Part IV, Winter: Chapters 55 - 57 Summary

Wanderer returns to Parker's Fort where he first found Naduah. He is devastated to discover that she is not there. At the time Wanderer is at Parker's Fort, Naduah is one hundred miles away, near Fort Bird. Isaac Parker actually intended to keep his promise to find Wanderer and her sons, but the war has started and it is too dangerous. Two years have passed and Wanderer still grieves the loss of his golden one. He and Quanah, now seventeen, join his warriors on a war party, knowing Placido, his sworn enemy, will be there. It is a fight to the death for Wanderer has already lost what was most dear to him. He kills Placido, then is shot in the head by Placido's new young wife. When Flower is five, she becomes ill and...