When he went through the valley where the Crow camp had been, Little Eagle stopped only long enough to pick up the cooking pot. By the time he reached the hill on which he had left Angry Wolf, he was so tired that he had to drive himself to keep going. Yet, when he knelt beside Angry Wolf and saw that the wounded boy still breathed, he forgot his weariness.
As soon as he had given Angry Wolf a drink of water, Little Eagle started to build a fire. He knew it would be dangerous. It would lead any passing enemy to them. Still he must cook the poultice to put on Angry Wolf’s wound. To make the danger as small as possible, he selected dry, hard sticks for the fire. These would give off little smoke and would soon burn to a bed of glowing embers.
When he had the fire going, Little Eagle poured some of the water into the bowl. He set the bowl on the fire. While the water was heating, Little Eagle took the packages from the bag. He found a packet of bear’s grease and laid it close at hand.
As soon as the water was boiling, Little Eagle used two sticks as tongs and picked the bowl from the fire. He moved the sticks so as to slosh the water around in the bowl. When he had cleaned the bowl as much as possible, he dumped the dirty water out. He rinsed the bowl with the water that was left in the bag before he set it back on the fire.
Little Eagle dropped some bear’s grease into the bowl. While he was waiting for it to melt, he examined the poultice on Angry Wolf’s head. Although blood was seeping around the edges, the poultice seemed to be firmly in place. He would need water to soak it so he could remove it.
Little Eagle took the two bags and started toward the stream. He was so tired that the journey seemed longer than the trip he had made back to the Sioux camping place. It was fortunate for him that there were no enemies about. He couldn’t arouse himself enough to take care. Several times he stepped on twigs which snapped loudly.
Back at the fire, Little Eagle picked up a small stick. He poured portions of the powdered herbs from each package into the bowl, stirring all the time with the stick. He stirred the mixture until it started to bubble. Then he picked the bowl from the fire, using the same sticks for tongs that he had used before.
While the mixture was cooling, Little Eagle took one of the bags of water. He let water drip from it onto the poultice on Angry Wolf’s wound. The water washed the blood away from the edges of the wound, but it didn’t soften the poultice. Little Eagle squatted beside Angry Wolf and carefully thought back over the lessons Clawing Bear had taught him. Clawing Bear’s words finally came back to him.
“The poultice will fall off when the wound is cured,” the medicine man had said. “If the wound starts to bleed again, put a new poultice over the old one.”
Little Eagle was almost cheerful as he went back to the bowl. The mixture had cooled enough so that he could dip it up in his hands. He kneaded it with his fingers until it was soft and pliable. He spread it over the old poultice, making sure that the edges were tight against the skin so that there was no blood seeping from the wound.