Too soon they had to move on. Father Sun had not yet awakened when the people ate and packed to leave.

Weary, Eagle Thunder led them along the river, following the call of Eagle, who glided above them. The river wound through the valley until it spilled out on spreading grasslands. His father had once brought him this far to hunt.

Tall, green grasses grew mixed in with the faded yellow-brown of last season’s stalks. The children raced toward dark green shrubs, some heavy with red berries that held the promise of wonderful sweet juices. Flowers—red, orange, yellow, blue—added beauty to the green, silver, and purple-red grasses that stretched farther than anyone could see.

Sky Bird laid her hand on his arm and lightly shook it. “Father, the slopes grow thick with Sacred Sage, and the tall, stiff-spiked plants whose white blooms now fade are everywhere, more here than we have seen in the last two sunrises. We should gather the spiked plant’s tubers for later. Some of us need to bathe, and the crushed tubers will make us clean. Father?”

He raised his head and peered around as if awaking from a dream, as mustangs and riders topped the crest of a rolling slope. “Hunters come with Blazing Fire and Stands His Ground in the lead.”

Deer and ground birds hung across the backs of extra mustangs. The two lead hunters headed toward Eagle Thunder.

Eagle Thunder tilted his head toward the cooking fires. “Daughter, some of our hunters have come to be with us, with their women and children. Go and help make meat. Make sure Golden Fox helps. She drifts too far away in her own mind. Working will call her back to us.” He raised his hand to block Father Sun’s glare and see others approaching. “Many children come, too many to belong to the women who follow.”

As Sky Bird hurried to the ring of women around the cooking fire, Eagle Thunder made his way toward the lone hunter and Blazing Fire.

Stands His Ground’s face held no smile. “I greet you, Eagle Thunder. Let us speak away from others.”

Both Stands His Ground and Blazing Fire slid off their mustangs and pushed the animals to join the camp.

Silence followed them out away from the others. “Hunters returned to the old camp. No joy came with their return. Some of the young warriors and their women followed us. I am sad to say our Holy Man stayed. More of the band was sick on the poisoned water, and many spoke angry words of Sky Bird killing Yellow Moon. We did not take any of their meat with us. The smell of rot blew on Sister Wind. We could not leave the children to starve. Not one mother or father cared when we pulled their children away from them.”

Eagle Thunder clenched his jaw. “You both did as you should. No child could have survived this... craziness. Yellow Moon was crazy on poisoned water and fell on her own knife after she tried to harm Golden Fox. All who were there saw this.”

Blazing Fire nodded. “That was Sky Bird’s right as Golden Fox’s mother. Still, angry words are being spread.” She looked toward the busy camp. “This place is too open if Yellow Moon’s brothers bring others after Sky Bird.”

“We will soon find another place.” Eagle Thunder squinted toward the mustangs. “If you left the meat, where did you find the deer and birds that you brought to us?”

A troubled look filled Blazing Fire’s eyes. “A sunrise ago, we came across a camp of eight pale ones. The men were full of poisoned water. Five of them knew nothing until our arrows flew into their chests. Three of the hairy-faces jumped on mustangs and ran away. We brought the meat from their camp.”

When Blazing Fire fell silent, Stands His Ground lifted his bowed head. “Two of our hunters chased the pale men. We did not find their bodies. We found our warriors, but all we could do was sing to help their Spirits on their journey. None of the men had women to grieve over them, so we wrapped them in their sleeping robes and placed them in the trees.”

Eagle Thunder’s head slumped. He moved small stones with his footwear. “Let us gather the rest of our elders. Please, Stands His Ground and Blazing Fire, take rested warriors and keep the people circled.”

***

As a small group sat around a campfire, Eagle Thunder cleared his throat. “Let us send scouts back to follow our enemy. We are far away from the wooden fort, so this must be a small band of white men. Perhaps they do not follow us, but just journey in the same direction.”

