CHAPTER 56 “Should have told thee.”
Bowie still strained against the stake. It had shifted, but not enough. He had failed Mariette once again.
Half the village roared with flames, the shrieks of women adding to the fury. Then new cries of rage rose from the men. The absconding of their idol had been noticed.
Someone was speaking to him.
“Jim Boy! Rouse yourself!”
“Andre?”
“I’m here, Jim. Time we was going.”
Bowie’s mind cleared. “My knife. She dropped it.”
“Aye,” Andre said. “I’m powerful sorry, Jim. Should have told thee everything.”
Bowie squinted at him. Everything? But he said, “The knife, damn it. Quickly.”
The old man scooped it from the ground. “Aye. But then, I owe thee the truth.”
“Agreed. But later.”
The whoops of angry Indians grew louder. Fully half the warriors had
