Rattlesnake Convention — Peter Brandvold

Ben Stillman is on his way back to his hometown of Clantick after chasing illegal whiskey peddlers. He's eager to be back in his warm home with his wife and young child. But when he runs into a saloon owner who's been robbed, his best whore killed, the sheriff of Hill County finds himself on the trail of two young thieving killers, with a hard winter storm bearing down.

The saloon owner himself, John Stock, rides along with Stillman. Stock isn't much help. He's a loudmouthed drunk, and he ends up getting his horse shot out from under him.

Still, he and Stillman plod deep into the Missouri Breaks, on the trail of the two whore-killing thieves. Their trail leads them to Perdition Bend -- a notorious outlaw hideout. There, surrounded by wooly-eyed outlaws with itchy trigger fingers, Stillman feels like the lone jackrabbit at a rattlesnake convention...