Well things got pretty confusing in the Gulch. 3Gun even thought about giving up his badge and retiring to his chair under the stairs in the back of the saloon. The events taking place just seemed to overwhelm him at times. Lean and stannbear's assault by Hunter that left Lean with temporary amnesia and stannbear with a knot on his head. CrazyGoose, in the meantime, had discovered an old map with a place marked on it but in the excitement of Lean and stannbear's troubles, it was forgotten.

On top of all that, stannbear found an old parchment showing his family tree and a revelation that he was the son of Steel's aunt Olla and Cadmus Croc. Why he was rummaging around in the doctor's office, no one ever found out but the news rocked him seriously. CrazyGoose was having almost as much trouble following his ancestry and needed to sort it all out in her mind.

3Gun got hold of stannbear and gave him an ultimatum. He was to go to the jail and speak with his aunt and find out exactly what was what. Then he collected Lean from the doctor's office, rounded up CrazyGoose an dragged them all into the saloon for meeting about what to do next. They considered everything they knew and drafted a plan. It was while they were congratulating themselves over finding a consensus, that stannbear returned looking shaken and stirred. He sat down and ordered a large drink then told the trio what he had learned from his aunt.

Hunter had always been a mystery man right from the first day Lean brought him in as the new bartender, and now it turned out he was in cahoots with Croc. They had planned the train robbery together, used the big horserace as a diversion, and even fixed that so Croc would win. Steel Diamond, stannbear's aunt, was going around with Croc at the time and it was she that suggested her nephew as Croc's jockey. Hunter had joined the Busted Gulch group when they foiled the robbery then seemed to come and go for long periods after it was all over.

Steel and Croc fell out after the attempted robbery and he left her, taking all the money they had together. To make ends meet, Steel turned to crime again and stole the saloon supplies. Hunter, meanwhile, had been spying on Steel and told Croc what she had done. Croc decided that he wanted the supplies and went after Steel but her gang of girls drove him off. Steel was wounded but the supplies were saved. When Lean, CrazyGoose and stannbear were at the mine questioning her, she told Lean that they were being watched all the time. She never said by whom, but it was a good bet that it was Hunter.

stannbear also learned, to his relief, that the family tree was a fake, just as CrazyGoose had suggested and although he was a Diamond, his parents had died long ago. They also learned that both maps were real but the place marked wasn't an oasis, it was a town called Oh Aces, the town where Croc was staying. The three friends sat around the saloon table, drinking silently. Lean left to back to the Doc's for some pills. She was feeling dizzy. All the grand plans were out the window. There was nothing they could do with any success while Hunter was still out there watching. They were all aware, they needed a new plan.