Jean Auel - Ec4 Plains Of Passage _Copyright © 1990 by Jean M. Auel The woman caught a glimpse of movement through the dusty haze ahead and wondered if it was the wolf she had seen loping in front of them earlier. She glanced at her companion with a worried frown, then looked for the wolf again, straining to see through the blowing dust. "Jondalar! Look!" she said, pointing ahead. Toward her left, the vague outlines of several conical tents could just be seen through the dry, gritty wind. The wolf was stalking some two-legged creatures that had begun to Materialize out of the dusty air, carrying spears aimed directly at them. "I think we've reached the river, but I don't think we're the only ones who wanted to camp there, Ayla," the man said, pulling on the lead rein to halt his horse. The woman signaled her horse to a stop by tightening a thigh mus cle, exerting a subtle pressure that was so reflexive she didn't even think of it as controlling the animal. Ayla heard a menacing growl from deep in the wolf's throat and saw that his posture had shifted from a defensive stance to an aggressive one. He was ready to attack! She whistled, a sharp, distinctive sound that resembled a bird call, though not from a bird anyone had ever heard. The wolf gave up his stealthy pursuit and bounded toward the woman astride the horse. "Wolf, stay close!" she said, signaling with her hand at the same time. The wolf trotted beside the dun yellow mare as the woman and man on horseback slowly approached the people standing between them and the tents. A gusty, fitful wind, holding the fine loess soil in suspension, swirled around them, obscuring their view of the spear holders. Ayla lifted her leg over and slid down from the horse's back. She knelt beside the wolf, put one arm over his back and the other across his chest, to calm him and hold him back if necessary. She could feel the snarl rumbling in his throat and the eager tautness of muscles ready to spring. She looked up at Jondalar. A light film of powdery dirt coated the shoulders and long flaxen hair of the tall man and turned the coat of his dark brown mount to the more common dun color of the sturdy breed. She and Whinney looked the same. Though it was still early in the sum mer, the strong winds off the massive glacier to the north were already desiccating the steppes in a wide band south of the ice. She felt the wolf tense and strain against her arm, then saw someone new appear from behind the spear holders, dressed as Mamut might have dressed for an important ceremony, in a mask with aurochs's horns and in clothes painted and decorated with enigmatic symbols. The mamut shook a staff at them vigorously and shouted, "Go away, evil spirits! Leave this place!" Ayla thought it was a woman's voice shouting through the mask, but she wasn't sure; the words had been spoken in Mamutoi, though. The mamut dashed toward them shaking the staff again, while Ayla held back the wolf. Then the costumed figure began chanting and dancing, shaking the staff and high-stepping toward them quickly, then back again, as though trying to scare them off or drive them away, and succeeding, at least, in frightening the horses. She was surprised that Wolf was so ready to attack, wolves seldom threatened people. But, remembering behavior she had observed, she thought she understood. Ayla had often watched wolves when she was teaching herself to hunt, and she knew they were affectionate and loyal to their own pack. But they were quick to drive strangers away from their territory, and they had been known to kill other wolves to protect what they felt was theirs. To the tiny wolf pup she had found and brought back to the Ma mutoi earthlodge, the Lion Camp was his pack; other people would be like strange wolves to him. He had growled at unknown humans who had come to visit when he was barely half-grown. Now, in unfamiliar territory, perhaps the territory of another pack, it would be natural for him to feel defensive when he first became aware of strangers, espe cially hostile strangers with spears. Why had the people of this Camp drawn spears? Ayla thought there was something familiar about the chant; then she realized what it was. The words were in the sacred archaic language that was understood only by the mamuti. Ayla didn't understand all of it, Mamut had just begun to teach her the language before she left, but she did gather that the meaning of the loud chant was essentially the same as the words that had been shouted earlier, though cast in somewhat more cajoling terms. It was an exhortation to the strange wolf and horse-people spirits to go away and leave them alone, to go back to the spirit world where they belonged. Speaking in Zeiandonii so the people from the Camp wouldn't understand, Ayla told Jondalar what the mamut was saying. "They think we're spirits? Of course!" he said. "I should have known. They're afraid of us. That's why they're threatening us with spears. Ayla, we may have this problem every time we meet people along the way. We are used to the animals now, but most people have never thought of horses or wolves as anything but food or pelts," he said. "The Mamutoi at the Summer Meeting were upset in the beginning. It took them a while to get used to the idea of having the horses and Wolf around, but they got over it," Ayla said. "When I opened my eyes that first time in the cave in your valley and saw you helping Whinney give birth to Racer, I thought the lion had killed me and I had awakened in the spirit world," Jondalar said. "Maybe I should get down, too, and show them I am a man and not attached to Racer like some kind of man-horse spirit." Jondalar dismounted, but he held on to the rope attached to the halter he had made. Racer was tossing his head and trying to back away from the advancing mamut, who was still shaking the staff and chanting loudly. Whinney was behind the kneeling woman, with her head down, touching her. Ayla used neither ropes nor halters to guide her horse. She directed the horse entirely with the pressures of her legs and the movements of her body. Catching a few sounds of the strange language the spirits spoke, and seeing Jondalar dismount, the shaman chanted louder, pleading with the spirits to go away, promising them ceremonies, trying to placate them with offers of gifts. "I think you should tell them who we are," Ayla said. "That mamut is getting very upset." Jondalar held the rope close to the stallion's head. Racer was alarmed and trying to rear, and the mamut with her staff and shouting didn't help. Even Whinney looked ready to Spock, and she was usually much more even-tempered than her excitable offspring. "We are not spirits," Jondalar called out when the mamut paused for a breath. "I am a visitor, a traveler on a Journey, and she"--he pointed toward Ayla--"is Mamutoi, of the Mammoth Hearth." The people glanced at each other with questioning looks, and the mamut stopped shouting and dancing, but still shook the staff now and then while studying them. Maybe they were spirits who were playing tricks, but at least they had been made to speak in a language everyone could understand. Finally the mamut spoke. "Why should we believe you? How do we know you are not trying to trick us? You say she is of the Mammoth Hearth, but where is her mark? She has no tattoo on her face." Ayla spoke up. "He didn't say I was a mamut. He said I was of the Mammoth Hearth. The old Mamut of the Lion Camp was teaching me before I left, but I am not fully trained." The mamut conferred with a man and a woman, then turned back. "This one," she said, nodding toward Jondalar, "he is as he says, a visitor. Though he speaks well enough, it is with the tones of a foreign tongue. You say you are Mamutoi, yet something about the way you speak is not Mamutoi." Jondalar caught his breath and waited. Ayla did have an unusual quality to her speech. There were certain sounds she could not quite make, and the way she said them was curiously unique. It was per fectly clear what she meant, and not unpleasant—he rather liked it— but it was noticeable. It wasn't quite like the accent of another lan guage; it was more than that, and different. Yet it was just that: an accent, but of a language most people had not heard and would not even recognize as speech. Ayla spoke with the accent of the difficult, guttural, vocally limited language of the people who had taken in the young orphan girl and raised her. "I was not born to the Mamutoi," Ayla said, still holding Wolf back, though his growl had ceased. "I was adopted by the Mammoth Hearth, by Mamut, himself." There was a flurry of conversation among the people, and another private consultation between the mamut and the woman and man. "If you are not of the spirit world, how do you control that wolf and make horses take you on their backs?" the mamut asked, deciding to come right out with it. "It's not hard to do if you find them when they are young," Ayla said. "You make it sound so simple. There must be more to it than that." The woman couldn't fool a mamut, who was also of the Mammoth Hearth. "I was there when she brought the wolf pup to the lodge," Jondalar tried to explain. "He was so young that he was still nursing, and I was sure he would die. But she fed him cut-up meat and broth, waking up in the middle of the night as you do with a baby. When he lived, and started to grow, everyone was surprised, but that was only the begin ning. Later, she taught him to do what she wished—not to pass water or make messes inside the lodge, not to snap at the children even when they hurt him. If I hadn't been there, I would not have believed a wolf could be taught so much or would understand so much. It's true, you must do more than find them young. She cared for him like a child. She is a mother to that animal, that's why he does what she wants." "What about the horses?" the man who was standing beside the shaman asked. He'd been eying the spirited stallion, and the tall man who was controlling him. "It is the same with the horses. You can teach them if you find them young and take care of them. It takes time and patience, but they will learn." The people had lowered their spears and were listening with great interest. Spirits weren't known to speak in ordinary language, although all the talk of mothering animals was just the kind of strange talk that spirits were known for--words that were not quite what they seemed. Then the woman of the Camp spoke. "I don't know about being a mother to animals, but I do know that the Mammoth Hearth doesn't adopt strangers and make them Mamutoi. It's not an ordinary hearth. It is dedicated to Those Who Serve the Mother. People choose the Mammoth Hearth, or are chosen. I