Storms, stampedes, river crossings, and rustlers ride through the pages of Where the Long Trail Ends—along with the poetry of Robert Burns.
Joaquin Ignacio MacDonald is a Texas cowboy descended from a white plantation owner, black slaves, and a Mexican mother. The only thing he owns from his distant white ancestor is his surname and a stolen book of poetry passed down through the generations. The poetry leads to friendship with a young woman named Elspeth, which costs him his job at a ranch owned by a Scottish syndicate and managed by her father, Duncan Cameron.
Crippled in a horse wreck at his new job, Joaquin turns to cooking, and runs the chuckwagon on a cattle drive up the Chisholm Trail, leading to renewed conflict with Cameron. Thrown together by a bullet wound, the two men tussle over a troublesome past and uncertain future.
The title of the book, Where the Long Trail Ends, comes from a poem by George Rhoades, who, long ago, was one of my college journalism professors. We were reacquainted a few years back when traveling through the world of cowboy poetry, and the Professor kindly allowed me to borrow his words.
There’s a
lot that happens in the pages of Where the Long Trail Ends,
my newest novel from Speaking Volumes. Much of it is unexpected and
surprising, and certainly unusual in a Western novel. I think you’ll enjoy the
ride.
