Was it the mention of Steps Right? It had to be.
The man shook his head in answer to Riley. He signed a response but didn’t attempt to speak it in English.
Thankfully, Riley again quietly interpreted. “He says he has no knowledge of where she is.”
Juniper spoke in the same quiet voice he did. “Does that mean he doesn’t know her?”
Riley hesitated, and she flicked her glance to him to see why. Did he think it unwise to press?
But then he turned and repeated her question as he signed to the Indians, and she focused on them too. She’d been mostly watching the man, but Singing Water caught her notice this time. The woman was staring right at Juniper, watching her.
Juniper met her look and tried to make her expression friendly. Singing Water didn’t look angry, just ... intense. As though she was searching for something in Juniper.
White Horse answered Riley with signs only, so she had no idea what he said. Riley didn’t interpret this time. Part of her wanted to ask what had been spoken, but Riley would tell them if he thought it wouldn’t hurt the conversation. He’d already proved that, and she had to trust him.
Riley nodded in response to the man’s answer, then the two stopped speaking. White Horse guided his horse around them as he and his cousin started up the hill.
Riley motioned for her and her horse to start their horses walking. They all stayed quiet until they’d ridden far enough that White Horse and Singing Water could no longer see or overhear them.
She looked at Riley, and he shook his head. “It’s strange. He was friendly until I asked about Steps Right.”
“What did he say when you asked the second time?”
He frowned. “Not much. The signs he used were vague, but basically he said he hadn’t seen her. I had planned to ask him if he was going to the Peigan camp we just left, but when he got quiet, I decided he might not take kindly to more questions.”
She nodded. That made sense, and he would know better than they would. But why such secrecy about this woman? First from their father, and now from this group of people who were supposedly her own tribe.
“You think they’re hiding her from us?”
At Rosie’s question, Juniper turned to her. “But why? We only want to thank her and return something that belonged to her.” Of course, they hadn’t spoken that last bit to any of the people they’d met. Riley didn’t even know about the necklace.
“I’ve been careful to make sure I state that you want to thank her for her kindness.” Riley’s voice sounded as perplexed as the rest of them felt.
Faith piped up from behind them. “Maybe she has a special power that they don’t want white people to learn about. Or maybe she’s deformed and they’re trying to protect her.” Leave it to their spirited little sister to come up with something so outlandish.
Juniper turned a look on her. “Maybe your imagination stretches a bit too far.”
“There does seem to be something suspicious going on here.” Rosie’s murmur drew them back to the focus of the conversation. “But I doubt she has special powers.” She sent Faith the same kind of look Juniper had, then squinted at Riley. “If the group we spoke with this morning was trying to hide her, where would she be?”
He glanced at Rosie, then shifted his attention forward as he scrubbed a hand through his hair and blew out a long breath. “Anywhere. She could have been one of the women poking her head out from a lodge. We don’t know what she looks like, so we have no way of finding her unless she’s willing to step forward and admit her name.”
Rosie shrugged. “I suppose it’s not likely they’re holding her hostage. It’s just frustrating not to have any leads.”
A thought slipped in, clicking into place in Juniper’s mind with new clarity. “What about the horses?”
Riley and Rosemary both turned to face her, but Riley spoke first. “We’ve been looking for the two animals you’ve described. The chestnut’s coloring is so common, she’ll be hard to find. But we’ve not seen any horses with the white ear bonnet you said the stallion had.” He frowned. “Besides, the chances aren’t great they’d both be alive after twenty years.”
Determination pressed through her. “But maybe it will help us. We haven’t focused on looking for the horses yet, so perhaps if we asked around, someone would have remembered an animal with that white ear marking. Even if the original stallion isn’t alive, perhaps he passed that coloring down to his offspring. Maybe it will lead us in the right direction.”
Riley looked so doubtful, she almost felt silly for the suggestion.
She threw up a hand. “We can try anyway. We should work from every angle we can. It won’t hurt to ask about them, will it?”
His frown shifted into a thoughtful expression as he rolled his lips in. He turned his gaze forward again, staringinto the trees and the low mountain ahead of them. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to ask the natives or not. There’s so much horse thieving between the tribes that strangers asking about horses tends to raise suspicion. Especially if they’re already dodgy from our questions about Steps Right.
“It might not hurt to ask the trappers. There’s been more horse thieving than usual of late, but most men think it’s the Indians. They certainly know it’s not you four. A lot of the fellows are newcomers within the last few years, but they may still have seen a horse with these markings in their wanderings. The old-timers might even have seen the original mare and stallion, but that probably won’t help us know where Steps Right is now.”
He still kept his focus forward, his brow dimpled as he was clearly working things through in his mind.
