Free Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O’Dell

burned well. Soon fires blazed across the camp. We ate roasted buffalo until we could hold no more.
    Around the warm fires people said what a good leader Looking Glass was. In less than two suns we would be safe with Sitting Bull. Looking Glass had been right to march slow.
    It was a clear cold night. The wind blew hard and the brush stirred along the creek. Many chose to spend the night in the gullies, which were as deep as a standing man.
    Swan Necklace walked with me beside the creek. Buffalo robes wrapped us together against the cold. His arm was around my shoulder.
    "Do not look so sad," he said. "Soon we will be safe. Then my father will let the marriage go forward."
    "When you finish our marriage blanket," I said. It seemed strange to be talking about something besides the Blue Coats behind us.
    "That will be soon," he said. He pressed me to him. "I will gather colored earth from the Old Lady's land. It will be a beautiful blanket. We will sleep beneath it in our own tipi."
    The words were like honey to my ears, yet I was not at peace. I feared that Lean Elk was right.
    A misshapen moon streaked with red rode low in the eastern sky. I wondered if the ugly moon was a warning from the Great Spirit. Was it blood I saw on the rising moon?
    That night I lay awake worrying about the soldiers. I heard the ponies moving about. They were restless. I was restless, too. I trembled at the thought of what the morning might bring.

Seventeen
    T HE MORNING AIR was cold with a hint of snow. Clouds gathered in the sky. We began to pack our things. Some people sat by their fires. They chewed on buffalo meat from last night's feast. Bending Willow was in the arms of Deer Woman, having her morning milk. Children played games beside the stream with sticks and balls of mud. We were happy with the thought that in two suns we would be in safe country.
    Scouts rode into camp, their braids flying behind them. "Buffalo!" they shouted. "Stampeding buffalo!"
    Only one thing would stampede the buffalo: Blue Coats. The soldiers were near. I hurried but my fingers would not obey me. The knots in the rawhide that held the skin shelter remained fast.
    "Do not hurry!" said a voice. Looking Glass rode by our shelter. He went from one end of the camp to the other, saying, "Go slow! We have much time."
    I slowed down. My fingers began to work again.
    A short while later I heard a shriek.
    It came from young Joseph, who was across the stream. He pointed at a bluff behind us. There, outlined against the morning sky, sat a warrior on a spotted horse. On his head was a war bonnet of eagle feathers. It was a Cheyenne who scouted for the Blue Coats.
    Young Joseph splashed through the icy water. He came out of the stream with his teeth chattering. He had lost his moccasins and wore only a shirt. I wrapped him in a buffalo robe with pushed him into a gulch.
    The sound of galloping horses grew loud. All the Blue Coats in the world must have been on the other side of the rise. I looked up to see soldiers riding down upon us, Blue Coats on horses spread out in two wide wings that circled the camp. They were led by Cheyenne scouts.
    People were running in every direction.
    My father ran toward the herd. "The horses," he called. "Save the horses."
    Warriors grabbed their rifles and got into gullies and behind rocks. Hoof beats and gunfire made it hard to hear.
    Through the line of Blue Coats stampeded our horses, their eyes wild, their manes streaming. My father rode with them. He had no gun, no bow. There
were white soldiers on every side of him. I held my breath. With a burst of speed he reached us and jumped from his horse. Blood coursed down the side of his horse, but it was not the blood of my father. His guardian spirit rode with him.
    Chief Joseph caught a pony as it raced by. Handing me the reins, he said, "Flee, daughter. Ride to the north. Go to Sitting Bull."
    He ran to help others.
    I stood with the reins in my hand. Bullets flew around me. I looked for