The Homesteader (Bailey Clan Westerns Book 12)

A Land Worth Fighting For: The Homesteader

After years of sacrifice, Tristan Bailey rides to the High Plains of Texas to claim his late father’s homestead—land promised, but never secured. What he finds is a rugged stretch of frontier already branded and defended by Roy Sullivan, a seasoned gunman and ex-Confederate with a bloody past.

With nothing but grit, a handful of loyal ranch hands, and the weight of legacy on his shoulders, Tristan stands his ground. The land may be stained with betrayal, but it's also soaked in promise—and Tristan is ready to fight for both. In a country where justice is earned, not given, the young homesteader faces off against the man who stole his birthright.

Read The Homesteader, Book 12 in the Bailey Clan Westerns, and ride into a world of frontier justice, hard-won loyalty, and one final reckoning.

Excerpt from the book

It was the last day of his hunt and he had shot his last buffalo. Tristan hated to earn his money in this fashion because all he took was the hide of the buffalo. He had come across a camp of the Kiowa comprising mainly old men, women, young children, and three injured warriors with bullet wounds. They were wary when he entered their camp, and a few of the old men held their bows and arrows. Tristan made the sign of peace and said, “I mean you no harm. I figured you could help me to skin some buffalo.” One of the old men told him, “White men shoot these three braves. They shoot them for the buffalo skins.” It turned out that the tribe was going to the Palo Duro Canyon to meet up with a lot of other Indians who were off the reservation. The young braves had gone on a hunt to take enough meat with them. These three were separated and had killed five buffalo when four white men attacked them and took the hides. The old man said, “We stay back until these three can travel, then we go to the canyon.”

Tristan told him, “You speak our language very well. It is my shame that I cannot speak yours.” The old man was pleased, and he asked, “What can we do for you, mountain man?” Tristan was surprised and he asked, “How did you know I am from the mountains?” The old man shrugged and replied, “I have lived long and seen many things. I know the men who come down from the mountains, and they are fierce fighters but make good friends.” So Tristan made a deal with them. He would pay them five dollars for skinning a hundred buffalo and all he would take would be the hides. They could take the meat with them to the Palo Duro. He also promised to get them three horses so the injured braves could travel. He had decided to stop at a hundred because that would give him the stake that he needed.

The last of the buffalo were being skinned when he heard the bray of one of his mules. He spun around and raced to where he had left his wagon with the buffalo hides. He had his rifle in his left hand, with his finger on the trigger, and he had removed the thong from his six-gun when he came up to his wagon. There were two men harnessing the mules to the wagon while two more had their rifles in their hands, pointed in his direction. One of the men holding a rifle laughed and told him, “We decided to relieve you of this…” That was as far as he got, because Tristan squeezed the trigger of the Winchester in his left hand while his right hand slapped the butt of his Colt and came up spitting fire. The Winchester bullet took the laughing man right through his teeth, and the first bullet from the Colt made a hole in the second rifle-toting man’s head.