Ruth Hanson

America, 1887. In a country healing from the horrors of the Civil War, the American West has never been more treacherous. Evil men do as they please, and the often faulty and corrupt justice system does little to nothing to help their victims. Enter the Railwalkers. Bandits whose only goal is to punish those whom the law has allowed to walk free. Some think they're an 28 legend, meant to scare would-be criminals into submission. Some see them as no different than the murderers they kill, while to others, they are angels of mercy. To Violet Donovan, they are family. Growing up as the sole heiress to the sizable Donovan estate, Violet's place of privilege allowed her wild spirit to flourish. Despite the pressures of her sex -- find a husband, stay pretty, have children, be subservient, don't speak out of line -- Violet is passionate, loud, stubborn, and untamed. However, at the ripe, marriageable age of twenty, Violet faces the fact that she may have to give in to her mother's wishes and marry mean, ugly Eustace Carpenter, the only other family name in their little town with comparable worth. But Violet's life changes forever when she is saved from an attacker by a strange woman. A woman who, like Violet, doesn't exactly fit the mold. Unfortunately Violet gets mixed up in a murder charge and has to leave everything she knows for a life on the run from the law. Through divine intervention, she and the woman cross paths again, and Violet comes to know her and her comrades. They are Mei Wong, Linus Cooper, Sitting Bear, and Rory McNab. The infamous Railwalker gang.

The Railwalkers

The rooms were little more than a few square feet with some hay stuffed beds. The roof leaked, and the wood floors were rotting with age. As per usual, the boys took one room, and Violet and Mei took the second. The creaky springs groaned as Violet laid flat along the mattress, but it was heaven compared to the hard ground. Violet stretched, hearing a few bones crack.


“Enjoy it,” Mei told her. “This trip is the last bit of money we have.”


They laid in silence a few moments. Violet watched the smoke curl up to the ceiling, like velvet rope. She raised her fingers and let them twirl in the ashy ribbon. “Somethin’ happened at El Paso,” she said, almost without thinking.


Violet laid her hand flat and continued to stare at the ceiling. “I killed that big one. Simon?”


Mei stopped. She sat up and blew her smoke to the side. Her last cigarette now down to the nub, she squished it onto the bedside table. “What happened?” she asked.


Chapter 124