Lee Scofield, Outlaw’s Brat

Outlaw's Brat

Lee Scofield

Five Star, Feb 2006, $26.95

ISBN: 1594144370

When Mattie Adams was fourteen, her mother, with the aid of an outlaw, managed to get her daughter safely away from the Nate Dorsey gang, but failed to escape. Rancher Will McCarthy and others find Mattie wandering lost and take her to the safety of nearby Wayside Station where she assumes her mother died in the escape attempt. When she overhears the locals gossip about her being an "Outlaw's Brat and a whore", Mattie decides to move to St. Louis to live with her Aunt Elizabeth.

Over the next six years Mattie never forgot her rescuer, but she knows that Will can select any woman, so he would never settle for an Outlaw's Brat. When Will tells her that her mother may still be alive, she returns to Wayside Station. She negotiates with Will and other ranchers who want to assault the Dorsey gang hideaway to stop the rustling. As she rides with Will to rescue her mom and end the rustling, Mattie knows that her puppy love for Will is as strong as ever, but she assumes it is unrequited.

Though readers will wonder why the law waited six years to close in on the Dorsey gang (the increase in rustling activity does not seem enough), OUTLAW'S BRAT is an exciting western romance. Mattie is a fabulous protagonist treated by many residents of Wayside Station with contempt. Will is a fine champion who proved his love for her when she was fourteen by doing nothing, as he knew she was too young, and besides she was recovering from a trauma. This couple turns Lee Scofield's nineteenth century tale into a fine read.