Erwin A. Thompson

Cattle Country and Back Trail: Two Tales from Thompson Western Series Erwin A. Thompson

This is from the author's note for Cattle Country-the first novelette of the three. There are many things here that can be found in nearly any Western; for it is not a calm book. But I hope you will feel: The courage of John Wade as he tries to fill a job that he knows is far too big for him; The strain of the decision Wells has to make of whether to get out of town safely himself or help the sheriff who will probably arrest him when the shooting is over; The sting of Wade's words as he tells Jim Halleran, "I'd like to think you were still a man I could be proud to know;"The frustration of Katherine Wade as she stamps her foot on the floor of the sheriff's office and says, "Damn Cowards;"The bigness of Henry Ashburn as he gives Bob Darlington a hand in a fight that does not concern him at all. This is Cattle Country!"I grew up in times and places much like Erwin Thompson paints in Cattle Country, Back Trail, and The Invincible Three. Although those times are gone, Thompson's well-written voice rings true with the memory and flavor of a world that should not be lost."-Jim Lyle, author of Things Seen in the Dessert