I am awake before First Sun. How can I sleep? This is going to be an exciting day. There is no day that is a normal day in this new land. When our tribe has been here more long and has gotten more settled, I hope that we will establish a rhythm to our days, like we had in the old land.

My mate, Tog Flint Shaper, sleeps beside me, but our child, Sooka, has opened her bright eyes and give me her precious smile. I grab her and, lifting the door flap, I creep out of our wipiti.

For now, there are only two large dwellings, one for our leader, Hama, which means Most High Female. She sleeps there along with her mate. There is a second one for the rest of us. We arrived in this place just before the dark season. But we will build our individual, family wipitis in the next seed season. We must collect enough mammoth skins and tusks before then, and treat the skins. We already have a good start.

Sooka and I sit around the fire, which is not stoked up for the day yet, and we have first meal with the others who are awake. Our tribe eats much meat, and we are glad that there are big mammoth herds in this place to supply us. Sooka and I chew on the dried meat, then she runs off with Whim, the young male child born to Fee Long Thrower and Bahg Swiftfeet.

Fee, who is there also, sends me a thought. Are you ready for the dance tonight, Enga Dancing Flower?

I smile at her across the smoldering embers. I am never ready. But I will dance my best.

Our tribe depends on me, the best dancer, to keep a good link open between us and Dakadaga, The Spirit of Mother Sky, so that she will bless the Hamapa, the Most High People. I have much good thoughts to send to her. We are all thankful that our long trek to this place is over, and that we have reached this land. I also will need to ask her blessing on a new venture.

At the next dark time, we are going to meet another tribe for a meal. The Yamapa, The Most Good People, have invited us to join them and we all want that meeting to go well. We can use friends here.

I hear Fall Cape Maker practicing on the wooden flute he will play tonight, accompanied by the drum beat of Sannum Straight Hair on his hollow log. I decide to go behind the tents and practice a few steps. At dark time, of course, it will be most different. I will wear my hair loose so I can toss it to impress The Spirit. And I will wear ceremonial clothing, my best mammoth skin cloak with the tassels. It is becoming thin and I need a new one, but that will have to wait until after the dwellings are built, to see what skins are left over.

Ung Strong Arm, my birth sister, and one of the best spear throwers in the tribe, peeks around the wipiti and gives me a smile and a mental wave to encourage me. She is always tuned into my thoughts,

How can I fail, with the good wishes of my tribe supporting me? I tell myself that this meal will go well and we will make new friends.

Ung leaves. I stop my feet. A wave of hostile thought drifts across my mind, then it is gone. Is someone lurking in the dark woods behind our settlement? Someone who wishes us harm? I shudder at the raw emotion, but it is gone as soon as it has come. I dance on, hoping that it was not something real, but some slight trick of my mind. 

Death in the New Land, A People of the Wind Mystery #3
Genre: Historical
Release: July 2022
Purchase Link

Enga Dancing Flower and her tribe have reached a place they can stay in safety. Or have they?

It’s clear the groups of other settlers in the area do not want more neighbors, and this is made even more evident when a male of Enga’s tribe is murdered, and a baby is kidnapped.

The future of the tribe is immediately put into question. Can Enga and her people find the killer and rescue the baby? Or will the security and bright future the tribe has dreamed of fall to pieces?

About the author 
Kaye George, award-winning novelist and short-story writer, writes cozy and traditional mysteries and a prehistory series, which are both traditionally and self-published: two cozy series, Fat Cat and Vintage Sweets; two traditionals featuring Cressa Carraway and Imogene Duckworthy; and the People of the Wind prehistory Neanderthal mysteries. Over 50 short stories have also appeared, mostly in anthologies and magazines. She reviews for Suspense Magazine and writes a column for Mysterical-E. She lives in Knoxville TN.

GIVEAWAY: Kaye has generously offered to give away one print copy of Death In The New Land. To enter, please leave a comment below. One entry per person and the giveaway is limited to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends August 8, 2022. Good luck everyone!

All comments are welcomed.