“No,” answered Shining Star. “We have never been here before.”
“Well, the only thing to do is look around.” Maybe White Eagle was thinking of himself as an Indian warrior when he added, “Let’s see if we can find any enemies.”
“Oh, don’t be silly, White Eagle! We won’t find any enemies on this island,” Shining Star said, laughing and forgetting how tired she had been.
“Don’t fool yourself, Shining Star. My father tells me that sometimes the enemy will set up camp on an island near a village to keep watch on the tribe. Then when they feel that the village is off guard, they attack.”
White Eagle said this with such a serious face that Shining Star became frightened. “Let’s go home, White Eagle, I’m afraid.”
“Don’t be silly, little one, I was only fooling.” (Now he played the part of a warrior again.) “There is probably no living thing upon this island but ourselves. Come on! We’re wasting time. Let’s start exploring.”
The two children continued to investigate the island, always making sure that they were leaving a plain trail so that they could return to their canoe in safety. After several hours, they decided that there were no berries on this island so they might as well return home. They turned around and started back for the shore, trying to follow their trail carefully.
Sooner than he had expected, White Eagle could see the lake waters, but when they reached the shore he realized that this was not where they had landed. And there was no canoe. Looking out across the water, White Eagle knew that they were on another side of the island. Perhaps they had followed a fresh trail someone else had left.
Shining Star seated herself on a log about ten paces from the shore to rest and wait for White Eagle to make a decision.
“Come, Shining Star,” he said confidently, “we will walk along the shore until we reach our canoe.”