Hawk’s search for the place where the four remaining members of Booth’s gang had holed up was now narrowed down somewhat, but still quite a challenge in this remote wilderness. In fact, he could not be certain they were not still on the move. But the conversation he had overheard between Blue and Tater led him to believe they were holed up somewhere for a while. For the time being, however, he had to wait where he was to see if the outlaws came to check on the man Tater had left to die. Things were not working out as he had foreseen. His plan from the beginning was to find the gang’s hideout and report it to the military at Fort Benton and leave it to them to make the arrest. But that plan was already upside-down, as a result of his encounter that morning. If the plan was to be followed, he would have to trail them when they came to get Blue and let them lead him to their hideout. He would not hesitate to shoot if he had to, just as he had not hesitated that morning, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to take on the role of executioner and try to stalk them individually with the intention of killing all of them.

All these thoughts were making his mind spin, so he decided he would do the one thing he knew was necessary, and that was to take care of the deer he had killed. He couldn’t take the time to skin and butcher the animal, but he could at least move the carcass seventy-five yards upstream to his camp, hang it upside down, and gut it. That wouldn’t take long, then he could finish the job when he had time later.

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