For seven years, things go well for Tristan at the ranch. On a cattle drive, he purchases several cases of whiskey from a smuggler. He is traveling with One Stab, Two, Decker, and some ranch hands. On the way back to the ranch, they are stopped by federal officers because of the smuggled whiskey. The officers fire their guns in the air to stop the cars, and one of the bullets ricochets and kills Isabel Two. Tristan beats two officers nearly to death and serves 30 days in jail for the crime.

Susanna, meanwhile, is plagued by mental health issues. Alfred buys a house in Helena, Montana in hopes that it might do Susannah good to spend summers there. He asks Tristan to write to Susannah, thinking that her guilt over the marriage is causing her mental instability, and Tristan agrees. Susanna receives the letter from Tristan and, still in love with him, finds a false reason to hope.

Tristan begins smuggling whiskey from Canada with pack horses and then decides to use his grandfather's ship to smuggle liquor from Vancouver to San Francisco. Before he leaves, he sees Susannah, and she asks him to have sex with her.