Once a lawman, always a lawman Ty McCord is a flint-hard lawman hell-bent on outrunning a dangerous and often violent past. He travels on a long journey that takes him through Texas and eventually to the far reaches of the lawless Kansas frontier. His plan is straightforward. A quiet new life as a rancher will begin when he arrives in the remote and sparsely settled ocean of Kansas prairie grass. As he works his way along in the rugged territory, Ty's designs for a peaceful existence are soon set upon by his years of wearing a badge. Nearly a year following his arrival in the tallgrass he weds Liz, a refined and headstrong beauty. Abruptly their world is bushwhacked by a band of military-style horse thieves preying on the prairie ranches. In no time a desperate shorthanded marshal begs Ty for his help in putting an end to the night-riding raiders and the threat of angry ranchers taking matters into their own hands. Against the dead set wishes of Liz and their new child Ty reluctantly agrees to join Marshall Seward's failing struggle to bring the savage outlaws to justice. In due time the raids become personal and deadly.
Ty McCord has spent the last eleven years trying to put his past as a Texas Ranger behind him. After surviving a deadly confrontation with military-style horse thieves, he's built a peaceful existence for himself in the waves of Kansas tallgrass. But when his ranch hand is murdered and Tanglewood's bank is robbed, Ty is drawn into yet another manhunt -- and this time, his prey wears a badge. Enlisting the help of Pinkerton detective Amanda Warne, Ty begins to follow a long and twisted bloody trail of the imposter lawman and the bank's stolen money. The hunt ends in a most unlikely location.
During and after the days of slavery in the United States, one way in which slaveowners, overseers, and other whites sought to control the black population was to encourage and exploit a fear of the supernatural. By planting rumors of evil spirits, haunte
"Most girls would be powerful vain to have the Squire even notice 'em," the mother continued, in a more persuasive tone, as a sort of balm offering to the girl's wounded feelings. She placed her cup and saucer in her plate and put back a small piece of unused butter on the side of the butter dish, then slowly arose from the table. "It's seldom a po' gyurl has such a good chance to better her condition, if she was only willin' to do so," she continued argumentatively, for the subject was a favorite theme with her, and she had rung its changes for the listener's benefit on more than one occasion. She gave her daughter a sidelong glanceÑpartly of inquiry, partly of reproachÑand turned to her work. Sally, with something like an impatient jerk, lifted from the stove the steaming kettle and poured a part of the hot contents into the dish-pan on the table, but she made no answer, though soon the clatter of tins and dishesÑperhaps they rattled a little louder than usualÑmingled as a sort of accompaniment to the reminiscent monologue that Mrs. Brown carried on at intervals during her work. "It's all owin' to the Squire's kindness an' interest in us that we're fixed this comfortable, for, dear knows I'd never got the toll-gate in the first place if it hadn't been for his influence, an' now, if you'd only give him any encouragement at all, you might be a grand sight better off. Such chances don't grow as thick as blackberries in summer, I can tell you." Sally had the dishes all washed and laid in a row on the table to drain, and now she caught them up, one by one, and began to polish away vigorously, as if the effort afforded a certain relief to her feelings, since she had chosen to take refuge in silence. "S'posin' he is old an' ugly," soliloquized Mrs. Brown, abruptly breaking into speech again, and seemingly addressing her remarks to the skillet she was then cleaning, and which she held up before her and gazed into intently, as a lady of fashion might do a hand glass at her toilet. "What o' that? Beauty's only skin deep, an' old age is likely to come to us all sooner or later. It's all the better if he is along in years," she added, with a sudden chuckle and a second furtive glance over the top of the skillet toward the girl, to see if she was listening. "Then he ain't so likely to live forever, an' a trim young widow, with property of her own an' money in bank, can mighty soon find a chance to marry ag'in, if she's a mind to."
Saving her coppers to buy a beloved horse that has been transferred to the royal stables of the king of Mael Dunn, new stablehand Sonnia must compete in a dangerous, highly illegal Night Ride to protect her horse.
The Last Thing They Expected Was First Contact It's long ago been settled that humanity is all alone in the universe. All the centuries of searches for extra-terrestrial intelligence have turned up exactly nothing at all. And when humanity's first and only colony in another star system was recently invaded it was by unwanted human interlopers from Earth -- interlopers calling themselves The Fruitful, who are sure that God himself is guiding them. The new arrivals caused trouble enough that many of the original settlers have packed up and moved elsewhere on the planet -- only to discover some very alarming signs that the first settlers aren't quite so alone as they thought. Phil Bertrand and Hazel Castagna had striven for years to reach and settle their new world, only to find themselves on different sides when the Fruitful arrived and forced hard choices on everyone. Now, without quite intending it, they have become allies again, as well as the half-unwilling leaders of a group that must find a way to protect humans from aliens -- and, perhaps, aliens from humans. But exactly who -- and what -- are the aliens?
A collection of 13 award-winning short stories concerning the true adventures of California Fish and Game Wardens and the wildlife-destroying outlaws they pursue. These stories illustrate the wide variety of wildlife-related problems wardens face in California, which has a greater diversity of wildlife and wildlife habitat than any other state and is second only to Alaska in its vast expanses of wilderness. Book 1 contains the first 13 episodes: 1. The Midnight Ride of Bonnie and Clyde: Wardens tangle with a murderous mother-and-son poaching team. A true game warden adventure story. 2. Night Rider: A California warden pursues highly dangerous night-poachers of wild pigs. A true game warden adventure story 3. Decisions: A true game warden adventure story. Wardens off the coast of Southern California’s Catalina Island risk their lives to save the crew of a sinking commercial squid-fishing boat. 4. A Second Second Chance: A California game warden ambushes outlaw catfish fishermen using baby swallows for bait. A true game warden adventure story. 5. The Collectors: California wardens take on a nest of Nazi-worshiping, weapons-collecting, deer poaching outlaws. A true game warden adventure story 6. Nothin’ Personal: True game warden adventure stories. California wardens track down a thief who steals the head and antlers of another hunter’s buck 7. Bottom Feeders: California wardens go after a band of White-trash, sturgeon-poaching, hillbillies with attitudes. A true game warden adventures story. 8. An Outing with Team Taylor: A California game warden and his family, on a short vacation, team up to capture antelope, bear and steelhead poachers. A true game warden adventure story. 9. Rookie: A rookie California game warden gets his first taste of his hazardous new career… A true game warden adventure story. 10. Grand Trickery: A California warden employs a magnificent bluff to catch outlaws night-poaching deer. A true game warden adventure story 11. Tough Luck on the Little Sur: California wardens pursue gaunch-hook steelhead poachers. A true game warden adventure story 12. Serial Poacher: Wardens pursue a disturbing and dangerous lone-wolf deer poacher. A true game warden adventure story. 13. The Vision: A boy’s fondest dream comes true. A true game warden adventure story It surprises many who read my stories to learn of the great diversity of challenges faced by California's Fish and Game wardens. This is probably due to the general misconception of many as to the true nature of this state, the perception that California is mainly urban when in fact the reverse is true. In truth, California has more natural diversity of wildlife and wildlife habitat than any other state and is second only to Alaska in its vast expanses of wilderness. Readers are also surprised to discover how hazardous my profession can be. Out of necessity, wardens work alone much of the time, often at night, with absolutely no hope for timely backup should things go wrong. And things go wrong, somewhere in the state, with distressing regularity. The dangers of this work are best illustrated by rather grim FBI statistics which clearly show that game wardens and conservation officers in this country are at greater risk of being assaulted or killed in the line of duty than are most sheriff's deputies and police officers.
