“I have not forgotten. I remember the one who was killed.” He avoided speaking the name. “I had hoped none of his friends are in this camp.”

“They come and they go. One is here. Do you remember Fights with Bears?”

Andy had been hearing the name but could not recall the look of the man. His brother nodded toward the tepee. “WTe will go inside. We would not want him to see you.”

“You believe he would still want me dead?”

“His wives are sisters of the one who was killed.”

After entering, Andy waited until his brother sat, leaning against a back rest, then he seated himself.

Steals the Ponies said, “When you left, we agreed you should never come back. Why are you here again?”

“I have come looking for a boy. He is the son of people who have been good to me. I am told he was taken by Fights with Bears. I have come to take him back to his family.”

Trouble pinched his brother’s eyes. “You have come far and risked your life for nothing. You want too much. Fights with Bears has claimed the boy for his own. He will not give him up.”

Andy remembered the proposal James and Evan had made to Martinez. “Perhaps he would trade for horses.”

“He already has many horses. If you brought him more he would probably take them, kill you, and keep the boy. He listens to bad spirits, that one.”

Andy did not know what else to propose for trade. He did not know how much money the Monahans might have. It was unlikely Fights with Bears had much concept of money’s value anyway. Comanches understood goods, something they could hold in their hands, something they could use. Coins were of value only for ornamentation, and paper money was worth nothing at all.

“What can I do?” he asked.

“Go back to the Texans. You belong among them now. Forget about the boy. Tell them he is dead.”

“His family are my friends. They weep for him.”

“If they are young they can have other children.”

“It would not be the same. Texans love their children just as The People do.”

“Fights with Bears would not even talk to you.”

“Then I will steal the boy in the night.”

Steals the Ponies stared at Andy in disbelief. “Your Texas friends are too far away. He would catch you and kill you. He might be angry enough to kill the boy.”

“I have traveled many days to find Billy. Now that I know where he is, I cannot turn away from him.”

“You must. Or are you so willing to die for the Texans?”

Andy considered a long time before suggesting, “What if I offered to trade myself for him?”

“Fights with Bears would kill you and keep the boy. Why would you suggest such a foolish thing?”

“Because it is my fault the boy was taken.” He explained about his failure to warn of the raiding party he had encountered prior to Billy’s capture.