"Good," said Snake. "It is good to know at least one of you can still speak like a warrior. And, now I will tell you what we shall do: we will quickly make new clothing, and, when done, we will break camp and find this man's trail, though I think we might have to search well for it. Thus far, this man has left little for us to discover. But, he is burdened with the woman, and she is white. She will make mistakes on the trail, as all white men do, and we will look for these missteps and find them."
Each warrior nodded in agreement, and, when nothing more was said, it was so agreed.
****
"Well boys, what brings ya ta Fort McKenzie on this here cold day in October?" asked Robert McIntosh, the father of Laylah and Amelia. He added, "I see my youngins ain't with ya."
"What you say is true," replied Eagle Heart in English. "Our women are back in camp, safe in the companionship of both my own and my friend's families. We bring you news."
"Ah, news! Glory be! We ain't had much news here o' late. Well, come in. Come in, boys! Whatcha doin' lingerin' out thar?"
Opening the fort's heavy gate a little farther, McIntosh swept his hand outward, welcoming his two sons-in-law into the dusty inner sanction of the fort. He said, "The misses is gonna be right happy ta see yer sorry faces!"
Both men grinned and, with the simple mention of his mother-in-law, Gray Falcon couldn't help but recall the first time he had met the woman. She, like her daughter, had made him laugh even when there had been danger, and her fearlessness at the time had reminded him of his wife. Indeed, even to this day, simply thinking of his mother-in-law caused him to smile.
"What's yer news, boys? Wait! Hold it til I can get the misses here ta see ya. But, how's about we hold the pow-wow in the tradin' room? My own room here in the fort is a mite too small."
Both men nodded. But, Gray Falcon frowned. Such meetings between sons-in-law and mothers-in-law were forbidden to his people, and Gray Falcon—though he liked and respected his mother-in-law well enough—was reluctant to meet her face-to-face.
But, he needn't have worried.
When Robert McIntosh brought his wife, Molly, into the trading room, Mrs. McIntosh beamed at both Gray Falcon and Eagle Heart and rushed forward toward them both, hugging first Eagle Heart and then himself.
"What a sight for sore eyes the both of you are! I've missed y'all. I've missed my daughters, too. Now, don't go all shy on me. I know your rules about mothers-in-law, but they don’t rightly apply to us. 'Member?"
Eagle Heart was the first one to speak, and he said, "We remember this very well. It is my pleasure and my friend's pleasure, too, to be able to talk to you without the necessity of you hiding your face from us." He grinned. "I cannot even imagine you hiding."
Molly McIntosh laughed. "I think you know me good enough, then. Well, boys, my husband tells me you bring us news. I hope it is good."
"It is," replied Gray Falcon, and he smiled at the small woman. "I am happy to see you again, you who remind me so much of my wife. Our news is that my wife, your younger daughter, is with child."
"With child? Hallelujah! This be good news, boys!" exclaimed Robert McIntosh.
"Oh my, I am so happy!" cried Molly McIntosh. But, she was weeping at the same time, and she reached into her pocket for a handkerchief, dabbing it at the corner of her eyes.
"Now, Molly, don't cha be goin' all sentimental on me and the boys here."
"And," added Eagle Heart, "your grandson, my son, Ikoan, is now four winters old, and with no more than his little bow, he yet killed a rabbit and brought it home to the family for our dinner."
"And, I bet your whole family—all his aunties and uncles, his cousins and his grandma and grandpa there in your camp—made a feast of it."
Eagle Heart laughed. "That we did. I wish you could have seen how proud he was. He has since been hunting with his uncles even though he is yet too small to go with them. Still, they allow him to come with them because he is insistent about it, and sometimes he brings home meat for the family."
"Oh my!" exclaimed Mrs. McIntosh. "What a grandson he is. I only wish I could see him more often."
"You are always welcome in our camp," said Gray Falcon. "You know this, do you not?"
"I know I am," said Molly McIntosh. "But, as you are aware, my husband's work is here. But I declare, before we return to Fort Union, we shall visit your camp."
Eagle Heart and Gray Falcon both nodded. It was Eagle Heart who said, "It would make all our hearts happy to have you visit us."
Molly McIntosh cried, and, reaching out, she hugged first one and then the other of them once again.
"Now, boys, I don't mean ta be settin' this meetin' off in another direction, but I suspect ya ain't simply here ta tell us 'bout our grandchilin'. Ain't that right?"
Gray Falcon nodded, while Eagle Heart said, "It is so. We have come here to bring news, to change horses, to get a few supplies and then be on our way. We are in a rush to get to a friend of ours who is in trouble. And, we do not wish to be too late joining him."
"A friend of yers, is it?"
