The Western Adventures of Cade McCall Box Set Read online

  Also by Robert Vaughan

  FARADAY NOVELS

  The Gold Train

  The Trackwalker

  Train of Glory

  THE FOUNDERS SERIES

  Lost Lady of Laramie

  The Ranchers

  The Raiders

  Warriors of the Code

  Hearts Divided

  THE REMINGTON SERIES

  Red River Revenge

  Good Day for a Hangin’

  Showdown at Comanche Butte

  The Western Adventures of Cade McCall Box Set

  Volumes 1-4

  Robert Vaughan

  The Western Adventures of Cade McCall Box Set, Volumes 1-4

  Robert Vaughan

  Kindle Edition

  © Copyright 2019 by Robert Vaughan

  Wolfpack Publishing

  6032 Wheat Penny Avenue

  Las Vegas, NV 89122

  wolfpackpublishing.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, other than brief quotes for reviews.

  eBook ISBN 978-1-64119-595-9

  Contents

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  I. Long Road To Abilene

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  II. Cade’s Revenge

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Epilogue

  III. Cade’s Redemption

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  IV. Cade At The Walls

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Epilogue

  A Look At The Gold Train: A Faraday Novel

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  Also by Robert Vaughan

  About the Author

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  I

  Long Road To Abilene

  Long Road To Abilene

  The Western Adventures of Cade McCall Book I

  Robert Vaughan

  Wolfpack Publishing

  6032 Wheat Penny Avenue

  Las Vegas, NV 89122

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people or real places are used ficticiously. Other names, characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  © Copyright 2016 by Robert Vaughan

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, other than brief quotes for reviews.

  ISBN: 978-1-62918-472-2

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Epilogue

  The Western Adventures of Cade McCall Box Set

  1

  Twin Creek Ranch, Howard County, Texas – 1927:

  OWEN WISTER DROVE his Packard Six Sedan under the arch that spread over the driveway that led to the home of Cade McCall. The driveway, covered with white rocks, cut through the middle of a well-maintained lawn which was surrounded by a split log fence, festooned with climbing Paul’s Scarlet roses.

  There were several buildings on the grounds, including a barn, the machine shed, the bunkhouse, the ranch overseer’s house.

  The main house was relatively large, but not ostentatious. Compatible with the other structures, it was a two – story, white, clapboard house with a red roof and a single dormer window. The pillared porch stretched all the way across the front of the house, then wrapped around to the left side. There were a couple of swings on the porch, hung from the ceiling at right angles to afford congenial conversation for the occupants.

  As the writer stepped from his car he was met by a very pretty young lady that he judged to be about nineteen. She was wearing a blue
and white pull-on dress with a hemline that fell between her ankles and knees.

  “Mister Wister?” She laughed. “I’ve been wanting to say that; ‘Mister Wister’ but then, I expect you have heard that a lot.”

  “Yes,” Wister replied.

  “I’m Amanda McCall. Grandpa is in the library. Come on, I’ll take you to him.”

  “Thank you,” Wister said. Reaching back into the car he removed a brown leather satchel.

  Owen Wister had come to Twin Creek Ranch, the 60,000 acre cattle ranch in Central Texas, to interview Cade McCall, a man about whom more than a few books had been written. Because of his storied past, he had been portrayed on the movie screen by such actors as Gary Cooper and William S. Hart.

  Wister was here because he planned to write a biography, The Western Adventures of Cade McCall, His Story, As told to Owen Wister.

  There was an unpretentious entry foyer flanked by paintings. On one side was the portrait of a man who appeared to be in mid-forties, wearing a red shirt and dark vest. The painting on the other side of the foyer was that of an attractive woman, her head turned to one side in a pensive pose, the white silk blouse showing just enough of her neck to display a pearl necklace.

  “That’s grandma and grandpa, but then you know that,” Amanda said when she saw where Wister was directing his gaze. “Weren’t they good looking people then?”

  “Well now, Darlin’, are you saying we aren’t good looking now?”

  The man who asked the question was tall and rangy. At 84, he had a full head of silver hair, and a moustache that curled down around either side of his mouth. Just above his right eye was a pale, hook-shaped scar. His bright blue eyes were twinkling with amusement. He had just stepped through one of the doors that opened off the foyer.

  “Why, no, grandpa!” Amanda insisted. “You were very handsome then, and you are very handsome now.”

  Cade McCall chuckled, then extended his hand. “Hello, Dan, it’s been a long time.” Cade’s voice was deep, and resonant.

  “Hello, Cade. Yes, it has been.”

  “Dan?” Amanda asked, confused. “Why did grandpa call you Dan? I thought your name was Owen Wister.”

  “Owen is my name, and the name I write under, but family and friends call me Dan.” He smiled. “And ever since an adventure we once shared in Wyoming, I consider Cade a friend.”

