Introduction

There was a familiar scent coming, a telltale odor of a person that knew well. A meal was on its way, coming down over the low hills to the east. The dog bounded off in that direction following the scent and barking in delight until its eyes caught sight of the small group of people heading down through the well-trodden grass of the hillside. As the dog had suspected, two of the younger men were hefting a freshly-killed gazelle,. enough food that everyone living in the small cluster of a half-dozen round huts would have more than enough to eat that day.