OLD FRIENDS: STEVE KELTON & JOHN BRADHAW'S ELMER KELTON'S THE FAMILIAR STRANGER

One of my favorite characters in western fiction is Elmer Kelton's Huey Calloway. The turn of the last century saddle tramp who rarely used a gun or did much more than cowboy work in Kelton's The Good Old Boys, Six Bits a Day, and The Smiling Country, but his genial nature and resistance to changing times made him indelible. Kelton's son, Steve looked back earlier in Hueys adventures in The Unlikely Lawman and was working on its follow up when he passed away. Steve's friend, John Bradshaw took over to finish up The Familiar Stranger.

The story takes place soon after The Unlikely Lawman and roughly a year before The Good Old Boys. Huey heads out to see Canada. Caught in a storm, he locates a cabin,only to discover a young man, Bob Wilson, suffering from the pox. By the time he nurses Bob through it, he catches it himself and the doctoring roles switch places. The Wilson rides off as soon as Huey's fever breaks. Soon after, a banker and Murphy, a Pinketon with an itchy trigger finger ride up with a posse looking for a bank robber. Huey clears his name with the help of a local deputy and Murphy and the banker ride out after Bob Wilson.

As he heads toward Canada, Huey talks his buddy, ex-Texas ranger Hanley Baker to join him. Hanley wants to visit with his niece, so they agree to meet up in Laramie. There, Huey picks up some extra money working the blacksmith's stock and runs into Bob Wilson. He claims his innocence and when Hanley joins them, they work to clear his name.

The meandering plot is basically an excuse for us to hang out with Huey and his friends. It strings together episodes of working horses, dealing with an obnoxious automobile driver, and exchanges with different folks on Huey's travels. While Hanley leaves town to look into Bob's case, Huey talks the kid into entering into the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo. There, we experience Huey's ride on the famed bronc Steamboat. He also has an interesting run in with a giant of a man terrorizing a town in a unique way,

The book doesn't quite have Elmer Kelton's voice, but it makes up for it in capturing his characters and authenticity. Bradshaw worked as as a journalist for San Angelo, Texas' Livestock Weekly where Steve was the editor. The riding and working with horses is described in living detail. Many of the best passages involve Huey's dialogue with his fellow cowboys. His gift of gab even helps crack the case.

The Familiar Stranger provides the feel of a reunion with an old friend. It may not be the like the times that were, but it's time well spent. If this was the last moment to spend with Huey Calloway, Steve Kelton and John Bradshaw made sure it was a good one.