Sunshine Rider (Laurel-Leaf Books)

The year: 1881.  The place: Odessa, Texas.  Seventeen-year-old Wylie Jackson lands a job as assistant cook on what will be his first cattle drive.  Before he departs, Wylie's friend Alice charges him with taking her pet cattalo, Roselle, to her aunt in Enid, Oklahoma.  Alice's father bred a longhorn cow with a buffalo and Roselle was the result: a gangly, gawky animal trained to count with her hooves and sit on her haunches.

Only days into the drive, a disastrous stampede occurs.  Fearing he was the cause, Wylie abandons the drive and sets off for Enid, riding a stolen horse with Roselle in tow.  Now a wanted man, he lives in constant fear of capture.  Along his journey, he encounters Tim-oo-leh the medicine man, Majul Majul the electric belt salesman, Carl Merkle, infamous thief and killer, and other friendly, dastardly, and suspicious types.  Wylie's story is a Western adventure, a search for self, and a sensitive portrayal of a friendship between a young man and his cattalo.  It is a saga destined to charm man and beast alike.


From the Hardcover edition.

81. The place: Odessa, Texas. Seventeen-year-old Wylie Jackson lands a job as assistant cook on what will be his first cattle drive. Before he departs, Wylie's friend Alice charges him with taking her pet cattalo, Roselle, to her aunt in Enid, Oklahoma. Alice's father bred a longhorn cow with a buffalo and Roselle was the result: a gangly, gawky animal trained to count with her hooves and sit on her haunches.<br><br>Only days into the drive, a disastrous stampede occurs. Fearing he was the cause, Wylie abandons the drive and sets off for Enid, riding a stolen horse with Roselle in tow. Now a wanted man, he lives in constant fear of capture. Along his journey, he encounters Tim-oo-leh the medicine man, Majul Majul the electric belt salesman, Carl Merkle, infamous thief and killer, and other friendly, dastardly, and suspicious types. Wylie's story is a Western adventure, a search for self, and a sensitive portr