have kin in the Lion Camp. Mamut is very old, perhaps the oldest man living. Why would he want to adopt anyone? And I don't think Lutie would have allowed it. What you say is very difficult to believe, and I don't know why we should." Ay la sensed something ambiguous in the way the woman spoke, or rather in the subtle mannerisms that accompanied her words: the stiffness of.her back, the tension in the set of her shoulders, the anxious frown. She seemed to be anticipating something unpleasant. Then Ayla realized that it wasn't a slip of the tongue; the woman had purposely put a lie in her statement, a subtle trick in her question. But because of her unique background, the trick was blatantly transparent. The people who had raised Ayla, known as flatheads, but who called themselves Clan, communicated with depth and precision, though not primarily with words. Few people understood they had a language at all. Their ability to articulate was limited and they were often reviled as less than human, animals that could not talk. They used a language of gestures and signs, but it was no less complex. The relatively few words the Clan spoke--which Jondalar could hardly reproduce, just as she was not quite able to pronounce certain sounds in Zeiandonii or Mamutoi--were made with a peculiar kind of vocalization, and they were usually used for emphasis, or for names of people or things. Nuances and fine shades of meaning were indicated by bearing, posture, and facial aspects, which added depth and variety to the language, just as tones and inflections did in verbal language. But with such an overt means of communication, it was almost impos- sible to express an untruth without signaling the fact; they could not lie. Ayla had learned to perceive and understand the subtle signals of body movement and facial expression as she was learning to speak with signs; it was necessary for complete comprehension. When she was releaming to speak verbally from Jondalar, and becoming fluent in Mamutoi, Ayla discovered that she was perceiving the inadvertent signals that were contained in the slight movements of face and posture even of people who spoke with words, though such gestures were not intentionally meant to be a part of their language. She discovered that she was understanding more than words, though it caused her some confusion and distress at first, because the words that were spoken did not always match the signals that were given, and she did not know about lies. The closest she could come to untruth was to refrain from speaking. Eventually she learned that certain small lies were often meant as courtesies. But it was when she gained an understanding of humor— which usually depended on saying one thing but meaning another— that she suddenly grasped the nature of spoken language, and the people who used it. Then her ability to interpret unconscious signals added an unexpected dimension to her developing language skills: an almost uncanny perception of what people really meant. It gave her an unusual advantage. Though she wasn't able to lie herself, except by omission, she usually knew when someone else was not telling the truth. "There was no one named Lutie in the Lion Camp when I was there." Ayla decided to be direct. "Tulie is the headwoman, and her brother Talut is the headman." The woman nodded imperceptibly as Ayla went on. "I know that a person is usually dedicated to the Mammoth Hearth, not adopted. Talut and Nezzie were the ones who asked me, Talut even enlarged the earthlodge to make a special winter shelter for the horses, but the old Mamut surprised everyone. During the ceremony, he adopted me. He said that I belonged to the Mammoth Hearth, that I was born to it." "If you brought those horses with you to Lion Camp, I can under stand why old Mamut might say that," the man said. The woman looked at him with annoyance and said a few words under her breath. Then the three people spoke together again. The man had decided the strangers were probably people and not spirits playing a trick—or if they were, not harmful ones—but he did not believe they were exactly who they claimed to be. The tall man's explanation for the strange behavior of the animals was too simple, our he was interested. The horses and wolf intrigued him. The woman felt they spoke too easily, volunteered too much, were too forthcoming, and she was sure there was more to it than either of them said. She didn't trust them and she wanted nothing to do with them. The mamut's acceptance of them as human came only after apprehending another thought that would, to one who understood such things, account for the extraordinary behavior of the animals much more plausibly. She was sure the blond woman was a powerful Caller, [and the old Mamut must have known she was born with an uncanny I control over animals. Perhaps the man was, too. Later, when their I Camp arrived at the Summer Meeting, it would be interesting to talk ;to the Lion Camp, and the mamuti would be sure to have some ithoughts about these two. It was easier to believe in magic than the preposterous notion that animals could be domesticated. During their consultation, there was a disagreement. The woman was uncomfortable, the strangers disturbed her. If she had thought about it, she might have admitted she was afraid. She didn't like being I'll around such an overt demonstration of occult power, but she was i overruled. The man spoke. "This place where the rivers join is a good place to camp. We have had good hunting, and a herd of giant deer are coming this way. They should be here in a few days. We will not mind if you choose to camp nearby and join us in the hunt." "We appreciate your offer," Jondalar said. "We may camp nearby for the night, but we must be on our way in the morning." It was a guarded offer, not quite the welcoming that he had often received from strangers when he and his brother had traveled together on foot. The formal greeting, given in the name of the Mother, offered more than hospitality. It was considered an invitation to join them, to stay with them and live among them for a time. The man's more limited invitation showed their uncertainty, but at least they weren't being threatened with spears any more. "Then, in the name of Mut, at least share an evening meal with us, and eat with us in the morning, too." That much welcome the headman could offer, and Jondalar sensed he would have liked to offer more. "In the name of the Great Earth Mother, we would be happy to eat with you tonight, after we have set up our camp," Jondalar agreed, "but we must leave early." "Where are you going in such a hurry?" The directness that was typical of the Mamutoi still caught Jondalar by surprise, even after all the time he'd lived with them, especially when it came from a stranger. The headman's question would have been thought somewhat impolite among Jondalar's people; not a major indiscretion, just a sign of immaturity, or lack of appreciation for the more subtle and indirect speech of knowing adults. But, Jondalar had learned, candor and directness were considered proper among the Mamutoi, and lack of openness was suspect, though their ways were not as completely open as they seemed. Subtleties existed. It was a matter of how one expressed directness, how it was received, and what was not said. But the forthright curiosity of the headman of this Camp was, among the Mamutoi, entirely appropriate. "I am going home," Jondalar said, "and I'm bringing this woman back with me." "Why should a day or two make any difference?" "My home is far to the west. I've been gone..." Jondalar stopped to consider, "four years, and it will take another year to get back, if we are lucky. There are some dangerous crossings—rivers and ice—along the way, and I don't want to reach them at the wrong season." "West? It looks like you're traveling south." "Yes. We are heading for Beran Sea and the Great Mother River. We will follow her upstream." "My cousin went west on a trading mission, some years back. He said some people there live near a river they also call the Great Mother," the man said. "He thought it was the same one. They trav eled west from here. Depends how far upstream you want to go, but there is a passage south of the Great Ice, but north of the mountains to the west. You might make your Journey much shorter by going that way." "Talut told me of the northern route, but no one seems to be sure that it is the same river. If it's not, it could take longer trying to find the right one. I came the southern way, and I know that route. Besides, I have kin among the River People. My brother was mated to a Shara- mudoi woman, and I lived with them. I'd like to see them once more. It's not likely that I will ever see them again." "We trade with the River People... seems to me I did hear about some strangers, a year or two ago, living with that group that a Mamutoi woman joined. It was two brothers, now that I think about it. The Sharamudoi have different mating customs, but as I recall, she and her mate were going to be joining with another couple—some kind of an adoption, I suppose. They sent word inviting any Mamutoi relations who wanted to come. Several went, and one or two have gone back since." "That was my brother, Thonolan," Jondalar said, pleased that the account tended to verify his story, although he still could not say his brother's name without feeling pain. "It was his Matrimonial. He joined with Jetamio, and they became cross-mates with Markeno and Tholie. Tholie was the one who first taught me to speak Mamutoi." "Tholie is a distant cousin of mine, and you are the brother of one of her mates?" The man turned to his sister. "Thurie, this man is kin. I think we must welcome them." Without waiting for an answer, he said, "I am Rutan, headman of Falcon Camp. In the name of Mut, the Great Mother, you are welcome." The woman had no choice. She would not embarrass her brother by refusing to extend a welcome along with him, though she thought of a few choice things to say to him privately. "I am Thurie, headwoman of Falcon Camp. In the name of the Mother, you are welcome here. In summer, we are Feather Grass Camp." It was not the warmest welcome he had ever received. Jondalar detected a definite reservation and restriction. She was welcoming him "here," to this place specifically, but this was a temporary location. He knew Feather Grass Camp referred to any summer hunting camp site. The Mamutoi were sedentary in the winter, and this group, like the rest, lived in a permanent encampment or community of one or two large or several smaller semisubterranean earthlodges, which they called Falcon Camp. She had not welcomed him there. "I am Jondalar of the Zeiandonii, I