Book excerpt: Scout McBride was born into ranching life in the West Texas desert outside El Paso. He learned to ride a horse almost before he could walk, grew up communicating with animals around the harsh land, and spoke Spanish with his first friend, a boy from Mexico. It was a tough environment for one so young and as Scout follows a rugged path to becoming a man, he knows that to emulate the men he admires, he must keep one thing in mind: Cowboys don't cry.