_But when I am gone from here, who will heal me? Must the shaman suffer wounds that can never be healed?_ _Yes, if she has dealt such wounds._ "You would not want me anymore, White Bear," she said. "These past moons since you left us I have been Wolf Paw's woman." He raised his tear-streaked face from the pillow and stared at her. "What are you saying?" "Wolf Paw lost his wives and his children at the Bad Axe. He was like a dead man. I wanted to heal him, and I will heal him, by living with him." His eyes widened. She could see anger darkening his cheeks. He said, "After my father took me to live here, you waited six summers for me while Wolf Paw courted you. Could you not keep him off for a few moons?" She held out her hands imploringly. "Before, when he was an honored warrior and had his family, he had no need of me. He wanted me as he wanted another feather to hang in his hair. But now he needs me. Without me he would be as good as dead. And he is the last brave in our band." "I need you." She put her hands over her belly. It was still flat, but she knew what was there. "I am carrying Wolf Paw's child." He pushed against the bed till he was sitting bolt upright, and he pounded his fist on his knee. He was still badly wounded. He could hurt himself. What if he tried to get out of bed, and tore the wound open? But when he looked up at her his eyes were large and dark with sadness. "I still love you, whatever you did with Wolf Paw. And I will love _any_ baby you bear." She felt his hands seize her heart, tearing it out of her chest, crushing it. She cried out with the pain and staggered backward. She cried, "You offer me everything but the one thing I want--for you to come back to our people." "What I do, I do for our people." His voice was so low that she could barely hear him. "One Sauk, at least, will take back land the pale eyes stole from us." The world grew darker and darker for her. With every word he spoke she was losing him a little more. She made the flat-handed "no" gesture. "The pale eyes here in this land are too strong for the red people. And in you there is both pale eyes and red man, and the pale eyes is stronger than the red." His shoulders slumped. She saw a dullness in his eyes that made her think of Wolf Paw as he had looked after the people of Victor had killed Floating Lily. _Have I hurt White Bear so badly that he will get sick again?_ Sudden fear rippled through her. But then he lifted his head and looked at her, and there was strength in his gaunt face. "I will always love you. And as long as this place is mine, there will be a home here for you, for Eagle Feather, for any child of yours. For any Sauk. When you go back, tell them that." Grief crushed her as she gazed at the man she loved, knowing that they were parting forever.