Ralph Compton’s The Trail Drive Series (February 23, 2021)
AN AMBUSH LEAVES A MOTLEY GROUP OF STAGECOACH RIDERS FIGHTING FOR THEIR LIVES.
A quiet stagecoach run between two Texas towns turns bloody when the riders are attacked by bandits and renegade Comanche. They are forced off the main trail and take cover in an abandoned bunkhouse once used for vaqueros when the land was part of a great estate.
The stage was not only hauling a strongbox filled with Army pay, but a couple of dozen crates of new rifles for the cavalry. Unfortunately, the guns are useless as the team’s ammunition is limited.
Now the besieged stage riders have to join forces to fight off the surrounding desperados.
The cast includes a veteran freight driver, an impatient disgraced Army captain looking to regain his standing, a newly promoted sergeant in his first battle, and the man riding shotgun, who has a horrible yet useful set of skills. When a vaquero riding outlier for a cattle drive rides out to investigate the siege on the old bunkhouse, he finds himself in the middle of a pitched battle for survival between the ragtag freighters and desperate outlaws.