Wilson backed the team into the traces, and wished they weren't going to town at all. He had an uneasy feeling about it. That girl last night, what was her name? Judith Pierce. It was the only thing about her that was the least bit hard to remember.

He finished with the team and filled his pipe and stood looking about him. He had spent two hours riding around the ranch that morning, and in broad daylight it was even less inviting than Judith Pierce had made it seem. There was brush, and stands of pine that no grass could grow under, and places so steep that cattle wouldn't stop to graze. But there was water. There was an artificial lake just out of sight in the first stand of trees, fed by a half dozen springs that popped out of the ground above the hillside orchard. Yes, there was plenty of water, too much, and that was probably the trouble. There were tracks of cattle all over his six hundred and forty acres.

The first part of the road was steep, but it leveled off after the second bend and curled gradually into the valley. It was hotter once they reached the flat, and drier, but the grass was better. A warm breeze played across it, moving it like waves. A red-tailed hawk flew in behind them and stayed there, watching for any snakes or rabbits that they might stir up from the side of the road. It took them an hour before they came to the first houses of Kelseyville.