Escort Duty — Charles Ray

Sergeant Ben Carter and his men have been in the field, fighting outlaws and renegade Indians for a long time. Their commander decides to give them a break and assigns them ‘light' garrison duty, primarily escorting work details, mail wagons, and the like. Light duty, though, turns out to be anything but. First, a band of outlaws tries to steal the payroll Ben is escorting from Santa Fe to Fort Union. Then, he and his men are tasked with driving a herd of cattle from the Texas border to the fort, a job that turns out to be almost as dangerous as fighting Indians. Ben faces his toughest challenge yet, though, when he's ordered to transport a shipment of gold bullion from Santa Fe. He and his unit become the target of the largest band of desperadoes ever, and he has to use every trick he can imagine just to survive.