Chapter 9Riley clutched tight to Russell's hand as he walked her into the Den'a village. Though always shy when meeting new people, her keen curiosity kept her eyes darting everywhere. Despite frigid sub-zero temperatures, in the heavy hide and fur outfit he'd insisted she wear she felt somewhat less cold than she'd suspected. A small, frozen river cut through the land, and the town, she saw, had been situated around it, a small ring of long, low cabins, the structures formed of spruce logs. The largest, to which Russ was steering her at top speed, not wanting frostbite to reach through her scarf and hurt her, had been cut into a low hillside. Smart. Use the earth to provide natural temperature regulation. Three towering totem poles, two with wings, all with brightly colored faces, cluster
