The morning following the elk hunt, Sully felt strong enough to sit with Chief Black Kettle and tell him everything that had happened. Cloud Dancing helped to translate his story, from the heavy heart that had driven him to take such a long walk, to being lost, to the vision of the woman, to building the shelter to pass the night in the storm. Then he told of that fateful morning, of being lost, and of Bright Spears coming upon them like a wild animal. Amazingly, as Sully went back into the memory, his eyes fluttered shut to concentrate on exactly what had happened. The scene in the snow came back to him as if he were still standing there by his signal fire. When he had finished, Black Kettle drank of some tea that had been brewing in the coals and pondered the story.
"I want to help the family." Sully tried to say in Cheyenne. Seeing the confusion on the chief's face, he turned to Cloud Dancing. "I can help doing things for them to pay for what I did. Help make the winter easier for them. Do the huntin' he would'a done for them. Gather wood. Anything." He watched as his friend translated this all to Black Kettle. They discussed it between themselves and it didn't seem to Sully that they were going to approve of his plan. Finally, Cloud Dancing turned back to his friend.
"We will let the family decide." Was all he said. So Sully stood and nodded his thanks to the chief and walked out. The fact that they hadn't immediately told him to leave their tribe spoke of Black Kettle's willingness to let Sully repair the damage and remain a friend to their people. He took in the fresh air for the first time outside the teepee in days, but the familiar surroundings seemed strange to him. The faces that usually had greeted him openly now looked at him with hatred.
Some braves, upon seeing Sully leave the tent under his own power, began to follow him. Some shouted for their family members and a few even fled the sight of the white man among them. It was clear there was a lot of hostility over what had happened, and that they were not pleased to see that Sully's fever had broken. In the cold winter air, Sully's fate hung before him as frozen clouds of angry words flying between tribe members. The tribe members spoke among themselves of what might happen, arguing between banishing the strange white man and outright killing him. Women worked frantically to build up the fire that everyone gathered and stood around as the matter came to a head. Cloud Dancing spoke to Bright Spears mother and told her what Sully proposed. One of the elders approached the chief at that moment, and Black Kettle took him aside while everyone watched Sully.
"If Black Wolf tries to give himself, she will never see his effort as enough. If anything happens to them, they will kill him. We will lose our weapon against the white man's army." The elder said in a dry, raspy voice. Sully heard the reference of 'not enough' and tried to think of anything he could give that was more worthy than his working for the family. Then it occurred to him of a custom among the people.
Worried that they were going to refuse his offer, he stormed off to his own teepee and retrieved what little he owned. Coming back, most had grown silent when they had seen him walk away. As he approached the tribe again, he walked over to the mother and began laying his pack at her feet. He made a grand gesture of offering her the tomahawk that Bright Spears had given him. He took off the red and black coat that had been made for him, along with the beads that Cloud Dancing had made. Sully knelt at her feet among the entire Cheyenne people and held them up to her. With an unsure confusion in her eyes, she numbly watched his offer as the pile before her grew. Then he snapped his fingers and Wolf limped over to him.
"Sit, boy." Sully said, and Wolf sat at his side. Gesturing from Wolf to the mother, he looked up at her, trying to tell her he was giving Wolf to her. Their eyes met and he could tell that she was still filled with anger and bitterness. He frantically took off his moccasins and knelt in the snow barefoot. Other than his buckskins, he now had absolutely nothing in the world to give her. He was giving her everything. If he could have offered her his precious memories of Abigail, he would have thought of giving those over, too. Sully wanted badly for her to change her heart and see that he was full of remorse for the blood on his hands. These were his only family now, his only reason for living to make his life worth something. He had done a tragically horrible thing, and, short of taking his own life, this was how best he felt he could pay for what he had done.
"Tell her I will do the chores and work that needs to be done for her family." Sully said to Cloud Dancing without turning to his friend. "Hunting. Everything. Tell her."
"Sully." Cloud Dancing in an amazed tone.
