It was a cold night even this far south, cold but very clear. Tecumseh and his escort were camped alone and heading back home. Their work here done. All the southern tribes had agreed to rise. He was content. Not so very many will die. There will be so many of us and we will be everywhere, the whites will see they must leave or die. We will be too many.
The fire had burned to mere embers. All were wrapped tightly in their blankets. Tecumseh, who had never needed much sleep, was using the time to clear his mind and focus on the immediate challenge of facing Harrison. And then in the west he saw it, coming toward him from the west and high in the sky. It was large and growing larger and green, an almost vivid green. He watched it come to him and then pass over, turning south as it did.
The panther has crossed over. Time is very short now. They will all have seen it and know. Now is the time to prepare. And my first preparation is to get Tecumapese and bring her home. I will need her counsel, wisdom, and steadiness now. And she will need to be seen with me, part of my family surrounding me. In the morning I will send them all home with news to Tensk and Wasegoboah that I will be less than ten days behind them and I will be bringing Tecumapese with me.
It has begun.