- Georgie tries to avoid Ma and Grandfather Bolte during the two days before her departure.
- At 11:00PM on Saturday, she gets up, dresses, leaves a note on her desk, then she gets her trusty Springfield single-shot, which Grandfather Bolte has freshly cleaned.
- Billy is slightly late, but he finally arrives, riding a horse named Storm and leading… a mule named Frederick.
- Billy tells her he's loaning her the mule and equipment and returns her gold Bechtler dollars.
- Also, he's going with her.
- Georgie is not pleased, and she's even less pleased that he sees how hard it is for her to mount the mule and how little respect the mule gives her.
- She reluctantly admits to herself that Billy is quite a looker, but he's still a wannabe cowboy with a cheap hat and a repeating rifle that says he's not as good a shot as she is.
- They ride about a mile and stop for the night in an abandoned pigeoners' camp.
- Billy shares Georgie's lean-to, which annoys her, however she does sneak a peek at him in his long underwear.
- She recalls how Billy has always taken care of his younger brothers since his mother died in childbirth when he was eight.
- She and Billy sleep back to back for warmth, but Georgie can't sleep because she's thinking of a day in February. Guess we'd better get ready for another flashback.