CHAPTER TEN
Bent Arrow looked at his uncle in dismay. It seemed unbelievable that they had traveled all of that distance the day before without seeing a sign of pursuit and now the Sioux were almost upon them.
“The Sioux are smart,” Flying Arrow said bitterly. “They knew we must stop sometime to rest. This place is on the way to our camping grounds. It is a place where we can leave our horses unwatched. The Sioux thought of those things and the mounted warriors took a short cut to get here.”
“How many Sioux are there?” Bent Arrow asked.
Flying Arrow held up one hand with the thumb doubled under.
“They will come so close that we don’t dare leave,” he explained. “They’ll wait for the others before they attack.”
“We can hold them off,” Bent Arrow exclaimed.
He told his uncle of how he had climbed to the top of the wall. He described the top and how it would be possible to stay up there and fire down on the Sioux. If the Sioux tried to rush the entrance, there were loose rocks which could be rolled down on them.
“We might be able to hold them off,” Flying Arrow agreed, “but we have little food. Soon we shall starve.”
“The Sioux won’t stay long,” Bent Arrow insisted. “Old-Man-of-the-North will send more snow. They will leave for their winter camp.”