Luke pesters Elmira constantly, and she worries that he will try to rape her. He threatens to kill Zwey unless she gives in to his demands. One afternoon she chases him off with a gun, then tells Zwey when he returns. Someone shoots at them from the dark that night but misses. Luke returns two days later and acts normally.

Elmira wakes to Luke on top of her. Zwey grabs him and smashes his head against a wagon wheel, almost tearing his ear off. Luke is then quiet for four days. Elmira tries to sew his ear back on. He has a fever for two weeks. Luke says he wasn’t the one who shot at them in the dark, and Elmira thinks he might be telling the truth.

Po Campo gets a reputation as a fortune teller. Gus asks how many times he’ll marry, and Po says there will be no more wives for Gus. Five men from the Wichita tribe arrive and talk with Call, who is cordial and gives them some food.

At night, Call often rides with Gus to take Lorena supper. Gus thinks about the strangeness of life; Jake accidentally shot a dentist, which eventually resulted in Gus being here with Lorena and a cattle herd.