Alaskan Territory
1868
Anna's hands stopped their rhythmic work of basket weaving and lay still in her lap as she gazed out at the frigid Bering Sea. Kinauquak had gone with the men, and this time he would be allowed to make a kill. Unable to concentrate, she looked around the circle of women.
Alulak met her gaze.
Under the old woman's scrutiny, Anna lowered her eyes.
Alulak laughed and her eyes became half-moons, nearly disappearing into the folds of wrinkled, brown skin toughened from years of cold and wind. With a toothless grin, she boasted. "My grandson Kinauquak will return with a great walrus. Of this I am certain." Eyes bright with anticipation, she said, "Tonight we will feast."
The other Aleut women grinned and nodded, hands never ceasing to weave the unyielding Aleutian grasses. Each occasionally looked up from her work to scan the empty sea. As always, they waited, anxious for the men's return, not knowing if her loved one had perished or would come back a successful hunter.
Yet this hunt was special. Custom dictated that when Kinauquak made his first kill, he would be counted among the men and ready to take a wife. Anna and Kinauquak hade been promised to each other while still children. Once they had played together, but that time was past. Now, as was customary and acceptable, they loved each other as adults.
Still, Anna could not dwell in Kinauquak's hunt. Not until he came for her. Anna looked at her mother, Luba. "The men will come soon?"
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