BILLY STEELE: KID RANGER

"Well be his family," Jubilee announced. This boy will have a fort full of doting fathers and uncles. And besides, look how he loves Oscar." Jubilee had introduced his wooden dummy and partner to the laughing infant. "He needs a name, " Jubilee insisted. "But what?"

"We found him in a steel strongbox," The Col. reasoned. "Steel, his last name could be Steel, and for his first name?"

"How about William, after Gen. Sherman, or Billy. Now thats a handle any kid would be proud to have, Billy Steele. Welcome to Holts Rangers Billy Steele. Youll be our newest recruit and youll make a proud addition to our family," Col. Tim announced as he wrapped his jacket around his new son to protect him from the night winds chill.

All through the night, the Rangers kept the young Billy Steele warm by the camp fire and the next day, Billy and his new family of elite cavalrymen made their way to the infants new home, Fort Yuma deep in the territory called Paradise Valley.

It has been ten years since the two-year old Billy Steele had been christened on the trail of terror. An entire decade passed since Billys baptism of fire when Holts Rangers rescued him from certain doom when this elite cavalry troop battled the masked minions of The Dark Skull, The Wolf Man and Don Diablo.

A 12-year old Billy, straight and tall, dutiful and dedicated, his eyes a blazing blue handsomely matched his sun blond hair, stood over the graves of Robert and Melissa Knox, his birth parents. They were viciously killed by the still, unmasked Trinity Of Terror. Somberly, Billy still tried to follow his soldier familys motto that Rangers dont cry Billy as he held back his tears while he spoke to the souls of the parents he hardly knew. Billy clutched tightly to the teddy bear found near his parents bodies on the day he was rescued.

Billys Ranger family had waited until he was old enough to emotionally understand before they told him of the atrocity of his birth parents demise. And throughout the sprawling frontier, tall tales and legends were spread about the black coin, the Knoxs secret mine and Billys destiny.

Billy vowed to one day bring his parents killers to justice. He vowed to grow up to become a full fledged cavalry ranger, the best of the brigade, to be a credit to his new family of US cavalry soldiers, and to find those responsible for robbing him of his precious birth parents love.

While Billy prayed over the Knoxs tombstones, in his intuitive minds eye, he could envision the Trinity Of Terrors protracted reign of robbery and murder. The entire West fell victim to the Legion Of The Lawless organized crime wave. Thousands of heads of cattle were stampeded away by The Dark Skull s outlaw army, as they left a bloody trail of cowboys on Boot Hills graveyards. Bank robberies and stagecoach thievery happened to be the specialty of The Wolf Man as the settlers savings and valuables, were devoured by this desperados ferocious fangs. Extortion, claim jumping, and sabotaging the progress of law coming to the frontier were Don Diablos evil duties. It seemed every peaceful settler from the Rio Grande to Death Valley felt these outlaws scourge. Screams of horror, gunshots and explosions in the dead of night, and hideous laughter as innocent lives were taken became commonplace.