greet you in the name of the Great Earth Mother, whom we call Doni." "We do have extra sleeping places in the mamut's tent," Thurie continued, "but I don't know about the... animals." "If you would not mind," Jondalar said, if only for the sake of courtesy, "it would be easier for us to set up our own camp nearby, rather than stay within your Camp. We appreciate your hospitality, but the horses need to graze, and they know our tent and will return to it. They might be uneasy coming into your Camp." "Of course," Thurie said, relieved. They would make her uneasy, too. Ayla realized she needed to exchange welcomes, too. Wolf seemed less defensive, and Ayla tentatively relaxed her hold on him. I can't sit here holding Wolf all the time, she thought. When she stood up, he started to jump up on her, but she motioned him down. Without extending his hands or offering to come any closer, Rutan welcomed her to his Camp. She returned the greeting, in kind. "I am Ayla of the Mamutoi," she said, then added, "of the Mammoth Hearth. I greet you in the name of Mut." Thurie added her welcome, hedging to restrict it to only this place, as she had done with Jondalar. Ay la responded formally. She wished more friendliness had been shown, but she supposed she couldn't blame them. The concept of animals traveling willingly with people could be frightening. Not everyone would be as accepting as Talut had been of the strange innovation, Ayla realized, and with a pang, she felt the loss of the people she loved from Lion Camp. Ayla turned to Jondalar. "Wolf is not feeling so protective now. I think he will mind me, but I should have something to restrain him while he's around this Camp, and for later, to hold him back in case we meet other people," she said in Zeiandonii, not feeling able to speak freely around this Camp of Mamutoi, though wishing she could. "Maybe something like that rope guider you made for Racer, Jondalar. There's a lot of spare rope and thongs in the bottom of one of my pack baskets. I am going to have to teach him not to go after strangers like that; he has to learn to stay where I want him to." Wolf must have understood that raising their spears was a threatening gesture. She could hardly blame him for springing to the defense of the people and horses that made up his strange pack. From his point of view, it was perfectly understandable, but that didn't mean it was acceptable. He could not approach all the people they might meet on their Journey as though they were strange wolves. She would have to teach him to modify his behavior, to meet unknown people with more restraint. Even as the thought came to her, she wondered if there were other people who understood that a wolf would respond to the wishes of a woman, or that a horse would let a human ride on his back. "You stay there with him. I'll get the rope," Jondalar said. Still holding on to Racer's lead, though the young stallion had calmed down, he looked for the rope in Whinney's pack baskets. The hostility of the Camp had abated somewhat, the people seemed hardly more guarded than they would be toward any strangers. From the way they were watching, their fear seemed to have been replaced by curiosity. Whinney had settled down, too. Jondalar scratched and patted her and spoke affectionately while he rummaged through the pack baskets. He was more than fond of the sturdy mare, and though he loved Racer's high spirits, he admired Whinney's serene patience. She had a calming effect on the young stallion. He tied Racer's lead rope to the thong that held the pack baskets on his dam. Jondalar often wished he could control Racer the way Ayla controlled Whinney, with no halter or lead rope. But as he rode the animal, he was discovering the amazing sensitivity of a horse's skin, developing a good seat, and beginning to guide Racer with pressure and posture. Avia moved to the other side of the mare with Wolf. When Jondalar gave her the rope, he spoke to her quietly. "We don't have to stay here, Avia. It's still early. We can find another place, on this river or another." "I think it's a good idea for Wolf to get used to people, especially strangers, and even if they're not too friendly, I wouldn't mind visiting. They are Mamutoi, Jondalar, my people. These may be the last Mamutoi I will ever see. I wonder if they are going to the Summer Meeting? Maybe we can send a message to Lion Camp with them." Ayla and Jondalar set up their own camp a short distance away from Feather Grass Camp, upstream along the large tributary. They unpacked the horses and let them free to graze. Ayla felt a moment of concern watching them disappear into the dusty blowing haze, as they wandered away from their camp. The woman and man had been traveling along the right bank of a large river, but some distance from it. Though flowing generally south, the river meandered across the landscape, twisting and turning as it gouged a deep trench out of the flat plains. By keeping to the steppes above the river valley, the travelers could take a more direct route, but one that was exposed to the unremitting wind and the harsher effects of sun and rain on open terrain. "Is this the river Talut talked about?" Ayla asked, unrolling her sleeping furs. The man reached into one of a pair of pack baskets for a rather large, flat piece of mammoth tusk with markings incised on it. He looked up toward the section of the dingy sky that glowed with an unbearably bright but diffused light, then at the obscured landscape. It was late afternoon, that much he could tell, but not much more. "There's no way to know, Ayla," Jondalar said, putting the map back. "I can't see any landmarks, and I'm used to judging the distance traveled by my own legs. Racer moves at a different pace." "Will it really take a whole year to reach your home?" the woman asked. "It's hard to say for sure. Depends on what we find along the way, how many problems we have, how often we stop. If we make it back to the Zeiandonii by this time next year, we can count ourselves lucky. We haven't even reached Beran Sea, where the Great Mother River ends, and we will have to follow her all the way to the glacier at her source, and then beyond," Jondalar said. His eyes, an intense and unusually vivid shade of blue, looked worried, and his forehead Wrinkled in a familiar furrow of concern. "We'll have some large rivers to cross, but it's that glacier that worries me most, Ayla. We have to cross over it when the ice is frozen solid, which means we have to reach it before spring, and that's always unpredictable. A strong south wind blows in that region that can warm the deepest cold to melting in one day. Then the snow and ice on top melt, and break up like rotten wood. Wide cracks open and the snow bridges over them collapse; streams, even rivers of meltwater flow across the ice, sometimes disappearing into deep holes. It's very dangerous then, and it can happen very suddenly. It's summer now, and though winter may seem a long way off, we have much farther to travel than you might think." The woman nodded. There was no point in even thinking about how long the Journey would take, or what would happen when they arrived. Better to think of each day as it came, and plan only for the next day or two. Better not to worry about Jondalar's people, and whether they would accept her as one of them the way the Mamutoi had. "I wish it would stop blowing," she commented. "I am tired of eating grit, too," Jondalar said. "Why don't we go visit our neighbors, and see if we can get something better to eat." They took Wolf with them when they returned to Feather Grass Camp, but Ayla kept him close. They joined a group that had gathered near a fire over which a large rump was spitted. Conversation was slow to start, but it wasn't long before curiosity became warm interest and fearful reserve gave way to animated talk. The few people who inhabited those periglacial steppes had little opportunity to meet anyone new, and the excitement of this chance encounter would fuel discussions and fill the stories of Falcon Camp for a long time to come. Ayla became friendly with several of the people, particularly a young woman with a baby daughter just at the age of sitting unassisted and laughing out loud, who charmed them all, but mostly Wolf. The young mother was very nervous at first when the animal singled out her child for his solicitous attention, but when his eager licks made her giggle with delight, and he showed gentle restraint, even when she grabbed handfuls of fur and pulled, everyone was surprised. The other children were eager to touch him, and before long Wolf was playing with them. Ayla explained that the wolf had grown up with the children of Lion Camp, and probably missed them. He had always been especially gentle with the very young, or the weak, and he seemed to know the difference between the unintentional overzeal- ous squeeze from a toddler and the purposeful pull of a tail or ear by an older child. He allowed the former with patient forebearance, and repaid the latter with a warning growl, or a gentle nip that did not Illx^k skin but showed that he could. T londalar mentioned that they had recently left the Summer Meeting, A and Rutan told them that necessary repairs to their earthlodge had fr delayed their departure or they would have been there. He asked fondalar about his travels and about Racer, with many people listening. They seemed more reluctant to question Ayla, and she didn't volunteer much, though the mamut would have liked to have taken her aside for private discussions of more esoteric subjects, but she preferred to stay with the Camp. Even the headwoman was more relaxed and friendly by the time they headed back to their own camp, and Ayla asked her to pass on her love and remembrances to Lion Camp when they finally reached the Summer Meeting. That night, Ayla lay awake thinking. She was glad she had not let natural hesitation about joining the Camp that had been less than welcoming stop her. Given the opportunity to overcome their fear of the strange or unknown, they had been interested and willing to learn. She had learned, too, that traveling with such unusual companions was likely to inspire strong reactions from anyone they might happen to meet along the way. She had no idea what to expect, but there could be little doubt that this Journey was going to be far more challenging than she had imagined. 