Part One Of Two Parts In this third of the acclaimed Earth's Children novels, Ayla, the independent heroine of THE CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR and THE VALLEY OF HORSES, sets out from the valley on Whinney, the horse she tamed. With her is Jondalar, tall, handsome and yellow-haired, the man she nursed back to health and came to love. Together they meet the Manutoi—the Mammoth Hunters—people like Ayla. Among them is Ranec, an artistic, magnetic master carver of ivory. Ayla finds herself torn between Ranec and Jondalar, the latter a powerful lover but insecure and wildly jealous. It is not until the great mammoth hunt, when Ayla's life is threatened, that a fateful decision is made.