"My workin' for her for the rest of her life will be worth more than one day's worth of spilled blood and years of hardship." Sully said. He never turned away from the mother as he said this. "I want her ta know that the white man admits his mistake and wants ta provide what my mistake took away." Freezing barefoot in what snow remained from the storm, Sully bowed his head and waited for the decision to come down. Many grumbled under their breath in the crowd, but no-one moved a muscle. The Chief watched this man humble himself before one of his own. He had not expected Black Wolf to give her the shoes off of his feet. It was only right. The suffering he might do in the winter's chill could not compare to the suffering the family would do without Bright Spears for a lifetime.
Finally, the mother spoke.
When she grew quiet, the murmur that ran through the crowd sounded pleased, and Sully swallowed hard. Then, she leaned down and hit him in the head, a slap that was more for show than to actually hurt him. Sully did not understand her words, but thought it best to keep his head down. She started yelling at Wolf, swatting at him with her hands, and, in his poor condition, Wolf shied away from her so he would not be hit. The rest of her family members began helping her, charging at Wolf and yelling to dismiss him. When they had Wolf close to the tree line, they gave up, and Wolf limped off into the woods rather than be kicked or hit.
Bright Spears younger brother began gathering up all of Sully's belongings that he had laid at their feet. He would not say a word, but took the pile back into their family teepee, including the moccasins. With his heart hammering in his chest, he wondered what had been decided. Was it death? Or was he being thrown out of the tribe? Finally, the younger brother came back, grabbed Sully by the hair, and drug him over to the wood pile, which was drastically low. He spoke and pointed at the fire, and Sully was relieved to understand that they wanted him to gather more wood. With freezing feet, he stood, nodded and walked to the trees to gather what he could. The sounds from the braves were pleased at what had transpired. He didn't fully understand, but he was going to work as hard as he could to show he meant to make up for his transgression.
He heard Cloud Dancing yelling at the family as he walked away. By the time he had a few branches in his freezing hands, Cloud Dancing came to him with clothes. They were not the clothes he had just offered up as gifts. They looked more like rags.
"Sully." Cloud Dancing stopped his work, made his friend drop the wood, and dress. "You should not have done what you did." He said, helping Sully tie on a pair of old, worn moccasins. Sully's fingers were stiff from the chill.
"It's the right thing to do." Sully said. The rags, obviously old and ready to have been mended, were a welcome relief from the cold winter air, even though they couldn't compare to his warm red and black coat.
"Do you know the words she spoke?" Cloud Dancing asked.
"I didn't understand anything." He replied.
"She returned Wolf to Mother Earth, to roam free from your spell. She will treat her dogs better than you until the life departs from you. The white man will know of our people's suffering, she said. She has allowed the dog soldiers to have their way with you when they return…if you still live." Cloud Dancing explained. Another chill crossed Sully's shoulders at the explanation. The smack to the head now made sense to him. He was her slave to use until she worked him to death or until the dog soldiers came back and did away with him. Sully had not even been aware that the dog soldiers were out somewhere. He decided in his weary heart that it was what was best. He was more worried of Wolf than anything, knowing his furry friend had not yet fully recovered from the gunshot wound.
"I had vowed to myself not to take another life." Sully locked eyes with Cloud Dancing. "I broke that promise." There were no words of protest from his Cheyenne friend. Cloud Dancing had not known a white man with such courage and conviction. He was truly, in his heart, a man just as honorable as any brave in the tribe. He felt it was against what the Great Spirit wanted to use Sully as a slave until he died of exposure in the snow. Before he could say anything, Sully looked behind Cloud Dancing to see Bright Spears younger brother standing near his family teepee, watching the exchange with crossed arms.
"If you see Wolf again, save some bread for him." Sully said, then he returned to gathering wood.
Cloud Dancing stood in amazement at the reply. Sully did not seem concerned at all about the decision of his fate. He watched Sully work and thought of the peace in the white man's heart that would not depart from him. He walked silently back to his fire to contemplate the events of the day. Snow Bird left him to his brooding. The next morning, she found that Cloud Dancing had left camp. No one had seen him leave.