Watchers on the Wind. a novel - Saylor D Smith

Watchers on the Wind is the story of two young men, Samuel C Rogers (Mark) and Will Daniels, 1961 graduates of Bergman High School in Bergman, Nebraska, who set out on a travel adventure to California. They find jobs in Northern California at the RBA Ranch, run by a woman named Ruby Belle Anderson, who is not much older than the boys. Both of them are attracted to her, but she is too committed to her work to be sidetracked by a couple of "boys".
At the ranch, Will, who is a good athlete, works on horseback with the other ranch hands, while Mark (the narrator of the story) spends his time as a handy man and general flunky. The underlying story is that Will joined Mark on the trip west mainly to get away from an abusive father Oase), who is determined to find him and bring him home.
Eventually Jase and his posse of ex-convicts locate the Nebraskans and trap them on horseback. In the ensuing struggle one of the boys is wounded; Jase and his men escape.
Soon after, Mark and Will conclude their time on the ranch and make their way back home.
After the men return to Nebraska, there is one more violent confrontation with Jase and his men near the boys' home town.