jerked his hands. The rope was
still tight around his wrists. Running would be awkward. But Three
Horses had shown that it could be done.

_Run!_

White Bear heard the voice in his mind. His own voice or the Bear
spirit's? It did not matter.

He ran.

He threw all the strength in his legs into a sudden spring, away from
the distracted long knives. He dove into the grass, running away from
the river; opposite the way Three Horses had gone. With his arms behind
him, he ran with his head and shoulders thrust forward. The grasses and
tall plants slapped his face. His feet pounded the earth. His legs
pumped furiously. His breath roared in his chest. His heart thundered.

"Hey, the other Injun's gettin' away!"

"Goddamn it, _get_ him!" Raoul's voice, shrill with wild rage.

White Bear's moccasined feet seemed to be flying over the ground. He
felt the Bear spirit giving him strength. A curtain of prairie grass
fell away ahead of him and swished shut behind him. Even the grass was
helping. It was almost high enough to hide him as he ran in a crouch, as
his bound wrists forced him to do.

He was already deep into the prairie when he heard the calm voice of Eli
Greenglove cutting through the cool, clear air.

"Hold your fire, everybody. He's mine. Got a bead on him."

A moment later lightning struck the side of White Bear's head, sudden
and stunning. He heard the rifle's roar just an instant after the bullet
hit him. It struck so hard, it left him no strength to scream. His right
ear felt as if it had been torn away from his skull. A blaze of agony
blinded him. He staggered.

But he was alive.

_Play dead!_

It was the same voice in his mind that had told him to run. Now he was
sure it was the Bear spirit.

He shut his eyes, threw himself at once to the ground. The earth came up
and hit him in the face as hard as a fist in the jaw. Stunned for a
moment, he sucked air into his chest and let it out slowly. He lay
perfectly still. His ear felt as if someone had laid a burning torch on
it.

"Got the sonofabitch," came Eli Greenglove's flat voice from only a
short distance away.

But he was still alive. And no one was shooting at him. His body went
limp with relief.

He could not believe that he was still alive and conscious.

_Maybe I am dead. Maybe my spirit will stand up in a moment and start
walking west._

Greenglove was supposed to be the best shot in Smith County. Could he
really mistakenly think he h