Like always, her knees had given way beneath the onslaught.

It isnt all his fault, she thought, still staring at the log across the stream, still twisting the fireweed between her fingers. I should have been more forceful. I should have insisted we sit down and talk about it, then and there. But he distracted me. Like he always distracts me.

“ You know whats wrong with Mark?

“ What?

“ Hes too good in the sack.

Remembering the conversation with Nina at City Market, Rebecca realized just how often Mark had resolved their differences in bed.

It was ironic that here, in this place she feared and despised, in this place to which Mark had seduced her into coming, here she had found the time and the solitude to think, to reflect, to learn to see a different side of their relationship. It shamed her to realize that all he had to do was lay hands on her and she would do anything he wanted.

“Hey!

Marks shout jerked her to her feet. She turned. He wasnt there.

“Hey, what the hell do you think youre doing? Get out of there!

The sound of a shot echoed off the walls of the canyon.

She grabbed for her waist, and only then remembered that she had been so angry at her husband that morning that she had forgotten to strap on the.357 before stepping outside.

For the first time that summer since the bear charged her, she was outside the cabin and unarmed.

Nuklunek Bluff, September 2

The air was very still that morning, probably why the sound of the shot traveled so far.

“Hey, John said. “Did you hear that?

“Yeah, Teddy said, head cocked. “Warehouse Mountain?

“Too far. Nenevok Lake, maybe.

“Or maybe the creek.

“The gold mine, John said, and burped.

“Maybe she shot him.

“Maybe he shot her.

They both thought back to their first sight of Rebecca Hanover, and said simultaneously, “Nah.

They stood, listening. There were no further shots.

“A bear, maybe, John said.

Teddy made a face, and pointed in a vague, easterly direction with a half-empty bottle of beer. “You think we should go see?

John drained his own bottle and set it down with exaggerated care inside the almost empty second case. “Sure, he said, and picked his way carefully to where his rifle stood leaning against a tree trunk.

Teddy watched him go, bleary-eyed. “What about Wy?

“Why?

“Wy. Our pickup. Noonish. Round there, anyway. Maybe four. Five?

John made a regally dismissive gesture with one hand. “Be back in plenty of time.

Teddy, flush with beer, gave no thought to the various areas of dense brush and swampy muskeg between them and the shot they had heard, and agreed without a blink.

Kagati Lake, September 2

“Ive got to get home, Wy said. “Im supposed to ferry a couple of fishermen back from Outuchiwenet Mountain, and Ive got a couple of hunters to pick up this afternoon. Ill need to refuel before I head out. See you back at the house?