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"Thou would not dare to do it!" she whispered.

"I would," he muttered softly.

"Oh!" she moaned softly. "How be I to help thee if thou will not let me?"

"By praying," he whispered. Then he repeated, "By praying."

"I will be doin' it, no mistake, but don't thou see?" she asked under her breath. "Me own self needs to go with thee. Does thou forget the very reason I be here? My dream?"

He shook his head.

"Then thou must know this: where thou goes, I must be goin', too. What thou faces, then I shall face it with thee. If I be needin' to share thy life—and I do—then if thou dies in doin' justice, then I will be with thee, dyin' alongside of thee."

As he sat before her, he appeared to be stunned and he did nothing more than stare at her.

At some length, he reached out to touch her face with the back of his fingers.

Then, at last, he signed, "My brave, brave woman.

I did not realize what sharing my life with you truly meant to you.

Come with me, then. I shall not stop you from showing me and my friends, also, how courageous you truly are. "

Upon seeing his signs, she threw herself suddenly into his arms, almost knocking him backward. And, her voice shook as she whispered, "Thou shall not regret this. I promise I will be doin' as thou say. I promise."

And, as he took her into his arms, she cried, there against his shoulder.

****

Slowly, slowly, she belly crawled behind First Rider, having been warned that she was not to let so much as the crunch of a leaf sound beneath her. Therefore, she was committed to move forward, but very, very slowly.

More important it was, First Rider had said, to take the weapons without detection.

And, because any noise might alert Ernest to their plot, they each one carefully determined where to place their arms and legs as they slowly pushed forward, one elbow after another.

To her rear crawled Stands Strong and behind him, Red Fox, both of them slinking along on elbows and belly, also.

The plan was simple: First Rider was to take one weapon and would then pass it to her; she was to send it along to Stands Strong, and he would give it to Red Fox, who would later distribute the weapons to the three of them.

It had been going well until, as though he suspected he was being watched, Ernest looked over to where he had left his clothing and guns. Immediately, all four scouts—including Liliann—froze in place, and she didn't dare to even breathe.

Ernest's scrutiny seemed to go on and on, and Liliann knew she had to take a breath without movement and without noise. In doing so, she shut her eyes, forcing herself to think of nothing.

However, she found First Rider was gently nudging her, and, looking up, she saw he was passing Ernest's rifle to her, the last of his weapons. Glancing quickly toward the river, she was shocked to discover she could not see Ernest.

There was a tap on her leg, and, glancing over her shoulder using as little movement as possible, she discovered Stands Strong was slowly, but methodically, inching back. Was something wrong?

Looking forward, she saw First Rider had crawled backward until he was almost parallel with her. Oh dear. Trouble.

She and First Rider had no more than slinked in behind a bush when he placed his arm around her waist, forcing her into a full-bodied position on the ground. Imitating First Rider, she did nothing but smell the earthy scent of the ground beneath her.

Without lifting her head but a little, she looked up through the bushes and gazed at a completely nude Ernest as he approached the rock where he had left his clothing.

But, he didn't seem to notice the ground around the rock, which was this moment devoid of his weapons.

Instead, he reached into a pocket of his pants and pulled out a tiny box, and upon opening it, he reached in, took a bit of powder, and placing some of the snuff into his nostrils, he inhaled deeply.

For a moment, he turned his back on the four scouts, and she watched his shoulders lift and sink as he took in several breaths.

Then, as if making a decision, he walked barefoot across the sand which slanted gradually down to the river, and, wading in waist deep, he took a dive into the gentle waves.

At once, First Rider signaled to her to back up, slowly, slowly, inch by careful inch, until at last they reached the shelter of the pines and the surrounding red and black willows lining the shore.

Then, rising up into a crouching position, they stepped as noiselessly as possible back to their own camp, protected as it was with the surrounding pines.

As soon as they entered their tiny shelter and sat down in a circle, Red Fox asked in sign, "Did you get all his guns?"

"Yes," First Rider signed. "Even his knives scattered there."

Red Fox nodded.

"And, now what does thou do?" asked Liliann silently in sign.

"'Thou will wait," First Rider replied quietly, gesturing toward his friends and her.

"Does thou include thee in those who must wait?" she asked in sign.

First Rider shrugged, casually signing, "There is more I would like to take from this man."

"Oh?" she asked, slanting him a frown.

Upon looking around their circle, Liliann noticed Stands Strong was smiling, though faintly.

However, he didn't utter a sound. But then, as he glanced at the three of them, Stands Strong reached around behind himself before bringing his hands back to the front to show his arms to be filled with…

clothing—a white man's shirt, pants and boots.

Stands Strong smiled as he murmured, "No need to go back, Almost-cousin.

I knew you would want these. His disgrace would not be complete without him being properly… .undressed." Stands Strong grinned.

First Rider smiled, then signed, "You are a better scout than I. I did not even see you return there."

As Stands Strong nodded his head, a masculine scream ripped through the air, followed by the heated words, "Who are you? Where are you? What do you want from me? Bring me back my clothing…my weapons or I'll…I'll…"

No one answered. No one even smiled.

"I'll find you!" yelled Ernest. "I swear I'll find you, and when I do I'll kill you!"

Still no one answered.

Then, gradually, First Rider came up to his knees and crawled toward the opening of their shelter, Liliann following at his heels. Slowly, he turned back and signed, "No, you stay here."

"But, I thought I be goin' with thee. Did we not already talk about this?"

"Too dangerous."

"Thou will not be stoppin' me."

Shaking his head, First Rider nonetheless grinned at her and signed to her, "If you must come, stay behind me."

"Good. I will be doin' it."