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Ferg came to stand in front of her and looked down into her sad face. "It wasn't for nothing. We all know that."
"Thanks, Ferg." She tried to smile.
It was cooler in the mountains and they all needed their blankets before morning. Snow Bird and Margaret fixed their breakfast. Snow Bird went to talk to her sister once more.
But she was shocked she wasn't there.
She went to the old man who was in the same spot he was the day before. "Have you seen my sister, she's not there anymore."
"She went to the woods, to die" He said loudly.
"No!"
The old man shook his head and looked at her for the first time. "It is better she dies alone than be shamed by her sister. Go now. You have seen her. She will die now."
"What's wrong with her?"
"A white man's sickness, I do not know what they call it. She has been sick a long time. She will die in peace now. Go from here, and never come back…"
Snow Bird stared at the old man. There was no hate in him, no feelings at all. He was dead inside. All the people here looked dead. It was too late to save anyone.
It was as she feared all along, and she knew she couldn’t' change a thing, only her own attitude.
As they trekked their way back through the mountains, she determined that she was a happy woman, and she would not let this mar the rest of her life. Her sister had not found peace anywhere but with Too Tall, and she craved to join him in death. She also wanted nothing to do with her. She had to resign herself to that. There was nothing she could do to change it. Somehow, she had to learn to be happy again.
She loved on her babies and looked about her, this was her family now, Matt, her children and the boys and Margaret. This is what made her happy and content. Even though it was a different world from which she was born, she knew she had a permanent place in her life. Matt was her true love; her children were her fulfillment. And the old ways, the Indian ways were quickly dying away. As sad as that was, there was new hope that somehow, she could live in the white man's world and be happy. She only wished more of her people had realized that the two people could come together and live well.
Later, when they were all home again, she sighed, knowing that her world might have changed, but that she would never forget the way she was brought up, she would teach her children the Indian ways, but to live in their own world, the white world, where she now lived.
Matt made her so happy, and as the years went by, she had six children. They made their home in the Waxahachie area of Texas for the rest of their lives. They built a huge ranch and lived to see their grandchildren playing peacefully in their own yard. Ferg and the boys retired a few years later and lived on the ranch too, building it up and making it a showplace.
Little Matt never knew he had another father, because in truth, he didn't. Matt was his father way before he was born. Matt welcomed him into his life, just like he welcomed Snow Bird with all his heart and soul.
The boys lived long lives, content to work hard every day and have a home to rest the head.
Snow Bird was finally free to love with all her heart and build a family that would last for many generations to come.
And the legends of the Indians would live long afterward as the children passed down the stories their mother told them to their children. Like the dream catcher, keeping them safe all their lives from the evils of the world.
The End
