Nothing was going right. For a man who traveled alone and light, Adam Steele was well burdened with people and possessions: a wizened old-timer, a widow woman and all their worldly goods piled high on a wagon. Nice enough people but Steele was irked by them and their chatter.
It was the Apache brave who jumped Steele, disarmed him, held the woman hostage, who convinced Steele that things were going very wrong indeed. And were just about to get worse.