Finally Nesis left the bed of the creek, and urged her horse obliquely up the steep side of the coulée on the left.
This was the side farther from the lower village, and the Enterprise trail, and Colina wondered if she had not made a mistake.
Mounting over the rim of the coulée a superb night-view was open to them. Before them rolled the bald prairie wide as the sea, with all the stars of heaven piercing the black dome overhead.
It was still and frosty; the horses breathed smoke. To Colina's nostrils rose the delicate smell of the rich buffalo grass, which cures itself as it grows. The tired horses, excited by it, pawed the earth, and pulled at the lines.
They halted, and Nesis turned her face up, fixing their position by the stars. She finally pointed to the southeast. Colina knew it was southeast because when she faced in that direction the north star, friend of every traveler by night, was over her left shoulder.
"But the Kakisa village, the trail back to Enterprise is there," she objected, pointing northeast.
Nesis nodded. With her graceful and speaking gestures she informed Colina that all the country that way was covered with almost impenetrable woods through which they could not ride without a trail.
Southeast, the prairie rolled smoothly all the way to the great river that came from the distant high mountains.
"The spirit river?" asked Colina.
Nesis nodded, adding in dumb-show that when they reached its banks they would make a raft and float down to Fort Enterprise.