Sing Down the Moon

The Spaniards lead Bright Morning and Running Bird through the brush off the trail. The girls wonder if the band of Navajo warriors will find them. They refuse to eat and plot how to escape. They plan to run away after their captors go to sleep, but the Spaniards tie the girls up when they sleep, foiling their plan. While walking, Bright Morning thinks she sees a wolf, a frightening vision that her tribe associates with witches.

The band travels at night and sleeps during the day. Bright Morning notes that they are headed south because the North Star is behind them. Following their trail, her black dog finds them. The Spaniards agree to let her keep the dog. Their reasoning is that dogs make girls happy, and happy girls will fetch higher prices.

They arrive at a city populated by white people. They stop at a house where an old Apache woman emerges to lead the girls inside. The woman cooks dog meat, which the girls refuse to eat. As they sleep on the floor of the old woman’s house, Bright Morning keeps her dog close. One of the Spaniards returns the next morning and pays the old woman.