He pivoted his head to study the people who sat behind them. Many hugged themselves as if caught in the midst of a winter snow. Shivers racked their bloated bodies.

“More people show the craving for the poisoned water. Eagle Thunder, I know you see it, too.” Sun Rising, the eldest in the band, looked at his oldest friend. “I remember your woman’s story, about helping your mind come back, and what she had to do to keep you from journeying to the campfires in the sky. Soon we will need to care for the sick, and not be able to travel at all. It is clear that some sneaked flasks of poisoned water with them. They take small sips when they think no one looks. It helps keep them from shaking so bad.”

Eagle Thunder dipped his eyes in remembered shame. “Without my woman, I would have gone to the campfires in the sky. After my mind returned, my woman taught me ways to help those with the poisoned water sickness. We will find shelter where the pale ones and Yellow Moon’s brothers will not find us. The elders and the children need rest while we care for the sick. These past sunrises have been hard on them. If we do not do this, we will send more than just one man and his woman to the campfires in the sky.”

He swept his gaze across their people. “The weight of a great stone sits upon my heart. We have lost many of our people. Some remained behind with the Sun People band, some came with us only to be pulled away by the craving for the poisoned water, and they left in darkness. Many of those who left will never reach the old camp, but no one could stop them. It is their right to choose how they will die.”

He brushed away moisture from the edges of his eyes. “We will rest here until we know of a safer place.”

Eagle Thunder walked away from the gathered elders, but soon stopped. “Granddaughter, you may use Fox’s gift of hiding, but not from me. Shadows form no matter how well you become one with them.”

She appeared before him. “I will one day hide in front of you and you will see no shadow. Do not worry, I will tell no one what has happened. Do you think Strong Knife will come with Running Girl and their youngest brother?”

“Blazing Fire said there were those who packed to follow us. Maybe he brings his sister and brother.” He looped an arm around her shoulders. “I pray this is so, but only Great Mystery knows the answers to some of our questions.”

She slipped away once more.

“Sneaky Golden Fox.” He chuckled

He made his way toward Sky Bird and the many hungry children. “You have worries that burden your mind other than these children. We are safe for now.”

Sky Bird nodded and her eyes showed no fear. Her shaking hands showed it instead. She cleared her throat and nodded toward where she had last seen Golden Fox. “I worry for her, not me. Her golden-red hair attracts attention. We should go into the canyons.”

“Your daughter is not so easy to see when she calls upon Fox. Perhaps it is another worry?”

“Let us go sit among our belongings.” She turned away from the children and other women who cared for them, and lifted her plain leather pouch over her shoulder. She carried all her sewing, clothing, paints, quills, medicines—everything a woman and a healer needed.

He took one of the rolled robes to shake out and spread on the ground.

After they had settled, his daughter’s body moved in tight, jerky movements. Even after she fished out all the stones that poked her, she gritted her teeth. A body spoke so much.

He spoke softly. “You remember my words to you of how they reacted when I brought you to our band? Your dark, red-brown hair and grey eyes made some wish to leave you among the trees, so the Spirits could decide your fate. Daughter, look at me.”

The command drew her eyes up to lock with his. “All bands have the good and the bad in them, like a bush with berries—not all the berries are sweet and good for you. Know this, Sky Bird: no one who follows us now, in our new band, ever thought of you or Golden Fox in a bad way.”

The air between them remained still. Wisdom came with the cycles of seasons that one lived. All an elder had to do was watch a person to know what they carried in their hearts.

“Daughter, speak to me.”

“I do not fear for myself.” She folded her arms across her chest. “As Father Sun creeps behind the end of the land, sometimes I see pale ones hiding in the shadows. My heart beats fast, until I realize it is that I see only shadows. Even when Father Sun smiles at us from the highest part of the sky, I sometimes look and see in the fold of a hill, the shape of men who do not belong to the People.

