Part Three: Pages 379 - 414 Summary

Carson and de Vaca manage to elude Nye by removing the shoes from the horses, making them harder to track. Lack of water is beginning to take its toll when Carson sees vultures circling. Since they are not landing, he surmises that coyotes must be there as well, and since they never stray far from water, he heads in their direction. Leaving an obvious trail for Nye, he cuts the rattles from a rattler and lays him in Nye's path to slow him down. Nye encounters the rattler and manages to avoid begin bitten but falls heavily when Muerto rears in fear. When he comes to, he sees the source of the voice accompanying him for the first time, recognizing it immediately. The boy gives him advice, and Nye remembers the last time he saw him, and...