The Kid from Mexico (Bailey Clan Westerns Book 9)

A Young Survivor in a Lawless Land: The Kid from Mexico

At just three years old, Rowan Bailey watches his world shatter—his home destroyed and his mother killed by Union raiders. Years later, after finding refuge with his mother’s family, tragedy strikes again as Confederate raiders leave him homeless once more. Swept away to Mexico by Wesley Younger, a man tied to the violence of his past, Rowan is raised in the rugged Sierra Madre Mountains by Wesley and the Mescalero Apaches.

Gifted with lightning-fast reflexes and a keen eye, Rowan becomes a master of weapons, tracking, and survival. But when Wesley is killed by a ghost from their shared past, Rowan crosses into Arizona, a young man alone in a ruthless land. As he drifts across the unforgiving frontier, Rowan finds a new family at the O Slash R ranch—only to be drawn into a bloody range war where old enemies wear new faces.

The Kid from Mexico is a gritty coming-of-age Western that explores survival, loyalty, and the search for justice in a world where trust can be as dangerous as a loaded gun.

Discover Rowan Bailey’s unforgettable journey—grab your copy of The Kid from Mexico today.

Excerpt from the book

A Ride to Town

Belle Redding told her father, “I must go to town now, Pa! I need some more of that cloth to complete my new dress!” Her father, Otis Redding, said with some exasperation, “And I told you, sweetheart, you can’t go alone! Let the boys get back from the range and I’ll send someone with you.” Belle stamped her foot and declared, “They’ll be back when it’s dusk, and then you’ll say that I can’t go to town so late in the evening! Mother!” The last appeal was to her mother, Jane Redding, and that lady told her husband, “Avery can accompany her, Otis. I know you’re worried about the Tumbling B, but no one is going to interfere with a young girl in town.” Otis frowned and said, “Avery says he’s better, but he must still be feeling the effects of that fall. He took a real bad toss from that mustang and he’s lucky he just suffered bruises and a banged-up hip!”

Belle was looking out the window and she exclaimed, “That new man, Rowan, just rode in! He can accompany me to town!” Otis frowned again and remarked, “Hardly a man! He claims to be eighteen, but I have my doubts. Besides, he’s been here for only three months.” He walked out the front door just as the young lad was about to tie his horse to the hitching rail in front of the house. “Anything wrong, Rowan?” he asked the youngster. Rowan looked up and told him, “Dustin sent me to tell you that he thinks some rustling is going on. He wants you to come immediately; there’s some tracks he wants to show you.” Otis frowned yet again and then rubbed his face, thinking to himself that he was frowning too often of late. Rowan had come to the ranch about three months ago, searching for a job. He had claimed to be eighteen and said that he had worked on cattle ranches. Otis had liked the look of the boy then and he had hired him. Now he looked him over again, sizing him up, and decided that he still liked what he saw.

The boy was a quiet lad, but there was a stillness about him that made the others on the ranch think twice about ribbing him about his age. There was also the fact that he was already over six feet tall, with broad shoulders and a hard, muscular body! Avery Sanders was Otis’ foreman and he had said that Rowan was a taciturn, but not rude, young man. He just kept to himself most of the time. The young man wore a low-slung, tied-down Colt on his right thigh, and Avery and Otis agreed that he looked like he could use it. He always had a Bowie knife sheathed on his left side, and everyone knew that he could certainly use that! He had been on the ranch for hardly a month when an incident had happened on the range. One of the ranch hands, a young man of twenty named Zane, was riding with Rowan that day when his horse stepped into a gopher hole and threw him. Zane was thrown from the saddle but hit the ground rolling and ended up next to some large stones.