Triple Play — James D. Crownover

The over-consumption of bear sign gets Tucker Beavers and friends in cold water. Hot water is only avoided by Tucker and his friend Rance Brown by their escape from irate mothers to the Far Pasture where a mysterious cowhand named Pecos Pete and his dogs help them capture wild cows. A hurried cattle drive to the Mescalero Reservation averts an Apache uprising. Baseball, brush popping cows, burglaries, and a big earthquake all work together to keep Tucker moving as he tries to retrieve stolen cattle and avenge the murder of his father. He returns after an absence of two years to find his sweetheart married to his best friend and himself falsely accused of murder, which leads to a surprising conclusion of his story.