Joy blazed up in his body like a fire that warms but does not hurt.
He asked, "What is his name, Redbird?"
She glanced over her shoulder at the boy. "What are you standing there for? You have to go. Go!" The boy ran off toward the woods. White Bear watched him. He ran well, even though he was very young and most uncomfortable.
White Bear wanted to reach out and take Redbird into his arms.
She turned back to him, her fists clenched at her sides, her nostrils flaring in fury.
"Now you want to know what his name is. Now, five winters after he was born."
He turned to Sun Woman. "Does she have a husband?"
Sun Woman raised her eyebrows. "There were many braves who wished to marry her. Wolf Paw was most insistent. He offered Owl Carver ten horses. Little Stabbing Chief of the Fox sought her. There were others, besides."
Wolf Paw had wanted to marry her. That must have been the meaning of that strange encounter outside the camp. Wolf Paw probably wanted to kill him.
"Please, Sun Woman, do not talk to this man about me," Redbird said. "You are his mother, and a mother to me. But you cannot make peace between us."