'ondalar was eager to be off early the next morning, but Ayla wanted to go back and see the acquaintances she had made at Feather Grass Camp before they left, and while Jondalar grew impatient, Ayla spent some time making her farewells. When they finally left, it was near noon. 7or The open grassland of gently rolling hills and far-seeing distances, through which they had been traveling since they left the Summer Meeting, was gaining elevation. The fast-moving current of the tributary river, originating on higher ground, surged with more vigor than the meandering main stream, and it cut a deep channel with steep banks through the wind-sifted loess soil. Though Jondalar wanted to go south, they were forced to travel west, then northwest, while they looked for a convenient place to cross. The farther they traveled out of their way, the more irritable and impatient Jondalar felt. In his mind, he was questioning his decision to take the longer southern route, rather than the northwestern one that had been suggested--more than once--and in which direction the river seemed determined to take them. True, he wasn't familiar with it, but if it was so much shorter, perhaps they should go that way. If he could just be certain that they would reach the plateau glacier farther to the west, at the source of the Great Mother River, before spring, he would do it, he told himself. It would mean giving up his last opportunity to see the Sharamudoi, but was that so important? He had to admit that he did want to see them. He had been looking forward to it. Jondalar wasn't sure if his decision to go south really came from his desire to take the familiar, and therefore, safer way to get Ayla and himself back, or his desire to see people who were family to him. He worried about the consequences of making the wrong choice. Ayla broke into his introspection. "Jondalar, I think we can cross here," she said. "The bank on the other side looks easy to get up." They were at a bend in the river, and they stopped to study the situation. As the turbulent, swiftly flowing stream swept around the curve, it cut deeply into the outside edge, where they were standing, making a high, steep bank. But the inner side of the turn, on the opposite bank, rose gradually out of the water, forming a narrow shore of hard-packed gray-brown soil backed by brush. "Do you think the horses can get down this bank?" "I think so. The deepest part of the river must be near this side, where it cuts into the bank. It's hard to tell how deep it is, or whether the horses will have to swim. It might be better if we would dismount and swim, too," Ayla said, then noticed that Jondalar seemed dis pleased, "but if it's not too deep, we can ride them across. I hate to get my clothes wet, but I don't feel like taking them off to swim across, either." They urged the horses over the precipitous edge. Hooves slipped and slid down the fine-grained soil of the bank and into the water with a splash as they were dunked in the fast current and carried down stream. It was deeper than Ayla had thought. The horses had a mo ment of panic before they got accustomed to their new element and started swimming against the current toward the sloping opposite shore. As they started up the gradual slope on the inner curve of the bend, Ayla looked for Wolf. Turning around, she saw him still on the high bank, whining and yelping, running back and forth. "He's afraid to jump in," Jondalar said. "Come, Wolf! Come on," Ayla called. "You can swim." But the young wolf whined plaintively and tucked his tail between his legs. "What's wrong with him? He's crossed rivers before," Jondalar said, annoyed at another delay. He had hoped to travel a good distance that day, but everything seemed to be conspiring to stall them. They had gotten off to a late start, then had been forced to double back toward the north and west, a direction he didn't want to go, and now Wolf wouldn't cross the river. He was also aware that they should stop and check the contents of the pack baskets, after their dunking, even if they were closely woven and essentially watertight. To add to his irritation, he was wet, and it was getting late. He could feel the wind cooling, and he knew they ought to change clothes and let the ones they were wearing dry. The summer days were warm enough, but the soughing night winds still brought the chill breath of the ice. The effects of the massive glacier that crushed the northern lands under sheets of ice as high as mountains could be felt everywhere on earth, but nowhere as much as on the cold steppes near its edge. If it were earlier, they could travel in wet clothes; the wind and sun Would dry them while they rode. He was tempted to start south any- way, just to get some distance behind them... if they could only get moving. "This river is faster than he's used to, and he can't walk up to it. He has to jump in, and he's never done that before," Ayla said. "What are you going to do?" "If I can't encourage him to jump, I'll have to go get him," she replied. "Ayla, I'm sure if we just rode off, he'd jump in and follow you. If we're going to travel any distance at all today, we have to go." The withering look of disbelief and anger that appeared on her face made Jondalar wish he could take back his words. "Would you like to be left behind because you were afraid? He doesn't want to jump into the river because he hasn't done anything like it before. What can you expect?" "I just meant... he's only a wolf, Ayla. Wolves cross rivers all the time. He just needs some reason to jump in. If he didn't catch up with us, we'd come back for him. I didn't mean that we should leave him here." "You won't have to worry about coming back for him. I'll get him now," Ayla said, turning her back on the man and urging Whinney into the water. The young wolf was still whining, sniffing the broken ground left by the horses' hooves, and looking at the people and the horses across the watery trench. Ayla called out to him again as the horse entered the current. About halfway across, Whinney felt the ground beneath her giving way. She whinnied with alarm, trying to find firmer footing. "Wolf. Come here. Wolf! It's only water. Come on, Wolf! Jump in!" Ayla called out, trying to coax the apprehensive young animal into the swirling river. She slid off Whinney's back, deciding she would swim across to the steep bank. Wolf finally got up his courage and jumped in. He landed with a splash and started swimming toward her. "That's it! That's good, Wolf!" Whinney was backing around, struggling with her footing, and Ayla, with her arm around the wolf, was trying to reach her. Jondalar was already there, up to his chest in water, steadying the mare and starting toward Ayla. They all reached the other side together. "We'd better hurry if we're going to travel any distance today," Ayla said, eyes still flashing anger as she started to remount the mare. "No," Jondalar said, holding her back. "We're not leaving until you change out of those wet clothes. And I think we should rub down the horses to dry them off, and maybe that wolf, too. We've traveled far enough today. We can camp here tonight. It took me four years to get don't care if it takes four years to get back, just so I get you safely, Ayla." she looked up at him, the look of concern and love in his >lue eyes melted her last vestiges of anger. She reached for him bent his head to her, and she felt the same unbelievable won- iat she had felt the first time he put his lips on hers and showed /hat a kiss was, and an inexpressible joy in knowing that she ictually traveling with him, going home with him. She loved more than she knew how to express, even more now after the long ;er when she had thought he didn't love her and would leave with- lier. llNI-'He had feared for her when she went back into the river and now he Illxessed her to him, holding her. He loved her more than he ever 'Alddieved it was possible for him to love anyone. Until Ayla, he didn't ^ViBnow he could love so much. He nearly lost her once. He had been ;Kure she was going to stay with the dark man with the laughing eyes, and he couldn't bear the thought that he might lose her again. With two horses and a wolf for companions, in a world that had never before known they could be tamed, a man stood alone with the woman he loved in the middle of a vast, cold grassland, filled with a great abundance and diversity of animals, but few humans, and contemplated a Journey that would stretch across a continent. Yet there were times when the mere thought that any harm might come to her could overwhelm him with such fear, he almost couldn't breathe. At those moments, he wished he could hold her forever. Jondalar felt the warmth of her body and her willing mouth on his, and he felt his need for her rise. But that would wait. She was cold and wet; she needed dry clothes and a fire. The edge of this river was as good a place as any to camp, and if it was a little too early to stop, well, it would give them time to dry out the clothes they were wearing, and they could start early tomorrow. "Wolf. Put that down!" Ayla shouted, rushing to get the leather- wrapped package from the young animal. "I thought you had learned to stay away from leather." When she tried to take it away, he playfully hung on with his teeth, shaking his head back and forth and growling. She let go, stopping the game. "Put it down!" she said sharply. She brought her hand down as though she meant to strike his nose but stopped short. At the signal and command, Wolf tucked his tail be- tween his legs, abjectly scooted toward her, and dropped the package at her feet, whining in appeasement. That's the second time he's gotten into these things," Ayla said, picking up the package and some others he had been chewing on. "He knows better, but he just can't seem to stay away from leather." Jondalar came to help her. "I don't know what to say. He drops it when you tell him, but you can't tell him if you're not there, and you can't watch him all the time... What's this? I don't remember seeing this before," he said, looking quizzically at a bundle that was carefully wrapped in a soft skin and securely tied. Flushing slightly, Ayla quickly took the package from him. "It's. just something I brought with me... something... from Lion Camp," she said, and she put it on the bottom of one of her pack baskets. Her actions puzzled Jondalar. They had both limited their possessions and traveling gear to the minimum, taking little that was not essential. The package wasn't large, but it wasn't small either. She could probably have added another outfit in the space it took. What could she be taking with her? "Wolf! Stop that!" Jondalar watched Ayla going after the young wolf again and had to smile. He wasn't sure, but it almost seemed that Wolf was purposely misbehaving, teasing Ayla to make her come after him, playing with her. He had found a camp shoe of hers, a soft moccasin-type of foot- covering that she sometimes wore for comfort