Four to Go: Four Brothers Homeward Bound

By Bill Pliley

Mac McClendon, owner of a longhorn cattle empire in South Texas, expected and assumed his four sons to take control of Shiloh Ranch. An unexpected event by the housemaid extended this desire and shattered the hopes and dreams of the family. The harmony and sincere feelings between father and sons no longer existed. He had always taught them the quality or state of being of sound moral principle and sincerity. Their father had misled them and betrayed their mother. She told her four sons she was leaving Shiloh to visit her sister in El Paso and may not return.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543414912

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Bill Pliley.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2017905690

ISBN:      Hardcover            978-1-5434-1493-6

                Softcover              978-1-5434-1492-9

                eBook                   978-1-5434-1491-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 05/25/2017

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Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Dedicated to my loving wife

Jean Ruth Pliley

Foreword

When Mac first saw the sun peeking over the horizon of his vast perfect land, it was his dream come true and love at first sight.

The dreams of young men vary from magnificent to slight or impossible, but for Mac, and his lifelong friend Kit, nothing could change their intense enthusiasm to come West.

Luke McClendon at age 16 was a year younger than Kit Carson in the early spring of 1826 when they left their Missouri homes. Their fathers died when they were very young and their necessity to work prevented them from an education. Kit became an expert saddler and Mac sold the saddles soon as they were ready.

Kit’s desire was to continue West toward New Mexico and become a fur-trapper or Indian scout. But Mac knew in his heart that somewhere along this beautiful spring fed stream of water called the Nucess River here in Texas would become his home.

His ambition was to build a cattle empire and thereby gain fame, power and wealth. He soon discovered the realism of his dream would require toughness, courage, devotion and a somewhat lengthy time. He would have to endure the Texas War for Independence, the Battle of San Jacinto, the fall of the Alamo and various other obstacles confronting a young man that would aim so high.

What provoked four brothers who would

soon become heirs of the Shiloh Ranch,

to set out on various adventures

KYLE-BORN IN 1844, THE ELDER SON OF

LUKE MAC McCLENDON WAS PRESUMED

TO TAKE THE REINS OF A FAMILY RANCHING

EMPIRE, BUT TURNED DRIFTER AND GAMBLER.

ZAC-BORN IN 1845, A BORN TEXAN JOINS

THE CONFEDERACY IN THE CIVIL WAR.

JAKE-BORN IN 1846, SET OUT TO FIND

BROTHER KYLE WHO HE KNEW HAD GONE

NORTH TO INDIAN TERRITORY.

CODY-BORN IN 1848, TRACKED HIS

MOTHER TO MEXICO.

Chapter 1

At daybreak Kyle’s intentions were to ride away from the Shiloh ranch, where as a kid he learned to ride a horse that he had named honeysuckle when he was much too small to reach the stirrups. Shiloh was where they could ride for miles and see nothing other than longhorn cattle and trails where they had hunted coyote and jackrabbits. It was where Mac had taught his four sons how to shoot a gun. Zac, Jake and Cody were younger than Kyle. However, Mac considered them grownup soon as they could ride and shoot. Kyle knew he could never forget the years of pleasant childhood memories with the three kid brothers he loved. He was almost twenty years old but knew more about a poker game and cattle drives than most men much older than him. He learned by hanging around the bunkhouse listening to the older ranch hands.

Curly Perkins, his loyal friend and mentor, had been foreman at Shiloh for as long as he could remember. He had always looked up to Curly as much as he had his father. Curly tried to talk him into staying at the ranch and soon take the reigns of the cattle empire that Mac had worked so long to build. But, with the recent events that shattered the trust and love of the McClendon family, Kyle could no longer resist the urge to get away. Far away.

The extent of the stress and pressure of the last three weeks had become intolerable. Mother Bella left a month ago. Cody left a week ago to find her.