Ride the Wild River (Reno Western Saga #3)

the long version

Jim Reno is a down-and-out drifter until he meets a frightened teenager claiming to be his cousin. Fleeing a brutal stepfather, the young runaway hires Reno to ride West with a wagon train. The train's motley assortment of settlers includes the surly wagon master and his barbaric sons, a world-weary English dandy and his woman, a penniless preacher, and families searching for a new home in a hard land. The way west is rugged. The settlers must face the scorching plains, constant fights among the men, sickness, a thieving gunfighter and his cronies, and a mysterious, vengeful Indian chief named Nightwalker. And Reno must face the question of the real identity of the young runaway. *Originally published as* The Runaway.