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As Grandpap and the child slowly approached the cabin, he shouted something in Blackfoot to Cora, and Cora responded with a nod. Grandpap grinned broadly, showing off a space where his teeth were missing. "Josiah has a good woman!" he praised Emma in English.

Emma did not hear the old man's praise, for her eyes were transfixed on the short person silently rooted at his side. Her form was almost entirely bundled in warm blankets, which covered most of her face and all of her head. In her hand, she clutched a small doll that slightly trembled whenever its owner did.

Standing in the doorway with Emma, Cora motioned for the child to enter the cabin, but the child remained where she was. Grandpap nudged the bundle of blankets forward, and they reluctantly obeyed, not stopping until they had gotten past the white woman and safely behind Cora's dress.

Leading her granddaughter to the fireplace, Cora began unwrapping the girl's winter blankets.

"This is your new ma," Cora spoke English in a tone loud enough to be sure Emma could hear. "She will be kind to you, and you will learn much from her."

Feeling a lump in her throat, Emma watched as the last blanket came off. Before her stood a white complexioned little girl, no older than five years of age. Her dark brown hair hung in two long braids that curled at the ends, showing she had inherited her father's curls.

A small, stoic face gazed up at Emma, and Emma saw the girl's bottom lip quiver.

Cora fondly stroked the child's head. "You must be brave, Mary. Your new ma will feed you, and show you where you will sleep, and then you will not be so frightened." Cora turned to Emma, and beckoned her to come closer. "This is Mary. I named her after the mother of Jesus. Her name was Mary, also?"

"Yes, it was." Emma gave the child a friendly smile. "It's a lovely name."

Mary blinked, and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Remembering what Cora had said, Emma took a buffalo robe and folded it in half, placing it on the opposite side of the fireplace where she and Josiah slept. Then Emma took two warm blankets, and completed the bed for Mary.

Cora led the child to her new bed. With an audible sigh, Mary sat down on the warm buffalo hide with her Indian doll tightly wrapped in her arms.

Emma turned to Cora. "Would she like stew?"

Cora smiled, and handed Emma the leather pouch hanging at her side. "Give her pemmican."

Emma noticed that Cora had told her to do the giving, so Emma opened the small bag and pulled out some of the dried sweet meat. Bending down, Emma offered the pemmican to Mary.

For the longest time, Mary simply stared at Emma. Then, slowly, she took the meat from her new mother's hand.

Cora sat down on the buffalo robe beside Mary. "See? Your stomach knows this is home."

With another sigh, Mary leaned against Cora, burying her face from Emma's view. "Take me with you," Emma heard the child plead in a muffled voice.

Cora looked up at Emma to explain. "The hunting here is no longer enough to feed our great tribe, so we will move our village to follow the buffalo."

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