"I thought we had reached the herd." Star was the first to speak as they looked down on a place where no pony was in sight.
"It is where we left the herd," she answered. "They have moved it to Quannah's camp. Come! We must hurry. They must have missed us by this time. Quannah will be angry with the herders and punish them for letting us get away."
Without going down into the former herding camp, Running Deer led her colt along the top of the ridge, knowing that it would take them just above Quannah's camp, about a mile farther on. Star understood her worry, or at least he thought he did; but he wondered at her nervous starts and snorts, for there was nothing that threatened either of them now. Coyotes sometimes ventured close to the camps, but they only squatted at the outer edge and Star knew that they would keep away from any camp fire, lurking in the shadows to avoid being seen or shot at by the Comanches guarding the herd.
Though it was now more than an hour after sunset, it was still quite light when Star caught the scent of the pony herd and knew they were close by. But he jumped back snorting as he saw his mother, who had reached a higher point of ground, rear suddenly and turn.
"Run! Run! Run as fast as you can! The white men have all our ponies! They have captured the herders, too! Quannah is over the hill. We must go to him! He may need us now!"
Before they could cover the ground between the captured ponies and Quannah's camp, almost a mile away, they heard the terrible noise of fire-sticks. It came from the direction of Quannah's camp. The white men were there, too!
Star and his mother stopped instantly and looked at each other. Both trembled with fear of the fire-sticks. They knew what those things meant.
"What shall we do?" the colt asked in fright.
"I belong to Quannah," his mother spoke. "I shall follow him wherever he goes. You belong to Songbird. You must go to her and help her escape the white men, so that they may not take her away as they took Quannah's mother and sister. Go back to the camp and find Songbird!"
The colt hesitated. He had never been anywhere by himself. Always the pony herd and his mother had been with him, except for the few hours when Songbird had ridden him near the big camp. He thought of the packs of coyotes and the long, lonesome miles that he must travel to reach the camp where the women and children waited the return of Quannah and his warriors who were now fighting the white men and the fire-sticks. Star knew they were fighting, for the noise hurt his ears as he stood facing his mother.