Elvis And Cowboy Charlie: The "What If" Novel
What if. . .Elvis had met someone like Cowboy Charlie, his beautiful sister, Stella, and wise Hopi grandmother, Lucy Yoyetewa in the last years of his fabulous career? In the summer of 1972, Cowboy Charlie is trying to live up to his father’s reputation as a world-class bull rider when he climbs on the notorious Buzzard at Winslow, Arizona’s All-Indian Rodeo. The huge black bull is determined not only to buck Cowboy Charlie off, but to destroy him. Elvis Presley sees the rodeo just off old Route 66 and asks his chauffeur to pull in so they can watch. Moments later, Elvis comes to Cowboy Charlie’s rescue, bravely distracting the bull and rushing Cowboy Charlie to the emergency room in Flagstaff. And so begins the unlikely friendship of two men from completely different worlds. Elvis will teach Cowboy Charlie how to be a Las Vegas showroom performer…and the hard-working, down-to-earth ranching family will show Elvis a wholesome and deeply satisfying way to live. They will also begin to unravel the dark mystery of what happened to Charlie and Stella’s white mother, caught in a love triangle and forever lost on the high, wind-swept Hopi Mesas.