July Johnson is 24 years old and has been the sheriff for two years. His incompetent deputy, Roscoe Brown, is 48. July’s belligerent, former sister-in-law, Peach, demands to know when he’s leaving to find Jake. Her husband, Ben Johnson, had been the mayor, whom Jake shot and killed.

Roscoe had been confused at the abruptness of the shooting, and Jake had escaped while he tried to figure out what had happened. A bout of jaundice had kept July from following Jake for six weeks. Now his wife, Elmira, doesn’t want him to leave. She had previously been married to a man named Dee Boot, and they have a 12-year-old son named Joe. July realizes that he feels more duty towards the town than his dead brother. He would rather stay and protect the citizens than chase a fugitive.

At home, Joe and July eat while Elmira sits in the loft above them. He and Joe bond over her scolding. He doesn’t understand why Elmira is so ugly to him now that they are married. July is unaware that Elmira knew Jake before she met him. After an altercation with a buffalo hunter, while she was working as a sporting girl, Dee gave her money to go somewhere with a new identity.