a thud that made her ears ring, and suddenly Wolf Paw was
slumping to the rutted trail in front of her.

Men charged at the fallen Wolf Paw with rocks and clubs raised. Eagle
Feather suddenly let go of Redbird and plunged into the crowd of Sauk
behind her. She watched him disappear as he burrowed in among the legs
of the women and men.

"Redbird!"

Squeezing Floating Lily against her chest, Redbird looked around
frantically at the sound of her name.

At the edge of the crowd she saw yellow braids and blue eyes and arms
waving. Yellow Hair, her face twisted with anguish, was trying to force
her way through to her.

There were other people with Yellow Hair. A very stout woman was pushing
and pulling at the angry men and women around her, shouting at them to
stop what they were doing. And a man with sandy hair was also fighting
the other villagers.

_White Bear had an aunt and uncle in this village._

But the crowd pushed forward, and she could no longer see those few who
were trying to help her people.

The men were beating Wolf Paw. One powerful-looking man with broad
shoulders and chest and a thick brown beard lifted a club to bring it
down on Wolf Paw's head.

In the pale eyes' tongue Redbird cried out, "No! Please!"

The man turned and stared at her, madness in his eyes.

"You kill my wife!" he roared. His spittle wet her face. He reached for
her.

She screamed and screamed. His hand grabbed at Floating Lily's tiny
body, and the baby shrieked with pain and terror. Redbird tried to bite
and kick him, to squirm away. He swung his club at her and hit the side
of her head. The blow stunned her, weakening her grip on her baby.

The brown-bearded man wrenched Floating Lily from her arms.

Her screams tore her throat. The man whirled away from her, lifted
Floating Lily high over his head. The crowd enveloped him, and the baby
disappeared in their midst. Screaming, punching and kicking, she fought
to get at Floating Lily, but people pushed her back and threw her to the
ground.

Her voice was gone. She crawled through the stones and the dirt. She saw
the legs of pale eyes men and the skirts of pale eyes women, and in
their midst a small unmoving body, wrapped in a blanket soaked with
blood.

The people rushed off in a different direction, and she crawled along
the trail until she could reach out and take her daughter in her arms.
She pulled herself into a sitting position, holding the bundle in her
lap.