My thanks to Chris Pepe,
who helped this butterfly
fight its way out of the cocoon,
and to Dad, Gary Porter,
Mark Rousch. Ralph Young, Hank Carlson
and all the other Alaskan hunters
who bring home the meat to fill my freezer
and the stories to hang books on,
and to Chris Copeland,
without whose help
nobody would have shot anybody in this book,
and to Dad again, for buying the gold camp
and letting me use it as the setting,
and to Jeannie,
for running my butt ragged over every inch of it.
Kate doesn’t know how easy she had it.