Ben Mitchell rides away from Websterville, Arizona, furious. Lucy, his widowed sister-in-law, has lied, using the town’s pity and sly illegal maneuvers, to steal the ranch that is rightfully his. In his fit of unusual rage and with a feeling of hopelessness, he rides to a remote canyon area in Northern Arizona Territory.

There he stumbles upon an old mestizo, who, like himself, has given up on trying to live with people and has become a solitary hermit in one of the beautiful but harsh canyons. He tells the mestizo his story, and the mestizo gives him advice and a gift.

After much deliberation, determination and a plan, Ben decides to stop running away and go back to Websterville to fight for his land. It will be the challenge of his life, and the gift of the mestizo will be a surprising help.

Marjorie M. McGinley began to write in college while she attended Western Connecticut State University. She stopped for a while when she was raising a family and teaching elementary school, and then began again. She has had many short stories and poems published, and has written two prize-winning plays.

Marjorie was born in Nyack, New York, and grew up in rural Connecticut. She lives on the Connecticut shoreline.

The Gift of the Mestizo is Marjorie’s fifth novel for AVALON.

Avalon Westerns by Marjorie M. McGinley:
THE GIFT OF THE MESTIZO
CASEY'S JOURNEY
JOHN CRUST & SNUFFLING PIG
RATTLESNAKE GULCH
FOOTLOOSE CONROY

An Avalon Mystery by Marjorie M. McGinley:
CLOSE ENOUGH TO KILL