A Montana Feud by Jim Overstreet
A Montana Feud brings back all the rugged and passionate characters of the Rodeo in the Blood series for another drama-filled adventure. Fans of thrilling rodeo rides and the complexities of human relationships will find this story absorbing.
During the pandemic shortened 2020 rodeo season, former rivals, Rusty Blackstone and Warren Weston, join forces to pursue their rodeo dreams. At a rodeo in Chinook, Montana, Rusty accidentally reignites a dormant feud between his father and rodeo producer Jake Augustine. Rusty is lucky to survive the ensuing turmoil.
Meanwhile, Warren battles his ex-wife, Jenny, for a portion of his rightful inheritance. Throughout, Rusty, Warren, and Jenny struggle with the new arrangement to share their son, Todd. Warren battles to care for his invalid mother. Unexpected violence mars Rusty and Amanda’s horseback wedding.
Harlan, the only man they all trust, does his best to help them through everything.
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EXCERPT:
August 8, 2020
Buffalo Bill Rodeo
North Platte, Nebraska
As they pulled into the Nebraskaland Wild West Arena on the north side of North Platte, Rusty and Casey were listening to the audio version of Craig Johnson’s book The Dark Horse. Casey, who was driving, parked the truck. In a suspenseful part of the story, neither one of them wanted to get out. Casey killed the engine, but they sat there slightly embarrassed until, after a few minutes, all the electronics in the pickup shut off automatically.
“Dammit, Rusty,” Casey said. “Now you’ve got me addicted to these stories of yours. I guess I could start up again.”
“Don’t you dare,” Rusty said. “We’ve only got an hour to get bulldogging on our minds.” He opened the door and got out. Casey followed. A hot wind swirled and ebbed and swirled again. They unloaded the horses. There was a dark cloud to the south.
“I don’t like the way this wind is gusting,” Casey said. “I hope it doesn’t mean that thunderhead is coming this way.”
“It looks like it’s well south,” Rusty said. “The river is between us and it. There’s probably an air current over the Platte that will push it away from us.”
“I hope so,” Casey said.
More concerned about his horses than the weather, Rusty tied Apache to the trailer and watched as Casey walked Peanut around in a circle. The horse seemed to be walking without pain, at least not much. Rusty wasn’t sure but thought his strides were an inch or two short compared to his normal gate. “How does that wound look?”
“It doesn’t look too bad. The stitches are holding,” Casey answered. “It’s draining a little, but his chest is swelled up a bit.”
Rusty shook his head. “The vet said we could ride him as soon as we figured he was ready. I think we need to give him at least a few days off. I don’t want to ask him to run when he’s sore.”
Casey said, “He’s been stuck in the trailer all day. Why don’t I lead him around for a while, loosen him up? Maybe find him some water.”
“Okay,” Rusty said. “I’ll saddle Apache and go to the rodeo office. I’ll find someone to haze for us. When I get back, I’ll pony Peanut in the arena while I warm up Apache.”
Rusty encountered Wesley Martin, a former world champion steer wrestler who hauled a team of ‘dogging horses, outside the office. He was more than happy to haze for them.
When Rusty rode into the arena, the announcer said, “Our next cowboy is Rusty Blackstone, the current World Champion. He calls that horse he is riding Apache. Apache might be a little bit on the homely side, you can see that for yourself, but he is one of the top two or three steer wrestling horses in Prorodeo. The last time I saw Rusty was at the rodeo in Minot, North Dakota over the Fourth of July. He was traveling with Casey Jones and Warren Weston. They have all competed at the National Finals. I teased them about coming in like a pack of wolves. I was right. They took nearly all the money.”
Rusty had drawn the good steer he had at the Phillipsburg, Kansas rodeo where he’d thrown him in 4.1. Considering the mud at that rodeo, he thought he could be faster on dry ground. Since the steer wasn’t terribly fast, he took a conservative start and threw the animal in 3.7.
The announcer introduced Casey Jones as a National Finals Rodeo qualifier. “He travels with Rusty Blackstone who made a spectacular run here minutes ago. He’s riding Rusty’s good horse, Apache. As I mentioned a few minutes ago, he also got a big chunk of the money in Minot last month and is sitting about tenth in the standings right now.”
Casey threw his steer in 3.9.
“See, what did I tell you?” the announcer crowed after the run. “Only two thirds of the Wolf Pack and they still got a big chunk of the money.
Rusty ended up in second place for the rodeo and Casey third.
After the rodeo, Casey sat in the trailer looking at the road atlas. He said, “It would have been a lot quicker trip if we could have come here directly from Phillipsburg.”
Rusty laughed and answered, “If those rodeo committees had asked me, I’d have gotten them to set up the rodeos so that we could have gone from Sidney to Sikeston to Lawton to Dodge City and then to Phillipsburg and North Platte. I don’t know why they didn’t ask me. Would have saved us a lot of miles. Maybe we could get Ruby to organize them next year.”
Author Bio:
Jim Overstreet is a lifelong cowboy and author of A Montana Rivalry. Raising horses for most of his life, he earned multiple titles in tie down roping, from youth rodeo to the senior circuit. As an accomplished writer, his work has been published in national magazines including Reader’s Digest, Persimmon Hill and numerous equine magazines, including Western Horseman. The American Horse Publications honored him as a winner in their Feature Article category.
Jim rode horses before he could walk. He grew up on the Sun Ranch, a large cattle and horse ranch in the Madison Valley in southwest Montana with a father who was an avid horseman and well-respected cowboy in the area. He grew up believing that cowboys were special. His father helped him begin training horses and later he learned from Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance.
Jim’s adult life was filled with roping and rodeos along with raising two daughters with his wife amongst his many horses in the shadow of Montana’s Crazy Mountains.
Jim loves to write, except when he hates it, and although he is old enough to know better, Jim still rides and trains horses. He is passionate about telling stories of the contemporary West that demonstrate the physical toughness, mental determination, and dependence on community inherent to ranching and rodeo. His first book, A Montana Rivalry, released by Palmetto Publishing in fall of 2023, is the first book in the Rodeo in The Blood Series.
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