Jake, Loren and Horace are out hunting when Jake, mistaking an Indian for a deer, accidentally shoots and kills him. During the melee, Horace is wounded by an arrow, which Mike treats. Loren and Jake, frightened and guilty, try to cover up Jake's blunder by declaring that the Indians attacked. They persuade Horace to participate in this lie. Sully and Mike are caught in the subsequent hostilities between the Indians and townsfolk. The incident threatens to provoke an all-out Indian war, as well as a rift between Sully and Mike and between Sully and Cloud Dancing, until Mike elicits a confession from Horace and Sully intervenes to bring peace. Eventually, the Indian tribal council declares that Jake must make financial reparations to the dead Indian's family, including his horse, watch and ring.

Rev. Johnson's in love with the town's new schoolteacher (Sherry Hursey), while Mike's concerned about the woman's wanton use of corporal punishment in the classroom.