The Rustle of Donald Cooley's Bull

Reuben Cox is on the cusp of adolescence and living an idyllic life on his family's horse farm in Kentucky, receiving a classical education from his tutor and learning about the horse-raising business, martial skills expected of a man, and the responsibilities of duty and honor from his stern but loving father. Through her example, his mother provides for the growth of his heart and conscience. Suddenly, the outbreak of the Civil War bursts this idyll to pieces, and as a young teen, Reuben finds himself riding with Quantrill's raiders. Despite his youth, Reuben becomes skilled and efficient at the violent duties of war, but at the war's end, he is unable to return to his former life. Among many of the young male diaspora from the South, he seeks his fortune in the post-war Texas cattle industry. In Texas, he finds himself caught up in another battle, a range war between two wealthy cattle barons. Even more so than the Civil War, this range war will not only force the limits of Reuben's martial abilities but also put his sense of duty, honor, pride, justice, and love to the ultimate test. The story weaves in and out of the lives of three families who, having built edifices of power and wealth, must face the fragility of those walls. This is a story about building strength out of courage and is also a story about the dangers of pride.