  “Let’s step into the parlor,” Cade invited. “Amanda, get your grandmother and your mom and dad. I think I can convince Dan to play the piano for us.”

  “Oh! Do you play? I love the piano!” Amanda said.

  “If Dan wasn’t one of the best known novelists in America, he would be one of the best known musicians,” Cade said.

  “It’s wonderful to see you again, Dan,” Molly said as she embraced him. “I read ‘The Right Honorable, The Strawberries’ in Cosmopolitan Magazine. I enjoyed it very much.”

  “Thank you. I’m working on a collection of short stories that I intend to call When West Was West. Though I’m going to give Cade an entire book, I’ve no doubt that some of his adventures will find their way into the collection.”

  “You have people like Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp, and Wild Bill Hickock to draw from. And that’s just the good guys. I don’t see room for me in that crowd.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short, Cade. Your name is equal to any of those you’ve mentioned.”

  “Yeah, well, why don’t we all get seated?” Cade asked, uncomfortable with the accolades. “I’m anxious to get the concert started.”

  Once everyone had found a place, they turned their attention toward Owen Wister as he took his seat on the piano bench, and stared at the keyboard for a long moment. Then he began to play. The music, soft and melodic, rose from the soundboard filling the parlor with its resonance, and embracing the listeners with its beautiful strains.

  “Oh, what is that piece?” Amanda asked when Wister finished the first number.

  “That was Claire de Lune, from the Suite Bergamasqeby, by Claude Debussy,” Wister said.

  Amanda chucked. “It’s beautiful, but I don’t have any idea what that means.”

  “It means the light of the moon, over the Italian town of Bergamo.”

  Wister played a few more pieces from various artists, then Cade stood.

  “All right, folks, I know Dan didn’t come here to give us a private concert, and I appreciate that he let me ambush him as I did. But he came here to work, so I think we should let him get started.”

  Amanda and the others were effusive in their delight of his music and they expressed their gratitude as they exited the parlor.

  “How long do you plan to stay with us?” Cade asked.

  “As long as it takes for me to write the book, or until you get tired of my hanging around, and kick me out and send me on my way,” Wister replied. “Whichever occurs first.”

  Cade chuckled. “I reckon it’ll be interesting to see which one that will be.”

  Wister joined him in laughter. “That it will,” he agreed. “Come on, we’ll talk in the library.”

  After they left the parlor, Wister looked around at the library, richly furnished, and with all four walls lined with thousands of books.

  “You’ve done well for yourself, since the first time I met you,” Wister said.

  “And you are wondering how an old cowboy can afford such a place. Well, I filed on this land some time ago, and acquired most of it through homesteading. I also took advantage of some state grants during my intermittent times as a Ranger, and I bought some of the adjacent land when it came available.

  “I got into raising Herefords while most of the other ranchers were still raising Longhorns. Herefords were like gold in the cattle market then, and, with Will as my partner, a good foreman, and good hands, we’ve managed to make a go of it.”

  “Considerably more than a ‘go’ I would say,” Wister replied. “I saw several oil derricks, I expect that’s brought in a few shekels as well.”

  “Oh yes, they have been quite lucrative. And thanks to Will, we’ve managed to keep the oil company at bay, providing us with enough space to still raise cattle.”

  “From the Cade McCall I know, I can see that would be a priority. Your good fortune has been well earned.”

  “I’ve had my ups and downs,” Cade admitted. He held his arm out toward an area of the library where a large leather chair sat, as well as a sturdy oak desk with its own chair.

  “We can sit over there,” he said. “I expect you’ll want to take notes, so you may use the desk if you wish, or sit in the chair or one of the sofas.”

  “Thank you,” Wister said.

  Wister chose the desk then removed from his satchel a tablet and several pencils.

  “How’s this going to work?” Cade asked as he settled into the leather chair. “Are you going to ask questions?”

  “No, I’d rather you just start telling me your story.”

  “Where do you want me to start?”

  “I know that you are from Clarksville, Tennessee. Why don’t you start there?”

  After a long day of taking notes, and asking questions to verify certain aspects of the story, Cade asked Wister if he would like to take a ride around the ranch. Wister agreed, thinking they might do so in Cade’s car, but when they went outside, one of Cade’s hands had two saddled horses waiting for them.

  “You haven’t gotten so citified that you can’t ride anymore, have you?” Cade teased as he swung into the saddle.

  “I think I can handle it, if you’ll just show me where the clutch is.”

  Cade laughed, clucked at his horse, and the two of them rode out.

  In his room that night, Wister began to consolidate his notes, forming them into the structure of the book he would be writing. This was, he knew, only a first draft. But with the first draft to provide the matrix, and the notes to provide the content, he began the project.