Walkers on the Wind - First Americans

Informationen zum Autor William Sarabande Klappentext A breathtaking epic of humanity's first courageous struggles . . . for survival Mesmerizing, dramatic, unsurpasses in scope and suthenticity, this is the fourth exciting volume of the magnificent new series THE FIRST AMERICANS, which began with Beyond the Sea of Ice and continued with Corridor of Storms and Forbidden Land. Following the trek of the woolly mammoth, the great hunter Torka leads a brave band of survivors across the Arctic tundra. But his leadership is threatened from within by a deadly rivalry between the handsome twins Umak and Manaravak for the love of a beautiful, sensual girl, and from without by a mysterious creature called the wanawut, whose howling awakens primitive and terrifying fears. Now, as a firestorm races across the frost-brittle land, Torka and his faithful woman, Lonit, must begin a dangerous odyssey to the home of the wind-a dark and forbidding region from which no human has ever returned.1 The land burned--not with flame, not with heat, but with the raw, savage colors of the Ice Age autumn. The girl seemed to burn with the tundra as, knee-deep in the dry, wind-whipped grasses of the rolling Arctic steppe, she deliberately slowed her pace and allowed old Grek to lead the other girls and women on. With their heavily laden gathering baskets hefted on their hips and the children and dogs trotting at their sides, they were far too busy chattering to notice that Naya had fallen behind. They leaned into the wind, their dark hair streaming behind them. The bone, shell, and stone-beaded leather fringes of their garments flapped, tangled, and clicked noisily as they hurried on with never a backward glance. Naya stopped, waiting for old Grek to sense her absence. When he did not, she smiled. She had made a careful game of her sudden need to be alone. No one had missed her. On and on walked old Grek, proudly assuming the role of woman watcher, aggressively stabbing the wind with his bone-shafted, stone-tipped spears. Loudly and respectfully he appealed to the lions, bears, leaping cats, and wolves. The wind carried his deep voice to Naya; she could hear it clearly. "The women and children of Torka come, yes!" he cried. "Grek leads them now to the lake, yes! The women and children will drink! The women and children will bathe! Look not with hungry eyes as they pass, for Mother Below has made the lake for all creatures who live upon her skin. Let us come safely through the country of the flesh-eaters." It occurred to Naya that she should be afraid to stand alone in the country of the flesh-eaters; but the sun was so warm and the day so fair that not even fear could chill her--only pity could do that, and did. The men of the band were hunting bear in the far hills, and she wondered if her grandfather resented being with the females instead of with the other hunters, who were tracking the great three-pawed bear that had been raiding the winter storage pits of the People. Grek gave no sign of resentment. He walked arrogantly ahead of his charges in his timeworn shaggy leggings and long-haired black shirt cut from the skin of an adult bison. It took a big man to wear such a heavy tide. Grek was big, and the shirt made him seem even bigger. With his massive head bent and his broad back humped against the wind, Naya understood why the children of the band called him Bison Man. A cloud passed before the sun. Naya looked up. Shadows swept across the world, then vanished as the cloud was consumed by the hard, dry wind. The euphoria that had brought Naya to pause was gone. She felt tired now, irritable. The fringes of her lightweight coltskin dress were tangled from the wind, and she did not savor the prospect of separating them. The morning's gathering of lichens, fungi, tubers, and the seeds and berries of the dying summer had wearied her. Naya scowled. She was all too easily wearied...

Product details

• Authors: William Sarabande
• Publisher: Bantam Books USA
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 01.08.1990
• EAN: 9780553285796
• ISBN: 978-0-553-28579-6
• No. of pages: 448
• Dimensions: 102 mm x 178 mm x 19 mm
• Series: FIRST AMERICANS; First Americans Saga; First Americans Saga; First Americans
• Subject: Fiction > Science fiction, fantasy