“Now, why in the world would you wanna do somethin’ as stupid as that?” Hawk asked as he leveled his rifle at him. “How long would you stay in business if you greeted every customer like that?” He glanced up to see Dinah Belle coming in from the kitchen, curious to see what had caused her husband to bellow. “Good evenin’, Mrs. Bodine,” Hawk said. “I just came in to buy a few supplies, and your husband went for his shotgun.” She paused in the doorway, just as astonished as her husband, not knowing what to say.

“You got your nerve, comin’ in here,” Bodine growled, waiting for what he feared was coming.

“Why do you say that?” Hawk replied. “You run a store, don’t you? Ain’t my money good enough for you?”

“You know why,” Bodine shot back, his astonishment rapidly turning into anger. “You come in here, stampede my horses, and shoot one of my customers down. You’re lucky I didn’t see you ride up. I’da shot you down before you got off your horse.”

“Now, whatever gave you that idea?” Hawk asked, still holding his rifle ready to shoot. He gave Dinah Belle an inquisitive look, as if he couldn’t understand what was possessing her husband. “Do you think I did what he said, ma’am?”

She was not sure how to respond right away, but then answered him. “Well, somebody sure as hell did what Rufus just said.” She looked at her husband then. “Nobody ever really did get a look at who done the shootin’.” She reminded him then, “You told Booth nobody got a look at the shooter but Trip, and he was dead. It was Booth that said it was Hawk, and Booth wouldn’t go out the door. So he didn’t see who it was.”

“You came in here askin’ me if four men came through here,” Bodine said. “Said you was tryin’ to catch up with ’em.”

“I sure did,” Hawk said, “and you told me they were here, but kept on goin’ on their way to Helena. So I never had any reason to doubt you and I kept on goin’. They didn’t come back here, did they?” Bodine was too flustered to answer at that point. “Anyway, I ran into some friends of mine. They’re short on supplies and you’re the closest store, so that’s why I’m here—to buy supplies.” He looked from one of the Bodines to the other, both of them standing dumbfounded from the conversation just ended.

Bodine and his wife exchanged puzzled glances, then Bodine asked, “Whaddaya need?”

“To start, I need some flour. I’d say about a hundred pounds,” Hawk answered.

“A hundred pounds?” Bodine repeated, surprised. “That’s half a barrel of flour.”

“Right,” Hawk said, then proceeded to call out a few other things, like salt, sugar, beans, and coffee, all in large amounts.