Chapter 5Plenty Horses remained with us for three days. His standoffish awkwardness continued. I sensed he enjoyed being around Rachel Ann but was too shy and insecure to show it openly. He put up a wall you couldn’t see. The only one who penetrated that invisible barrier was Ides, whom Horses called Blue Eyes, confirming that as the boy’s Indian name. Ides pestered Horses with questions until the Brulé either mounted his pony and took off for parts unknown or hid out in the loft of the outhouse.
Horses knew nothing about farming and showed the same reluctance most of his kinsmen held for scratching in the dirt, so I put him in charge of caretaking the riding and trace stock, including Yellow Thunder, the palomino gelding I’d ridden home from Pine Ridge, and Wind Rider, the flea-bitten gr
