Just after Sam Foster the undertaker has received a letter telling him to have three fresh graves dug, a mysterious man in black arrives in War Smoke with revenge in his heart. Jonas Ward has travelled all the way from the Eastern Seaboard to fulfil the dying wishes of his late brother Lucas - to kill the three people blamed for Lucas' death. Marshal Matt Fallen enlists the aid of hillbilly Heck Longfellow to try to get to the bottom of the labyrinth of puzzles he is faced with. Can Fallen figure it out in time?

The deadly hired killer Fire Wolf is heading to a remote settlement in answer to a telegraph message. On the way there he tangles with three wanted outlaws in the ghost town known as Gold Strike. When the remaining two outlaws show up they vow vengeance and trail the emotionless Fire Wolf. Upon arriving in Jamesburg to find the man he thinks has hired his lethal services, it seems that no one is expecting him. No one apart from the actual man who has hired Fire Wolf.

Outlaw Bill Carson and his gang ride into the quiet settlement of Fargo knowing that the Sheriff and his deputies are out of town. Carson has inside information about the bank and banker, which the ruthless killer intends to use to his advantage. What Carson and his equally blood-thirsty gang do not know is that the deputies have arrived back early. Kid Palomino and his fellow lawman Red Rivers notice the strangers in town and decide to find out who they are. All hell erupts as the lawmen confront Carson and his gang. The Kid and Red give chase.....

Volume 2.

A dream of many years has come to fruition. For many years, growing up, I was encouraged to be a writer by my mother. She told me to experience life and one day I will have the heart to write a great book. I began sailing the Chesapeake Bay in my sixteen foot Hobie cat when I was a preteen. As I gained experience, I grew braver and ventured across the bay and into some of the major rivers that flowed into it. One day, about midday, I was sailing up the York river and I met a young Mattiponi boy about my same age. I offered to take him for a ride on my cat and a friendship developed. When I graduated from high school, I attended a small college in North Carolina. The Vietnam war was developing so I felt it was my duty to join the service. I became a Navy photographer. When my tour of duty was completed, I decided to return to college and get my degree. I graduated with a BS in elementary education 4-7. I enjoyed my career of 28 years of teaching but I hadn't met my goal to write a book. Having taught about the Woodland Powhatan Indians throughout the years, I focused my research and learned about and visited close local tribe sights and museums. I retired from teaching to write my book. After many reams of paper and constant editing and revising, my two plus years of writing finally became hopeful reality. We all have watched Apache raids in movies and on tv and read James F. Cooper's Last of the Mohicans but what about a story about Indian life before the invasion of the alien British Colonists. Who were the Tidewater Woodland Powhatan Indians and what is their story? Michael Crist