The Trail Cook Chronicles — David Michaelson

Trail Cook Chronicles begins where Trail Cook left off; at Fort Union, New Mexico, the last outpost of soldiers assigned to protect settlers and travelers from attack by hostile Apache and Comanche Indians on the Santa Fe Trail. Able Piddington has become a legend in his own time. His skill with a cookpot and his pugilistic abilities have made him a famous man throughout the region at the tender age of twenty-five. With his faithful companion Kristen and a scruffy tag along snake-hunting dog named Gopher, the three of them honor Able's promise to escort a friendly band of Apache to the Mescalero Apache Reservation before the snows of winter in 1875. The half wolf, half dog, amazes the Apache warriors with his ability to sniff out rattlesnakes and kill them for his supper. Once free of their commitment to the apache, Kristen, Able, and Gopher set out through uncharted territory to seek out further adventure where they can find it. Towns with reputations like Tombstones, Mesila, Tucson, and Yuma provide all the excitement either of them might want. How they make their way and where their journey takes them are The Trail Cook Chronicles.