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"Of course she cares for the man; they were once married.

Ease your mind, Almost-Son. She is a woman.

And, being a woman, she feels empathy for all of Creator's creatures.

Rejoice in the goodness within her heart.

Remember, she loves only you. And, in time, your love for each other will conquer your differences. "

Of course, it was his Big-Person almost-mother speaking to him in the common manner by which the Big People and medicine men "spoke." And so, he answered:

"I thank you for your wisdom, Almost-Mother.

I do not wish to lose her, and perhaps, because I lost my first wife shortly after we were first married, I worry, since I do not now wish to lose Otahki so soon after we have come together.

You are right. I know she loves me as I love her. I will put my fear behind me."

Then came her answer:

"It is good. I am here for you, Almost-Son. I will always be here for you."

The communication channel dropped.

First Rider smiled. Although his birth mother, Little Dove, and his almost-father, Chief Chases-the-enemy, spoke of this Big Person as the enemy they had conquered, First Rider knew in his heart a differing point-of-view.

Always, he was glad to have been given a short time with his Big-Person almost-mother.

Most people within the tribe shared the opinion of First Rider's parents.

Indeed, only two other people within the tribe understood First Rider's connection to his almost-mother, the Big Person.

And, those two people were Eagle Heart, the medicine man and younger brother of Chief-Chases-the-enemy, and Eagle Heart's wife, Laylah.

Unafraid of the Big People, both Eagle Heart and his wife had added an understanding of First Rider's abduction all those years ago, regaling First Rider with the story of how this Big Person, in the end, had rescued not only him, but how she had saved his birth mother, Little Dove, and Eagle Heart also, although Little Dove, it seemed, no longer remembered.

Yet, growing up in the Pikuni tribe, First Rider, a Crow man by birth, had felt blessed by the Creator for giving him the opportunity to experience a family and the Pikuni tribe, with its many and different kinds of people.

His family members, indeed, included not only the Pikuni and the Crow people, but within its ranks were several white American women, as well as a Big-Person woman and her family.

As First Rider looked again at the naked man who was barely able to keep on his feet, trudging as he was up the embankment of the Big River, First Rider knew a moment of peace within his heart.

Plus, it was good to see real justice given to a man who deserved what First Rider and his friends had given him… and more.

But, because his woman's father should become aware of the gift First Rider and his friends were bringing to the fort this day, he had sent Stands Strong on ahead of their main party, asking Stands Strong to inform Otahki's father of the reward being brought to him this day.

Not only would his father-in-law, Henrik, bear witness to Maká pato'si's disgrace, Stands Strong would have also informed Henrik of how Maká pato'si had cheated the men at The Medicine Sun River settlement.

Red Fox—the youngest member of their party—who had been pulling up their rear, was in the act of bringing his own mount in close beside First Rider. Leaning forward over his pony's neck, Red Fox grinned.

" Ha' !" said Red Fox. "It is good to see Maká pato'si outwitted and brought back to the white man's fort in disgrace."

" áa , it is good! Perhaps Maká pato'si will now leave our country forever."

Red Fox nodded. "It is a good thought."

"It is more than a thought," First Rider admitted. "It is my wish for it to be so."

They fell silent then, watching as Maká pato'si crawled, periodically rising up to his feet to stumble toward the gate of Fort Benton.

Neither of them were startled when the gate suddenly burst open, and there, within the shadow of the fort, appeared the large and stern figure of Henrik, Otahki's father.

A shotgun was in Henrik's hand, and behind him strode a man with a gun in his clutches also—a man who appeared to be the "law" in this wild, ungodly place.

Behind them stood a crowd of unsavory-looking men, the grubstakers, who were most likely as equal in banditry as Maká pato'si, himself.

First Rider watched Maká pato'si stand to his feet.

But, he had done little more than get up when Henrik strode out to meet him and, without the least bit of hesitation, Henrik slugged Maká pato'si in the face.

Henrik followed the blow with a punch in the evil one's stomach, causing Maká pato'si to fall back full-bodied onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Henrik was standing over Maká pato'si with his rifle pointed at the man's head, looking as though he considered Maká pato'si to be no less than a fat turkey for dinner.

