How It All Goes Down
- Brr… It's still freezing outside, even though it's May. The winter is long and tough, and everyone is ready to bust out the summer clothes.
- Campbell kills a rattlesnake one day and everyone is excited since this means summer is coming.
- Serena orders all rattlesnakes to be put in a cart near the stable. No one knows why.
- For months, Serena trains the eagle. At first she uses a cage, but little by little she releases it.
- It's not long before she enters the camp with the eagle in tow, ready to show off her mad skills.
- She lets it free with a command and within minutes it returns with a rattlesnake. It's clear she's been using the dead ones to train the eagle how to detect when one is near.
- Some of the men are impressed. Others aren't so sure this is a good idea.
- This messes with the natural order of things—you know, the circle of life and all that. If God created it, we shouldn't tamper with it, some of them argue.
- Others aren't so sure, though. Rattlesnakes have killed some of their men, after all, so they have a more us-or-them mentality about the creatures.
- Regardless of what the men think, though, Serena is proud of herself.
- For others, this is a sure sign that trouble is on the horizon.