While Bodine ran to get his shotgun, and Tom and Trip stood ready to move to defend themselves, one remained calm. “That ain’t no Injuns,” Booth declared. “That’s Hawk. He’s tryin’ to get us to come runnin’ out there to save our horses. He’s tryin’ to get us out in the open.”

“That son of a bitch!” Trip blurted, still fired up over what he saw as the coward who refused to answer his challenge earlier. “I’ll sure as hell come out there to meet him!” He ran for the door, in spite of Jesse and Booth warning him that he was running into an ambush. He ran by Tom, who was crouching just inside the door, his six-gun drawn.

“I don’t see nobody out there!” Tom exclaimed when Trip went past him.

“He’s out there, all right,” Trip called back over his shoulder, “and I want him before he runs off and hides again.” Certain now that Hawk would not stand and face him in a shoot-out, he had his Colt .44 in hand with just one thought in mind. That thought was to kill the man who was keeping the three of them from riding on to Helena.

Standing in the open gate of the corral, Hawk saw Trip running from the house. He recognized him as the thin man wearing the quick-draw holster. He was an easy target, but Hawk waited to see if the other two would come out of the store. Hawk could tell when Trip spotted him standing at the corral, for he jerked back to a quick stop, then continued to run straight toward him. His pistol was in his hand, but he didn’t shoot. Hawk figured he wanted to get closer because of the inaccuracy of a pistol at long range. He’s crazy, Hawk decided, drew his Winchester up to his shoulder, and squeezed the trigger. Trip ran half a dozen more steps after the .44 slug struck his chest before crashing to the ground, dead. That leaves two, Hawk thought. He continued to wait, but no one came out of the building to check on Trip, no one made any move to save their horses. He had figured Booth and the other man would make some effort to get him, but they remained inside the store. He could not see the blacksmith shop from where he waited, so he moved closer to the corner of the barn in case Reuben Pressley suddenly showed up.