Redbird gritted her teeth. It hurt to have to explain to Yellow Hair.
Redbird made the flat-hand motion. "He not follow me. I never come back here."
Now Yellow Hair's eyes were glowing like turquoise set in silver. But she put a comforting hand on Redbird's arm.
She wanted to know why. How could Redbird part from White Bear and he from her? Did it not hurt too much?
"Yes, hurt much," said Redbird softly, watching the rutted dirt road pass under the wheels of the buggy.
But Yellow Hair pressed her. How could White Bear tear himself away from the Sauk?
"Pale eyes family now his people."
But his son—how could he give up his son?
Redbird struggled to find words and gestures to explain this. "Maybe some day White Bear come for Eagle Feather, like Star Arrow once come for White Bear." She remembered how White Bear had wept when Sun Woman told him he must go to live with the pale eyes. "That day, I not say Eagle Feather must go or must not go. Eagle Feather do what he want."
Yellow Hair shook her head, her braids lashing. She repeated over and over again an English word Redbird understood, but it asked a question she could never answer.