Summary

Chapter 20

Karana gathers more abalone and rigs up a way to keep the seagulls away from the drying meat. She also catches small fish whose oil will provide light when she burns them in winter. She goes to Tall Rock, where cormorants roost, and kills ten birds, whose skins she will use in a skirt. She also discovers Black Cave on the south side of the island, where she finds figures made of reeds, clothed in gull feathers. In their midst, there is a skeleton, which she decides must be one of her ancestors. The tide has come in while Karana is exploring, and she has to stay there overnight until the tide goes back out. It has been two years now since the Aleut hunters came. During this summer, they return. Karana notices that there is, in fact, a girl...