Elmer Kelton

After the murder of his wife Josie, Texas Ranger Rusty Shannon heads out on the revenge trail, but he soon finds he is tracking the wrong man, in a novel chronicling the exploits and adventures of the Texas Rangers in the Old West.

The Civil War has ended, and Union soldiers and federal officials have taken control of Texas as Rusty Shannon rides to his home on the Colorado River. As a child, he was a captive of the Comanche, as a young man a proud member of a ranging company protecting settlers from Indian raids. Shannon's fate is intertwined with the young man accompanying him: Andy Pickard, himself but recently rescued from Comanche captivity and known by his captors as Badger...