“I am pleased to see that you have much courage. I would be more pleased if I saw that you were also blessed with much judgment.”

Andy asked, “Do you know where the boy will be sleeping?”

“I have seen him tied to a lodge pole.” Steals the Ponies picked up a stick and drew a circle in the sand to represent the interior of a tepee. He pointed out the front flap, then moved the point of the stick around the perimeter and stabbed it into the ground. “This is where I have seen him. I suspect the other children are placed around him at night to make it diffi-cult for him to escape.”

“Once I have freed him, what then?”

“I will have two horses for you. The sorrel on which you came and another for the boy.”

“What about his pony?”

“It will not travel fast enough. I have other use for the pony and the tracks it makes.”

Andy did not understand. His brother explained, “I will take another horse and lead the pony southward. That is the direction Fights with Bears would expect. I will leave a clear trail. When I have misled him far enough, my trail will disappear. I will circle back to camp while he is still looking for my tracks.”

“But south is where I need to go with the boy.”

“Not at first. You will ride eastward in the creek where you will not leave a trail. You must travel far before you leave the creek.”

“That would put us into the settlements a long way east of where the boy’s family lives.”

“But east from where Fights with Bears will be looking for you.”

Andy could see flaws in his brother’s plan, but it was better than anything he had been able to think up. It had all the marks of the trickster, the coyote.

Much depended upon Andy’s being able to get the boy out of the tepee without arousing the family. Beyond that, much depended upon being able to fool Fights with Bears.

He said, “I hope he is not very smart.”

“He has been in many battles. Not one has he lost.”

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

The moon provided light enough for Andy to see that the tepee skins were rolled up a foot or so from the bottom to allow fresh air to pass through. He would be able to crawl in where he chose rather than have to enter through the front flap and feel his way around. He looked behind him but could not see Steals the Ponies. He had the comfort of faith that his brother was back there somewhere, holding two pairs of horses.

From inside he could hear loud snoring. He guessed it came from Fights with Bears. That was gratifying. But not so welcome were the sounds of a child’s cough and a woman’s calming whisper. Andy lay on his stomach at the tepee’s edge, listening, his skin prickling with impatience.