Ride a Tall Horse

Jason Cole at age 16 takes on a fleeing killer/robber in the absence of the town marshal. The rest of the book is about this quest, broken occasionally by stops at stage stations, forts, and a ranch. At the ranch, Jason rescues a woman from being battered by her husband and learns that the husband robbed and killed the robber. In fact, several other graves proved that the battering husband made a practice of robbing and killilng anyone who stopped by the ranch and appeared to be worth something. Add in rampaging Apaches, who left the ranch unmolested because the wife was Apache. Jason grows up quickly, proving himself good at tracking, clever at managing a brutal prisoner, eluding Apaches and renegade white men, at shooting bad guys, and keeping safe the Apache wife, Luisa. In the process, Lu proves herself a staunch ally, and assists Jason in recovering the money and without trying, convinces Jason that she is the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with.