Circle of Kin, Circle of Stone

By Anne M. Holcomb

Scout has been running her entire life. She, like her tribe, is chasing their ancestors' vision.

The youngest and fastest of the Kin Circle's lookouts, and a rising leader in the Stone Age tribe, Scout is the first to see the new homeland promised to her people.

The sixteen-year-old has spent years listening to her Eldest Grandmother’s stories about the fertile valley; her tribe has journeyed for generations in search of the elusive paradise. But wonder quickly turns to fear when they reach their new home: the valley is already occupied by alien visitors, strangers unlike any people Scout has ever seen.

Scout discovers she is the only member of the Kin Circle who can communicate with one of the strangers, Ori, also a teenager. Ori has been taken from his troubled home world and brought to the valley against his will. The strangers claim they pose no harm, but Ori reveals their sinister intentions and supernatural powers to Scout.

Together, Scout and Ori try to overcome his captors’ deception ... and find themselves growing closer each time they meet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anne M. Holcomb
• Release date: Aug 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301299515

Anne M. Holcomb

I live and work in beautiful Southwest Michigan. I am the author of the Two Circles series, which blends history, science fiction, and romance. When I'm not at work or writing, I enjoy craft beer, marathon and half-marathon running, camping, travel, and watching college football and basketball.

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Circle of Kin, Circle of Stone

By Anne M. Holcomb

Copyright 2013 Anne M. Holcomb

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Five Moon Cycles Later

Summer—Scout

Two Summers Later—Ori

Prologue

The little girl raced along the winding pathways that crisscrossed the foot of the bleached-white cliff, breathing hard, the shells braided into her hair clicking and clattering. Grandfather! she tried to shout, but the word came out as a wheeze. She halted abruptly, placing hands on knees, to catch her breath. She scanned the arched entrances carved into the pale, soft stone of the cliff face, where each of the Mothers and Fathers in her Kin Circle lived with their children. The entrances were dark with pre-dawn shadows, but the girl could hear people stirring and murmuring inside. Once her breath came evenly, she resumed her sprint down the pathway until she reached the last cave in the cliff. Here she ran into the dimness without hesitation.

A small torch flickered inside Eldest Grandfather’s shelter, and the girl saw the firelight reflected in his eyes as he turned toward her. Grandfather, she gasped, taking large whooping breaths. Is it true?

A long, slow smile creased the elder’s cheeks and he gestured to the girl to come and sit on his lap. Your parents told you we are going on a journey today, didn’t they, little whirlwind?

"Yes, Grandfather, but I don’t want to leave. It isn’t fair—why do we have to leave? This is where we have always lived!"  The girl’s voice wavered with unshed tears.

"Granddaughter, something very special has happened to your old papa. Your mother and father have told you about the ancestors?"

"Yes, they still watch over us and are around us all the time, but we can’t see them anymore because they said farewell to the Circle a long time ago."

The old man stroked his granddaughter’s braids. Well, during the last full moon, the ancestors came to me while I was asleep, my child. They told me that our Circle has a new home—a paradise full of fresh water, leaping fish, green trees, fertile fields, and rolling hills—but we must undertake a very long journey to find it. Our Circle has a great destiny awaiting us in this place.

The little girl frowned, deep in thought. Half of the things Grandfather had just mentioned she had only heard about in stories. The Circle’s homeland was beautiful and stark —sunwashed cliffs, the blue sea stretching as far as the eye could see to the northeast—but there was little green, and scant fresh water for the families to share. As their families grew larger, the resources in their homeland grew fewer. Even the little girl, one of the smallest children in the Circle, knew this, as she felt the dry, crawling feeling of thirst deep in her throat every day. To be next to a salt sea full of water but not able to drink—this problem caused frustration, and even fighting, among many of the adults. The news of Grandfather’s vision had lit her parents’ with hope when they had told her early this morning that all the families in the Circle would be leaving today.

Grandfather placed his hand under the girl’s chin and lifted her face to his. You understand, little one, don’t you? All of us must go and journey together, for the future of our kind. You, especially, will have a very important role in our journey.

"Me?" the girl asked incredulously, her voice rising to a squeak at the end of the word.

