Child of the Dead by Don Coldsmith
An aging matriarch of the People finds new purpose when she adopts a child whose family has been destroyed by disease, in the latest novel in Don Coldsmith's beloved multibook saga of the Plains Indians.
Running Deer, grieving over the recent death of her husband, has lost all reason to live. But then the People come upon a camp of death, once inhabited by a group of buffalo-hunting people with a culture similar to their own. All in the camp have succumbed to smallpox, or have fled. All but one little girl.
The People recognize the dread disease, and know that the mere touch of the child can bring it upon themselves. The only sensible thing to do is abandon the little girl to her fate. But with nothing to live for anyway, Running Deer decides to stay and care for the child.
Soon, she makes her young charge well enough to rejoin Running Deer's people, who name her Child of the Dead. But still within the girl is a glimmer of longing---the burning desire to return to her own people, and what is to her adopted clan an utterly alien way of life.
Don Coldsmith has woven a stirring saga of grandmother and child, and the violent clashes of culture that result from Child of the Dead's fortuitous rescue, into another masterful novel tto join his critically lauded, bestselling Spanish Bit Saga.
I'm only on page 5, but I already know I'll be done with this book in no time. It's that nice.
