Then the old man was speaking again. Miller paused a moment before he returned to translating.
“He says he is fortunate in his life to have grandsons, counting me and Ellis among them. He says he’s chosen one to lead you where you need to go, on a path that will be its own journey. He says your father if he knew would agree because there is wisdom in this approach.”
Charlotte took a step back, trying hard not to cry.
“Why is he saying this?” she said, her voice barely a whisper. Even with her arms folded tightly, still the pounding of her heart felt as if it would break her ribs.
The old man seemed to understand this and waved her fears away. He beckoned behind him and a blanketed figure rose from the circle. Charlotte watched in terror, but then her eyes narrowed. The closer he came, the more she didn’t know whether to run or faint or expire where she stood, which would definitely at this point, she considered, be the most useful option. Instead, she gathered what courage she had left.
“You’ve lost your bow and your rifle,” she said bravely.
“They’re still here,” he said. “But where’s your Colt?”
“Safely hidden away, thank you. I’m obliged for the squirrel.”
“You went out and found it?”
“And cooked it.”
All else was stunned silence. Charlotte could feel Ellis and Miller on either side of her trying to comprehend what had just happened. The old one stood back with an expression on his face that said all of the world except the white man’s was wrapped up in the mysteries of the gods and the spirits of the earth.
13
13
Back at the wagon train, when Ellis tried to unsaddle Charlotte’s mare as a gesture of kindness, Charlotte stepped in front of him. “It’s my horse, I can take care of her.” She’d stopped shaking but now she was angry, at what she hardly knew anymore. “If I’m on my own, it starts right here.”
“You aren’t on your own. You’ve got Chace, and if there were anybody better than Miller or me, it’d be him.”
“Chace?”
“Chace Yellow Cloud, back there, the one you already seem to be acquainted with. Do you want to tell me about that five days later than you should have?”
“I forgot about him the minute I found out I had a whole wagon train’s worth of people against me. He just showed up, we exchanged some words, and then he was gone.”
“What kind of words?”
“I got the Colt and aimed it at him and he sat on his horse and didn’t seem to care. Then he asked what happened to me. Then he asked if he could see the Colt and he shot a squirrel with it and rode off and I cooked the squirrel for dinner.”