Nothing But a Drifter by Lee Hoffman (1976)
Brian (no last name ever given) is a drifter, never having the urge to settle down. After an unsuccessful attempt at mining, he had wintered in Tallow Dip, then sent out a bit prematurely for greener pastures, but an unexpected avalanche had got his pack horse and all his supplies, and nearly got him. After days of hard riding, hungry and weary, he had finally come from the mountains to Ada's Ridge, where green grass awaited him and his weary, near skeletal mount. But what awaited him was the sight of two riders working to free a steer from a muddy bog. With an effort they had done that, but then the steer gored one of the older of the two riders, ripping him from pelvis to just under his breastbone. Brian rode out to see if he could help. The injured man was Sam Pearson, a local rancher; the other person was his young, startling beautiful daughter, Laurie. Brian arranged a travois to carry the man back to his ranch,, but Sam's injuries were so severe it was not clear that he would survive.
Pearson lived on a small ranch with his wife, daughter, and two young sons, aged 15 and 12. All three children were seasoned ranch hands. Laurie, however, was a bit of a flirt, fickle, and somewhat immature. Jump, the oldest boy, was thoughtlessly eager to prove himself a man and displayed a great amount of pigheadedness. The younger boy, Eddie, was just eager to please. The nearest doctor, a veterinarian, After a while it appeared that Sam would survive but would not be able to work the ranch for at least a couple of months. The Pearsons had had a hard year. Their barn had burned, there herd seemed to be thinned, Brian had come across one of their prize bulls, dead in the hills and shot through the head, and money was very tight. They had hoped to avoid hiring a ranch hand that year, praying that they could make enough to keep them above water financially. With Sam severely injured, they asked Brian to stay on and act as foreman. But Brian was a drifter and did not want the responsibility. But somehow he was talked into it, and Laurie was a right pretty girl.
A neighboring rancher, Frank Hunt, was an imperious former professional soldier who was interested in Laurie and had asked her several times to marry him, although he was much her elder. Hunt took an instant dislike to Brian, sensing him a possible rival for Laurie's affections, and did all he could to denigrate him in front to her. Someone seems to be targeting the Pearsons and Brian suspected it was Hunt, although he had no proof.
Much of the novel is taken up with Brian trying to get the ranch ready for a roundup. while also trying to manage the impetuous Jump and trying to navigate Laurie's wildly fluctuating moods. In an attempt to severely injure or kill Brian, someone had sabotaged his saddle. Four Cheyenne hunter-warriors had made friends with the Pearsons; one of the Indians was shot and severely wounded after witnessing a white man -- the Beef-Killer -- shooting a number of bulls, presumably in an attempt to drive the Pearsons into financial hardship. The Indians also located about five hundred steers that had been rustled from the Pearsons and two other ranchers, and it was up to Brian to stop them.
Descriptions of authentic western action and life help make this a fast-moving and interesting read, and Brian -- as a die-hard drifter place in an uncomfortable position -- makes for a great protagonist.
I really enjoyed this one.
Lee Hoffman (1932-2007) was a noted science fiction fan and editor and the author of science fiction, western, and romance novels. Her most popular work was in the western field, where she published seventeen novels and won a Spur Award for her 1967 novel The Valdez Horses (a 1973 film directed by John Sturges starred Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland). She wrote three historical romances as "Georgia York" and published four science fiction novels under her own name. Her two science fiction fanzines were the highly influential Quandry and the Hugo-winning Science Fiction Five-Yearly. In addition, she published two folk music magazines, Caravan and Gardyloo. She also published an early book of poetry, Many Sunsets (1952). From 1956 to 1958, Hoffman was the assistant editor for two science fiction magazines edited by her then-husband, Larry Shaw.
Nothing But a Drifter is currently available in a Kindle edition.
One of the dozen or so of Hoffman's western novels I've read, and indeed a very good one. She sold CARAVAN to a professional but underfunded outlet, who managed to publish it as a newsstand magazine for a year or so...GARDYLOO was always a folk fanzine...
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