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when that moment arrived if they resolved to fight rather than submit? Did he have doubts he could comply and that was what his father and brothers sensed? Did he—
    War Eagle’s approach halted Chase’s line of thought when he and another man arrived with food, his bedroll, saddlebags, wood, and his knife.
    “Wind Dancer send supplies and your possessions. This Swift Otter; he friend and Sacred Bow Carrier. You eat, stay here.”
    Chase nodded a greeting to Swift Otter, the man who had ridden with War Eagle this morning and had confiscated his weapons. The warrior simply looked at him in return. InEnglish, he said, “You were eight years old when I vanished, War Eagle. Do you remember me?”
    “I remember a little about my brother.”
    Chase noted War Eagle had chosen his reply carefully. “But you aren’t sure I’m Cloud Chaser?”
    “You speak many true words from suns long past. You know them or Cloud Chaser speak them to you?”
    “I swear on my life and honor I am Cloud Chaser, your brother. I—” A sharp voice using Lakota cut off the rest of his sentence.
    “Did your father say this white man can stay?”
    War Eagle turned to face Two Feathers, who had left the trees nearby and joined them, his expression one of anger. “Yes, he camps here.”
    “He must be guarded, my cousin; he is a threat to us.”
    “That has not been proven, Two Feathers. Father speaks; we obey.”
    Also speaking Lakota, Chase told the seething man, “The rivalry between us took place when we were boys, Two Feathers. We are men now. We must put our conflict behind us, bury it forever, for the good of our people.”
    “There can be no peace between us until you prove yourself a worthy warrior and loyal only to us. You have not done so with words and will never do so with deeds.”
    “If not peace,” Chase urged, “make a truce with me so—”
    “You can trick your way back into our band and people’s hearts? Do not ask for my help and acceptance, half-breed, for I will never give them.”
    “Why do you hate me, Two Feathers, when the same blood runs within our veins, the blood of our grandparents, Chief Ghost Warrior and Redbird? It is the Red Shield way to be loyal to our chief, our family, our band, and our great Dakota Nation. Brothers, sisters, and children of our leader are the most important members of our band; we are among that group, Two Feathers, so there should be no swinging hatchet between us.”
    “I carry only Indian blood; you carry the blood of our enemy, so we are different; there is no bond between us.”
    “You speak and behave as a bad child, Two Feathers. There is a blood bond between us whether you accept it or not.” Chase wished he hadn’t allowed his cousin to provoke him to speak what was taken as a grave insult by the man. He saw Two Feathers’ gaze narrow and chill even more and the warrior’s body stiffen with rising fury.
    “You seek to stain my honor, half-breed? Do you challenge me to a fight? Take up your knife and we will settle our conflict here and now.”
    War Eagle seized Two Feathers’ arm before he fully extracted the knife at his waist. “You will not fight Cloud Chaser,” he ordered. “He is here by Father’s command. You break our law to fight a man protected by a chief.”
    Swift Otter shook his head and told the man in a firm tone, “Iya, Wiyaka Nunpa; Ecunsni yo.”
    Chase knew that meant, “Go away, Two Feathers; do not do it.” He waited, as did War Eagle and Swift Otter, for his cousin’s next action.
    “Mni kte lo,” Two Feathers told his friends, but added to Chase, “Tka ecana nitin tke.” He spit on the ground as a sign of contempt and left.
    Chase did not respond to his cousin’s parting words of “I will go. But you are going to die soon.” He waited until Two Feathers stalked away before he thanked War Eagle’s friend. Again, Swift Otter kept his expression stoic, uncertain how he was supposed to respond to his chief’s less-than-welcomed