"But all of northeastern Montana is hard county-the land is dry and sparse and the wind never stops blowing. The heat and thunderstorms in summer can be brutal, and the winters are legendary for the fierceness of their blizzards and the depths to which temperatures drop."

"And in my case, my parents were not only figurative agents of the law, my father was the law."

" The river is beautiful."

" My mother turned and waves in my father's direction. If he saw he gave no sign, yet he remained in the window."