George Sully stopped every few seconds to listen in the cold night. He tried to steady his frayed nerve and might have done so but cold steel pricked his neck, just below his right ear. The hairs on his nape stood on end and his mind squealed in silent terror.

"Move again and I'll leave you for the wolves."

His body froze, fear gripping every nerve.

Joel Bannon eased the pressure off the Bowie. "Man can't take a hundred steps in this country on bare feet or you'll slice 'em to the bone. Know this for the fact it is, Sully. If the land don't bury you, I will. If the natives don't blister you, I will. If bears don't gut you, I will. Nowhere you can go I won't be there. Crawl to the edge of the earth, to the last piece of land you can find. I'll be there."