Station at Diablo by Roger Raffee

I liked reading this book, although I had to stop three or four times and pick it up later. It is first in a series, Station at Diablo: Tumbling Dreams Series, Book 1, by Roger Raffee. This kid in Texas (the novel takes place in and around San Antonio after the establishment of the Texas Rangers and also in parts of Old Mexico) grew up with the Rangers, his father being the doctor for the group. Aaron, the young kid about six years old, meets Sungold Craig, who was living with the Comanches, and they become friends.

Aaron wanted to be a Texas Ranger all his life, and started training for it when he reached gun-handling age. He practiced all the time and when he became mature enough to join the Rangers, he was an expert shot, faster than anyone. He became a Ranger and was assigned to find out where the Comanches buried the gold, that Chief Quanah Parker and Sungold Craig had amassed. And that is the basic plot of the novel.

Along the way he meets up with Craig in Mexico. Craig is now a high-ranking member of the Northern Mexican Army and has a large hideout in the mountains with his gang of Comancheros and Mexicans, and tries not to get mixed up in a Mexican Revolution. Arron spends some time in Nogales where he meets his first true love, Maria Angelica, but they don't get married. He tells Maria he will be back after he finishes his business. And this romance is carried through the novel, even after he meets Sarah and falls in love with her, supposedly.

The story flows from one crisis to another in fine fashion, and may get tedious to some readers in parts, but I thought it read very well. A loner called "Bones" plays a large part with his ranch where he grew up alone and stole chickens from his neighbors to survive while living in a cave. "Bones" isn't too particular about his women, he just wants someone to marry him and be happy helping him on his ranch.

Aaron, Craig, and "Bones" find a train load of American money that is being prepared for shipment to Mexico by a gang of thieves, not one from Texas, being run by the son of the railroad owner. The money is being sent to support Porfirio Diaz in the revolution. And the story goes on to a nice ending back in the San Antonio area. They never did find the buried gold. I thought it made my list of four-star Westerns, being a fun, exciting, and suspenseful story.