River of Cattle
Book One – The Will and Buck Series
For Readers 8 – 12 | Grades 3 – 7
By Alice V. Brock
Will Whitaker’s eleventh summer is one thrill after another.
A cattle drive with a famous Texas Ranger, a Comanche trying to steal his horse, a buffalo stampede, thirst-maddened cattle crossing eighty miles of alkali desert to a dangerous ford on the Pecos River—it’s almost more than Will can endure. He gets to work as a drover, riding his best friend Buck, a big buckskin stallion, until he is captured by a vicious Comanche war chief. And only his worst enemy can rescue him.
Two Feathers—half white, half Comanche—runs away from his tribe when he learns his uncle killed his white father. He sees Will’s horse and knows he is destined to have him, this great warrior’s horse. Camping alone and following the winding River of Cattle across the High Plains of West Texas, he tries again and again to take him. Will foils him every time, but Two Feathers comes too close and is captured by the drovers.
The two boys, both fighting the grief of their mother’s deaths, both without a true home, face death and danger separately, but eventually they must learn acceptance of each other’s differences or their mutual mistrust could lead them to disaster on the brutal Texas-New Mexico frontier.
Will they become brothers or mortal enemies?
Praise for River of cattle:
“Alice Brock writes an enduring, factually accurate account of a time in history when the West was full of adventure.”
— Jodi Thomas, New York Times best-selling author of Welcome to Harmony
“A compelling and triumphant introduction to the colorful bygone era of cattle drives. Alice Brock entertainingly weaves fact and fiction into a dual tale of high drama, where diversity and friendship must meet head-on to determine who survives.”
— Tim Lewis, Director of the Writing Academy at West Texas A&M University, author of Forever Friday
“Two boys, one a drover on a cattle drive, and one a Comanche runaway, tackle wilderness adventures in The River of Cattle. Each is mourning the loss of his mother. Will rides his handsome buckskin stallion named Buck. Two Feathers rides Old Pony and camps alone to prove he is a fierce warrior.
“When Two Feathers decides Buck should belong to him, the two boys wrestle and wrangle. But with Yellow Hawk chasing Two Feathers, cowboy and Comanche join together to survive the pursuit and try to figure out each other’s lifestyle.
“A rough riding tale in true Wild West fashion, The River of Cattle puts the reader in a saddle and gallops away with him!”
— Doris Fisher, author of Army Camels, Jackson Sundown, and Odd Day, Even Day, Half Day
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