“Father, Golden Fox is worth more than my own life. Why do the white men come now? Her pale-skinned father has never before wanted to see his daughter. Why does he now want her?” Her fists tightened until the knuckles turned white.

Eagle Thunder nodded. “It is wise to look closely at shadows, but we have scouts who keep watch over our people. To find trouble where none lives is not wise. To hunt for trouble when it has not come to visit us, is to find pain that you might have avoided. Daughter, I understand your fears. They are my fears, too. If the pale ones come, everyone in our band will fight for Golden Fox. Until they come, we have much work to do to save our people.”

He turned his gaze. “Some of the elders have not yet come into camp. They sit by the trail and refuse to move. I am needed there.”

He stood to leave. “Do not worry so. Find our sneaky little one and sleep next to her.”

***

As darkness swallowed the last golden sliver of Father Sun, the campfires in the sky burned brighter, Eagle Thunder sought out his friend.

Sun Rising sat with his head bent back, staring at the blackness where the fires of loved ones burned. “I wonder which campfire my daughter and her man sit beside?”

“Ah, old friend, that is what I think when I look up. Which campfire is tended by my woman?”

“A warrior should journey to the campfires in the sky before his child.” Sun Rising brought his eyes down from the sky. “I tire of this journey, Eagle Thunder.” He motioned toward the silent woman seated next to him. “My woman tires of it, too. Perhaps, it is time for us to walk alone.”

“That is a question a man, or a woman, must speak about with the Great Mystery. I have no answers, though you would both be much missed, if you decided to wander off into the darkness, as those other three elders did. You give courage to our hunters and warriors. You give laughter to our children with your stories. We have great need of both courage and laughter.”

With a grunt, Sun Rising pushed to his feet and held a hand down to his woman, who also groaned as she stood.

As they drew near the camp, murmurs from weary people drifted among the campfires, as they settled in for the dark time. After eating, women readied their bows and laid them next to their sleeping robes. They tied dogs, used to wandering loose, to stakes around a family’s belongings. At first, the animals had been restless, but after nights on the trail they had come to accept this new way.

Eagle Thunder sighed. If only people could accept new ways as easily as dogs and children.

It helped that so many greeted Father Sun with songs, and stayed longer to open their hearts to the Spirits. This shattering of their band had maybe reminded people of the important things in life.

As he dipped meat from the cooking pot, his heart told him what he did not want to know—the people needed rest. They could journey no more without it.

***

The night had grown quiet. Warriors rode and watched over the small band. Those too sick to sit by the campfires lay wrapped in sleeping robes. An elder cried out, and someone comforted him. The rest gathered around the cooking fire simply for the comfort of being with their people.

Eagle Thunder stepped close to the fire and raised his hand. He waited patiently for those who whispered among themselves to notice and pay attention. When everyone had fallen silent, he cleared his throat and tried to calm his fast beating heart. Eyes lifted to the campfires in the sky, he sang a short song known only to him.

The people remained still, giving respect to Eagle Thunder’s call on the Spirits.

After his song drifted to a haunting close, his eyes settled on his daughter and granddaughter on the far side of the fire. Golden Fox squirmed beneath his steady gaze, and he wondered what made her eyes dart away from him. There would be time to find this out later; now he turned his attention to the gathered people.

The story needed to be told, and perhaps in the telling, the burden on his Spirit would be lightened. “Listen well to me, my people. For many cycles of seasons, I have held these words silent inside of me, ashamed to speak them so my people would hear. It is time to speak.

“When we drink the poisoned water, it makes our ears deaf. It drowns out the drumbeat of life. With deaf ears, we can no longer hear the beat of the cricket’s call at night, or the joy in the bird’s song at sunrise. As the song of life dies within us, darkness comes like a fog off the river. That darkness swallows our minds. We become as empty water bladders with nothing to give.”

His hands fisted against the pain that pierced his chest. “Once, long ago, darkness swallowed my mind. My ears fell deaf to the drumbeat of all life. Warning dreams came to me and told me that I was killing my Spirit with every swallow of the poisoned water. I drank more, to keep the dreams away. As happens when we turn from Spirit’s guidance, Spirit stopped sending the dreams.”