Grandfather nodded. You will be a leader in this Circle someday. The ancestors have shown me that, too. They showed me the joy on your face as you saw our new home for the first time. You will be an elder when you arrive, just as I am now. He lowered his voice until she could barely hear his words. You will be the only member of our Circle living now... who will also be alive to see our new home.

The girl stared up at the old man, her eyes wide with wonder. How long will the journey take? she asked, almost laughing in disbelief.

Several generations, my child. Many will be lost along the way, but all in our Circle will eventually be lost if we were to remain here. I understand that now, after receiving this wisdom from our ancestors.

The girl lowered her head, twisting her hands together. But I’m scared, Grandfather. She kicked her heels defiantly against the floor of the cave.

Eldest Grandfather took a deep breath. I am too, little one. I am too. It’s a big task, and big tasks are always scary at first. As long as you keep taking one step at a time, you’ll make it to our new home. Just keep going one step at a time, and your destiny will unfold around you when you aren’t even looking! He smiled warmly down at his granddaughter, then looked to the stars fading along the horizon as dawn lightened the sky. He looked to the stars far in the northeast, countless steps from home, and hummed a soft melody to the girl, enjoying a last few moments of rest.

Once the sun had risen, the journey would begin.

Chapter 1

Pat pat pat...

The sound of my feet hitting the ground was scarcely louder than the sound the raindrops made as they struck the sparse vegetation around me. The drops felt wonderfully cool on my bare arms and shoulders, both dampened with warm sweat. I relished the sporadic rain, which was rare in this place. I was also thankful that today we were crossing flat terrain - a wide steppe stretched far around me, fringed by mountains appearing only faintly in the distance, obscured by a milky veil of clouds and humidity.

The only other sounds were the steady rasp of my breathing and the flapping of the long animal-hide cape I wore on my back as it tapped the backs of my calves. It had wide armholes and doubled as my blanket on chilly nights, and as a ground cover on warm ones.

I spent a good portion of my days running, always running. As I ran, I glanced down at my feet, watching them move ever onward, as if by magic. They were covered with bone-colored dust, the raindrops making darker spots as they landed atop the crust of dirt that had crept up to the level of my ankles. My feet were rough and calloused from all my running, my toes bending and spreading crookedly with each step I took. There was a chill in the air that was not caused merely by the rain, and I knew soon I would need to cover my feet in deerskin boots if I was to protect them from the cold, hard ground. But for now, the rock and dust was pleasantly warm beneath my feet. The nut-brown skin of my legs was taut over muscles that flexed with each step. I was proud of my body. The sixteenth summer of my life was just at its close, and I was strong, one of the strongest women in my Kin Circle.

While the open steppe was pure joy for me to run on, I knew that it spelled potential danger for my kin. So much open space, with only a few low, scrubby bushes for protection, would leave our Mothers and their children vulnerable. With so many families traveling together, the safety of the weakest in our Circle was our most important priority. But I knew Eldest Grandmother would tell me not to worry yet about a place for us to stay the night—that was Handy’s job. My job was just to run ahead of everyone, to see what I could see, and to report back to Handy. I tried to scan the features of the landscape constantly as I ran, but this plain had no distinguishing landmarks, so I found my mind wandering frequently. I tried to look for animal tracks, for darker spots of vegetation which would mean water, for dips in the ground: all landmarks which might signal safe spaces to camp, hunt, or shelter. But today, I mostly spent my time relishing the welcome raindrops on my skin and the joy of running across a flat surface.

While running in mountain terrain was more arduous, there was so much more to see. Just in the last mountain range our Kin journeyed through, there were rushing waterfalls that looked as if they were made from liquid crystal; many new and different varieties of trees; a dead mammoth whose tusks we harvested to create noisemakers and drinking vessels, and whose fur became stuffing for mattresses; and—best of all—a family of birds with feathers the color of the sky. We had never seen birds that color before, and everyone took it as a good omen. There had been a group of them, nesting in a tall tree covered in fragrant needles. Eldest Grandmother and Mother Cool Water had spent several days stripping the needles off the tree and finding places to store them. When they crumbled them into boiling water, the needles made a tea that was bitter yet refreshing to drink. The elders said this tea had healing properties.

