"Where?"
Ana used a stick to trace a map on the ground. Geronimo studied it, rubbed it out with his moccasin, and nodded.
"Eat and rest," he told Ana. "Then go to Chief Gray Wolf and say Geronimo will come in four days."
In four days, carrying his Winchester repeating rifle and wearing a belt full of bullets, Geronimo approached the meeting place an hour after sunrise. He looked straight ahead only, for anything else might betray him. His warriors, who had left camp while night still held, were hidden all about. But they were to attack only if there was treachery.
Geronimo saw Captain Crawford and Lieutenant Gatewood, army officers whose deeds had earned them the respect of all Apaches. There was Al Sieber, famed chief of scouts and one of the very few white men who could think like an Apache. Mickey Free, whom Cochise had been accused of kidnapping years before, stood ready to tell Geronimo and General Crook what each said to the other. Geronimo spoke Apache, Spanish, and some English. General Crook spoke and understood English only.
Proud and haughty as the Apache himself, every inch the warrior, General Crook's eyes met Geronimo's. They did not look away.
Geronimo asked, "What would you talk about?"
"Your return to Arizona," said General Crook.
Geronimo said, "You think I will live again on the hot flats of the Gila?"