He bowed his head for a short span. “Shame washes over me.” When he lifted his face, his eyes held determination. “Great Mystery never abandoned me. I abandoned the Great Mystery. Like a wise parent, Great Mystery knew that I must travel a rocky, broken path. I could not be stopped. Like a child who believes he is wiser than the elders, I tumbled and fell. I crawled along the cutting rocks, and now carry the scars deep within.”

He swung his arm wide and pointed toward Sister Moon. “So many gifts are lost to the mind that is broken. Eyes blinded by poisoned water cannot see our Sister. We stumble as if her silver light does not touch the land. The brush of Sister Wind cannot be felt. The small winged ones, who seek the flowers right next to us, go unnoticed. The soft hands of loved ones hold no joy, but feel like ropes wrapped tightly around our chests, crushing the breath from us. Father Sun no longer calls to us to sing as he rises from his bed.”

Sun Rising caught Eagle Thunder’s gaze and gravely nodded his respect. “Ah-ho, words of great truth spill from my wise friend’s mouth.”

Jaw clenched as he fought the water that wished to fall from his eyes, Eagle Thunder bent his head back and let the tender light of Sister Moon bathe him for a short span. “Great Mystery gives each of us the freedom to choose what we will do with our lives. It is up to us to choose with a wise heart, to remember that what we choose affects not only our lives, but the lives of all those around us.”

He stared across the fire. “In shame, I did not tell my daughter that I once drank poisoned water.” He caught and held her gaze. “You, Sky Bird, had yet to be with us. Your first mother and I drank together for a cycle of seasons. When my mother warned us about the poisoned water, I refused to listen. I took my woman and went to the wooden fort, back to her people, the hairy-faces.

“For many moons, we drank the poisoned water among those of our people who had come to the fort, like us. Many times, Father Sun rose on me not singing a song of praise, but lying in my own vomit as the mustangs of the soldiers splashed through the mud around me.”

With great breaths to give his body the wind his words needed, so that all would hear, Eagle Thunder continued. “One morning, when I lay face down in a puddle of dirty water, an elder Holy Man gently rolled me over so I would not drown. Your first mother sat next to me, too weak from the poisoned water to turn me onto my back. The Holy Man squatted next to me until I opened my eyes. Father Sun burned them, and I squinted, barely able to see the elder’s face. He told me that I had become a slave to the poisoned water, and to the hairy-faces. If I wanted to sit at the campfires in the sky, I must leave the wooden fort and the poisoned water and return to my people.

“My first woman spit on the Holy Man. He wiped it from his face and spoke kindly to her. He told her to follow me back to my mother’s lodge, and to have our child within the embrace of our people. He warned her to listen well, so that she might be taught the ways of the Great Mystery. When the Holy Man left us, my first woman helped me to my feet, and we staggered outside of the fort, where we sat against the wall, too sick to speak.”

Eagle Thunder drew air deep into his chest and let it ease from him. “Never did we speak of the Holy Man’s words. For many more moons, I kept drinking the poisoned water, but it no longer kept the dreams away. I no longer laughed when those we drank with laughed. The poisoned water made me sicker. The Holy Man’s words rode my mind like a man on a wild mustang must ride to stay on the animal. My first woman refused to leave the wooden fort. I begged her to leave for the child she carried. She refused. I left and waited in the forest nearby to see if my first woman would follow me. After many sunrises, I knew she would not come, and I could not force her. I traveled alone toward my mother’s camp. She worried our child would be no good because of the fire water. She had seen it many times.”

Eagle Thunder remained silent for so long that people started to fidget. They returned to stillness as soon as he began to speak again.

