Open Season

Joe drives to the Keeley house after his morning rounds. As he parks, he hears Jeannie Keeley point a shotgun at him, but she puts it away when he identifies himself. She reluctantly invites Joe inside so she can tend to her sick daughter, April. In the small house, April lies on a bunk bed, and her younger brother plays next to her. Joe notices the gloomy, fearful look on their faces, as well as their tattered clothes.

Before Joe can ask anything, Jeannie talks for 45 minutes about Ote. She and Ote got married when Ote was on leave from the military, and she was in high school. He poured all his money into his truck, the house, and his outfitting business, and he left nothing but debt behind. Ote spent most of his time with Kyle and Calvin and thought he should have been a pioneer. Jeannie thinks she’ll have to go on welfare, which is ironic considering how much Ote hated the government. She might leave the kids with her mother and move away to get settled in another state. Joe is silent during her speech, and he can tell she is bitter about her life.

Joe gets a glass of water and secretly checks on the children while Jeannie keeps talking. She reveals that Ote thought Joe was a better man than Vern, who once made Ote do a secret job for him. Ote was trying to make things right with Joe before he died by bringing him an animal he found with his friends. Jeannie can’t remember specifics, but she thinks it could have been the Miller’s weasel. This shocks Joe, since the Miller’s weasel has been extinct for a century. Joe leaves and considers the Keeley family’s unhappy situation as he drives to Cheyenne headquarters for his hearing.

Joe arrives at headquarters and waits for his appointment with Les Etbauer. The other employees stare at him, and Joe feels out of place in the bureaucratic building. A man approaches him and tells Joe that the staff think he should challenge the ruling, but before Joe can ask what he’s talking about, the man walks away. In Les Etbauer’s office, the assistant director informs Joe he is being suspended without pay in three days. Joe is shocked that he is being suspended after only one violation on his otherwise stellar record.

Etbauer reads Joe’s report and passages from the agency handbook, and Joe’s mind wanders. Etbauer is a lifelong government employee who moved up the ranks because he was the only person around. Joe explains that Ote took his gun because his hands were occupied while writing out the citation. Joe proves how he was caught off guard by lunging for Etbauer and taking his name tag. Embarrassed, Etbauer reasserts that Joe is suspended and will also be investigated as a suspect in the murders. Joe is shocked into silence. He angrily presses Etbauer about who gave the orders to make Joe’s case a priority on a Friday evening, but Etbauer avoids the questions.

Joe storms out and calls Marybeth. She describes the Kensinger house, which Missy and Lucy both love. Joe recounts what happened in the meeting, as well as his belief that someone is trying to sabotage him. He’ll use his last three days to follow up on questions before accepting the InterWest job. Before he leaves, Joe goes to the Wildlife Biology Section and finds the woman who called him about his missing parcel. The woman shows Joe to the library and asks Joe to keep what she’s done a secret. When Joe finishes his research on the Miller’s weasel, he buys a new revolver and ammunition.

The man from the barn stops Sheridan on the side of the road as she walks to her bus stop. He offers Sheridan a ride, but she refuses. He beckons her closer, and Sheridan slowly walks up to the truck, but she keeps her distance in case she needs to run. The man asks Sheridan how to feed the animals, and she explains how she sprinkles food on the woodpile. She doesn’t tell the man about the animals’ new home. The man quickly opens and closes his glove box, revealing a small white package stained with red. He pretends that the package—which is actually a burger—is the head of a kitten. He threatens to hurt Sheridan’s family the same way if she doesn’t keep their secret. He watches Sheridan board the bus in his rearview mirror and happily eats the burger.

Joe drives home from Cheyenne and takes in the beautiful landscape of Wyoming. He has mixed emotions about his dismissal, but mostly he is angry that someone is toying with his livelihood. To occupy his mind, Joe thinks about his research. Joe read colonial expedition journals, biologist reports, and other historical descriptions of the small animals who were a constant presence on buffalo migration routes. The burrowing Miller’s weasels primarily ate buffalo carrion, but they also ate other small game and plants. Indigenous people thought the animals brought good luck, but a rumor started among European settlers that the weasels ate human babies. Due to this rumor, the Miller’s weasels were killed en masse, and their populations were further eradicated by the decimation of the buffalo.

Joe believes it’s possible some Miller’s weasels survived and adapted their diet to other large animals in the region. He worries that news of the resurrected species may, as Vern said, harm the Saddlestring community when conservationists intervene, so he wants to be sure about the weasels before making a formal report. Joe believes Ote and the outfitters found the weasels and were killed to cover up the discovery, and that Clyde Lidgard is being used as a scapegoat for the murders. At a general store, Joe buys alcohol and calls Dave Avery. Dave cannot identify the animal scat, and Joe explains his theory about the weasels. Dave promises to test the sample again and keep it secret while Joe searches for answers. Joe pulls onto a secluded side road and test-fires his gun.

Joe spies Vern’s Suburban in front of Stockman’s Bar and finds his old mentor in his usual booth. Vern just finished celebrating with Wacey after learning that Sheriff Barnum dropped out of the election. Joe recounts his hearing and suspension to Vern, and despite Vern’s disbelief, Joe thinks Vern knew it was going to happen. Joe declares, given the circumstances, that he’ll accept the job at InterWest.

However, Vern claims he never made Joe a job offer. Considering Joe’s recent suspension and his new reputation for interfering in a police investigation, Vern isn’t sure InterWest would even consider Joe for a position. Joe is shocked into silence. Vern tries to tell Joe, “All is not lost” (186), which infuriates Joe, who is not optimistic about his future. Vern thinks Joe needs to become more selfish, like he is, because doing right by other people doesn’t guarantee he’ll be rewarded.

Before he storms off, Joe mentions the Miller’s weasels and sees a flash of fear in Vern’s eyes. He threatens to expose Vern if he is involved in the murders or the cover-up. Joe drives toward his house but quickly reverses direction toward the Eagle Mountain Club.