“The Crows have killed many buffaloes,” the bird said. “They are gorged with food. It will be easy to take horses from them.”
Little Eagle scrambled to his feet. He could dash back to camp and get Angry Wolf. Together they would follow the bird and get horses. He reached down to pick up the deer hide to carry it back to camp.
“Put it under that tree,” the bird said, nodding his head toward a tree in the direction away from the camp. “My family will use it to build warm nests for the winter which is almost here.”
Little Eagle folded the skin neatly. The bird flew ahead and perched on a limb while Little Eagle placed the hide at the foot of the tree. The bird flew off to the west. He went so quickly that Little Eagle didn’t have time to ask for permission to get Angry Wolf. He had to run to keep the bird in sight.
While it didn’t seem that they had traveled long, the sun was down and darkness had fallen when they reached the Crow camp. The camp had been set up on the sheltered side of a grove of trees. The smell of roasting buffalo meat made Little Eagle’s mouth water. A few Crows were feasting on the fresh buffalo meat. Little Eagle knew that most of the band had stuffed themselves with fresh meat and had crawled into their tepees to sleep.
The bird flew around the Crow camp, and Little Eagle followed him. In a short time they came to the herd of horses. Little Eagle saw the ones that belonged to Angry Wolf and him. He guessed that the warrior who had taken them had gone south until the storm stopped and then had circled to join the Crows in this camp.
“See how easily you can take all the horses you want,” the bird whispered.
Little Eagle looked around. What the bird said was true. There were no guards. Most of the horses were out of sight of the camp. Anyone who used reasonable care could take horses from this herd.
Little Eagle didn’t know what happened after that. He was chilly and he awoke to find that the deer hide had slipped from his shoulder. He sat up. The sun was just rising over the eastern hills. His dream had been so plain that for a moment he couldn’t believe it had been a dream.
Little Eagle’s first feeling was of disappointment. It had been a dream and he didn’t actually have the horses. The feeling of disappointment passed quickly. He had heard Clawing Bear tell of the messages that came to a medicine man in dreams. This was a message for him. He had learned how he and Angry Wolf could get horses. He jumped to his feet and raced to camp.