Vernon Schmid

Code of the West: a Novel Vernon Schmid

Rags Bandy, a lanky old arthritic cowboy, returns to the upper Arkansas River Valley of Colorado where he worked as a young cowboy on his late uncle's ranch. Surprisingly the present owners hire him to work on the ranch near the Chalk Cliffs and Mt. Princeton. He strikes up a deep friendship with a young woman (Sarah Caldwell), three other aged cowboys (Tom Longworth, Billy Sidler and Carl Banner), the young cowboys working on the ranch as well as the owners and their attractive aunt. As he settles into his job the idyllic atmosphere is interrupted by a bank robbery and the kidnapping of Rags' young woman friend. With FBI agents chasing a false lead, local law enforcement officers stumped by the thieves escape, Rags and Cody Banner, who is in love with Sarah, undertake the chase. Unrelenting pursuit by Rags results in gun play, accidents, murder and humorous episodes leading to the eventual capture of the bank robbers and kidnappers.