after they made camp, particularly if the ground was frozen or damp and cold and she wanted to air out or dry her regular, sturdier footwear. "I don't know what I'm going to do with him!" Ayla said, exasperated, as she came toward the man. She was holding the object of his latest escapade, and she looked sternly at the miscreant. Wolf was creeping toward her, seemingly contrite, whining in abject misery at her disapproval; but a hint of mischief lurked beneath his distress. He knew she loved him, and the moment she relented, he would be wriggling and yelping with delight and ready to play again. Though he was adult size, except for some filling out. Wolf was hardly more than a puppy. He had been born in the winter, out of season, to a lone wolf whose mate had died. Wolfs coat was the usual gray-buff shade--the result of bands of white, red, brown, and black that colored each outer hair, creating the indistinct pattern that allowed wolves to fade invisibly into the natural wilderness landscape of brush, grass, earth, rock, and snow--but his mother had been black. Her unusual coloring had incited the primary and other females of the pack into badgering her unmercifully, giving her the lowest status and eventually driving her away. She roamed alone, learning to survive in between pack territories for a season, until she finally found another loner, an old male who had left his pack because he couldn't keep up any more. They fared well together for a while. She was the stronger hunter, but he was experienced and they had even begun to define and defend a small piece of territory of their own. It might have been the better diet that two of them working together were able to secure, or the companionship and nearness of a friendly male, or her own genetic predisposition that brought her into heat out of season, but her elderly companion was not unhappy and, without competition, was both will ing and able to respond. Sadly, his stiff old bones were not able to resist the ravages of an other harsh winter on the periglacial steppes. He did not last long into the cold season. It was a devastating loss for the black female, who was left to give birth alone—in winter. The natural environment does not tolerate very well animals with much deviation from the norm, and seasonal cycles enforce themselves. A black hunter in a landscape of tawny grass, dun earth, and windblown or drifted snow is too easily seen by canny and winter-scarce prey. With no mate or friendly aunts, uncles, cousins, and older siblings to help feed and care for the nursing mother and the new pups, the black female weakened, and one after another her babies succumbed until there was only one left. Ay la knew wolves. She had observed and studied them from the time she first started hunting, but she had no way of knowing the black wolf who tried to steal the ermine she had killed with her sling was a starving, lactating female; it was the wrong season for pups. When she tried to retrieve her pelt and the wolf uncharacteristically attacked, she killed it in self-defense. Then she saw the animal's condition and real ized she must have been a loner. Feeling a strange kinship with a wolf she knew had been driven from its pack, Ayla was determined to find the motherless pups, who would have no family to adopt them. Fol lowing the wolfs trail back, she found the den, crawled in, and found the last pup, unweaned, eyes barely open. She took it with her to Lion Camp. It had been a surprise to everyone when Ayla showed them the tiny wolf pup, but she had arrived with horses who answered to her. They had grown used to them and the woman who had an affinity for ani mals, and they were curious about the wolf and what she would do with it. That she was able to raise it and train it was a wonder to many. Jondalar was still surprised at the intelligence the animal displayed; intelligence that seemed almost human. "I think he's playing with you, Ayla," the man said. She looked at Wolf and couldn't resist a smile, which brought his au "P and caused his tail to start thumping the ground in anticipa- tion. "I think you're right, but that isn't going to help me keep him from chewing on everything," she said, looking at the shredded camp shoe. "I might as well let him have this. He's ruined it already, and maybe he won't be so interested in the rest of our things for a while." She threw it at him, and he leaped up and caught it in the air with, Jondalar was almost sure, a wolfish grin. "We'd better get packed up," he said, recalling that they hadn't traveled very far south the day before. Ayla looked around, screening her eyes from the bright sun just beginning to climb the sky toward the east. Seeing Whinney and Racer in the grassy meadow beyond the brushy wooded lobe of land that the river curved around, she whistled a distinctive call, similar to the whistle she used to signal Wolf, but not the same. The dark yellow mare raised her head, whinnied, then galloped toward the woman. The young stallion followed her. They broke camp, packed the horses, and were nearly ready to start out when Jondalar decided to rearrange the tent poles in one basket and his spears in another to balance out his load. Ayla was leaning against Whinney while she waited. It was a comfortable and familiar posture for both of them, a way of touching that had developed when the young filly was her only companion in the rich but lonely valley. She had killed Whinney's mother, too. By then she had been hunting for years, but only with her sling. Ayla had taught herself to use the easily concealed hunting weapon, and she rationalized her breaking of Clan taboos by hunting primarily predators, who competed for the same food and sometimes stole meat from them. But the horse was the first large, meat-providing animal she had killed, and the first time she had used a spear to accomplish the deed. In the Clan, it would have been counted as her first kill, if she had been a boy and allowed to hunt with a spear; as a female, if she used a spear, she would not have been allowed to live. But killing the horse had been necessary for her survival, though she did not select a nursing dam to be the one to fall into her pit-trap. When she first noticed the foal, she felt sorry for it, knowing it would die without its mother, yet the thought of raising it herself didn't occur to her. There was no reason why it should; no one had done it before. But when hyenas went after the frightened baby horse, she remembered the hyena that had tried to drag off Oga's baby son. Ayla hated hyenas, perhaps because of the ordeal she'd had to face when she killed that one and exposed her secret. They were no worse than any other natural predator and scavenger, but to Ayla they had come to represent everything that was cruel, vicious, or wrong. Her reaction then was spontaneous as it had been the other time, and the swift stones with a sling were just as effective. She killed one, drove the off and rescued the helpless young animal, but this time, in- >f an ordeal, she found company to relieve her loneliness, and die extraordinary relationship that developed. i loved the young wolf as she would a bright and delightful but her feeling for the horse was of a different nature. Whinney shared her isolation; they had grown as close as any two such lilar creatures could. They knew each other, understood each trusted each other. The yellow mare was not merely a helpful 1 companion, or a pet, or even a well-loved child. Whinney had ler only companion for several years and was her friend. But it had been a spontaneous, even irrational, act the first time Ay la climbed on her back and rode like the wind. The sheer excitement of it brought her back. In the beginning she did not purposely try to direct the horse, but they were so close that their understanding of each other grew with each ride. While she waited forjondalar to finish, Ay la watched Wolf playfully chewing on her camp shoe and wished she could think of a way to control his destructive habit. Her eye casually noted the vegetation on the spit of land where they had camped. Caught between the high banks on the other side of the river as it curved around the sharp bend, the low land on this side flooded every year, leaving fertile loam to nourish a rich variety of brush, herbs, even small trees, and the rich pasture beyond. She always noticed the plants in her vicinity. It was second nature for her to be aware of everything that grew and, with a knowledge that was so ingrained it was almost instinctive, to catalogue and interpret it. She saw a bearberry shrub, a dwarf evergreen heath plant with small, dark green, leathery leaves, and an abundance of small, round, pink-tinged white flowers that promised a rich crop of red berries. Though sour and rather astringent, they tasted fine when they were cooked with other food, but more than food, Ayla knew the juice of the berry was good for relieving the burning sensation that could occur when passing water, especially if it was pinkish with blood. Nearby was a horseradish plant with small white flowers clustered in a bunch on stems with small narrow leaves, and lower down, long, pointed, shiny dark green leaves, growing up from the ground. The root would be stout and rather long with a pungent aroma and a burn- "^ hot taste. In very small quantities, it was an interesting flavor with meats, but Ayla was more intrigued with its medicinal use as a stimu- ant tor the stomach, and for passing water, and as an application to sore and swollen joints. She wondered if she should stop to collect some, and then decided that she probably shouldn't take the time. But she reached for her pointed digging stick with no hesitation when she saw the antelope sage plant. The root was one of the ingre dients of her special morning tea, one she drank during her moon time when she bled. At other times she used different plants in her tea, particularly the golden thread that always grew on other plants and often killed them. Long ago Iza had told her about the magic plants that would make the spirit of her totem strong enough to defeat the spirit of any man's totem, so no baby would start growing inside her. Iza had always warned her not to tell anyone, particularly a man. Ay la wasn't sure if it was spirits that caused babies. She thought a man had more to do with it, but the secret plants worked anyway. No new life had started in her when she drank the special teas, whether she was near a man or not. Not that she would have minded, if they were settled in one place. But Jondalar had made it clear to her that with such a long Journey ahead of them, it would be a risk to get pregnant along the way. As she pulled out the