The High Trail

the long version

Demoted and disgraced, Lieutenant Calvin Glaze is offered a chance of redemption: leading a patrol through the mountain passes up to Hunger Flats, to track down the hideout of the Crowley Gang. Assigned an elderly cook-house private, a one-legged sergeant, and two soldiers up on charges, Glaze has private doubts about his patrol's likely efficacy. Three weeks later, on the treacherous High Trail - with the supply wagon lost, his men mutinous, and harsh weather closing in - he begins to suspect his mission was designed to fail from the start ...