Part Two: Chapters 54-57 Summary

Augustus spends most of the first day looking for Blue Duck's tracks. He almost decides that he's lost his tracking skills. Blue Duck uses the stampeding herd to hide his tracks. Gus rides as hard as he dares, trying to catch up, yet not wanting to exhaust the only horse he has. Gus makes camp near the Brazos. On the bluff he can see for a great distance in the moonlit valleys. The silence is restful. He finds the carcass of Lorie's mare the next morning. His instincts tell him that Blue Duck is headed north to the Valley of Tears. Captives recovered from this area rarely survive for long. Gus had rescued a few in his days as a Ranger, and most had long surrendered their minds.

Blue Duck isn't interested in Lorena. To him she...