“By the time I came to my mother’s lodge, I shook so hard that I fell from my mustang as it stood without moving, in the middle of the camp. My mother and another, younger woman rushed over to me. They tied me to a drag and took me away from the camp, out into the forest. By the time we reached a clearing in the trees, I fought hard against the ropes that bound me. Craving for the poisoned water burned like a fire through my body.”

He stared down and traced a finger along the lines on the palms of his hands. “All pathways, like the lines of our hands, lead to a different place. We can blame no one else for the path we choose to follow, for Great Mystery gives us the power to choose our own path.

“There are many sunrises forever lost to my memory. The younger woman who tended me, and became my second woman, refused to speak of those days. It was my mother who told me what I had done and said.”

Once again, the pain he had caused his second woman felt like a spear to his heart. His hand clutched at his chest until he could breathe again.

“This is what my mother told me about those sunrises. I shook hard from the bad Spirits that had entered me with the poisoned water. I shouted terrible things at my mother and at the one to be my second woman. My teeth ground together so loudly that my second woman placed a twig in my mouth to keep them from breaking. Voices told me that the women were trying to steal my Power, and that I would never be a man again if I did not drink of the poisoned water soon. I did not recognize my own mother, and fought against the ropes as if an enemy held me. Much water poured from my body, stinking of the poisoned water, and then shivers shook me as if I lay in a hard freeze in winter. Twice, my second woman touched my body, and it felt as if a fire burned within. My second woman and my mother bathed me in cool water. For three sunrises, I was like this.”

A shudder shook his whole body. “Father Sun’s heat woke me. I looked around and did not recognize the place where I lay. Ropes bound me, and I could feel dried blood beneath my nose. Along my arms, cuts stung, and I felt dried blood there, also. I felt alone, as if all the people had left our Mother. Tears ran from my eyes and into my ears. The salt from them must have cleaned my ears, because I could hear the rustling of a deer as it stepped from the trees around me. I gazed up at the bit of blue sky, and my eyes did not burn. Far above the trees, Eagle soared and dipped and danced around in circles, his body white as the soft, scattered clouds. I do not know how long I lay there, staring up as Eagle danced for me. Tears still streamed from my eyes when my second woman laid a gentle hand on my shoulder and squatted to be next to me. She, too, watched Eagle dance. Then, Eagle was gone. Not flown away. We simply could no longer see Eagle.”

A good shiver rode along his back bone as he reached for the necklace made of braided mustang hair. He took it from his neck and held it so the others might see. A carved Eagle made from a white stone shimmered in the firelight. “As I lay shaking and shouting evil things, as the poisoned water left my body, my second woman carved this stone. When Eagle left, she pulled this from her pocket and looped it around my neck. For the first time in many moons, my Spirit felt free—truly free.” He glanced around. “The one thing I know is this: -poisoned water will, sooner or later, kill all that it touches. Love can heal the wounds that the poisoned water makes, but.... We must choose to walk a path without poisoned water, and to let love work within us.

“My words are finished.” He walked away into the darkness.

***

As she had taken to doing, Golden Fox picked up her sleeping robe and walked toward the mustang herd. Mother and grandfather knew she had a special way with animals, so they did not worry that she chose to sleep close to the mustangs. On this night, as Sister Moon drifted behind a cloud, she listened carefully to the rustling in the camp. At last, everyone seemed to have settled into sleep, except for the warriors who guarded the camp.

Golden Fox unrolled her robe and sat looking at the hidden things. A pouch held enough jerked meat to last for ten sunrises. A flask held water. The new arrows Grandfather had helped her make lay next to her bow. Her obsidian knife was safe in its sheath at her waist. The only thing missing was Swift Arrow.

She caught her lower lip between her teeth. For many nights, she had argued with herself that families shared everything, but a person’s mustang was special. Grandfather would be angry when he woke and found Swift Arrow missing. One by one, she thought carefully about each of the other mustangs her family owned. None of them were as fast or as smart as Swift Arrow. She needed Swift Arrow.

