out, pointing right at him. He might not have noticed it if the light
had not fallen in just that way.

At the end of the branch three bright bur oak leaves were growing. This
was the Moon of Buds, and the limbs of most trees bore only the many
round swellings that would, as the days grew warmer, open and spread
into the first leaves.

But the three oak leaves at the end of this branch were fully grown, fat
leaves with deep, irregular lobes.

It was as Owl Carver had said. This branch called out to him from the
forest.

He went up to the tree, and as Owl Carver had taught him, he said,
"Grandfather Oak, please let me have your arm, to take with me to make
strong medicine for our tribe. I promise I will not hurt you, and I will
leave all your other arms untouched so that you can grow strong in this
place."

It was a small, new branch growing out of the tree at eye level. When
trimmed and stripped it would be just the right size for a medicine
stick. He would dry the leaves and keep them, too, he decided, as part
of his medicine bundle.

With his knife he reverently cut the branch away from the tree trunk.

A voice behind him said, "My son."

He jumped, startled.

At once he recognized Sun Woman's voice. As always, a warmth flooded
through him at the sound.

Still, he was angry with himself. How could he let someone slip up on
him like that?

He turned. He looked into his mother's brown eyes, level with his. Not
so long ago, he remembered, he had to look up to see into her eyes.

He saw pain tightening the muscles of her face. Her lips trembled as
they parted. Only a few times had he seen her in such distress, and his
heart beat harder. What was wrong?

"You must come back to Saukenuk, my son," she said.

"I have found my medicine stick, Mother. But now I must trim it here and
peel the bark in the place where I found it. Owl Carver told me how it
must be done."

She swept a hand across her body to say no to that. "It is Owl Carver
who says you must come now. Leave the stick here. The spirits will
protect it, and you can come back to it later. A man has come to our
village. You must meet him."

Tears on her brown cheeks reflected the bright sun.

"What is wrong, Mother? Who is this man?"

Again the hand gesture, rejecting his question. "It is better you see
for yourself."

"But you are sad, Mother. Why?"

She turned away, the fringe of her doeskin skirt swirling about her
shins.

He laid the s