As darkness began to settle, we passed through a stand of pines that opened onto a meadow. Several warriors rode to the front and talked with the head man, and we went on a little farther. After a mile or so, the leader raised his hand, the signal for the warriors to get off their horses, stretch and walk about.

My stomach knotted into a ball and my throat went dry. I wanted to leap off old Methuselah and see how far I could run, but I couldn’t even move. My legs were both numb from the unaccustomed ride. I couldn’t have escaped even if the Indians told me to leave.

The man with my watch walked toward me and took the reins from my hands. He let them drop on either side of Methuselah, then spoke to me and gestured. I know he wanted me to dismount, but a tornado couldn’t have dislodged me from that nag. I shook my head, even as tears came to my eyes.

He stood there a moment, repeated his command, then turned and walked to Red and White, who squatted on the ground with some of the other braves. They conversed, then Red and White stood up and glared at me. When he spoke, I was so surprised I nearly fell out of the saddle anyway.

“Haven’t you been enough trouble already?” he asked, his English impeccable.

I stared at him as he came closer. “You speak English?” I asked in a voice not my own. What a stupid comment. Miss Sumner would have tsk-tsked at me, but I wasn’t at my best, conversationally or otherwise.

“Get off the horse,’ he commanded. As terrified as I was, I couldn’t help noticing a lilt to his voice.

I shook my head, utterly at my worst.

“Kindly get off the horse,” he repeated slowly, as if to a child or a halfwit.

I shook my head again, dreading the way he pursed his lips in a tight line.

“Get. Off. The. Horse.”

I heard no kindness this time. I winced and leaned over, speaking in a whisper. “I would love to oblige you, truly I would, but my legs fell asleep somewhere back down that trail and I can’t even move them.”

He laughed, which made me so angry that if I could, I would have landed him a good jab with my boot.

The others seemed to want to know what was so funny, so he told them what I said. Some of them chuckled, and the rest turned away, talking among themselves, on to a new topic apparently. As I look back at that moment, I think it may have been the best thing that could have happened. The tension vanished.

Red and White held up his arms. “Come on,” he coaxed, the kindness back in his voice.

“When in Rome,” I muttered, leaned out of my saddle and dropped on top of him. He steadied me and held me up, then let go. I crumpled in a pile at his feet. This time he grinned.