Free Thunder Rolling in the Mountains by Scott O’Dell Page B

could not make out the bodies that littered the frozen ground.
    With first light the shooting began. Soon the air was filled with smoke from rifles and I could no longer see the falling snowflakes. Through the mist I saw flashes of guns.
    That day while the warriors fought, we dug tunnels in the damp earth with our knives and camas hooks. By nightfall we could scoot on our stomachs from one sheltering gully to the next.
    I crept through the tunnels until I found Deer Woman. She and Bending Willow were safe. I swept Bending Willow in my arms and held her close. She waved her small fists and gurgled with laughter. My sister had been on this earth for four moons. I thought that she might not live to see another moon.
    I gave Deer Woman the buffalo meat I had not eaten. She needed food to make milk for my sister.
    That night I stayed in the gully with Deer Woman and Bending Willow. We sat with our backs against the dirt wall. Our hearts were heavy and we talked little.
    I slept briefly, but mostly I thought of our beautiful valley, of its blue lake and its wandering streams, its mountain peaks and sheltering valleys, its tall trees and green meadows. I thought I would never see it again.
    When the sky grew light the battle began anew. By now those who could escape had reached Sitting Bull. Word passed through the tunnels that he would surely send a war party of Sioux to help us. If help did not come soon, we would be beaten. Our warriors were careful to shoot only when they saw a careless Blue Coat, but our bullets would not last forever.
    The rifle fire from the soldiers died away. It became a war of sharpshooters. But the soldiers' big cannon spoke all day. It threw bursting shells into the air. Pieces of metal rained down on us and we held buffalo hides above our heads to keep them off.
    Some time after midday the soldiers stopped firing the cannon. A great quiet spread over the plain.
    I heard shouts and climbed onto a heap of buffalo skins so I could look over the edge of the gully. The snow had stopped and I could see across the plain. My heart caught in my throat. A white flag waved above
the camp of the Blue Coats. It was the sign for truce.
    A voice called, "Colonel Miles wants to see Joseph."
    My father did not trust the soldiers. He sent Tom Hill, a Ne-mee-poo who could speak the white man's words, to talk with the Blue Coats.
    Before the sun had crept the width of a lodge pole, Tom Hill called for my father. The colonel would meet Joseph in the space between the two camps.
    My father left his rifle pit. With two warriors he walked toward the soldiers' camp. Several Blue Coats walked toward him. General Howard was not with them. One of the officers had silver birds on his shoulder. It was Colonel Miles. Tom Hill walked beside him.
    They met in the center of the plain. Chief Joseph laid down his rifle. The warriors placed their rifles on the ground. For a time they talked to the Blue Coats. The colonel waved his arms and pointed at our camp and then behind him. My father shook his head and made the hand sign that means "never."
    He turned and began walking back to his rifle pit. The white colonel pulled a pistol from his belt. The other Blue Coats grabbed my father and held his arms in back of him. They shoved him around and marched him back to the soldiers' camp.
    Anger rose in my throat. Again the Blue Coats had broken a truce. My father trusted too much, and now he was a prisoner.
    Then something strange happened. A white officer rode into our camp. It was a curious thing for him to do.
    Yellow Bull acted quickly. As the officer passed him, Yellow Bull grabbed the reins with one hand and pulled the Blue Coat from his horse with the other. Our warriors surrounded the officer and pushed him into the gully where I stood.
    The warriors jumped down after him.
    "Kill him!" shouted Two Moons. He pulled a knife from his belt and took one step toward the officer.
    "Yes, kill the soldier who wars on women and children," said