I located his pony in a draw and talked my way to his side. Reins in hand, I lead him to Arrow. After saddling my mount, stowing my blankets, and donning my hat, I turned northwest and left an unconscious Raven Strongbow afoot on the prairie without a mount or weapons. As soon as it was light enough, I would search for his trail and backtrack to find Matthew. In the meantime, I put distance between us.
* * * *
At daybreak, I headed north to intercept Raven’s trail along the path he’d likely taken. My heart took a leap when I found it and discovered a second set of hoof prints. Prints I’d recognize anywhere since I had made the shoes the animal wore. I’d put subtle imperfections in all our shoes so one could easily recognize the trail of the other. Raven had lied. Matthew was alive and ho
