Page 9 - My FlipBook

priests, the ones your leader Red Cloud invited—”
“Red Cloud is not our leader. And we did not invite

them.”
“If you do not let them go,” Old Tom went on, not daring

to meet the old man’s eyes, “the soldiers will come. And take
them. By force.”
A trickle of fear crept down Red Dove’s spine.
Gray Eagle stared at the woman. She stared back. Neither

spoke. Then he raised his hand to signal he was finished
and moved closer to the fire. When the smoke had cleared,
Grandfather was gone.

The white woman looked frantically around. She shrieked
something to Old Tom, but he just shrugged and climbed
calmly onto the wagon. Then he flicked the reins and the

horses jerked away, jostling the woman’s floppy headdress
loose.
She grabbed it just in time as her small, light-colored eyes

fell on Red Dove. Now, they were no longer afraid. Now they
looked cold, hard, determined. “I’ll be back,” they seemed to
say.

Even If We All Go Hungry

Smoke from the council tent rose in a curl and drifted into the
sky as the village waited to hear the fate of their children. At

last, Gray Eagle came out. He strode past the fire circle and
disappeared inside his own dwelling.
“Stay here,” Red Dove’s mother hissed, but Red Dove

pulled away. Something strange was happening and the only
one who could explain it was the wicasa wakan, the medicine
man, Gray Eagle himself. She pulled up the flap and entered

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