imy mud tugging at their feet.

When they were out of the water, dripping, he said, "If there were any
way you could escape from here, I'd help you. If you try to get away,
you'll die. There are miles of swamp in every direction. Only Black Hawk
and a few braves know the way out. You'd drown or be buried alive in
quicksand. Or the warriors would catch you, and they would kill you no
matter what I did. And they'll kill me if I help you try to escape."

"I'll die if I stay here." Her eyes were dull with hopelessness.

"No, you won't. I'll take care of you. My family will protect
you--Redbird, Sun Woman, Owl Carver, Iron Knife. You'll be safe with
me."

She leaned against him. "Auguste, I can't bear being so frightened. My
heart is so full of fear it will burst."

"The band will not free you, but they will not hurt you. They respect
me. I talk to the spirits for them and heal them."

She took a long look at him and spoke more calmly. "You look so strange,
dressed like a--like a--"

"Like a real Indian?" He tried giving her a little smile. For an instant
a little life came back into her face.

_I can heal her fear, too, if she will let me._

He felt an inward glow as she managed to return a tremulous smile.

She said, "But you're still that fine young gentleman who charmed me so,
back at Victor, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm that man too." He looked down at her bare feet. "You've lost
your moccasins. We must get you another pair." And she was lucky not to
have a leech or two clinging to her feet; so was he. His moccasins were
lost too. Clothing would be hard to come by, with the band on the run in
strange country, but he need not make her feel worse by telling her
that.

"I have to resign myself to staying with your people, don't I?" she
asked. "Thank God you're here, Auguste. Maybe it was Providence that
your uncle stole your estate from you."

_Yes, Earthmaker's way is surprising_, he thought.

"One thing I must ask of you, Nancy. For your protection, you and I must
go through a wedding ceremony. Then no one will be allowed to bother
you."

"A wedding!" She let go of him and stepped away quickly.

His heartbeat quickened with anxiety over her apparent shock.

"Nothing to be afraid of. A simple ceremony." He recalled his wedding to
Redbird last fall. He might be a shaman, but he'd not had the slightest
premonition that he would go through the same ceremony with a different
woman less than a year later.

"B