women are raped or taken captive if they are young enough. Learning of this, the Rangers decide to return immediately. Ranger Bill Coleman suffers from his losses and hangs himself. Scull, having survived the cage, is moved to Ahumado's snake-pit while awaiting ransom. Blue Duck falls out with his father, Buffalo Hump, and is exiled, and the camp is devastated by cholera. Also, in Galveston, Clara Forsythe learns of her parents' death and loss of the store in Austin. Bob Allen, a horse-trader from Nebraska, proposes to her. In Austin, the governor re-issues the order to Call and McCrae to rescue Scull, if they can convince cattle ranchers to provide them the 1000-head ransom on credit. Call tries to come to terms with being a father, while McCrae ponders why Clara chose Allen over him. En route to the ranchers, they have a run-in with some wild cattle before being directed to rancher Dick King and the "town" of Lonesome Dove. Unable to secure the ransom, Call and McCrae set off alone to rescue Scull. Meanwhile, Scull is alive in the snake pit. Ahumado is bitten by a spider and dies en route to a legendary medicine tree. The rest of the camp is abandoned. Scull is rescued and returned to Austin, where he suffers occasional delusions. McCrae loses the love of Clara when she learns of his affair with Inez. Call cannot commit to marrying Maggie and claiming her newborn son, named Newton, as his. Part 3 Seven years later, in 1865, the American Civil War ends. Call is still single and McCrae is mourning the death of his wife Nellie. Call is blind to Spoon moving in with Maggie (who works at the store). He can neither admit feelings for her or accept his son, even though he regularly has dinner with the pair. Spoon leaves for other opportunities. In Austin, Governor Pease is in charge, but the pending arrival of Union cavalry represents a new phase in the struggle with the Comanche. Rangers are to serve as scouts. In Nebraska, Clara Allen, now a mother of two, hears of Nellie's death and mourns the loss of her own son, too. In Boston, the Sculls are still married. On the plains, Blue Duck continues to attack and kill settlers. Led by Charles Goodnight, the Rangers and cavalry locate a Comanche camp, and recapture "the Parker girl", now a