All those big, dark eyes grew much bigger when Young Raven said that she was hiding from an enemy, more so when he spoke about Removal, and all the heads nodded instant agreement. But one little girl was less impressed with that than with Anna’s hair.

“Why is your hair the color of corn?” she asked, staring as if she wanted to touch it.

“Why is your hair the color of a crow’s wing?” Anna asked back. “Mine is the color of corn for the same reason.” It seemed the most diplomatic way of answering. Despite the seriousness of the moment, Young Raven seemed amused by the exchange, and the little girl’s face puckered with thought for a moment.

“All right,” she said at last, simply accepting the answer. Young Raven made a slight shooing motion, and the children scattered again, going back to what they had been doing before her entrance interrupted them.

She looked over at Young Raven, astonished. “How do you keep so many people a secret?” she asked.

He shrugged. “The Holler is big enough that as long as we do not have more people than this, it can sustain us. Most of us never go past your aunt’s cabin. Those who choose to leave, to look for husbands or wives, for instance, simply never talk about where they are from to anyone but other Cherokee. We are not the only band that is in hiding—and there are Cherokee in the Removed lands who had proper title to their land and farms as the white man deemed legal; they remained when the rest were forced to depart. Not many, but enough that the young men and women can go find mates among them, and bring some of them here, as I did. Hunters and trappers are unlikely to trespass for fear of your aunt. And my father and I keep the village from being discovered with a barrier of power, which makes those who are not permitted here go around us without ever finding us. And the little people help with that.”

That sounded even more effective than Aunt Jinny’s shield. I need to larn how to do that.

“Now we will go to my family’s home and see what Billie McDaran wants,” he continued, and strode off into the circle of houses, with her trotting after him to keep up.

Aunt Jinny had been right; aside from a few oddities, like stuffed animal skins on the floor to sit on, colorful patterns painted on the side of the stove, not much furniture, and more furs than blankets, this cabin could not have been told from the one she lived in. The walls were as full of shelves with things stored on them as Jinny’s walls were. Except that none of the windows had glass. But then, she knew plenty of houses in Soddy that didn’t have glass either.

In fact, now that she thought about it, she should have been surprised that Aunt Jinny’s cabin did.