Had she been wrong not to stay with White Bear, as he had begged her to? She missed him so much. Tears came to her eyes. She hoped Wolf Paw and Eagle Feather would not see her crying, and she wiped her eyes quickly.
She felt like jumping from this boat and swimming back to shore. If she drowned in the Great River, even that would be better than being carried away from White Bear.
She told herself she had made up her mind. She was determined to be a Sauk for the rest of her days. And Eagle Feather would be a Sauk.
White Bear is wrong to stay behind, even for all that land.
Eagle Feather gripped her arm. "Do not be afraid, Mother. The pale eyes will not hurt us today." His blue eyes were sad. He must have noticed her misery.
Wolf Paw smiled faintly. "No, today they only want to be rid of us."
Eagle Feather said, "One day Earthmaker will give us a medicine so strong that the long knives' guns will not hurt us."
Redbird smiled at her son. "May it be you who finds that medicine."
We can hope for that. Now that we have lost so much, the spirits might grant us new powers that will help us to resist the pale eyes.
Of one thing she was sure, White Bear's way was not a trail that the people should travel. For a Sauk to become a pale eyes was a kind of death.