The Wintering Place, McCarthy - B+

                      We pick up the story from "Wolves of Eden" with Tom and Sara leaving Ft. Phil Kearney just after the Fetterman Massacre, and finding a wounded Michael on the battlefield. They collect him and head west. As deserters, they know the army will punish them if they are ever found. A winter storm traps them while Michael is slowly recovering. They reluctantly share their campfire with two trappers. The trappers are evil men and they manage to kill the leader before they are killed. His quiet companion, Dillard, gets away. Starving, freezing, and battling the elements, the three of them settle down when they realize Tom has frostbitten toes. Michael cuts off two of his brother's toes while Sara holds him through the pain. They use the trapper's pelts to trade with two young Crow warriors for food, tobacco, and a horse. They travel two days west again to trade with some white men and then return to their cave camp. As the spring of 1867 approaches in Montana Territory, they leave their winter camp as the nearby river rises and move on with a peaceful prospector, Whitsable, to where he regularly pans for gold. They enjoy the work, the tobacco, whiskey, and all of the food that Sara prepares. By the standard of their lives, it's almost idyllic. Tom and Whitsable head to a trading post where they see Dillard. Dillard gets a few men to help him attack Tom, but they are drunk and Tom had  spent four years fighting in the war. He kills them all and hightails it out of town. The local vigilantes pull Whitsable from his bed and dispatch him. Tom, Michael and Sara leave their camp and head west again. They are now wanted for desertion and murder.

                     These two books, along with 'Ridgeline' and 'The Revenant' are four exceptional westerns that relate the sheer randomness of life on the plains in the 19th century. Great stories.