"Sir, please. I must try to find her. I know where she last was, for Mr. Thomas could tell us that much. Perhaps you could take me there?"
He didn't answer at once. How did a man speak to a girl like this and bring her to understand the dangers of this kind of storm? How did he tell her they might likely die if they were to leave here and traipse through the storm, not knowing where they were going? How did he answer her pleas without causing her more grief?
He couldn't. And, even though his heart was touched by the girl's love for her sister, he knew he would not be able to help her. At length, he signed, "I dare not take you away from here. Storms like this are best used to settle down in one's lodge and endure through them. If I were to go with you into the blizzard, we might get lost. Death could be the result."
She glanced away from him and asked, "May I stay here, then? I can't go home."
"You are too young to be alone with me. Do your parents know you are here?"
She didn't answer.
"I am sorry, but you cannot stay here," he signed. "Come, I will walk you to the gate of the fort."
"Sir, please don't send me away." She glanced down. But, soon, lifting her glance to his, she signed, "It took me most of the day to summons my courage to come here to speak to you. Please do not make me leave."
He frowned at her. "I cannot keep you here. We are alone, and you are too young to be here with me while no one else is in the lodge with us. Also, you will be missed, and when they look for you and find you here with me, there will be trouble for me, for my people and for you, too, I think. But, I will tell you what I will do. There is perhaps a way I might be able to reach my friend. But, I must be alone to accomplish this, and I must do this in the ancient and proper way. You cannot be here while I reach out to him, for you would distract me. I will take you back to the fort, and you may come here tomorrow to see what I have discovered. Come, I will walk you to the fort's gate so you do not lose your way in the storm."
"No, please don't send me away. Please."
He didn't speak. In truth, he didn't know what to say to this girl or what to do with her, and he had been honest: he was afraid there would be trouble because she was here with him...and alone with him.
"Couldn't I sit in the back of your lodge? I would turn my back on you."
"No," he signed. "It is not right that you should be here with me when no one else is present. I cannot state this too greatly. And, if you wish me to try to contact my friend, I must be alone."
She didn't answer. She simply sat before him and stared down at the buffalo robe she sat upon. At last, she signed, "I am afraid I won't be able to return here tomorrow because I am gone now, and they will be strict with me tomorrow. Please, I won't be any trouble to you."
Gray Falcon sighed. "What you do not understand is that you are already in trouble," he signed. "After a certain age, no young girl may be alone with a boy of my age. What is your age?"
"I am fourteen."
"No, you cannot stay here. You are old enough that you could be thought of in an ill manner if you stay here with me. I do not wish this for you. I do not wish this for me."
She sat still for a moment, then began to cry.
He sighed. What was he to do? Eventually, he gained her attention and signed, "Stay here. I will see if one of the women in our band will allow you to stay with her in her lodge."
"You would do this for me?"
"I will try. I may not be successful." He didn't look at her to see what her response might be. Instead, he rose and trod toward the entryway; leaning over, he prepared to crawl out of his lodge. But, he didn't.
Looking back at the girl, he signed, "Did you bring any of your things with you? Extra clothing? Food?"
She shook her head. "I had to run away quickly."
He didn't answer. Instead, he pulled back the flap to his tepee and stepped out into the snowy blizzard.
****
TO SAY GRAY FALCONwas bewildered was an understatement. How had the girl come to know he was Eagle Heart's friend? He had noticed the girl when he had come into the fort, it's true, for she was pretty. But, he hadn't paused to gaze at her with any interest. She was simply a young white girl.
And, she was much too young for him to be interested in as a man might be with a woman, although he realized this might not always be so. He was older than she, but not too much older. He was nineteen winters, and, though their ages separated them now, there might yet come a time when they could meet as adults. But, that time was not now.
As he stepped toward his uncle's tepee, he hoped his uncle's wife would be in residence there. He wished to send the young girl there, into his auntie's care.
If he could accomplish this, he would be able to return to his own lodge, there to pray and to meditate. If he were lucky, he might be able to reach out and speak to his friend. So far in his young life, Gray Falcon did not possess this skill, although he knew his friend could talk to and understand all kinds of animals and plants, as well as people.
Truth was, he doubted his skill. Perhaps because he was still considered a young man, he had not yet gained the ability to speak mind-to-mind with another at a distance. But, he would try to contact his friend.
