Rich and his hounds track Rich's nemesis, the killer mountain lion Three-Toes, across the length of Montana's Ruby Valley. In Alaska, a young prot g brings Marty the new snowmobile engine he's been waiting for. Eustace races the winter frost to seed his field in North Carolina and in Northwest Montana, Tom receives a commission from a neighbor to build a primitive bow, with a deadline that puts his endurance to the test.