Joe Pick­ett arrives at the Hotel Wolf in Sarato­ga, Wyoming, stomp­ing snow off his boots before enter­ing the rus­tic estab­lish­ment. The hotel exudes old-world charm, with a din­ing room, lob­by, and bar adorned with wildlife mounts and his­tor­i­cal pho­tos. Joe inter­acts with the bar­tender, Kim Miller, who checks him into Room 9 for a week-long stay. Their exchange reveals Joe’s role as a tem­po­rary game war­den and his inten­tion to vis­it his daugh­ter, Sheri­dan, who works near­by. The bartender’s wit­ty remarks and the hotel’s quaint details, like a ledger instead of dig­i­tal records, add to the small-town atmos­phere.

The chap­ter high­lights Joe’s appre­ci­a­tion for the hotel’s time­less ambiance, from its antique fur­nish­ings to the lack of mod­ern ameni­ties like in-room phones. Kim Miller’s friend­ly yet no-non­sense demeanor makes an impres­sion, as does her men­tion of the pre­vi­ous game warden’s mys­te­ri­ous dis­ap­pear­ance. Joe’s brief inter­ac­tions with the bar patrons, includ­ing an old man who seems to rec­og­nize him, hint at under­ly­ing local gos­sip. The setting—a snowy Jan­u­ary in a qui­et town—emphasizes iso­la­tion and the close-knit nature of the com­mu­ni­ty, where every­one knows each other’s busi­ness.

After set­tling into his room, Joe texts Sheri­dan to arrange a meet­ing in the bar. Their exchange, punc­tu­at­ed by her enthu­si­as­tic emo­jis and his reserved response, under­scores their gen­er­a­tional dif­fer­ences. Joe fresh­ens up and returns down­stairs, where his Sad­dle Bronc beer awaits. The bar’s cozy, nos­tal­gic vibe, with its saw­dust-cov­ered floors and hunt­ing tro­phies, con­trasts with the mod­ern flat-screen TVs, blend­ing past and present. The hip­ster patron has left, but the old man remains, adding to the sense of lin­ger­ing scruti­ny.

The chap­ter sets the stage for Joe’s tem­po­rary assign­ment in Sarato­ga, weav­ing in themes of com­mu­ni­ty, fam­i­ly, and mys­tery. The Hotel Wolf serves as a micro­cosm of the town, where his­to­ry and per­son­al con­nec­tions inter­sect. Joe’s under­stat­ed demeanor and obser­va­tion­al nature posi­tion him as an out­sider yet one who is keen­ly aware of his sur­round­ings. The dis­ap­pear­ance of the pre­vi­ous game war­den looms in the back­ground, fore­shad­ow­ing poten­tial con­flicts or rev­e­la­tions as Joe begins his stay.