Hunt [NOOK Book]

The land of Waugansuksi in the late 1800s stretches along the furthest northeast coastline of Lake Michigan. It is a conglomeration of towns, small villages, and an incredible wilderness. The people, too, are a combination. These are the Odawas and the European Americans making inroads onto Native land. Monsters, human and otherwise, share the land with them. There is little enough American law in this remote area of Northern Michigan. What there is cannot cope with what they cannot see. The ancient Odawa, however, have their own way of dealing with the evil around them. The Bear Clan is responsible for the healing duties of the People. Their dual role is policing the tribe. Quaquay is an enigma even to her own People. She is born at a time that is doubly fortuitous. Donet's comet is visible in the sky while an eclipse is taking place. The ground of her birth, and her mother's death, is sacred to the People. The child, Maconse, is destined to be the greatest policewoman of her Clan. To do so, she must fight the specter of a great Manitou who enters her dream world and haunts her life. Each Clan uses its gifts to train the girl for the battle that must come between the woman and the spirit. The death of Maconse in this battle gives birth to Quaquay, the greatest of the Bear Clan's police force. It also brings a way for the culture of the People to survive the destructive American forces pressing against it. White on the outside, Red on the inside, the culture hides beneath the façade of `civilization'. Quaquay lives within the disguise of meek Mary Martha Small Bear, the care taker of the rectory and the Catholic Priest who lives there. Using both sides of this duality, the powerful young policewoman haunts and hunts the forest, bringing the monsters within the land to justice. Few people know that Quaquay exists. Fewer still know who she is. Her loving father and the sister-wife of her mother raised her and know her. Their choice in the battle to save their way of life is to flee to Manitoulin Island. Her beloved husband knows her and supports her, but he, too, has chosen a different path of survival. Her strong older brother follows her into exile within their own land to fight the American influences by becoming part of them. The story of "Hunt" begins with one of the fiercest and strangest track downs of Quaquay's life. Something is murdering the American setters. Fingers point to the Odawa hidden deep within the huge forest surrounding the small village. Minds turn to destroying this threat before it can grow. War runs through the hearts of the Americans in the land. Quaquay must find the killer and bring it to justice before a conflict begins that her People cannot win. Prior to finding out who or what the entity is, however, Quaquay she must first determine how many. The Earth and Water tell her there is more than one. Her own spirit counts four. One at a time the powerful policewoman tracks down and unmasks the monsters within her world. Her journey takes her from the shores of Wauganauksi, through the rough lumber towns, and as far away as Michigan's echo of the Emerald Isle, Beaver Island. Powerful allies assist her. Among these are her brother, her husband, an old Civil War veteran, an ex-slave, an ancient Medicine Woman, and a priest who is not always what he seems to be. In the end, as always, she must face the things alone. This time, though, she is stranded far out on the unforgiving ice of Lake Michigan. Her body is wracked with birth pangs, and her spirit is confronting the essence of the monsters who destroyed her mother. Long ago young Maconse gave her life to save her People. Will Quaquay make the same sacrifice for the daughter who is about to be born? The answer will come at the height of the Winter Solstice, on the sacred grounds that promise both life and death for Quaquay and her People.