“We’ll cook all of our meat,” Flying Arrow announced. “This will be the last fire we can have until we complete our raid.”
As the afternoon wore on, Bent Arrow became more and more uneasy. One of the two promised days was rapidly being spent, and still there had been no trace of the Sioux trail. If Flying Arrow had misjudged the route the Sioux would take, the last chance to make a raid would be gone. To add to Bent Arrow’s troubles, his leg began to ache. The ache increased rapidly until the pain was so great that he could hardly walk without limping. It was the first time the leg had pained him since he had found the eagle feather. Perhaps Clawing Bear had been wrong. Perhaps the eagle feather wasn’t the medicine which would bring victory. Resolutely he put the thought away.
Bent Arrow kept his head down and put every effort into walking without a limp. He promised himself that he wouldn’t let Flying Arrow know that his leg was hurting. The warrior would insist on stopping, and that would mean the chance to make the raid was gone. However, Flying Arrow was too intent on finding the best route to glance back. In spite of the pain, Bent Arrow managed to keep going until Flying Arrow stopped beside a small stream.
Both Crows drank their fill of the cold water. They made a meal of the cold meat and prepared for the night.
The eastern sky was just beginning to light up when Flying Arrow touched Bent Arrow on the shoulder. Hesitantly Bent Arrow got to his feet and took a few careful steps. He was elated to find that there was no pain in his leg.
“What has pleased you so much?” Flying Arrow asked, glancing at Bent Arrow’s face.
“My leg was hurting me yesterday when we stopped,” Bent Arrow explained. “I was afraid it wasn’t cured. It’s all right now.”
He danced a few steps of the Crow war dance to show how completely his leg was healed.
“Perhaps we should give up this raid and go directly to the winter camp,” Flying Arrow said thoughtfully. “We could travel slowly. Your leg must not be completely healed or it would not have hurt you yesterday.”
“I’m all right,” Bent Arrow insisted. “We don’t want to return to winter camp empty-handed.”