root of the antelope sage and shook the dirt off, she saw the heart-shaped leaves and long yellow tubular flowers of snakeroot, good for preventing miscarriage. With a twinge of sorrow, she remembered when Iza had gone to get that plant for her. When she stood up and went to put the fresh roots she had collected into a special basket that was attached near the top of one of the pack baskets, she saw Whinney selectively biting off the tops of wild oats. She liked the seeds, too, she thought, when they were cooked, and her mind, continuing its automatic medicinal cataloguing, added the information that the flowers and stalks aided digestion. The horse had dropped dung, and she noticed flies buzzing around it. In certain seasons insects could be terrible, she thought, and decided she would watch for insect repellent plants. Who knew what kind of territory they would have to travel through? In her offhand perusal of the local vegetation she noted a spiny bush that she knew was the variety of wormwood with the bitter taste and strong camphor smell, not an insect repellent, she thought, but it had its uses. Nearby were cranesbills, wild geraniums with leaves of many teeth and five-petaled reddish-pink flowers, that grew into fruits that resembled the bills of cranes. The dried and powdered leaves helped stop bleeding and heal wounds; made into a tea it healed mouth sores and rashes; and the roots were good for runny stools and other stomach problems. It tasted bitter and sharp, but was gentle enough for chil dren and old people. II Glancing around toward Jondalar, she noticed Wolf again, still .Irfiewing on ner shoe- suddenly she hopped her mental ruminations Ntfldfocused again on the last plants she had noted. Why had they S^Bwfat her attention? Something about them seemed important. Then ^^^^ne to her. She quickly reached for her digging stick and started ^iiwakine up the ground around the bitter-tasting wormwood with the '%KSfae smell of camphor, and then the sharp, astringent, but relatively harmless geranium. Jondalar had mounted and was ready to go when he turned to her. "Ayla why are you collecting plants? We should be leaving. Do you really need those now?" "Yes," she said, "I won't be long," going next after the long, thick horseradish root with the burning hot taste. "I think I know a way to fceep him away from our things," Ayla said, pointing at the young canine playfully gnawing on what was left of her leather camp shoe. Tm going to make 'Wolf repellent.' " They headed southeast from their camping place to get back to the river they had been following. The windswept dust had settled overight, and in the stark, clear air the boundless sky revealed the distant reach of the horizon that had been obscured before. As they rode across country their entire view, from one edge of the earth to the other, north to south, east to west, undulating, billowing, constantly in morion, was grass; one vast, encompassing grassland. The few trees that existed near waterways only accentuated the dominant vegetation. But the magnitude of the grassy plains was more extensive than they knew. Massive sheets of ice, two, three, up to five miles thick, smothered the ends of the earth and sprawled over the northern lands, crushing Ae stony crust of the continent and depressing the bedrock itself with its inconceivable weight. South of the ice were the steppes--cold, dry grassland as wide as the continent, marching from western ocean to eastern sea. All the land bordering the ice was an immense grassy plain. Everywhere, sweeping across the land, from lowland valley to windblown hill, there was grass. Mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas that provided enough moisture for trees were the only intrusions into we essential grassy character of the northern lands during the Ice Age. Ayla and Jondalar felt the level ground begin sloping downhill toward the valley of the larger river, though they were still some distance from the water. Before long they found themselves surrounded by tall grass. Stretching to see over the eight-foot growth, even from Whin- oey's back, Ayla could see little more than Jondalar's head and shoulers between the feathery tops and the nodding stems of minuscule florets, turning gold with a faintly reddish tinge, atop the thin, blue- green stalks. She glimpsed his dark brown mount now and then, but recognized Racer only because she knew he was there. She was glad for the advantage of height the horses gave them. Had they been walking, she realized, it would have been like traveling through a dense forest of tall green grass waving in the wind. The high grass was no barrier, parting easily in front of them as they rode, but they could see only a short distance past the nearest stalks, and behind them the grass sprang back, leaving little trace of the way they had come. Their view was limited to the area immediately around them, as though they took with them a pocket of their own space as they moved. With only the brilliant incandescence tracing its familiar path through the clear deep blue above, and the bending stalks to show the direction of the prevailing wind, it would have been more difficult to find their way, and very easy to become separated. As she rode, she heard the soughing wind and the high whine of mosquitoes zinging by her ear. It was hot and close in the middle of the dense growth. Though she could see the tallgrass swaying, she barely felt a breath of wind. The buzz of flies and a whiff of fresh dung told her that Racer had recently dropped scat. Even if he hadn't been )ust a few paces ahead, she would have known it was the young stallion who had passed that way. His scent was as distinctively familiar to her as that of the horse she was riding--and her own. All around was the rich humus odor of the soil, and the green smell of burgeoning vegetation. She did not classify smells as bad or good; she used her nose as she did her eyes and ears, with knowledgeable discrimination to help her investigate and analyze the perceptible world. After a time, the sameness of the scenery, of long green stalk after long green stalk, the rhythmic gait of the horse, and the hot sun almost directly above, made Ayla lethargic; awake, but not fully aware. The repetitive tall, thin, pointed grass stems became a blur she no longer saw. Instead, she began to notice all the other vegetation. Much more than grass grew there, and as usual, she took mental note of it, without consciously thinking about it. It was simply the way she saw her environment. There, Ayla thought, in that open space--some animal must have made that by rolling in it--those are goosefoots, what Nezzie called goosefoots, like the pigweed near the clan's cave. I should pick some, she mused, but made no effort to do so. That plant, with the yellow flowers and leaves wrapped around the stem, that's wild cabbage. That would be good to have tonight, too. She passed it by as well. Those purple-blue flowers, with the small leaves, that's milk vetch, and it has I wonder if they're ready? Probably not. Up ahead, mat white flower, sort of rounded, pink in the middle, it's wild carrot. oks like Racer stepped on some of the leaves. I should get my ne stick, but there's more over there. Seems to be a lot of it. I can and it's so hot. She tried to swat away a pair of flies that buzzed ad her sweat-damp hair. I haven't seen Wolf for a while. I wonder e he is? je turned to look for the wolf and saw him following close behind mare, sniffing the ground. He stopped, lifting his head to catch her scent, then disappeared into the grass on her left. She saw a e blue dragonfly with spotted wings, disturbed by the wolfs pas- t through the dense living screen, hovering near the place he had i as though marking it. A short time later, a squawk and a whir of iliffsoas preceded the sudden appearance of a great bustard taking to the "lltO?. Ayla reached for her sling, wrapped around her head across her ^forehead. It was a handy place to keep it to get it quickly, and it kept her hair out of the way besides. But the huge bustard--at twenty-five pounds the heaviest bird on die steppes--was a speedy flier for its size, and it was out of range before she got a stone out of her pouch. She watched the mottled bird with dark-tipped white wings building up speed, its head stretched forward, its legs backward, as it flew away, wishing she had known what Wolf had scented. The bustard would have made a wonderful meal for all three of them, with plenty left over. "Too bad we weren't faster," Jondalar said. Ayla noticed he was putting a light spear and his spear-thrower back in his pack basket. She nodded as she wrapped her leather sling back around her head. "I wish I had learned to use Brecie's throwing stick. It's so much faster. When we stopped by that marsh where all the birds were nesting on the way to hunt mammoths, it was hard to believe how quick she was with it. And she could get more than one bird at a time." "She was good. But she probably practiced as long with that throwing stick as you did with your sling. I don't think that kind of skill is something to be gained in one season." "But if this grass wasn't so tall, I might have been able to see what Wolf was going after in time to get my sling and some stones out. I thought it was probably a vole." "We should keep our eyes open for anything else that Wolf might sca^ up," Jondalar said. I had my eyes open. I just can't see anything!" Ayla said. She looked at the sky to check the position of the sun, and she stretched up to try to see over the grass. "But you're right. It wouldn't hurt to think about getting fresh meat for tonight. I've seen all kinds of plants that are good to eat. I was going to stop and gather some, but they seem to be all over, and I'd rather do it later and have them fresh, not after they've wilted in this hot sun. We still have some of the bison roast left that we got from Feather Grass Camp, but it will only last one more meal, and there's no reason to use the dried traveling meat at this time of year, when there is plenty of fresh food around. How much longer before we stop?" "I don't think we're far from the river--it's getting cooler, and this high grass usually grows in lowlands around water. Once we reach it, we can start looking for a place to camp as we go downriver," Jondalar said, starting out again. The stand of high grass extended all the way to the river's edge, though it was intermixed with trees near the damp bank. They stopped to let the horses drink, and they dismounted to quench their own thirst, using a small, tightly woven basket as a dipper and cup. Wolf soon darted out of the grass, noisily lapped up his own drink, then