and must have been taken from women's heads.

Could Wolf Paw be holding Nicole's hair, or Frank's? Could it be
Grandpapa's?

Heart pounding, White Bear forced himself to push through the crowd. He
heard cattle lowing and horses neighing in the distance. Questioning
shouts and cries of greeting.

A scream of agony froze him. A woman's voice. And then another, from
another part of the crowd, piercing his eardrums. And still more
screams. He realized what was happening. Women were learning that their
men had not come back.

Scalps and screams. Wolf Paw's gifts to the British Band. White Bear
worked his way past women calling out anxious questions.

He suddenly came upon his mother leading a wailing pregnant woman out of
the crowd.

"She heard that her husband was killed, and she has gone into labor,"
Sun Woman said, her face hollow with her own pain. White Bear squeezed
her arm briefly as she passed him.

When he got close to Wolf Paw he saw a bound woman's body draped face
down across the back of the brave's gray pony.

She wore a ragged blue dress. Her feet were bare, dirty and covered with
scratches. She did not stir. From this side of the pony White Bear could
not see her face. A sickening suspicion gripped him, and he hesitated,
not wanting his fear confirmed.

Wolf Paw, frowning down at him angrily, was still wearing his yellow and
red war paint, faded by the ride of several days.

"I raided the town where you lived, White Bear. I took forty head of
cattle and twenty horses from your pale eyes relatives."

"I am glad to hear of the cattle," said White Bear. "Our people are
starving."

Wanting, and not wanting, to know who Wolf Paw's captive was, he walked
around the brave's horse for a better look at the bound woman.

"We killed many pale eyes," Wolf Paw said. "They will never forget Wolf
Paw's raid. Tonight we will have a scalp dance for the warriors who have
become braves."

White Bear stopped walking. People he knew and loved on both sides had
died; he had to learn which ones.

After a moment he collected himself. "And will you dance for the braves
and warriors you did not bring back?" It was a cruel thing to say, but
Wolf Paw deserved it. Wolf Paw did not answer.

White Bear had to fight himself to keep from crying aloud in anguish. He
no longer had any doubt who the captive woman was who hung head down
over the spotted pony.

One yellow braid was still tied with a blue bow. The other had co