"You are right to say your brother looks much as you do. Next to him must be Little Dove, the Crow woman. I did not know she had a baby with her. Did you?"
"Not until...few days ago."
She nodded. "But, what is wrong with them?" asked Laylah. "They don't seem to be moving. They are standing, obviously alive, yet are not stirring."
"They move. We not see it."
"Why?"
"I not...know."
"Where are we?"
"This...Mystery Lake. Elders tell...much secrets...around lake. Odd happenings...here. Blackfoot people...no come here."
The female wolf had placed herself beside Eagle Heart, while her partner stood to their left, alert, but seemingly unwilling to go too near the human beings. In this place were both tall as well as smaller evergreen trees and they surrounded a small clearing. But in one spot within the glade, there appeared to be a circle with nothing in it, where even the grass didn't grow. Dry dirt and rocks filled the space. All about them were a few inches of snow and ice, but not within that circle. Why was it so different from the surrounding countryside?
The she-wolf said in the mind-to-mind talk, "We tried to pull them out of trap. Something is wrong."
Laylah heard the wolf as well as Eagle Heart's reply. In the mind-to-mind talk, he said, "Do you see the light around them?"
"No," said the wolf.
"I don't see it either," said Laylah.
"There is a circle of light around them and a sunbeam shining down upon them within the circle," Eagle Heart said in mind speak. "Special place. A sacred place. I feel close to Sun here. I think our rules for life do not apply within the circle of light. But, why are they standing there as though there is no life in them? And yet, if you watch them closely, you might see them breathe. Also, do you see the Big Person?"
"Yes," said the wolf. "The Big Person has been here many days."
"I don't see it," said Laylah in mind speak, also.
"He or she is standing behind the trees over there." Eagle Heart pointed to their left.
"I still don't see it."
Suddenly, Eagle Heart pushed Laylah away from him and yelled, "Go! Run! Hide!" He did the same to the she-wolf.
Out of nowhere, the Crow scout emerged, and, drawing his knife, he crouched down and slowly circled Eagle Heart. Eagle Heart bent to meet the Crow scout's threat and he, too, brandished his knife. Adding to the confusion, the wolves growled and came forward; they hunkered down , their teeth bared at the Crow scout.
"This is my fight," Eagle Heart said aloud to the wolves and waved them away.
"No!" Laylah screamed. Her father was standing alongside the Crow man, and she watched as her father drew his pistol. She cried out, "Stop this, Father!"
"Stand aside. I will see him killed!"
"Father! No! He is my husband."
"No Injun will ever be my daughter's husband."
As the Crow scout and Eagle Heart circled each another, preparing for the fight, Robert McIntosh aimed his gun at Eagle Heart's head.
"Father! No! Don't do this! He is my husband and I love him!"
She hadn't seen the other Indian warrior until he was suddenly there, appearing as if from the air in back of her father. He was none too careful in placing his knife blade at her father's neck. Blood dripped.
"Innaapiksist náámaa!"
"He says to drop your gun or he will kill you." Laylah translated the words as she recognized this man. "Gray Falcon, where did you come from?"
