“Wall, shoot fire,” Billy Bob exclaimed. “There goes my idear for a name.”
“What idear was that?” Ray asked.
“Why, Billy Bob, a-course.”
Even Margaret laughed at this.
“Got agnaiyaaq names?” Lewis asked.
She winked at Ray, as though, suddenly, inexplicably they were friends again. “I have a couple in mind.”
“You do?” Ray asked. The night before Margaret had thrown the book of names at the wall and declared tearfully that there were no suitable girl names. “Like what?”
“Well … My favorite is Keera.”
Ray’s mouth fell open.
“Keera,” Billy Bob drawled. “That’s real perty. And different.”
“Dat Inupiaq?” Lewis asked.
“I don’t know,” Margaret said. “I had a dream a couple of months ago … Right after I found out I was pregnant. And there was a beautiful little girl in it. Her name was Keera.” She gave Ray’s hand a squeeze. “What do you think, honey? Do you like it?”
Ray was dumbfounded.
“Honey? You like it … don’t you?”
“What? Oh … yeah … Keera … Uh … it’s … it’s great. It has a nice familiar ring to it.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
BACK TO ALASKA. Once again I’ve been afforded the opportunity to visit the Great Land, if only in my mind’s eye, and would like to thank those who made the journey possible: my editor, Lyssa Keusch; the crack staff at Avon Books; Karen Solem at Writers House; and my supportive family, especially my wife, Melodie.
It should be understood that I have taken artistic liberties in the telling of this story. While I attempted to depict the residents and wilderness of northern Alaska as realistically as possible, the characters, events, and some of the locations herein are imaginary and should be taken as such.
My hope is that the following mystery will not only keep you turning pages and guessing “whodunit,” but foster a sense of respect for the Native people of Alaska and the fascinating, beautiful, sometimes unforgiving land they inhabit.
Christopher A. Lane
1998
GLOSSARY
agnaiyaaq—girl
anutaiyaaq—boy
aapa—father
aklaq—grizzly
anjatkut—shaman
Eskimo—“eaters of raw meat”
inukhuit—“likenesses of men” or stone scarecrows used to herd caribou toward waiting hunters
Inupiat—“The Real People,” Eskimos of northern Alaska
kila—helping spirit
muktuk—whale skin
nahani—a malevolent woodsman of Athabascan mythology believed to lurk in forests, waiting to kidnap children
naluaqmiu—white person
naluaqmiut—white people
piinjilak—ghosts
tuungak—spirits
Other Inupiat Eskimo Mysteries by
Christopher Lane
from Avon Twilight
ELEMENTS OF A KILL
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHRISTOPHER LANE is a prolific writer who has published fifteen books for the inspirational and religious market, including six children's novels, one of which won the Gold Medallion Award and the C. S. Lewis Award. Lane continues to write for the Christian market. Season of Death is his second Inupiat Eskimo Mystery, following his debut, Elements of a Kill. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
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Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher
AVON BOOKS, INC.
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New York, New York 10019
Copyright © 1999 by Christopher Lane
Inside cover author photo by Melodie Lane
Published by arrangement with the author
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 98-90923
ISBN: 0-380-79872-7
www.avonbooks.com/twilight
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EPub Edition © OCTOBER 2011 ISBN: 978-0-062-03080-1
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