At the Mayor's house:
"Dairy cows? Dogs? I don't much care. Send the new guys."Down by the river:
"You ever seen anything like that Bubba?"
"No, and I been to Chicago one time"
"Whudaya wanna do"
"Leave, leave fast and don't never come back"
The posse joined Hank and Bubba to complete their investigation of the Dairy Cow Rustling gang. They had found the cows and a local dog breeder name of Sandy all slaughtered about four hours outside of town. The posse accompanied them because the two men, normally the Sheriff's best, had been unnerved by what they saw.
After a four hour ride, the posse came to the crime scene. Six dogs, two cows, and a recluse named Sandy were all dead. The cows heads were there, but their bodies were gone and everyone appeared to have been skinned. A large pot nearby contained the gizzards of the cows and dogs. Sandy's body appeared mostly intact.
Spotting the trail, the group rode out to Sandy's place to find an even more horrid sight. The stench of death, strong at the earlier site, now hung so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. Investigating the house, they found the cows had been slaughtered in Sandy's bedroom, which was soaked in blood. His kennels were also awash in blood, with only one dog left remaining.
Colin suddenly remembered the ritual. It was an A-ki vengenace ritual - when someone offended them, he and his family had to be killed along with everything that mattered to him. After asking Bubba a few questions, Ramon concluded that Hank, the owner of the cows, might also be in danger. The group burned the dogs and then saddled up to see if they could save Hank.
Owing to the excellent quality of his faithful steed, Ramon arrived first and warned Hank. He managed to get his own horse into the stable just before the attack began. He threw himself next to horse trough and surveyed his opponents.
There were seven of them, but six were using bows and the seventh a gun. That didn't sound like the A-ki - he'd heard they shunned modern tools and equipment. He waited for the muzzle flash to illuminate them and pumped his Henry rifle, putting two shots into the rifleman, but in the fading light all he got was the man's duster.. The man turned and fired a few shots at him, which ricocheted off the trough harmlessly.
He returned fire again, this time dropping the apparent leader. As the others dropped their bows and skinned leather, he heard the hooves of his friends arriving. He thought to call out a warning, but it was too late. Skeeter plowed right into the other men, killing one of them and wounding another. The ranger followed him and dusted one with his shotgun. The new guy at least had the sense to stop and shoot at them.
The tide had definitely turned; only four of them were still standing and one bark from Skeeter's pistol made it three. Two of them backed away, their hands on their guns, but clearly not wanting to fight. The third drew two pistols and creased the new guys hat with a pair of bullets. Spotting his chance, Ramon shot one of the man's pistols from his hand and demanded the three surrender.
After weighing the odds, two surrendered and one ran; the runner didn't get far as Skeeter rode him down. All three were tied up and questioned, then taken back to town for trial.
Tom (describing Mick's proposed character): This is my Indian pal, “Fights with Friends”
Joe explains “Senor Dickhead” a balding, one-eyed man, with huge jowls and a propensity for tobacco spittin'
Tom: You will always be single
Joe: uh huhMarshall: It's a mocsakin print
Steve: Damn it, I told you I'm a Spooniard!Skeeter: You tauntin' me?
Lou: I take five steps back
Skeeter: Where'd he go?Steve (describing events in border town): their heads blew up then we burned it down
Mick: Then it sank into the swamp.
Bubba and the sheriff both seem fond of old school justice.
Someone in Odin paid 7 men $1,000 each to run Hank and Sandy off their land.