ird. She only wanted to see Gray Cloud
brought safely to the shaman's wickiup.

Someone else took her arm, squeezing it gently, and she looked up into
Sun Woman's face. Tears streaked the strong cheekbones.

"You saved his life," Sun Woman said, so softly only Redbird could hear
the words.

"I did nothing," Redbird protested. Silently, Sun Woman took the
snowshoes, the water bag and the blanket roll from her.

Owl Carver stopped at the doorway of the medicine wickiup. He danced
from one foot to the other, shaking his staff.

He nodded at Iron Knife, and motioned him to carry Gray Cloud into the
dark interior.

Redbird followed. The owl-headed stick barred her way.

"Go with your mother," Owl Carver said softly. "You have done enough
this night."

She could not tell whether he was praising or reproaching her.

_Will he live?_ she wanted to ask. But his solemn face forbade her to
speak.

She turned away from his remoteness and faced her mother's anger. Her
heart was still full of terror for Gray Cloud, but she knew that the
instant she lay down she would fall into an exhausted sleep.

* * * * *

It seemed that no time had passed when Wind Bends Grass shook her awake.

"Your father calls the people together," she said in a voice still hard
with anger.

Redbird's eyelids felt as if they were made of stone. She forced herself
to sit up, and then with immense effort got to her feet.

She was still fully dressed, even in her fur cloak and mittens. She had
collapsed in the wickiup without removing anything. The wickiup was now
empty. Her mother and her sisters had gone ahead without her.

Her heart hammered in her chest. Owl Carver might be calling the people
to tell them that Gray Cloud was dead.

Outside, the air was still deathly cold, but the sun was a bright yellow
disk rising above the distant gray line of trees that marked the bluffs
overlooking the Great River. The light made her blink, and she turned
away from it. She stumbled in the direction all the other people were
going--to the medicine wickiup in the center of the camp circle.

She found that the open area before the wickiup was crowded, and she
could not get close. The spaces between nearby wickiups were also filled
with people, all waiting for Owl Carver to speak.

She seated herself between two women, both of whom had small children on
their laps. Redbird knew one of the mothers, Water Flows Fast, a stout