As I remembered those beautiful birds, I thought of Handy and realized I should check in with him. The sun was creeping steadily toward the center of the sky. Its pale disc shone through the thin clouds that still splattered droplets on the plain. I jogged to a halt and placed two fingertips in my mouth, whistling loudly in a pattern like the call of the blue birds. Handy and I, along with the rest of the guards, had been thrilled to learn a new signal we could use in the field. Moments passed, with the silence only broken by the sound of my ragged breathing as it slowed. I reached to my chest and pulled the skin of water resting there free of its straps. I almost wanted to laugh as I allowed myself a long, slow drink of water. The water was barely cool anymore after being strapped close to my hot skin for a few hours, but it still tasted wonderful.

After a moment, I heard a faint answering call and silently admonished myself. Traveling on this flat terrain, I had run swiftly and Handy had fallen a bit too far behind me—we never liked to leave that much space between each other. It was a good thing that this land allowed me to see him easily, a churning speck silhouetted by the mountains we had recently left behind. Handy was extremely strong, but his running stride was not as swift as mine. I was the tallest of all the women in our Kin Circle, and had long, thin legs and big feet that ate up the distance. Handy had strong, thick legs, but he was stout, and also twice my age - he had seen some thirty-three or thirty-four summers go by, and he was getting a bit tired. Not full of the fire of youth anymore, as Eldest Grandmother liked to call the energy of the young yet-to-be-paired and the just-paired.

While I waited, I put my water skin away and dug into the smaller pouch I wore at my waist. I never noticed my hunger until I stopped and rested, and then suddenly I needed a snack and my stomach would be rumbling indignantly. Inside this soft pouch, made from rabbit skin, I usually carried a dried mixture of meat jerky pieces, chips of dried cooked tubers and roots from the ground; nuts; and berries. The Mothers chopped and dried this energy mix for Handy, me, and the guards to eat when we were on the move all day. It wasn’t delicious and juicy like freshly cooked food from the fire, but just a little bit would fill our bellies quickly and the small pieces made it easy for us to eat even while running. Since it was dried, predator animals could not smell it on us as easily, either. My heart briefly swelled with pride at the skills of our Kin Circle. I wondered if other Circles ever had quite such good food to eat.

While I munched, Handy approached. Finally he waved and shouted when he drew near:

Scout! You are running like your feet are on fire today! You have to slow down, or this old man is going to be asleep before the sun goes behind the mountains!

I giggled. Handy liked to joke about how he was so much older than me, too, but he was still out here every day making trails ahead of the whole Circle when he was almost the age to become an elder.

I did feel a bit guilty, too. Handy was coated in sweat, and breathing hard. It made brown rivulets down his dusty limbs as he staggered to a halt.

I’m sorry, Handy. I know I shouldn’t make an elder work so hard. But this flat ground just calls to me to run faster! For me, it feels so good! I knew this was evident in my beaming eyes, wide, relaxed smile, and the way I bounced a bit on my feet even when I was stationary.

Yes, little sister. You’re one half leaping deer and one half mountain goat, whereas I’m one half bear and one half slug! He smiled sheepishly and took a long, messy drink from his own water skin.

I loved that partnership that Handy and I had. We spent most of our time trading jokes. Sometimes I felt like I could talk so easily to the elders of our Circle, while having more trouble finding commonalities with my fellow young ones. Maybe it was because I had performed this job for the group for three summers now. My physical gift for running long distances had made itself apparent very quickly when I was seen far outrunning my friends while we played. A few times, I even got completely separated from the group, getting carried away by my own joy in the exercise and my daydreams, forgetting all about the others I had been playing with. This would lead to the adults getting worried, and me getting in trouble, every time. That was when Eldest Grandmother decided I needed to put all my restless energy to work for the group, and it was also when I earned my name, Scout.

Handy had gained his name from his skill at finding and building shelter. His talent was almost magical to the rest of us—he could pluck any object from the landscape around us and find some way for it to make us warm, dry, or safe. I watched him gobble his dried-food mix, and thought that perhaps he was half