Ride a Shadowed Trail

In the seaport town of Indianola, on the Texas coast, eight-year-old Joshua Ryder’s mother, a Mexican prostitute, is murdered. Pete Waters, an old ex-cowboy, takes him to raise and teaches him the cowboy trade. After Pete’s death, Josh is hired to help drive a herd of longhorns to the cattle markets in Kansas. Totally enamored of Belle, the widowed ranch owner’s beautiful daughter, Josh is surprised and pleased that Mrs. Rawlins and her daughters are to accompany the herd. On the drive, Josh and Belle fall in love and want to marry, but Josh knows his mother’s killer is the cold-blooded Cole Slade, who robs and murders at will and kidnaps, abuses, and kills young Mexican girls. He has vowed to bring him to justice, but it means leaving Belle, maybe forever, for who would lay bets on an eighteen-year-old going up against a seasoned, ruthless killer?