fight in a small Texas town. Brady is at his lowest when a preacher arrives and reminds him that there is still a chance to redeem himself and to honour his dead father. He determines to enlist with the fledgling Texas Rangers and joins Robert Gillespie's rough riders as they ride into Laredo. But Brady has a man on his tail who is bent on revenge. And he faces the kind of trouble a woman can bring when she has to be protected. This is one last chance to rub out his bad reputation, if he can survive - but not many Rangers do that.
Sam Galway is settled in Dalton, Kansas, and is now a local dignitary and respected family man. However, Dalton is a town split in two: north of the railroad line life is decent and ordered, but south of the line, cowboys raise hell and the riff-raff of the world frequent the streets. Into this town comes Sam's younger brother, Wes. Wes has seen action fighting for the Union, and now lives by his wits and his gun. He has also lost the dearest things in life: his wife and son. Wes wants to change his life, but there are complications: there's his nephew who worships him, and his brother who hates him, and he's fallen foul of the town marshal. A confrontation has to come. Seems like life won't let Wes put down roots, but he won't stop trying.
1866. In Randal, Grayson County, Montana, the court is in session. Most of the leading citizens are gathered in the courthouse, as it's the day Bill Serlich is being tried for the murder of his wife, Sarah, and her lover, Dan Beech. Then a stranger checks in to stay a few days. He's smart, looks wealthy, reckons to be a preacher, and talks like a gentleman. For some, however, the stranger has all the hallmarks of a hired killer. Some report that the man is a ruthless criminal with a violent past. Bill's father-in-law, Declan Rorke, owns most of the town and has paid big money to ensure a guilty verdict, but if the rumours about the stranger are true then he could be here to change all that: there's a score to settle.
Everything happening in Randal points to big trouble, and the stranger is there for his last vengeance, and he doesn't work alone. Someone else is heading to town…
Everything happening in Randal points to big trouble, and the stranger is there for his last vengeance, and he doesn't work alone. Someone else is heading to town…
In Long Corral, Wyoming, the Kenny brothers dig themselves out of the town jail, but Deputy Ben Stile runs after them as they turn and shoot. At that moment Cal Roney, Pinkerton detective, is riding into town and takes a bullet meant for Stile. He goes down, wounded in the shoulder, and is nursed back to health by Emilia Stile and by Doc Dan Heath, who are standing firm against the Kenny brothers, who want to own everything in sight. But in his fever, Cal speaks his real name: one that strikes hatred into the hearts of everyone in Long Corral. Only Emilia hears the name, and she tells nobody. But can his secret be kept? When he recovers, Cal vows to help Doc Heath in his struggle to keep the town free of the Kenny gang. But Cal's secret past catches up with him, leading to a final showdown at Blood Creek.