"Let me go!" she screamed.
She suddenly whirled away from him and threw herself into the reeds. She tried to run, and in a moment was in water up to her hips. Frantically battering at the tall water grasses, she struggled to keep going. The mist was beginning to swallow her up.
Too surprised to move, White Bear stood watching her for a moment. She would surely die out there in the marsh, and she didn't realize it. He plunged into the marsh after her. He drove his legs through the cold water. The mud sucked at his moccasins. By the time he caught up with her, he was barefoot.
He threw his arms around her. She thrashed about, turned and struck at his face with her fists. Her eyes were wild, like a trapped fox's, her cheeks bright red, her mouth twisted and quivering.
"I've got to get away!"
"Nancy, you can't." They were waist deep in water, and he felt his feet sinking into the mud.
He grabbed her shoulders and shook her as hard as he could. "Listen to me!"
She went limp in his arms, and he had to hold her up.
"I can't stay here. I won't let them kill me!"
He pulled her toward dry ground, the cold water swirling around them, slimy mud tugging at their feet.