Brand of a Texan — Steven C. Lawrence

Written by Steven C Lawrence. The rider on the gelding stared down at the frontier town. It has changed a great deal since he saw it last - but then so had he. His memories of the place were bitter ones because it was here, more than five years ago, that a mob had beaten him for his Union sympathies and then driven him out. Well now Ruel Crockett was coming back. He hunched his wide shouders slightly and urged the gelding forward with his knees, holding the bridle in his left hand - which meant his right hand was free, ready to drop down to his trusty Colt.