Smiles A Lot turned and looked to the west. It was blazing with light as the sun flattened on the horizon. The country was still there, limitless and empty save for the bones of warriors and buffalo and his beloved horses.
He gazed down the scarred face of the cliff and thought for an instant how little effort it would take to step into space.
Then he lifted his eyes once more and searched out the lodge that was his new home. The wide world had once been his domain but all that remained to him now was one of the many poor shelters scattered around the soldier fort. The idea that he would be returning to the same place over and over again seemed inconceivable to him, but he would return to it soon.
There was no place else to go.