Tawana was asleep at the Broucher home when Frank came home, but Jim was waiting at the Yazzie house to tell him about the incident. Frank's cheeks paled and he sucked in his breath sharply.

"Is she all right?" he demanded.

Jim nodded. "She's fine. You can thank those boys of yours. They took a good beating, but they gave her time to get away from those stupid characters."

"Where is she?"

"At our place. Evelyn thought it better to keep her there, at least for tonight."

"You're sure she's all right?" he repeated.

"She got a good scare, but she's fine."

"And the boys?"

"Anyone who sees them will know they've been in a fight and got the worst of it, but they'll be OK in a few days."

"I've been afraid something like this might happen with Rita chasing around the way she does and being gone so much. It's not good leaving the kids alone the way I've had to. It would be different if their grandparents were here, but they're away, and will be for a couple of months."

"Tawana's fortunate her brothers were close enough to hear her scream and had backbone enough to tie into guys a lot bigger than they were."

Frank lowered himself into a chair and stared at his friend. "I've been waiting until Rita came home to move, but we can't take a chance on this happening again.  I'm moving my family over to the mine."

"It might be best - at least for a while." Jim said.

He went into the kitchen and was back in a couple of minutes with coffee. "I made myself at home while I was waiting for you. I found a package of sweet rolls in the cupboard. I hope you don't mind."

"You must have been talking to Rita. She claims I'm after her all the time for buying that kind of stuff."

They ate the rolls and sipped the coffee in silence.

"What does Evelyn say about Tawana?" Frank asked. "Is she all right?"

"She's fine physically, but according to Evelyn that isn't where girls like her have the trouble after such a scare. It's mostly emotional. Right now she's having a rough time, and she'll probably have difficulty for quite awhile."

"That's what I've been afraid of."

"She says she doesn't want to stay here any more. She's afraid those hoodlums will try again.  I'm not surprised." He paused momentarily. "And, to tell you the truth, she may be right. Guys like that think it's a blight on their manhood to have a girl get away from them." He got up and walked to the window, looking out into the darkness. "Even if that part of it's over, it's going to take Tawana a long time to get over thinking about what almost happened to her tonight."

Robert and Louis had gone to bed, but they weren't asleep. They lay there, eyes open, listening to everything that was said.

"I wish I was as big as Dad," Louis whispered, darkly. "I'd find out who those guys are and see that they get what's coming to them."

"We don't even know who they are, or what we can do to be sure it doesn't happen again."

"Maybe, but there are things we can do," the younger boy whispered. "We can see that she doesn't go anywhere alone. And I mean ANYWHERE!"

Robert agreed with what his younger brother said. "How many times have you heard guys brag about all the girls they've had?" he asked, changing the subject a little. "I didn't like it, but I never thought about what they were really saying." He rolled on his side and sat up. "Do you know what bothers me the most?"

Louis shook his head.

"Some other guys will hear about it and are apt to try the same thing with other girls, or even Tawana," the older boy said. "And the next time we might not be able to do anything about it."

There was a long silence. "There's got to be a way of keeping that from happening!"

"Don't worry," Robert said, thoughtfully. "Dad will think of something."

The following morning Jim Broucher went to the tribal office and reported the incident.  Sterling Davis, the police officer, came to see Robert and Louis, asking them about the two who had attacked their sister.

"Did you recognize either of them?"

Robert shook his head. "It was getting dark, especially when the clouds came up, and those two were wearing ski masks."

"You're sure of that?"

"Positive."

"What about their voices?"

The boys eyed each other thoughtfully.

"I think I may have heard the voice of one of them," Robert said, "but I couldn't be sure."

"I take it by that, you believe they could have been from the reserve. Right?"

"I figured they were, Mr. Davis," he replied, "but I don't know for sure."

The police officer turned to Robert's younger brother and asked him the same questions.

"I'm like Robert. I thought maybe I'd heard at least one of those guys before, but we were sort of busy while we were close to those guys. I never even thought about who they were until after it was all over."

Officer Sterling Davis continued questioning them for half an hour, taking notes. At last he stood to leave. "I talked with Tawana briefly," he said, "but she was so frightened, she couldn't remember anything, and I can't blame her."

At the door, he turned back. "If either of you think of anything that might help us, let me know.  In the meantime I've reported it to the RCMP. There's a possibility that whoever attacked her are from outside the reserve. Someone from their office may talk to you."

Frank Yazzie drove over to the mine twelve miles away the next morning and told the superintendent what had happened. That afternoon several men who worked there helped the family move.

Rita Yazzie still hadn't come home the night the incident took place, but she dragged in before noon the next day, her eyes blood shot and her features flushed, as the last load pulled away.  Frank had moved everything from the house except a load of small stuff he could haul in his half-ton.

"What's going on?" she slurred.

Frank was furious when he saw her, but he turned his back on her and went into the house to see if he had missed anything. Panic seized her.

"What're you doing?"

"What does it look like?"

"Are-are you and the kids moving away from here?"

"If you'd been home the way you should have been, you'd know."

"I know now," she managed, swearing angrily. "And I don't like it! Maybe I don't want to move! You never ask me about anything. You just do as you please!"

With great difficulty he controlled the anger in his voice. "I've put up with you as long as I'm going to. Who knows what sort of disease you'll bring home, the way you're living! "Her lips trembled and she fought back the tears. "Just because I go out with my-my friends once in a while is no reason you should talk like that to me!"

