not be free until the Children of the Ten Pointed
Star flew through the skies of our land, and led us to that Land they
call Glorious! "
78 "Tell me," asked Sleepy Crow, "when was this prophecy made? How old
is it?"
79 "It was made," answered a woman coming from the back of the hall,
"when The Oneness first conquered our people, and carried them off;
long before the first great battles when the sons of slaves fought for The Oneness."
80 "Then THAT must have been when The One first conquered this land....before their Teacher came. The prophecy is THAT old?"
81 The woman nodded. 'Our first masters," she continued, "were bad,
but with each passing year our new ones became worse and worse. They
limit our numbers. If we have too many children they demand we kill
some, but we have deceived them.
82 In the hills are many hidden villages. Our numbers are far greater
than they think. And now that you have come, it is time for us to
leave. Our long
years of preparation have come to an end. As the prophecy says, 'He who
flies through the sky shall lead us to his kinsmen, and with them shall
we go to freedom.'"
83 "I'd like to help you," announced Sleepy Crow, "but I'm not even
sure where I am! If I had my maps you might be able to show me."
84 The Elder smiled, pulled Sleepy Crow's kit from behind him, and took
out the maps. "You are here," he indicated, "near the Two Kings. Our
villages are all along here. You are far from the city. The defiling
ones do not want us too near. We might contaminate their purity. It is
all right for their men to defile our daughters, and send them back to
us full of child, which they expect us to kill, but we must not even
see their women!"
85 "Tell me," inquired Sleepy Crow, "why hasn't