Ben N. Field

The Ten Dollar Road Ben N. Field

Bruiser Teal died from a bullet to his heart. Shot from the bushes by an unknown killer, the shooter fled toward Mexico. Texas, after the Civil War, was virtually lawless. Texas was stripped of the Texas Rangers, a requirement imposed on Texas by the North. The Texas State Police was ineffective to the point that honest men found that six-gun justice was the only way to survive. The attitude of the average Texan was, "If you can't take care of yourself, you don't belong in Texas" Matt had worked on the family cattle ranch all his life with his Pa and four older brothers. Trained to handle himself, Matt did a man's work. The Teal brothers-Matt, Tucker, and Cord-were trailing the killer when the bushwhacker waylaid them and shot Cord. Tucker stayed with Cord, which left Matt to go on alone. Matt soon finds out the man he's chasing is no tenderfoot. A member of Col' Berdan's sharpshooters during the war, the killer shows himself to be wily as a fox, cunning, and deviously crafty, staying ahead of Matt across Texas and back. Along the way, Matt helps a wounded Kickapoo war chief, saves a man buried in mud, and finds a pretty girl right in his own ranch country. During the search, Matt was buried in a dirt slide, captured by Kickapoo Indians who were going to sell him to a mine in Mexico, and found a brother he didn't know he had. This book is an exciting portrayal of a young man's search for his father's killer and the things he learns about himself along the way.