She looped two thongs over her neck—the pouch’s and the flask’s. The pouch hung on the opposite side of her knife, with the flask lying on top of the pouch. Her quiver rode behind her shoulder where she could easily get the arrows. She rolled the sleeping robe tight and tied it with a piece of flat leather she had cut from one of her dresses, which had been badly scorched by the flames that ate their lodge.

A quiet whistle brought Swift Arrow to her. He nickered softly as he approached.

She hunched close to the shadows of the trees until convinced no one else had heard, then slung her bow over her arm and patted the mustang.

Swift Arrow followed as she crept through the herd. The lead female lifted her head from grazing and called to Swift Arrow.

A scout rode from the darkness and peered across the animals. Slowly, the warrior woman nudged her mustang into the herd. The animals parted without panic as she passed.

Blazing Fire! Golden Fox grasped Swift Arrow’s neck hairs and pulled him toward the far side of the herd. She could not let Blazing Fire stop her!

A tense span later, the warrior woman disappeared into the shadows of the trees close to the river.

Golden Fox sucked in a breath and hurried Swift Arrow along. At the edge of the herd, she placed the soft leather ties that would hold her sleeping robe on the mustang, tied the robe in place, and then hopped onto the animal’s back. With a tap of her heel, she urged the mustang into a trot. She needed to cross the rise of the small hill a short distance from the camp, so the scouts would not spot her.

As she topped the rise and started down the other side, Blazing Fire rode out of the deeper darkness of the hillside. Her animal stopped in front of Swift Arrow. The warrior woman remained silent.

Unable to stand the tension between them, Golden Fox blurted out, “I could not sleep, and thought a small ride might help me rest.”

“Hmm!” Blazing Fire grunted.

“Swift Arrow is the fastest mustang in our herd. I can ride back to camp quickly if an enemy shows.”

With an audible sigh, Blazing Fire sat up straighter. “A short ride that needs a sleeping robe, a knife, a bow, a flask of water, and a pouch that most likely holds jerked meat. Such a long short ride, with our enemies perhaps trailing us, is not wise, girl.”

Anger heated Golden Fox’s cheeks. “I am a woman, not a girl!” She pulled herself taller on the mustang.

The warrior woman huffed out an angry breath. “Then perhaps, Golden Fox, you should act as a woman acts, not as a child acts—in ways that could bring trouble to her people.” Tiredness lined Blazing Fire’s face. “Go, Golden Fox, go back to camp. Settle your sleeping robe among our people and sleep, so that I do not need to speak of this to your Mother.”

Shoulders slumped, Golden Fox turned Swift Arrow.

Before she got far, Blazing Fire spoke. “Do not ride into the night alone, Golden Fox. It is not safe for you or for our people. Many are yet too sick to move swiftly, to get away from an enemy. You must promise this to me, or I will be forced to speak to your grandfather.”

With a brisk downward motion of her head, Golden Fox agreed to the warrior woman’s demand. The tap of her heel on Swift Arrow’s side nudged the mustang into a fast walk. “She said not to ride alone in darkness. She said nothing about when Father Sun is awake.”

***

Father Sun woke the camp with a brilliance of gold rays shooting across the clouds. Warriors traded places with others, so they could rest and eat. Women took care of the younger children, who played quiet games.

Golden Fox’s mother sent her to collect the prickly, purple-pink flowering plant that would help protect the sick people’s livers from dying. Stretched-out clouds drifted across soft blue sky. She would return with the medicine plants, and clean up the area where they slept.

Grandfather will be busy making new arrows and watching over Sun Rising. Mother will be caring for the sick. I will find a way to go to Running Girl!

A smile creased her lips.

A different type of medicine plant grew along a small stream that veered away from the main waters. Its yellow flowers caught her attention. The rich green leaves were an extra gift. They grew in abundance at the bottom of a steep slope, which made her side-step her way down.

She squatted next to the plants. “Plant people, my people have a great need of your help. Many have much pain.” She pulled out an offering of tobacco from a medicine pouch tied to her waist.

