- Four days later, Attean and his dog come back. Yay. Matt is ecstatic and races out to them.
- Attean asks if he's changed his mind, but Matt still has to say no; Attean tells him he understands.
- Then Matt realizes that Attean respects him now—Matt's loyalty to his family finally earned him Attean's respect.
- Attean gives Matt new, homemade snowshoes—a gift from his grandfather—and then a small basket of maple sugar, which is a gift from his grandmother.
- Matt says he'll help Grandma get more in the spring, but Attean gives him some hard news: they're not coming back. Ever. White people are settling the area, and the Indians will have no place to hunt.
- Matt tries to think of something—he tells Attean to come back so his mother can teach him how to read and write better, but Attean thinks that's lame.
- He and his clan will be going far away from white people—so far away that he won't need to know how to read or write English.
- Matt asks if Saknis once owned the land Matt's cabin is on, and Attean explains to him that men don't own land, just like deer don't own land.
- Matt realizes that Attean actually makes a lot of sense.
- Attean tells him they're headed west, further than white people will go. Matt's not so sure—he's heard plenty about the open land in the west—but before he says anything, Attean surprises him with another gift: his dog.
- And then he calls Matt his "white brother." Matt is totally floored.
- He goes into the cabin to find a gift for Attean, but the only thing worth enough to Matt to be worthy to give is the watch his father gave him.
- He shows Attean how to use it, and knows that Attean doesn't really need it—but Attean gets that this is a big deal to Matt and treats the watch with care.
- When Attean leaves, the dog tries to follow him, but Attean tells him to stay with Matt.