Hondo by Louis L'Amour

★★★ 1/2

"It means morning, but that isn't what it means either.  Indian words are more than just that.  They also mean the feel and the sound of the name."

            Hondo Lane is a lone cowboy living in the southwestern United States in the 1870s.  When he loses his horse in an ambush with the Apaches, the local Indian tribe, he comes across the ranch of an abandoned wife named Angie Lane and her young son Johnny.  The two get along well and Hondo encourages Angie and her son to come to safety with him to escape Vittoro, the Apache chief, but Angie refuses.  When Hondo arrives at the army post the next day, he runs into Angie’s husband, Ed Lowe, and decides to return to the ranch to watch over Angie and Johnny.  Ed follows Hondo determined to kill him for stealing his horse, but Hondo gets to Ed first.  Hondo is then captured by the Apache, but is saved by Vittoro when he is recognized to be Angie’s husband.  Vittoro brings Hondo back to the ranch and is cared for by Angie.  Hondo eventually tells Angie the truth about killing her husband and, after the Apache leaders are defeated by the United States troops, Hondo agrees to live with Angie and take care of her and her son.