"Storm's been over for days."
"Another one's coming. You can feel it."
The man's eyes moved past Harlon, taking in the house.
The family.
Everything worth knowing.
"We'd pay for a night's lodging. Just somewhere warm to sleep."
"We don't take in strangers."
"Everyone's a stranger until they're not."
The man smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"Come on, friend. It's cold out here. Show some frontier hospitality."
"I'm not your friend."
Harlon's grip on the rifle tightened.
"And my hospitality doesn't extend to armed men showing up after dark."
The atmosphere shifted.
The two younger men moved their hands closer to their weapons.
The scarred man's smile disappeared.
"That's a hard answer to a simple request."
"It's the only answer you're getting."
For a moment, Norah thought it would turn violent right there.
The men looked ready for it.
Harlon looked ready for it.
Then Thomas appeared beside his father, rifle in hand.
Then Eli.
Two boys barely grown, but armed and willing.
The scarred man reassessed the situation.
Three armed men against three armed defenders in a house that probably held more people.
Not impossible odds.
But not easy ones either.
"Your choice," he said finally. "But you should know there's trouble coming to this valley. Might want to reconsider who you make enemies of."
"I'll take my chances."
The man nodded slowly.
"We'll remember this."
They left, disappearing into the darkness and snow.
Harlon closed the door and locked it.
His hands were shaking slightly.
"Who were they?" Thomas asked.
"Black Hollow Gang," Harlon said.
His voice was grim.
"Or scouts for them. Either way, nothing good."
"They'll come back," Eli said.
It wasn't a question.
"Probably."
Norah stepped forward.
"What's Black Hollow?"
Harlon set down his rifle.
"Outlaws. They've been working this territory for years. Usually stick to isolated ranches, places that can't fight back. Steal cattle, supplies, whatever they want. Sometimes worse."
"How much worse?"
"Last year, they burned out a family 30 miles north. Killed the husband when he tried to resist. Wife and kids barely got out alive."
Harlon's jaw clenched.
"That's Black Hollow."
"And they just scouted this ranch."
"Yeah."
Norah's mind raced.
"We need to tell other ranchers. Organize some kind of defense against Black Hollow."
Harlon shook his head.