Lonely young Marie and her father live on a plantation just before the Civil War. Their placid lives are invaded when they rescue a mysterious woman from a carriage wreck, and soon bodies start turning up with holes in their necks...

Natural changes have the clans moving. Iza, medicine woman of the "Clan of the Cave Bear" finds little Ayla from the "others"' clan - tradition would have the clan kill Ayla immediately, but Iza insists on keeping her. When the little one finds a most needed new cave, she's allowed to stay - and thrive.