In June, the height of summer arrived, and the snow-capped mountains began to form an oasis, and our life in the coulter village was also very smooth.

Although everything is still frozen, the number of animals around us has increased visibly, and our food is guaranteed. One day, Catherine spotted a colony of blue-green fish with pale orange heads somewhere in Spider Gap, and Thomas, who had been fishing experience, said it might be bluegill sunfish swimming from Lake Isabella, and since then we have had another source of meat.

As on countless mornings here, the sun rose warmly, shining a faint pink glow on the snow, and John lay in his easy chair to meditate and start his day.

Mr. Fowler wandered around the door for a while, looked around the house in good condition, and then pushed open the door of the room where John was and entered.

"Good morning, respectable sir." Mr. Fowler has done a lot for the gang these days, and John says this mostly out of respect and a little bit of a joke.

"Haha, it's over, but the climate here is more pleasant than I thought." Mr. Fowler raised his hand and smiled.

"Yes, with a padded jacket and firewood, we have the ability to withstand most of the cold here, but sometimes I can't help coughing, and I think it's better not to take the temperature lightly."

Mr. Fowler nodded: "Well, I have heard a story about the threat of low temperatures, a young tailor from the city went to the north to tailor a dress for a guest, and opened the doors and windows of his room before going to bed at night, and he fell asleep without closing the window because he was too sleepy, and the next day people found a frozen corpse in bed. ”

"Did he freeze to death?" John shuddered when he heard this, and then wrapped his clothes tightly.

"Yes, at first the local sheriff mistakenly thought that the guest family had murdered the tailor, and waited until a similar case occurred before being forced to accept the truth."

"It's enough to remind us that sometimes it's nature that is more dangerous than a villain with a gun."

"There's always been a threat." Mr. Fowler rubbed his hands, then took out a few bags of brown-black powder from the inner lining of his coat, "I bought some ground coffee from a passing merchant, and boiled a little to drink it when I was idle, to expel the chill from your body. ”

John took the ground coffee and marveled at Mr. Fowler's thoughtfulness, and if he hadn't reminded him in time, he might not have been able to sleep well one night, and ended up in the same situation as the poor tailor.

"Oh...... By the way, Mrs. Manstar has expressed to me her desire to work for the gang, and I will come to you and ask if there is anything she can do. ”

John smiled, his ability to understand Streich as a person wouldn't leave her with just a few simple jobs.

"She's not going to stick to what she can, Mr. Fowler."

"Hey, John, I'll just say I can trust you to know about the gang members, she actually wants me to take her hunting, and I found you because I know you're the best candidate." Mr. Fowler patted John on the shoulder and said.

John took the supplies and weapons, he knew that it would not be a problem for Strichie to catch all kinds of prey with his marksmanship, and he could not understand why she had to pull Mr. Fowler or herself.

"Let's go, I need some hunting time too."

Stridge's excited expression showed that she was looking forward to the hunt and was well prepared for the hunt, with a cartridge belt on her shoulders and a roller-locking rifle on her back.

"Mr. Fowler, may we go?"

Mr. Fowler smiled awkwardly, and then hammered John's arm next to him, "It is this strong gentleman who has taken you there, and I hope you will return with a full load today." ”

Strich's eyes widened, she glanced at John, then turned and mounted her horse, unequivocally. After a while, two horses, one white and one black, walked out of the coulter village one after another, and walked towards the snowfields in the north.

After walking for a while, John handed Streich, who was walking side by side, his map, which clearly marked the distribution of nearby animals.

"What kind of prey are you going to hunt?" Mrs. Manstar. ”

Stridge pushes the map away disdainfully, something John didn't expect.

"Except for tigers and lions, I think we can handle everything else. That being the case, to make the hunt meaningful, I think we should use some skill instead of wandering aimlessly, waiting for a lost animal to crash into us. ”

"It's good to lure the fish to the bait." John put the map back in his saddle pocket.

"I've brought some herbivore bait, let's play a game, put the gun back on the horse, take only a dagger, and take out the prey with only lurking and sneak attacks, Mr. Coster, do you dare to compete with me?"

John found the Stretch in front of him interesting, so he gladly responded, "Why not? I'm not a pampered person. ”

"Go a little farther away, kids."

John left his weapon on his horse, chased him and Strich's mount away, and when all was done he turned to Streich, who was waiting.

"Actually, you can keep a pistol, ma'am."

Stridge gave him a contemptuous look, "Why do you think I'm going to lose to you?" ”

John and Stridge were in ambush behind two rocks, the bait was placed at the same distance from the two of them, John clutched the horn handle knife tightly, and kept a posture of jumping out at any moment, he knew Strich's strength and could not underestimate this opponent.

After a while, a gray rabbit curiously poked its head out of the hole, and after confirming that there was no danger, he came to the bait and picked up the bait and was about to walk back. John stomped on the stone with the tip of his knife aimed at the hare's abdomen, only to see Stretch leap out from behind the rock, as swift as a cheetah, and the next second the hale was pierced by her dagger, and blood was running down her arm.

"How? John. Streich removed the rabbit from the knife and put it in his satchel.

John touched the sweat from his forehead, he didn't expect Streich to be so fast.

"It's my carelessness, come again."

This time, five minutes after the bait had been rearranged, a stumbling fawn ran towards it, but instead of looking at the bait, it sniffed and sniffed, as if looking for something.

John knew that he couldn't afford to rub it off this time, so according to the established rules, when the fawn had just stepped over the bait, John ejected like a bullet and stabbed it in the neck.

"You're not bad." Streich stood up behind the rock.

"It's a big guy, it's a bit of a hassle to dismember, I'll put it aside and let's get on with the game." John pulled out the knife and said.

Rather than the two hunters being skilled, Streich's bait worked wonders, and one animal after another was drawn in, including a stray pronghorn, and countless small animals such as rabbits, badgers, and squirrels, and John did his best, but he was able to fight to a draw.

"That's supposed to be enough." After the last chinchilla collapsed in a pool of blood, Streich said as he looked at the little bait left.

John kicked the fawn he had caught in the first place, "We're going to have to cut off this guy's limbs for today's lunch." ”

Just as John's knife landed on the deer's front hooves, the ground shook violently, and a roar came out of the woods. John subconsciously looked up.

A large black shadow was coming out of the woods......