"But to a lot of other people. Do you think you can get him to come back and give himself up?"
"I asked him last night to stay and face it out."
"Why wouldn't he?"
"Dad's part of the Mahela," Ted said quietly, "and the Mahela's code is the one he knows best. He would not go to jail for a crime he didn't commit, any more than a wild deer would voluntarily enter a cage."
"Doggone, that sure complicates things. Do you have any bright ideas?"
"What did you find in Coon Valley?"
"Just what I told you, Smoky's back trail and your dad's tobacco pouch."
"Nothing else?"
"Smoky's rifle. We brought it in with us."
"No sign of anything else?"