Prosperity, Texas

A naive and oppressed Wyoming girl and her brother dream of a better life, but when the rich son of a Texas cattleman seduces the sodbuster's daughter with the promise of marriage then mysteriously disappears, it forces the siblings to begin a long and dangerous journey all the way down to Prosperity, Texas. In the mid-1980's I was early in my career as a western writer and was driving down a country road outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming, when I saw the young couple. He was tall and thin and carrying a Winchester rifle in one hand and had a burlap bag slung over his shoulder. His leather coat was worn and the collar was turned up. He wore a battered Stetson and his head was bent forward giving me the strong the impression that he was in a hurry to get somewhere. The girl alongside of him wasn't even twenty, but also tall and their physical similarity immediately told me they were not lovers, but almost certainly a brother and sister. She wore a long dress, a heavy denim coat and a western hat with a leather string tight under her chin. She was carrying a cheap and battered satchel and what looked like a single shot, bolt-action .22 rifle like the one I'd owned as a boy. As my pickup approached, I expected them to turn and jack up a thumb for a ride, but they didn't. The air was cold, the wind hard from the north and it looked like a storm was coming so I pulled over and spoke to them through my rolled down the window. They told me they were heading for Texas and a new and better life. I asked them if they wanted a ride and they said they were just fine. I wanted to ask them what they were doing walking to Texas and how on earth they thought they could go that far, but they just started walking again. I felt concern for them so far out in the country from shelter but they'd made it clear that they didn't want or expect help...and in fact would prefer not to be distracted from whatever mission or plan they had solemnly undertaken. I drove away and left them that cold autumn day but I never forgot them. In fact, they preyed on my mind for weeks until I wrote them into what would become one of my favorite and best western novels originally published by Doubleday and Company as a Double D Western in 1988 titled SODBUSTER. This is a SCRIPT STORY which is a wonderful format for readers who love to VISUALIZE scenes, while at the same time fully enjoy the elements of character, plot and setting.