Andy’s heartbeat quickened. The passage of years had not changed the way his brother sat on his horse. Andy could have recognized him from far away. Steals the Ponies did not seem to notice the visitor at first. He dismounted, obviously tired, and tied his horse behind the tepee. He carried his medicine shield inside, for it was a sacred thing to be protected from harm.

Coming back outside, he spoke to his wife. “I am hungry.”

“The meat is soon ready. Look. Someone has come to see you.”

Steals the Ponies stared blankly a moment, then his eyes brightened and the weariness fell away. “Badger Boy!” He embraced his brother with such strength that Andy almost lost his breath. “But Badger Boy is no longer a fit name. You are not a boy.”

“Among the Texans I am known as Andy.”

Steals the Ponies spoke the name but found it not to his liking. “It means nothing. We must find you a new name, something better.”

His delight began to fade, and concern crowded in. “You should not be here. Have you forgotten why you left us, why you had to go back and live with the Texans?”

“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.”