Page 60 of The Spirit of the Wolf

“I see.” She nodded. “Will you tell it to me?”

“Hau, but perhaps at a later time. For now, I will give you lessons on how never to get lost.”

“Really?”

He simply smiled at her. “Hau, hau. It is easy to find the seven brothers in the sky, for they are always in view unless it is cloudy. And from the brothers, one can gain direction and can ascertain how early or late it is in the evening, for the brothers rotate around the Star that Stands Still.”

“Yes, yes. I do know about this, but what I didn’t know is how to tell direction because of it. Nor have I ever learned how to tell time because of it.”

“Waśté, good. Now to find your way, you have only to take the two stars at the very end of the cup and make a straight line upward from them. The first star you will come to is the Star that Stands Still.”

“The Star that Stands Still, and this is how you find it, from the stars you call the Seven Brothers?”

He inclined his head. “It is so. It is good we have discussed this, for you should never be lost again. Tonight, when we are on the trail, I will have you trace this path in the sky so you can see how easily it is done.”

“I would like this, very much,” she answered with a smile.

“Remember once you can determine north—for the Star that Stands Still points north always—you have only to set your course accordingly until at last you come across landmarks which you know.”

“Ah, I see how it’s done. Well, I must say, this is an enlightening lesson to have learned.” She wrinkled her brow. “But what if it’s a cloudy night and you can’t see the stars? Do you simply not travel?”

“There is always a means to find your way. When it is cloudy, one notes the course of the wind, which, depending on the season, comes from a particular direction. One can set one’s path by this.”

“The wind?”

“Hau,” he said. “The wind. Now, when we leave here tonight, I will tell you the direction we must go, and you will lead me.”

“I? But⁠—”

“It is the only way to learn.” He peered at her as though he were trying to read her mind. “But there is much time before evening, and there is yet one more skill you must know, a very important skill.”

“Oh? And what is that?”

“How to travel as a scout. Because a scout must remain invisible to be of use to his tribe, a scout must set his mind to traveling through the most difficult regions of the plains.”

“What do you mean by difficult regions?”

“The swamps, the bushes, the places no one would think to travel. On the prairie, only men in great numbers can afford to keep to the easier paths. A scout goes where no one else wants to go, where no one else would think to go. Thus he remains invisible. So that you might understand this further, it is a matter of shame for a scout to be seen when he is on a mission for his people. A scout is powerful, and his skills are only valuable to others and to his tribe when he remains undetected.”

“I think I begin to understand.” She bobbed her head slightly. “But how can one become invisible? It isn’t as though a person is invisible. And a scout must walk, or crawl. He must exert some motion. Can’t his motion be seen?”

“This is a good question,” Grey Coyote validated. “Yet a scout must for all practical purposes be invisible, and there are several ways for him to do so. One is to blend into the environment—to take on its color and aspects so well it would be hard for another to distinguish the scout from the land. Another is to camouflage oneself as an animal, perhaps one that is often seen on the prairie.”

“Ah. Like a buffalo? You make yourself up to look like a buffalo.”

He shook his head. “It is the wolf. Wolves are a common animal on the plains. Few warriors, even when they see them, pay attention to the wolf, or kill them, either, for there is a saying that a bow which shoots a wolf will never shoot straight again.”

“Hmmm…” She furrowed her brow. “So are you saying that in order to make ourselves invisible, we’ll become like wolves?”

“Hiya, no. We cannot because I have no means to make us appear as wolves. A wolf skin is often kept for this purpose, but I have none with me. Nor do I wish to kill a wolf in order to obtain its skin. Instead, we will disguise ourselves in another way.”

“Oh? What way is this?”

He pointed off to the small stream that gurgled merrily through the gully.

“We’re going to wade in water?”

He smiled gently, shaking his head. “Come. I will show you.”