Six-Horse Hitch — Janice Holt Giles

At nineteen, Starr Fowler had no greater love than driving for the Great Overland Stage. The drum of the six horses' hooves on hard road was his lifeblood and his religion all rolled into one, rolling westward, converting the hostile frontier into a land of promise. Nothing--not hazardous runs, outlaws, massacres, nor a lovely, headstrong woman--could keep him from delivering the US mail. Until an Indian uprising made him aware of a deeper bond, of the anguish of separation, and of a shattering secret knowledge he would carry with him the rest of his life.