plopped down and watched Ayla, with his tongue hanging out, panting heavily. Ayla smiled. "Wolf is hot, too. I think he has been exploring," she said. "I'd like to know all the things he's found out. He sees a lot more than we do in this high grass." "I'd like to get beyond it before we make camp. I'm used to seeing farther and this makes me feel closed in. I don't know what's out there, and I like knowing what's around me," Jondalar said, as he reached for his mount. Holding on to Racer's back just below his stiff, stand-up mane, with a strong jump the man threw a leg over and, bracing himself with his arms, landed lightly astride the sturdy stallion. He guided the horse away from the softened riverbank to firmer ground, before heading downriver. The great steppes were by no means a single, huge, undifferentiated landscape of gracefully swaying stalks. Tallgrass grew in selected areas of ample moisture, which also contained a great diversity of other plants. Dominated by grasses more than five feet tall but ranging up to twelve feet in height--big bulbous bluestem, feather grasses, and tufted fescues--the colorful forb meadows added a variety of flowering and broad-leaved herbs: aster and coltsfoot; yellow, many-petaled elecampane and the big white horns of datura; groundnuts and wild carrots, turnips and cabbages; horseradish, mustard, and small onions; irises, lilies, and buttercups; currants and strawberries; red raspberries and black. semiarid regions of little rainfall, shortgrasses, less than a foot Ehalftall, had evolved. They stayed close to the ground with most e growth underneath, and vigorously sent out new shoots, espe- in times of drought. They shared the land with brush, particu- iutemisias like wormwood and sage. -tween those two extremes were the midgrasses, filling niches too (for shortgrass or too dry for tallgrass. Those meadows of moderate Igture could be colorful, too, with many flowering plants intermixed h the grassy ground cover of wild oats, foxtail barley, and, partic- Jly on slopes and uplands, little bluestems. Cordgrass grew where | land was wetter, needlegrass in cooler areas with poor, gravelly |b. There were many sedges, too--stalks were solid in sedges, tited where leaves grew out of the stems of grasses--including cotton ss, primarily in tundra and wetter ground. Marshes abounded with tphragmite reeds, cattails, and bulrushes. ""' lit was cooler near the river, and as afternoon wore into evening, yla was feeling pulled two ways. She wanted to hurry and see an end (the stifling tallgrass, but she also wanted to stop and collect some of ie vegetables she was seeing along the way for their evening meal. A lythm began to develop to her tension; yes she would stop, no she Quid not, sounded over and over in her mind. I Soon the rhythm itself overcame any meaning in the words, and a talent throbbing that felt as though it should have been loud filled her Jwith apprehension. It was disturbing, this sense of deep, loud sound jpfae could not quite hear. Her discomfort was emphasized by the tall- H^ass crowding in close all around her, which allowed her to see, but |g|0t quite far enough. She was more used to seeing long distances, far |j|ristas, to seeing, at least, beyond the immediate screen of grass stems. j|:jAs they continued, the feeling became more acute, as though it was S. ipoming closer, or they were drawing nearer to the source of the silent ^^iound. I ^t> ^yl3 noticed that the ground seemed freshly disturbed in several ^places, and she wrinkled her nose as she sniffed a strong, pungent, |S musky smell, trying to place it. Then she heard a low growl issue from |Wolfs throat. '^ 'Jondalar!" she called out, and she saw that he had stopped and was ,; holding his hand up, signaling her to stop. There was definitely some- ™uig ahead. Suddenly, the air was split by a great, loud, blasting ^scream. 'olf! Stay here!" Ayla commanded the young animal, who was inching forward with curiosity. She slid off Whinney's back and moved to catch up with Jondalar, who had dismounted as well, and was cautiously moving through the thinning grass ahead toward the shrill screams and loud rumbles. She reached his side as he stopped, and they both parted the last tall stalks to see. Ayla bent down on one knee to hold Wolf as she looked, but she could not move her eyes away from the scene in the clearing. An agitated herd of woolly mammoths was milling about--it had been their feeding that had created the clearing near the edge of the tallgrass region; a large mammoth required over six hundred pounds of feed every day, and a herd could strip a considerable area of vegetation quickly. The animals were all ages and sizes, including some that could not have been more than a few weeks old. That meant it was a herd of, primarily, related females: mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, and their offspring; an extended family led by a wise and canny old matriarch, who was noticeably larger. At a quick glance, the overall color of the woolly mammoths was a reddish brown, but a closer look revealed many variations of the basic shade. Some were more red, some more brown, some tended toward yellow or gold, and a few looked almost black from a distance. The thick, double-layered coats covered them entirely, from their broad trunks and exceptionally small ears, to their stubby tails ending in dark tufts, and their stumpy legs and broad feet. The two layers of fur contributed to the differences in color. Though much of the warm, dense, amazingly silky-soft underwool had been shed earlier in the summer, the next year's growth had already started, and was lighter in color than the fluffy, though coarser, wind-breaking overlay er, and gave it depth and highlights. The darker outer hairs, of varying lengths, some up to forty inches long, hung down like a skirt along the flanks, and quite thickly from the abdomen and dewlap--the loose skin of the neck and chest--creating a padding underneath them when they lay down on frozen ground. i was entranced by a pair of young twins with beautiful reddish- fur accented by spiky black guard hairs, who peeked out from ...J the huge legs and long ochre skirt of their hovering mother. dark brown hair of the old matriarch was shot with gray. She d as well, the white birds that were constant companions of the aoths, tolerated or ignored whether they sat on the top of a v head, or adroitly avoided a massive foot, while they feasted on -sects that the great beasts disturbed. Volf whined his eagerness to investigate the interesting animals -X closely, but Ayla held him back, while Jondalar got the restrain- Jiope from Whinney's basket. The grizzled matriarch turned to look faeir direction for a long moment--they noticed that one of her long Hdcs was broken off--then she turned her attention back to more JuxMtant activity. HOnly very young males stayed with the females, they usually left »e natal herd sometime after they reached puberty at about twelve, lit several young bachelors, and even a few older ones were included (this group. They had been drawn by a female with a deep chestnut- alored coat. She was in heat, and that was the cause of the commotion ILyla and Jondalar had heard. A female in heat, estrus, the reproduc- j|tfve period when females were able to conceive, was sexually attractive all males, sometimes more than she liked. gft; The chestnut female had just rejoined her family group after out- te«Ustancing three young males in their twenties, who had been chasing 'ftaer. The males, who had given up, but only temporarily, were stand- %lng away from the close-packed herd resting, while she sought respite ij! from her exertions within the midst of the excited females. A two-year- y old calf rushed up to the object of the male's attention, was greeted by ? t gentle touch of a trunk, found one of the two breasts between her front legs and began to suckle, while the female reached for a trunkful s and hollows and on the lee side of rocks, and fed on their stored y. Wolf spied the small rodents and took out after them, but Ayla In't bother with her sling. They were too small to make a meal for ?ple, except in large numbers. Arctic herbs, which did well in the wetter northern land of bogs i fens, benefited in spring from the additional moisture of the melt- ; drifts and grew, in an unusual association, alongside small hardy line shrubs on exposed outcrops and windswept hills. Arctic cinque- I, with small yellow flowers, found protection from the wind in the ne sheltered pockets and niches preferred by pikas, while on exposed faces, cushions of moss campion with purple or pink blossoms med their own protective hummocks of leafy stems in the cold fmg winds. Beside them, mountain avens clung to the rocky out- »ps and hills of this rugged lower land, just as it did on mountain- es, its low evergreen branches of tiny leaves and solitary yellow wers spreading out, over many years, into dense mats. .noticed the fragrant scent of pink catchfly, just beginning to sn their blooms. It made her realize that it was getting late, and she need toward the sun lowering in the western sky to verify the hint " nose had detected. The sticky flowers opened at night, offering a /en to insects--moths and flies--in return for spreading pollen. iey had little medicinal or food value, but the pleasant-smelling flow- pleased her, and she had a fleeting notion to pick some. But it was eady late in the day and she didn't want to stop. They ought to be king camp soon, she was thinking, particularly if she was going to he the meal she had been thinking about before it got dark. She saw blue-purple pasqueflowers, erect and beautiful, each rising m expanding leaves covered with fine hairs and, unbidden, the med- 1 associations came into her mind--the dried plant was helpful for idaches and women's cramps--but she enjoyed it as much for its luty as for its usefulness. When her eye was caught by alpine asters ch long thin petals of yellow and violet growing from rosettes of Ey, hairy leaves, her fleeting notion became a conscious temptation gather a few, along with some of the other flowers, for no reason except to enjoy them. But where would she put them? They would only wilt, anyway, she thought. Jondalar was beginning to wonder if they had missed the marked campsite, or if they were farther away from it than he had thought. He was reluctantly coming to the conclusion that they were going to have to make camp soon and look for the landmark campsite tomorrow. With that, and the need to hunt, they would probably lose another day, and he didn't think they could afford to lose so many days. He was deep in thought, still worrying about whether he had made the