The Young Riders
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Synopsis
Larry and Tom Alden thought they were going to New Mexico for a summer on a ranch.
They got more than they bargained for.
At the Half-Moon Ranch, the Ohio brothers learn fast: how to saddle a horse, throw a rope, read tracks, ride fence, handle a rifle, and stay alive in country where mistakes have consequences. With their friends Bill and Horace Wilder, and Hans Ober, a German boy stranded far from the brother who was supposed to meet him, they discover a world of cattle, coyotes, mountain trails, moonlit rides, and danger under a sky bigger than anything back home.
Then they find the Lost Lode.
For three centuries, the old Spanish silver mine has been only a legend. But the boys stumble onto the truth — and that truth is worth enough to save the Half-Moon Ranch, or destroy it.
Because Gus Megget wants the mine too.
Mean, patient, and dangerous, Megget has been waiting for a chance to take power in Tolopah County. When the boys and the Wilders stand in his way, the summer turns from adventure to fight: a bear in the mountains, a standoff in a hidden canyon, a desperate ride to file the claim, and finally fire on the prairie.
To save the ranch, Larry and Tom will have to become more than visitors.
They will have to become young riders.
The Young Riders is a fast, heartfelt modern Western adventure about friendship, courage, horses, lost silver, and the summer that teaches five boys what it means to stand your ground.
Copyright © 2026 Alan H. Gael
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