They tried to tell him that his father had killed himself, but Kearney McRaven knew better. No matter what life had dealt him, his father would go down fighting. And as he delved deeper into the mystery, he learned that just before his father died, the elder McRaven had experienced a remarkable run of luck: he’d won nearly ten thousand dollars and the deed to a cattle ranch. Not yet eighteen, Kearney was determined enough to track down his father’s murderer and claim what was rightfully his. Now, followed every step of the way by a shadowy figure, Kearney must solve the mystery of his father’s hidden past—a past that concealed a cold-blooded killer who would stop at nothing to keep a chilling secret. Folks tried to tell him that his father had killed himself, but Kearney McRaven knew better. His pa was no quitter. Then the boy discovered that just before the bullet had found him, the elder McRaven had had a remarkable run of luck. He'd won nearly ten thousand dollars and the deed to a cattle ranch. So Kearney decided to go after what was rightfully his... even if it bought him some man-size trouble. Now, hunted for reasons he can't fathom, Kearney must discover the truth about his father's murder--before the vicious thugs on his trail succeed in putting another McRaven in his grave. The Wild West of Louis L?Amour lives on in a daring tale of adventure and suspense that will prove the making of a man ? or lead to his death. Folks tried to tell him that his father had killed himself, but Kearney McRaven knew better. His pa was no quitter. Then the boy discovered that just before the bullet had found him, the elder McRaven had had a remarkable run of luck. He'd won nearly ten thousand dollars and the deed to a cattle ranch. So Kearney decided to go after what was rightfully his ... even if it bought him some man-size trouble. Kearney tracks his father?s killer from Silverton to the Spanish Peaks, determined to bring the murderer to justice. But he is unaware that he is being tracked at the same time ? by the murderous thugs who put his father in the grave ? and are more than willing to send another McRaven along the same route. The Wild West of Louis L'Amour lives on in a daring tale of adventure and suspense that will prove the making of a man -- or lead to his death. Folks tried to tell him that his father had killed himself, but Kearney McRaven knew better. His pa was no quitter. Then the boy discovered that just before the bullet had found him, the elder McRaven had had a remarkable run of luck. He'd won nearly ten thousand dollars and the deed to a cattle ranch. So Kearney decided to go after what was rightfully his ... even if it bought him some man-size trouble. Kearney tracks his father's killer from Silverton to the Spanish Peaks, determined to bring the murderer to justice. But he is unaware that he is being tracked at the same time -- by the murderous thugs who put his father in the grave -- and are more than willing to send another McRaven along the same route. Our foremost storyteller of the American West, Louis L’Amour has thrilled a nation by chronicling the adventures of the brave men and woman who settled the frontier. There are more than three hundred million copies of his books in print around the world. Chapter One All winter long I held them cattle up on the plateau whilst pa collected my wages down to town. Come first grass I taken them cattle down to Dingleberry’s and I told old Ding what he could do with them, that I had my fill of playin’ nursemaid to a bunch of cows. He made quite a fuss, sayin’ as how pa had hired me out to him and I’d no choice, bein’ a boy not yet eighteen. So I told him if he figured I’d no choice, just to watch the tail end of my horse because I was fetchin’ out of there. I knew pa was down to town gamblin’, workin’ with my money as his base, but pa was a no-account gambler, generally speakin’, and couldn’t seem to put a winnin’ hand together. Nonetheless he might have enough put by to give me a road stake, and I could make do with five dollars, if he had it. Only when I rode into town pa was dead. He was not only dead, he was buried, and they’d put a marker on his grave. It taken the wind out of me. I just sort of backed off an’ set down. Pa, he was no more than forty, seemed like, and a man in fair health for somebody who spent most of his time over a card table. There was a lot of strangers in town, but one man who knowed me and who’d knowed pa, too, he told me, “Was I you I’d git straddle of that bronc an’ light a shuck. Ain’t nothin’ around town for you no more, with your pa dead.” “How’d he die? It don’t make no sense — him dyin’ right off, like that.” “That’s the way folks usually die, son. Everybody knows he’s goin’ to die sometime, but nobody really expects to. You light out, son. I hear tell they’re hirin’ men for work in the mines out in the western part of the Territory.” “How’d he die?” I persisted. “Well, seems like he killed