d said, "What is this woman to you?"

White Bear stiffened. Would she understand? Would she believe him?

White Bear searched his mind for a way to explain. "She was a friend to
me when I lived at Victor."

"Was she your woman?" Redbird asked.

"No. She wanted to be, but I would not let it happen, because I knew
that one day I must leave her."

_And I feared that if I let myself love Nancy I would never return to my
people, and to you._

"You did not even lie with her?"

"No."

"I would be foolish to believe that."

"I would tell you if I had done that. I did want to, and she wanted to,
but I would not. Does it make you hate her to know she wanted that of
me?"

Redbird's head was bowed so that he could not see her face. "You are a
man many women would want. I cannot hate them all."

"When I asked you to untie Nancy today and take her to our wickiup, you
could have refused me, as Running Deer did to Wolf Paw. Then the women
would have cut her to pieces. I could not have stopped them. I thank you
for honoring my wishes."

Redbird said, "You would have tried to stop them, and you would have
been hurt. I did not want that to happen." She looked up at him
suddenly, smiling. "And I knew that people would say, 'See, White Bear's
wife does as he asks, but Wolf Paw's wife makes him look foolish.' It
felt good to make Wolf Paw look foolish, after what he did to us."

It warmed him to hear her say "us."

"Now I want to do something more for her," he said. "But I can only do
it if you will say yes to it." He held his breath.

Redbird said, "If you made her your wife, then no one in the band would
dare to hurt her."

White Bear let out a deep sigh. He should have known her thoughts would
move as swiftly as his own. He had wondered how to say it to her, and
she had said it for him.

"Only to protect her. Not to be truly my wife. Will you consent?"

She stroked the back of his hand. "I think it would be a good thing if
we keep her safe. You and I did not want our people to fight and kill
the pale eyes." She pressed her warm hand against his. "At least we can
keep them from killing this one."

The ripples on the lake reflected fragments of moonlight. White Bear
felt he could see his love for Redbird, and it looked like what lay
before him--a lake of silver. He leaned against her, and her back rested
against his arm.

"I promise you I will not bed with her."

She smiled at him again. "Why promise that?"

Th