Terror cascaded over her. "What will it do to him?"
Owl Carver emptied the gray scraps into his hand and then poured them back into the bag. "What a foolish old man I am, leaving that bag open right next to him."
Eagle Feather had gone on a spirit journey. And her own sensitivity to the other world told her that he was meant to. She felt for him the fear she had felt for White Bear in that long-ago Moon of Ice.
"No," said Redbird sadly. "You were not foolish. It was Earthmaker's way. He sent those eagles to take our eyes away from the medicine bag."
With infinite care, so as not to disturb him, Redbird carried Eagle Feather into the lean-to, resting his head on the blanket roll that held everything she had been able to carry.
"I will stay with you until Eagle Feather comes back," said Owl Carver. Redbird picked up Floating Lily and held her tightly.
As the sun crossed above the lake, they sat watching the small, still body. Redbird could barely see Eagle Feather's narrow chest rise and fall in the shadowy lean-to. There were moments when she was sure he was dead.
Sunset had turned the small lake to a sheet of beaten gold when Eagle Feather sat up suddenly, his eyes wide.
"The Bad Axe!" he shrieked. It was the voice of a child struggling with a nightmare.
"Eagle Feather!" Redbird cried.