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

Mei gestured above them, and Violet saw an open hatch. It was a quicker way around any possible gunmen waiting for them in the next car, and Violet nodded. Giving Mei a lift up, she was the first through the roof. Reaching down, Mei pulled Violet up with her, and the two made their way to the next car.


Just as they made the leap between the gaps, new guns fired in their direction. Mei and Violet laid flat, and Violet squinted, protecting her eyes from the wind. The armed gunmen, it seemed, had had the same idea. Two of them were now poking out of a trap door, elbows squarely on the roof of the train car, firing. Mei loaded her Winchester with a flick of her wrist, and stationing the gun against her breast, began to fire. She kept it sideways for easier reloads, and the men’s hands were bloodied and useless by the end of it. Violet, deciding to spare her bullets for now, holstered her guns, and spotted an open window to her left.


Chapter 184