Maia

Captain Thomas Dewe and his brother Richard arrived in Barbados in 1667 to join their brother, John, and make the Tallywhoa sugar plantation prosper. New to Caribbean plantation life they face hurricanes, disease, and treachery. Garrison commander, Duncan McKenzie, seizes the opportunity to leverage his gains. Until the murder of Esmerelda Conn threatens to expose him. His empire of graft and corruption may crumble or it may grow exponentially stronger. Giles Freeman, senior officer, is forced into a web of murder, smuggling, and financial exploitation. Protecting his love, Jenni, from the evil spreading across the island threatens to destroy them all. Torn between duty and desire, his mother and father, Giles works tirelessly to bring a killer to justice. The Watchers are wicked brilliance and lethal. They see everything, hear much, and systematically work to take over the white gold finance. They never kill in cold blood, but they know who does. The Grandmother, the elder 139 yr old matriarch of the indigenous people, emerges shifting events and guarding the future for her people. Mystical and wise, she leads the island through natural and man-made disasters preserving the path for Maia to carry their blood to the new world. The Brazilian ship the Turmalina, sinks in Carlyle Bay full of emeralds. The powers within the stones give the Grandmother the means to propel the prophecy of the chosen one into action. The blood of her people will carry forward with the plantations of Carolina. Maia, the chosen one, knows she must survive. Her heritage and her sisterhood are there in the light and shadows. Plates are printed in black and white.