Uperi slipped from her hut at dawn. No one had arrived yet for her wedding, but that was ex-pected. The rest of the village was sleeping, but she had been up since moonrise. Being sisterless and motherless, she had to dress for her wedding herself. The bridal jewelry of shells and precious stones sang low on her neck, her waist, her arms. Loose golden chains hung from her forehead, dipping into a low-slung V down the bridge of her nose. The...