Reading his father-in-law's lips, First Rider saw Henrik shout out, "Thar's fer what thee did to me own daughter, and no mistake. Take him, Sheriff. Thou be aware of what he did."

The sheriff did as Henrik bid, forcing Maká pato'si to his feet and shoving the man ahead of him.

Then the sheriff, as well as many of the grubstakers, sauntered back into the fort.

Henrik followed in their wake. But, before Henrik disappeared completely within the inner sanctum of Fort Benton, he turned back and waved his arms at his daughter and First Rider, shouting out over the rushing waves of the river, "Thank thee, me own son-in-law.

I be thankin' thee fer all me life. Me own self be glad to see thee found the daughter of me, also.

I be comin' to thy camp soon to be honorin' thee now. "

First Rider nodded. Then signing "It is done" to his Father-in-law, he and his woman, as well as Red Fox, spun their ponies around, heading toward an easier crossing of the Big River, their destination east and north, directing their path toward the Marias River, where they would find and follow the tracks of the Pikuni people who were most likely, even now, heading toward their summer encampment.

But, before they left altogether, Otahki sat up on her pony, and waving at her father from her position on the other side of the Big River, she called out, "I love thee, Father of me. I love thee."

****

Facing east, and from the apex of a ridge jutting up only a short distance away from The-backbone-of-the-world Mountains, Liliann and her husband, First Rider, looked down upon the welcome sight of the Pikuni summer encampment, the tribe having pitched their camp in a sweet prairie meadow.

Because the summer had been warm earlier in the year, the meadow, spread out before Liliann and her husband, was green with luscious grass, as well as blue, yellow and white flowers scattered here and there throughout the green.

So mystical did the camp appear, it seemed to Liliann that the camp could very well be a mere illusion rather than the Pikuni encampment which was set in the real world.

Since she and First Rider were sitting upon their ponies and were positioned side by side on this day in early summer, it was easy for them both to see the entire village, since the Pikuni lodges were pitched in a gigantic circle.

The tepee's colors of red, yellow, blue and white contributed to the illusion of the camp's surreality.

From her view of it high above the camp, Liliann could observe some of the paintings on the lodges.

One was fashioned with stripes, another with triangles or circles, and some showed off the figures of the buffalo, bears or antelope.

Colors abounded down there, also. One lodge might be red and blue, another green and white, another yellow, and still there was another tepee painted orange. And, so on.

Quaintly, under the blaze of the morning's summer sun, the village appeared as though it were a circle of a living rainbow come to earth; perhaps even suggesting it might be a place where magic dwelt.

This seemed especially so because the encampment was pitched in close to a small and grassy blue- colored lake which was currently reflecting the colors of the bluish grays, pinks and reds of the sky under the influence of the early morning sunrise.

And, were it not for the sounds of the laughing and shouting of children at play, the men singing to the steady beat of a drum, the hundreds of dogs barking continuously, as well as the dull hum of women talking or singing as they worked, the encampment might have continued to appear as though it had magically appeared.

But, no. These sounds were definitely American Indian and not reminiscent of anything to do with magic.

Looking outward and beyond the encampment, Liliann beheld the many ridges jutting up from the prairie on the camp's northern side, and, because the tops and sides of the bluffs were decorated with yellow sun-flowers and blue prairie lupines, the village appeared to be peaceful and harmonious.

The smoke rising from the "ears" of the lodges brought to her mind a feeling of comfort, and Liliann took in a deep breath of the smoky scent, the sweet smell calming her nerves.

Of course, there were herds of ponies, and the animals stretched out in every direction from the encampment, all of them with their heads down as they munched upon the luxuriant prairie grasses.

Looking outward at the scene before her, Liliann felt small in relation to the size of the camp and its surroundings.

But, it wasn't a terrible sensation. It was more of an idea that it was here where she belonged.

Would the friends she had made with the Pikuni four years earlier still be friends? Would they even remember her?