many?” Daniel wanted to know.
“Half a dozen,” Robert said. “Two men. Ironheart and Singer. They lost at least four on the way here.”
Daniel swung into the saddle. “Let’s bring them to camp,” he said. He reached into his saddlebag and tossed a small sack onto the ground beside the fire. “If we boil that salt pork in water and add what you two have, we can probably come up with enough soup for at least half a meal. More than they are accustomed to, anyway.” He looked at Robert. “What do you think of keeping them here overnight?”
“It’s a good idea,” Robert said quickly. “They could use some rest before we take them in.” He motioned to the thick line of evergreens. “If it snows, we’re in a good spot.” He grinned. “Maybe we’ll have an excuse to try fishing.” He put his hand on his friend’s knee. “It’s not going to be easy convincing them. The one called Ironheart is a leading man. They’ve heard about the band camping at Faribault. Ironheart says they will keep going until they get there.” He shook his head. “That’s at least five more days away. I doubt they’ll make it.”
“We’ll think of something.”
Robert said quietly, “Ironheart is adamant that he’s not going to put himself under the control of any more military men or agents.”
Daniel bowed his head for a brief second, then picked up his horse’s reins. “I’ll bring them in,” he said, and headed out to meet the group of wanderers.
When Daniel dismounted and approached Ironheart, an old woman nearly hidden within the folds of a faded blanket ran up to him. Lifting her hands to the sky, she began to call Daniel’s name and cry. She reached up to pat his face with her gnarled hands, then took his hands in hers and kissed them.
Hardship and starvation had changed her so that he would never have recognized Mother Friend if she hadn’t spoken up. Daniel grasped her bony shoulders and smiled at her like a son looking at his own mother. Rage flickered inside him when he saw the ravages of Crow Creek in the woman’s face, but he channeled the energy into affection and hugged her fiercely before lifting her into his saddle. Turning to the rest of the group, he waved them after him. “We are making soup for you.” He pointed to the low bank of dark clouds racing toward them. “We are in a good spot to weather that storm. Come. Make camp beside us.” He squeezed Mother Friend’s hand. “Soon you will be sitting beside a warm fire, Mother Friend. And then I want to know everything.”
Six of them crowded into the tent, sitting shoulder to shoulder, no longer shivering, watching as Big Amos sliced every fragment of meat the scouts had into a pot of boiling water. While Big Amos cooked, Ironheart told the scouts why they had left Crow Creek and what they hoped to do.
“We cannot return to that place,” he said quietly but firmly. He motioned around him. “These people helped the whites. For this they are hated by the Sioux who fight in the West. For this they will be killed if Little Crow can accomplish it.”
“Little Crow is dead,” Robert said.
Ironheart raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I thought it was only a rumor.”
“It’s true,” Robert said with conviction.
Ironheart shrugged. “So there is one less warrior who wants to kill us. We still are not safe at Crow Creek” The others nodded their assent.
“We will take you to Fort Ridgely,” Robert promised. “No more hunger. No more shivering in the cold. You will be treated well. In the spring, the soldiers will probably transfer you to Fort Snelling with the rest of the”—he hesitated—“with the rest of the prisoners.”
Ironheart shook his head. “They said we would be free on the reservation. We were not free.” He held up his arm and pulled up his sleeve to reveal sagging flesh. “We were prisoners of our own hunger. We were prisoners of sickness. There was no doctor. We were prisoners of death, watching our children die, able to do nothing.” He looked at Robert as he said firmly, “We will be prisoners no longer. We will die as free men, on the land God gave to us.”
As Daniel listened to Ironheart insisting that they would live on their old lands, he thought of Jeb Grant saying, I never learned to be afraid of Indians. I hope it don’t get me killed.
Big