Kid Montana #45

Kid Montana's rough life takes a desperate turn when bushwhackers gun down his partner Pop Cardigan—but not before the dying old man reveals he's found a mother lode of gold hidden in Nugget Valley. Determined to claim what Pop couldn't protect and outwit the murderers on his tail, Kid Montana sets a cunning trap that will push him through treacherous canyons and a deadly game of cat and mouse.

Al Gibson, a cowardly Eastern drifter, is fired from the War Creek Ranch by the brutal segundo Rune Darro and forced to flee on horseback with an abused mare. Trapped between certain death at Darro's hands and the deadly wilderness of the Black Peaks, Gibson discovers an unexpected reservoir of courage as he and the mare struggle across treacherous terrain—and when Darro's crew catches up, the frightened runaway finds he's willing to fight back. This 1964 frontier tale follows Gibson's unlikely transformation from a man born to run into something far more formidable.

When Kid Montana's old trail friend Tex Madden strikes it rich in a silver boom, he hires the drifter as a bodyguard—but the wealth comes with enemies. As Kid Montana settles into a life of fancy cigars and hotel living, he discovers that Tex's fortune has made him a target for bitter miners, hired gunslingers, and desperate hardcases willing to kill for a piece of the claim. The real test comes when trouble closes in from every direction, and Kid Montana has to figure out who's truly dangerous and why.