Man of the Shadows by Don Coldsmith (The Spanish Bit Saga #5, Good, 1988, Pbk, 197 pages, Bantam Books)

In good condition: cover and pages have light wear; pages are very lightly age-toned; pages are unmarked. ISBN 0553270672

Eagles's father, Heads Off, leads the Elk-dog band by virtue of bringing to horse--the "elk-dog"--to the People.  Eagle himself has mastered the ways of the horse, but now the warrior must learn survival.  His frightened, untrained mount, in panic in the hunt, has carried him far from his band, leaped from a cliff, and smashed the hapless Eagle on the rocks below.  He faces a winter alone, without weapons or friends and with a broken, useless leg.  But then a strange old man gives him shelter.  Is he a demented outcast of the People?  Or the legendary trickster, the mischievous Man of the Shadows?  Whoever he is-he alone will determine Eagle's fate.