, "I wish I could have seen my father one
last time." She could barely hear him above the noise of the smoke boat
and the rushing water.

She closed her eyes against the pain of that and bit her lower lip to
keep it from trembling.

When she was able to speak she said, "I think that one day you will see
him again."

But for now Eagle Feather and White Bear must be parted. Because Eagle
Feather must grow up as a Sauk. The people would need him, too, in
summers and winters to come.

But until Eagle Feather was grown, the people would turn to her. The
men, like Wolf Paw, had lost heart. She would give them heart again.

In spite of the pale eyes, the Sauk would find a good trail.

* * * * *

The walk from Grandpapa's house to the ruins of Victoire seemed to
Auguste to take all morning. By the time he stood facing the blackened
chimney that towered over him like some ancient idol, his legs hurt. He
was panting, but the crisp winter air infused vigor into his nostrils
and lungs. He sat down to rest on a broken beam that had once held up
the ceiling of the great hall.

He was still weak from having been so badly wounded and from lying in
bed recovering. And even now his left lung was still not able to fill
itself full with air, and probably never would be.

This was the farthest he had ever walked. Too far, really. But the
bright December day invited him out of doors, and he wanted to see his
land.

_My land._

It was his now, without question. Now that Raoul's body had been found.

He was glad there had been no marks on the body. Glad that the Fleming
children, who had found it day before yesterday while playing down in
the gorge, hadn't had to see a human body torn to pieces, as he feared
Raoul might be found.

Ginnie, the middle Fleming girl, had followed a cardinal into the mine
entrance; once the child had seen the body, the little redbird had flown
out again and disappeared.

Raoul's rifle and his pistol, both of which he apparently had fired just
before he died, lay beside him. His Bowie knife had fallen a short
distance away, as if he had thrown it.

When Auguste and Grandpapa had gone to see the body laid out in Dr.
Surrey's examining room, Auguste had been shocked to see the grimace of
terror frozen on Raoul's face--jaws wide apart, lips drawn back from his
teeth, eyes bulging. A good thing the light in the mine had been dim and
the Fleming girl hadn't gotten a good