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The men smoked a pipe which they passed to each other, and eyed Emma curiously as she took off the capote before sitting beside her husband.

"What are them women laughing at?" questioned Josiah. "You ain't hurt, are you?"

"No," Emma shook her head shamefully. "I was prideful, and they were rightfully punishing me."

At this admission of her own guilt, Josiah raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. "Stay by me, 'an they won't bother you anymore." Josiah turned his attention back to the men, smoking the pipe when it was passed to him.

After the mens' conversation had died down, Emma tugged at Josiah's sleeve. "Are they Blackfoot?" she whispered.

"No, them's Crow Indians," he chuckled at her ignorance.

"But, I thought this was Blackfoot country," puzzled Emma.

"It is," grinned Josiah. "That don't stop other tribes from saying it's theirs, though. You don't want to be around if the Blackfoot finds out Crows are using their hunting grounds."

"Then why are we here?" Emma whispered in horror.

"You're needing a skin dress and moccasins, and these Crows are willing to trade," explained Josiah, seeing no need to whisper since they were the only ones there who understood English.

"I can't wear Indian clothing!" protested Emma, momentarily forgetting to lower her voice. "I'm not a..."

"A savage?" Josiah finished her sentence with a grim smile.

Suddenly, Emma's face became pale with self-conviction.

Josiah laughed in weary triumph. "I thought that's why you didn't want moccasins."

"They're simply not necessary," Emma quietly repeated her previous argument.

"Yer feet will become frostbitten in the snow if you don't have some moccasins and snowshoes," Josiah handed the pipe to one of the men watching, "'an you need something warmer than that woolen dress to keep out the cold."

Emma was stone quiet. Had that been the real reason she hadn't wanted to wear moccasins? Had she thought it beneath her? Disturbed, Emma remained silent while Josiah talked with the men.

Before long, the two Crow women entered the lodge to begin fixing food over the fire. Children chased each other around the crowded lodge until one of the men grabbed a laughing child and dandled it upon his knee so they could talk without interruption.

Emma gazed at the small boy staring at her with brilliant eyes and a curious expression. She smiled at the boy and he smiled in return, tugging at his father's arms to let him go. The man released his child, and the boy toddled over to Emma. He felt the material of her dress and then examined the golden braids she had pinned back in a knot. The boy couldn't have been older than two years, so when he gave a fistful of Emma's hair a sharp tug, she didn't have the heart to scold him.

The boy giggled when Emma made a silly face to show that it hurt, and then climbed onto her lap while his mother prepared food.

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