Grab your hat, step into your boots, and strap on those spurs.
Your cow pony is saddled up and
ready to ride the trail from San Antonio to Abilene.
First Drive
A Seph
Vermillion
Western Adventure Book 1
by David
Fitz-Gerald
Genre: Historical
Western Adventure Fiction
Grab your hat,
step into your boots, and strap on those spurs. Your cow pony is saddled up and
ready to ride the trail from San Antonio to Abilene.
Seph Vermillion
grew up dirt poor. As long as he can remember, he's been pushing a plow and
arguing with a mule. A couple of times a year, a trio of bandits ravage the
family farm and make off with their savings.
Pa never
returned
home after the war. Seph's siblings have been gone so long, he doesn't remember
what they look like. When Ma dies after a long illness, Seph trades the family
farm for a horse named Sheriff. The kid next door tells Seph about the Deatherage
Longhorn Cattle Ranch. The allure of adventure beckons. They partner up and hit
the trail. Lacking skills, they are the last cowboys hired and agree to work
for half pay.
The outfit's top
hand, Stoke Moreland, pranks, taunts, and threatens Seph. Why does the seasoned
cowboy seem intent on driving him off? Seph doesn't know much about
self-defense, but he is tired of being a victim and feeling violated. How long
can he turn the other cheek?
The trail is
fraught with hazards from perilous river crossings to the mother of all
stampedes. When they realize they're being tracked, followed, and hunted, a
growing sense of doom overwhelms the fledgling outfit of cowboys who are still
wet behind the ears. The outlaws that plagued Seph's past have followed them
and they are determined to take the herd. Their plan is simple: pit the cowboys
against each other, pick them off one by one, and stampede the beeves.
Since they left
San Antonio, the drovers have looked forward to whooping it up at the end of
the trail. That was before somebody began killing cowboys. Now, Abilene seems
like an impossible dream. Will anybody make it to the end of the trail?
Grab your
slicker, fetch your bedroll, and swing up into the saddle. Sign on with the Dagger
D, Angry R brand—First Drive is calling your name.
**FREEBIE
ALERT!**
**Get the
freebie prequel Farewell to Poesta Creek here!**
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/8i8386a45t
** And look
out on the horizon for book 2 riding in soon! **
Dead Heat
Coming May 2025
David Fitz-Gerald
writes westerns and historical fiction. He is the author of twelve books,
including the brand-new series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail set in 1850. Dave
is a multiple Laramie Award, first place, best in category winner; a Blue
Ribbon Chanticleerian; a member of Western Writers of America; and a member of
the Historical Novel Society.
Alpine landscapes
and flashy horses always catch Dave’s eye and turn his head. He is also an
Adirondack 46-er, which means that he has hiked to the summit of the range’s
highest peaks. As a mountaineer, he’s happiest at an elevation of over four
thousand feet above sea level.
Dave is a
lifelong fan of western fiction, landscapes, movies, and music. It should be no
surprise that Dave delights in placing memorable characters on treacherous
trails, mountain tops, and on the backs of wild horses.
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GUEST POST
Character Profile – Meet Slaw: The Cowboy Dreamer
In First Drive, Seph Vermillion sets off on a daring journey with his childhood friend, Townsend “Slaw” Ballard.
If they hadn’t been neighbors, they might never have been friends. Farming rarely leaves time for companionship, and there aren’t many people on the frontier to pal around with. But dreams and ambition bond Seph and Slaw together in ways that distance and hardship can’t break.
Slaw isn’t a cowboy by chance. He’s a cowboy by conviction. Driven to escape his domineering father and the monotony of farm life, Slaw dreams of freedom on the trail—a dream so big it sweeps Seph along like a flooded river. Slaw’s unbridled ambition inspires Seph to trade the plow and the family farm for a fast horse and a dusty trail.
Slaw’s hair, a perpetual tangle of messiness, earns him his nickname. That and a distaste for bathing. He smells bad, his hair resembles shredded cabbage, and he couldn’t care less. His only concern is making his dream come true.
After Seph’s mother dies, leaving him alone, it is Slaw who plants the idea of becoming cowboys in his mind. Slaw’s enthusiasm is infectious. He reads aloud from a posted bulletin:
“Now hiring. Ride the trail to Abilene. Depart as cowboys, return as cattlemen. Apply at the Prickly Pear Saloon, San Antonio, on April 25, 1868. The Deatherage Longhorn Cattle Ranch—Pierce and Glenn Deatherage, proprietors.”
For Slaw, this isn’t just an opportunity. It is his destiny. They must make it to Abilene on time.
“We’re both eighteen, so we ain’t runaways. We’re men now, off to seek our fortunes,” he declared as the pair slipped out of the Ballard farm under cover of darkness.
Slaw’s talkative, adventurous nature contrasts sharply with Seph’s quiet introspection. Where Seph hesitates, Slaw charges ahead. His relentless optimism propels them forward, even when the odds seem insurmountable.
“Can you believe we’re gonna be cowboys? Think of it, Seph,” Slaw marveled during their journey.
Slaw isn’t just Seph’s friend. He is the spark that sets their journey in motion.
“I always wanted to be a cowboy,” Slaw confides.
He embodies the unrelenting spirit of the trail: a dreamer who sees freedom and adventure where others see dust and danger. For Seph, Slaw represents more than a partner. He’s a reason to believe in something bigger than life beyond the plow.
Together, the two boys set out to be more than farmers’ sons. They yearn for a life of sunsets on the prairie, campfires under the stars, and the thrill of riding the trail.
Slaw is an ordinary young man who makes the cowboy dream seem attainable. His hope and determination light up Seph’s journey. Their influence on one another is profound. As their journey together takes unexpected turns, Seph doesn’t just adopt Slaw’s dream--his pal’s adventurous spirit and optimism take root in Seph’s soul.
Will their shared ambition lead them to glory, make cattlemen of them, or will the trail’s hardships defeat them?
The bulletin promised a way out, but the trail isn’t what either of them imagined. The book’s description teases:
“The allure of adventure beckons. Lacking skills, they are the last cowboys hired and agree to work for half pay.”
But it also warns:
“Since they left San Antonio, the drovers have looked forward to whooping it up at the end of the trail. That was before somebody began killing cowboys. Now Abilene seems like an impossible dream.”
It’s a perilous journey eclipsed by a threatening question: “Will anybody make it to the end of the trail?”
Swing into the saddle and ride the trail with these two unlikely partners.
The whispering wind is calling your name.
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