It was only his fear that was making the bridge feel so precarious. He knew that the more he believed, the safer it would be for him. _Never turn your back on fear_, he remembered Owl Carver saying. _Never try to drive it away. Fear is your friend. It warns you of danger._ _But what about when I must face the danger and not be warned from it?_ he asked. _As long as you listen to its warning, fear will not stop you from doing what you have to do. But if you try to pretend you do not hear it, fear will trip you and bind you with rawhide cords._ Gray Cloud, still afraid, stepped forward more boldly. Whatever spirits were making this happen to him, surely they were not showing him these wonders only then to destroy him. He was out over the middle of the river, and he heard a deep muttering behind him. He turned, and it was the White Bear, as big as an old bull buffalo, moving with him on its huge, clawed feet. It came up beside him, and he reached up to touch its shoulder. He knew now that it was a great spirit, and that it was his friend. He dug his fingers into the thick fur and felt the warmth and the enormous, powerful muscle underneath. Joy flooded through him. Where he had been nearly overcome with fear, strength and excitement had entered. He ran up the rising curve of the bridge. He felt an impulse to dance, and he broke into the half trot, half shuffle of the men when they welcomed the harvest of good things to eat that the women had planted around Saukenuk village. He flapped his arms like the wild goose. The bridge, he saw now, did not cross the river, but followed it. He looked up. The trail of stars ended at the one star in the sky that, as Owl Carver had pointed out to him, remained fixed when all the other stars danced around it. And therefore it was called the Council Fire Star. The little lights twinkled all around him, like flocks of bright birds, and his heart was full of happiness. It was all so beautiful, he wanted to sing. And he did sing, the only song he knew that seemed right for this moment, the Song of Creation. "Earthmaker, you fill the world with life. You put life in earth and sky and water. I do not know what you are, Earthmaker, But you are in me and everything that lives. Always you have dwelt in life, Always you will dwell so." He sang and danced and the White Bear rose up on its hind legs and strode heavily along beside him. The light from the Council Fire Star grew brighter and seemed to dispel the blackness of the sky around it. The star grew until it was a sphere of cold fire that filled the sky.