s could be planning anything in secret. Still he knew
his heart would not slow down till this was all over.

Pere Isaac stood at the head of Pierre's grave, next to Marie-Blanche's
tombstone. A faint breeze from the river didn't disturb his gray-black
hair or his beard, but rustled the tassels of the purple stole around
his neck, the winglike sleeves of his white surplice and his
ankle-length black cassock.

Trying to hold still as his heart pounded and his hands trembled, Raoul
watched Pere Isaac shake holy water over the coffin, which now lay at
the bottom of the grave. The priest gave his sprinkler to one of the
boys assisting him, opened a prayerbook bound in black leather and began
the graveside prayers.

_Will this never end?_

Raoul stood with his head bowed. He puzzled over what Elysee had said
about hating Pierre.

_Papa always loved Pierre more than me. Thought I was some kind of
savage because I don't have all those French ways like him and Pierre.
I'm the most American member of this family, and he should be proud of
me._

_I didn't hate Pierre. It was just this damn business of him caring more
about redskins than about his own people._

_And he wasn't there when I needed him._

Raoul found himself wishing he could talk to Pierre one last time, try
to make him understand why he felt as he did and had to do the things he
did. Looking down at the coffin in the grave, Raoul thought back to the
last time he had seen Pierre. In early spring after the last of the snow
melted on the ground, out riding Banner on the prairie, alone, he'd come
upon Pierre, also riding alone. They had stared at each other and passed
without a word.

_I didn't know then that was my last chance to speak to him._

Raoul's eyes traveled over the people standing by the grave. Auguste
stood between Elysee and Nicole, looking down into the pit. It pleased
Raoul to see that apparently Auguste had no idea what was about to
happen to him.

But how could he be _sure_ Auguste was unprepared?

Raoul looked over the heads of the mourners, and his heart beat faster
with anticipation. There, across the flat prairie land, he saw tiny
figures surrounding the chateau.

Raoul's fingernails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists to hold
himself together. What if the secret had gotten out? If Auguste knew
what was about to happen, he would surely have prepared some kind of
counterattack. Indians were damned sly.

Pere Isaac closed hi