ave also been East and know the ways of the pale eyes.
You will be able to answer him."

_But all I can say is that he speaks the truth._

The words trembled on his lips: _The long knives are more powerful than
you can imagine. We cannot stand against them._

And yet he did not want to speak. He feared that Owl Carver would think
him a traitor, as he did He Who Moves Alertly. And, in a way, he felt as
Owl Carver and Black Hawk did. He became angry every time he thought
about how the tribe had been driven from its homeland.

Owl Carver puffed on his pipe. "You will answer He Who Moves Alertly not
just as one who has been among the pale eyes. The day after tomorrow,
you must go to the cave of the ancestors and seek another vision."

White Bear's heart sank. "But I am to marry Redbird tomorrow night.
Would you have me leave her the next day to seek a vision?"

Owl Carver spread his hands. "The council starts in three days." He
grinned, showing the space where the tooth had been. "And it is not as
if you and Redbird have never known the joy of the marriage bed."

White Bear felt his face grow hot, and he lowered his eyes. Since his
return they had tried to crowd into a few nights all the pleasures they
had missed over the last six years.

"You will not be gone from her for long," Owl Carver said.

"But why do you not prophesy?" White Bear asked. "You have been the
shaman since long before I was born."

Owl Carver nodded sadly. "I have tried. It seems the spirits have
nothing to say to me."

_Maybe because you do not want to hear what they say._

As he thought about seeking a vision, White Bear began to feel more
hopeful. He might not have to displease Owl Carver and Black Hawk by
speaking of the strength of the long knives and sounding like He Who
Moves Alertly. Instead, the Turtle, in that sacred cave looking over the
river, would tell him what he should say. It was sure to be wiser
counsel than anything he could think of himself.

He remembered his boyhood dream of being a prophet for the Sauk. Now he
would be able to tell them where their future lay.

But then he remembered words Owl Carver himself had once spoken to him.
They had stayed in his memory because they had made him so uneasy.

_Many times the people do not want to listen to the shaman. The truer
his words, the less they hear him._

The next night White Bear and Redbird sat facing each other on opposite
sides of the wedding fire before Owl Ca