Young Roy Shuster served five years in the Yuma, Arizona, prison, and when he’s released on December 24, 1889, he revels in freedom at last. A local man, an ex-convict, takes him in and teaches him lovemaking.<br><br>But Ray can’t abide the prison’s proximity and moves on to Tombstone where, despite a growing interest in a rancher named Clay Bowman, he causes more trouble than good. Can Clay see past Roy’s youthful impulsiveness, even when it lands him in jail?

Riding High

Abram paused long enough for me to know he was making up a name because the horse was indeed stolen. “Rooster,” he finally said.


“Good name,” I told him. I then rode away at a good clip, fearing not only that I’d be tempted to stay, but that the man owning the horse might come looking.


Arizona is a mean place which breaks now and then with a stream and some trees that persist in the rough weather. Riding east, I was met with hard winds and water so scarce that when we found some, Rooster and I both got right in. And always, when things seemed harsh, I reminded myself I was not inside a cell.


There was high ground and low, the high sporting forests, the low nothing but desert. None of this put me off. Rooster and I did some good time, full gallop now and again, then walking a bit. It felt good to be back in the saddle and always thoughts of Tombstone kept us going.


Chapter 4