"I don't know why I even try to help you, Rita. But I'm warning you! If you don't quit drinking and chasing around, we're through! You can drink yourself to death alone without the kids and me!"

She started to cry. "You don't know how hard I've tried to stop drinking, but I can't help it!" Her shoulders shook convulsively.

He went over to her. "I know exactly what you're going through," he said. "I went through it myself. It wasn't until I confessed my sin and put my trust in Jesus Christ that I was able to stay sober."

"I'm going to quit," she said. "I don't need that religion of yours. My parents don't have it and they don't drink. I'll quit on my own." Her voice firmed. "I'm going to throw the whiskey and beer out of the house. I'll never take another drink."

Frank had been through that with her before, but he didn't argue with her.

She pulled her slight frame erect and glared at him.

"Now, what's all this moving about? We are not leaving the reserve!"

"I think you might change your mind when you hear the reason I've moved to the mine."

Her features blanched as he told her that someone had attacked Tawana. "Robert and Louis heard her scream, and ran to help her. If it hadn't been for them, you know what would have happened."

"That's terrible!"

"She's afraid to stay here any more and I can't say that I blame her."

"But where could she go?"

"She wants to spend the summer in Winnipeg with your sister."

"She would," Rita snapped. "My sister's daughter, Twila, got the lives of our kids all messed up. I've been sorry about it ever since."

Frank could have argued with her. His life had been changed, too, but reminding her of that would only set her off again.

"What do you think about seeing if your sister would take Tawana for the summer?"

"I can think of other places I'd rather have her, but we've got to get her away from here, and there's nowhere else we can send her." She paused thoughtfully. "I don't want her to turn out the way I have if there's any way to stop it."

He leaned forward. "You can't change the past," he told her, "but you can change the future."

The corners of her mouth tightened. "I might have known you'd get around to it."

His features crinkled curiously. "What do you mean?"

"You ought to know by this time that I'm onto you. You're getting ready to preach to me again!"

"Don't you see what you're doing to yourself and to those who love you?" he asked.  "You know what I used to be."

..You were no angel, that's for sure."

"I've felt terrible about a lot of the things I did. I had lost you and the kids. I was killing myself with liquor and a lot of other things I was doing. I was miserable and for a long time I didn't know why."

She glared at him, but said nothing.

"I knew I was in trouble - bad trouble - and the worst of it was that I didn't know how to get out of it."

"You were different than me," she broke in. "I like to drink. I'll admit that. It helps me to forget my miserable marriage for a little while."

He winced and she allowed a grin to lift one corner of her mouth.

"But I'm not a slave to the bottle." She pulled herself erect. "I can quit drinking any time I want to."

"That's exactly what I used to think. But when I came home all banged up from that tree that fell on me, I knew Frank Yazzie was done.  Finished."

He hesitated momentarily, allowing her to think about his words.

"It was our own kids who taught me that I couldn't do a thing in my own strength.  They taught me that I was headed for hell - for an eternity without Christ. I finally woke up when I saw what our kids had that I didn't."

Her gaze met his and she turned away, but he continued as though he didn't even notice.

"I gave my heart to Christ and He took away my desire to drink and lie and steal and all the other things I was doing. He has given me a new life, Rita. And he'll do the same for you."

She stared angrily at him. "You're no saint, yet."

"I know that, but with God's help I'm trying to clean up my life and live the way I should."

"Don't preach to me," she blurted. "I can't stand it!  Especially now that this happened!"

Robert and Louis were in the adjoining room, listening to their parents.

"Do you think they'll ever find out who attacked Tawana?" the younger boy whispered.

"I sure hope so. They've got to be stopped."

"What'll they do to them?"

Robert shrugged. "I guess we won't know until they're caught."

"If they're caught!" Louis added. "I'd like to be in charge of them after they're caught. I really hate those guys!"

Robert remained silent. He knew what the Bible said about hate, but it wasn't easy to keep from hating them. Every time he thought about what almost happened to Tawana, his fists clenched and his breath came in short, quick stabs. He wanted to make them pay for what they tried to do.

"If they're from the reserve they might banish them for a while," he said.That'd be all right, if it was about ten years!" The next day Frank took Tawana to Saskatoon to take a plane to Winnipeg.  Her features were pale and drawn and the hurt still lingered in her dark eyes. It was plain that she was badly shaken.

"You're sure somebody will be there to meet me?" she asked uncertainly as she was about to board her plane.

"I just talked to your aunt. She and Twila were ready to leave for the airport."

"What do I do if they aren't there?" she asked, panic creeping into her voice.

He had never been in the Winnipeg airport and didn't know where to have Tawana go for help, but he did know that any of the people at the counters would help her.

"Don't worry. They will be. But, if they don't make it when you first get there, don't leave with anyone else. Go to the nearest ticket counter and they'll either help you themselves or see that somebody else helps you."

She clung to him momentarily, even after the passengers started to board. He watched her as she walked timidly down the ramp and disappeared from view.

Louis turned to their dad. "I wish I was big enough to give those guys what they deserve!"

"I know exactly how you feel, but wouldn't it be better to pray for them?"

The boy looked up at his dad. "That'll be the day!" he muttered.