The last trader to come by the Sun People’s camp had brought tobacco with him. Sky Bird had traded a fine painted shirt and footwear for some. All the tobacco had not been lost with their lodge. Most of the bundled, Sacred plants had lain near the flap.

Golden Fox now offered tobacco to each healing plant.

As she gathered the plants, she thanked each one for their sacrifice. When she stood, a cool wind pushed her hair from her shoulders and tickled her warm skin. She closed her eyes and raised her face to Father Sun.

A faint drumbeat startled her, and her eyes jerked open. Faded images of long ago People, dressed in animal skins, danced in a circle around her. Her knees weakened, and the plants fell from her loosened arms.

“What is—” She turned to run up the hill.

‘Granddaughter.’

Golden Fox spun back around. “Grandmother? How is it that you are here? And with Spirit People I do not know?”

‘Little one, they are our relations. Once they wandered this land. You are connected to the Spirit Land around you, always. This is why you see them. When Eagle Woman came for me, I chose to stay close, instead of going to the campfires in the sky. I wished to be near your grandfather. Do not fear. Your grandfather leads the people along a good path. Hairy-faces offer nothing except pain, and our people need to heal and grow strong.

‘Granddaughter, do not act in a foolish way. Much will happen in the sunrises to come, and you must keep your mind clear. You must become a woman of your people. They will need you.

Her grandmother laughed, a joyful sound.

‘Tell your grandfather that to cross over from age is not so bad. When your grandfather joins me, I will once more feel complete. But he is not to join me yet. Danger hides everywhere, Little One, and you need him.’

Lines fell from her grandmother’s face. Long, shiny, raven’s wing hair sparkled with tiny specks of blue. She turned from her granddaughter and joined the Ancient Ones, dancing around their fire to the beat of the drums.

“Grandmother, please do not go! Tell me—why did this vision come to me?”

‘Chosen.’

Her grandmother and the Spirit people faded, but the drumbeat went on.

Golden Fox danced to the rhythm, to the beat of all living things. When the beat faded and she could once more hear the chirp of birds, she frowned and gathered up the plants she had dropped.

What did Grandmother mean—do not act in a foolish way? Did Grandmother mean I should not go after Running Girl?

She gave her head a firm shake.

No, Grandmother would not want me to turn my back on my best friend. She must have meant to be watchful and to plan with care, instead of just running off at the earliest moment.

As Golden Fox headed back to camp, she scanned the sloping hills where small flowers scattered bursts of white, orange, and yellow among the green grasses. Shrubs with dark and light green and silvery leaves shimmered in Father Sun’s light. Sister Wind stirred the leaves of the trees and they whispered among themselves. Black and white birds with black, spear-like tail feathers zipped through the air as they rushed to feed the chirping young in nests on high branches. Small dirt mounds were dotted with brown ground dogs who chirped warnings whenever danger approached.

She would have to be careful when she went to find Running Girl. The land between her band and the Sun People’s camp was split with many ravines, places where enemies might lay in wait. Tall grasses could hide a whole hunting party. Now, she understood Blazing Fire’s concern and her grandmother’s words. Though her belly pained her and her hands shook to think of waiting, she must not bring danger to her band because of her impatience.

When she walked into camp, children giggled as they chased green hopping creatures. The slippery animals threw themselves into puddles of water between tall cattails, which grew along the slow-moving stream that branched off the river.

She stopped by the lodge where Sky Bird tended the very sick, and dropped off the pouch stuffed with medicine plants. When her mother did not motion for her to help, she wandered down to the river.

Running Girl, where are you, my sweet friend? So many sunrises and no sign of you. Why did Strong Knife not bring you and your little brother and ride with the hunters who came? Did your brother, Strong Knife, want to stay with those who drank poisoned water? I am not so strong without you! Sweet Mother, our people are broken, and I fear much for my cradleboard sister.