"the hard facts of killing"

When he got to Cochran’s room which was attached to the sheep shed, Cochran was fully dressed and packed and sat as if in a trance on the edge of his bed. Mauro sat down in a chair and folded his hands in thought; he realized the gravity of the man’s mission, and wished to go along and protect him as his new friend seemed to be too much of a dreamer to deal with the hard facts of killing. Then the door began to open and Cochran was up in a flash with the gift knife extended but it was only Mauro’s mother bringing them coffee and pan dulce. Cochran apologized at his welcome saying that he didn’t recognize her footsteps which made Mauro happy—a man who memorized footsteps can’t be that much of a dreamer.

Jim Harrison, Revenge