turned to Redbird, and she saw in his
eyes the same hopelessness she felt. But if he gave up, too, they were
truly lost. Why, then, go through the agony of a flight from the long
knives? They might as well stay here and let the long knives come and
kill them.

White Bear said, "The Turtle told me, 'The many who follow Black Hawk
across the Great River will be few when they cross back.'" A chill went
through her as she saw how those prophetic words were coming true.

The little bundle in Redbird's arms stirred. Anger rose in her. Despite
Black Hawk's blundering, despite the deadly hatred of the long knives,
she and her husband and her son and her baby daughter would not let
themselves be killed.

"Then if we do not cross the Great River we will escape in some other
direction," she said firmly. "Go and find Eagle Feather and Woodrow. I
will start to pack our belongings."

He smiled gratefully at her, reached for her and held her. She felt
herself gaining strength from his strong arms around her.

"For a few days I will not be able to walk or ride. You will have to tie
me to a travois and pull me along, as we do with old people."

"If I have to carry you in my arms," said White Bear, "I will do that."

Now that she was determined to fight to stay alive, she smiled up at
White Bear and pressed herself against him. She _was_ love. The power of
a great spirit, perhaps that she-Earthmaker she had once thought of,
filled her.

The Turtle, she thought, had said that many would die. But he had also
said that a few would live.

She and her husband and her children, they would live.

19

The Band Divided

The setting sun, warming the flat land at the foot of a hill beside the
Great River, cast deep shadows in the hollows of Redbird's and Nancy's
faces. How thin they were getting to be. Fear for them wriggled
snakelike through White Bear's own empty stomach.

_Has Earthmaker abandoned his people? No--worse--this is the fate he has
chosen for us. He bestows evil as well as good on his children._

Redbird said wearily, "What did the council decide?" She unfastened the
sling in which she carried Floating Lily on her back and cradled the
baby in her arms, frowning into the tiny brown face. White Bear knew
what she was thinking. Floating Lily was too quiet.

White Bear said, "Black Hawk wants to go north and seek refuge with the
Chippewa. He took the compass my father gave him out of his medicine bag
and showed