right decision in continuing south, and imagining the dire conse quences, and was not paying close attention to a commotion on a hill to their right, except for noticing that it seemed to be a pack of hyenas that had made a kill. Though they often scavenged, and when hungry were satisfied with the most noxious of rotten carcasses, the large hyenas with their pow erful, bone-cracking jaws were also effective hunters. They had pulled down a yearling bison calf, nearly full-grown, but not fully developed. His lack of experience with the ways of predators had been his undo ing. A few other bison were standing around, apparently safe now that one had succumbed, and one was watching the hyenas, bawling uneas ily at the smell of fresh blood. Unlike mammoths, and steppe horses, which were not exceptionally large for their species, the bison were giants. The one nearby stood nearly seven feet at the withers and was heavily built in the chest and shoulders, though his flanks were almost graceful. His hooves were small, adapted to running very fast over firm dry soils, and he avoided bogs in which he would become mired. His large head was protected by massive long black horns, six feet across, that curved out and then up. His dark brown, hairy coat was heavy, especially in the chest and shoulders. Bison tended to face into the frigid winds and were better protected in front, where the hair fell in a fringe that was up to thirty inches long, but even his short tail was covered with hair. Although they were all grass eaters, the various grazers did not eat precisely the same food. They had different digestive systems or dif ferent habits and made subtly different adaptations. The highly fibrous stems that sustained horses and mammoths were not sufficient for bison and other ruminants. They needed grass sheaths and leaves that were higher in protein, and bison preferred the low-growing, more nutritious shortgrass of the drier regions. They only ventured into the midgrass and tallgrass regions of the steppes in search of new growth, usually in spring when all the lands were rich with fresh grass and herbs—which was also the only time of the year when their bones and horns grew. The long, wet, green spring of the periglacial grassland, e t bison, and several other animals, a long season for growing, which "feed in'their heroic proportions. his dark and introspective mood, it took a few moments for the Ibilities of the scene on the hill to make an impact on Jondalar. By trime he was reaching for his spear-thrower and a spear with the it'ofalso bringing down a bison, as the hyenas had, Ayla had already Ksed the situation, but had decided on a somewhat different course 'action. ItHai! Hai! Get away from there! Go on, you filthy beasts! Get out 'here!" she shouted, galloping Whinney toward them, as she hurtled iBes with her sling. Wolf was beside her, looking pleased with him- Jf, as he growled and puppy-barked at the retreating pack. k A few yelps of pain made it clear that Ayla's stones had reached ir mark, though she had held the force of her weapon in check and led for nonvital parts. If she had wished, her stones could have been ll; it wouldn't have been the first time that she had killed a hyena, : that had not been her intention. I "What are you doing, Ayla?" Jondalar asked, riding toward her as pie was returning to the bison the hyenas had killed. 81 "I'm chasing those filthy, dirty hyenas away," she said, though it certainly must have been obvious. 1 "But why?" ^ "Because they are going to share that bison kill with us," she replied. Is "I was just going after one of those that are standing around," Jondalar said. ^ "We don't need a whole bison, unless we're going to dry the meat, id this one is young and tender. The ones that are standing around e mostly tough old bulls," she said as she slid off Whinney to chase ^olfaway from the downed animal. | Jondalar looked more closely at the gigantic bulls, who had also jetreated from Ayla's hazing, and then at the young one on the ground. ^You're right. This is a male herd, and that one probably left his toother's herd recently and just joined this male group. He still had a rttoleam." "It's a fresh kill," Ayla announced, after she examined it. "They've only torn out the throat, and the gut, so far, and a little of the flank. We can take what we want, and leave the rest for them. Then we won't Ged to take the time to hunt down one of those others. They can run ^i and they might get away. I think I saw a place down by the river W- may have been a camp. If it's the one we're looking for, there's Ml time for me to make something nice tonight with all the food we Sthered and this meat." She was already cutting through the skin up from the stomach to the flank before Jondalar really grasped all that she had said. It had happened so fast, but suddenly all his concerns about losing an extra day because of having to hunt and look for the camp were gone. "Ayla, you're wonderful!" he said, smiling as he dismounted from the young stallion. He pulled a sharp flint knife, that was hafted to a handle of ivory, out of a stiff rawhide sheath attached to his waist thong, and went to help butcher out the parts they wanted. "That's what I love about you. You're always full of surprises that rum out to be good ideas. Let's get the tongue, too. Too bad they already got to the liver, but after all, it is their kill." "I don't care if it is theirs," Ayla said, "so long as it's a fresh kill. They've taken enough from me. I don't mind taking something back from those nasty animals. I hate hyenas!" "You really do, don't you? I never hear you talk that way about other animals, not even wolverines, and they scavenge rotten meat sometimes and are more vicious and smell worse." The hyena pack had been edging back toward the bison they had expected to feast on, snarling their displeasure. Ayla flung a few more stones to drive them back again. One of them whooped, then several cackled a loud laugh that made her skin crawl. By the time the hyenas decided to chance her sling once more, Ayla and Jondalar had gotten what they wanted. They rode off, heading down a gully toward the river, with Ayla leading the way, leaving the rest of the carcass behind with the snarling beasts, who had immediately returned and begun to tear it apart again. The signs she had seen were not of the camp itself, but a marker cairn pointing the way. Inside the heaped-up pile of stones were some dry emergency rations, a few tools and other implements, a fire drill and platform with some dry tinder, and a rather stiff fur with patches of hair falling out. It would still offer some protection from the cold, but it needed to be replaced. Near the top of the caim, firmly anchored by heavy stones, was the broken-off end of a mammoth tusk with its tip aiming toward a large boulder partly submerged in the middle of the river. On it a horizontal diamond shape was painted in red, with the V-shaped angle at the right end repeated twice, forming a chevron pattern pointing downstream. After putting everything back exactly as they found it, they followed the river until they came to a second caim with a small tusk pointing inland toward a pleasant glade set back from the river, surrounded by birch and alder trees, with a few pines. They could see a third cairn, and when they reached it, they found beside it a small spring of fresh, pure sparkling water. There were also emergency rations and imple' its inside this pile of stones, and a large leather tarp, also stiff, but ch could be made into a tent or a lean-to. Behind the caim, near a Ie of stones that outlined a shallow pit black with charcoal, was a of deadfall and driftwood that had been gathered. This is a good place to know about," Jondalar said. "I'm glad we i't have to use any of the supplies, but if I lived in this region and to use it, I'd be relieved to know this is here." It is a good idea," Ayla said, marveling at the foresight of those o had planned and set up the campsite. Fhey quickly removed the pack baskets and halters from the horses, ing the thongs and heavy cords that held them on, and set the dials loose to graze and relax. Smiling, they watched as Racer im- diately got down on the grass and rolled on his back, as though he I an itch he couldn't wait to scratch. I'm feeling hot and itchy, too," Ayla said, untying the thongs und the soft tops of her footwear and kicking them off. She loosened belt, which held a knife sheath and pouches, took off a necklace of ry beads with a decorated pouch attached, and pulled off her tunic I leggings, then raced for the water with Wolf bounding beside her. re you coming?" 'Later," Jondalar said. "I'd rather wait until after I get the wood, so on't take dirt and bark dust to bed with me." Ayla returned soon, changed into a different tunic and leggings that ; wore in the evenings, but put her belt and necklace back on. idalar had unpacked, and she joined him in setting up their camp. ley had already developed a pattern of working together that needed de decision making. They both put up the tent, spreading out an al ground cloth, then anchoring slender wooden shafts in the earth support a shaped leather tarp made of several hides sewn together. ie conical tent had rounded sides and an opening at the top to let loke out if they needed to make a fire inside, though they seldom : d, and an extra flap sewn on the inside with which to close the smoke c »le against the weather, if they wished. t: Cords were f^tened around the bottom of the tent to tie it down to ,-gs pounded in the ground. In case of strong winds, the ground cloth 1 >uld be tied to the cover tarp with additional ropes, and the entrance v ip could ^e "^"cd down securely. They carried a second tarp with iem to i"3^ a ^w-insulated double-walled tent, though they'd as ;, rt had little ""^ion to use it. They spr^0^ their sleeping furs, laying them out the long way y f the ov31' whlch left just enough room to fit their pack baskets and 1. ^er bel^W W1ag the sides, and Wolf at their feet if the weather II ;1 was bad. They had begun with two separate sleeping rolls, but they had quickly managed to combine them so they could sleep together Once the tent was up, Jondalar went to gather more firewood, to replace whatever they would use, while Ay la began to prepare food. Though she knew how to start a fire with the fire-making kit in the caim, by twirling the long stick between her palms against the flat platform of wood to make a coal that could be blown into a flame Ayla's fire-making kit was unique. While living alone in her valley, she had made a discovery. She had accidentally picked up a piece of iron pyrite from the litter of stones beside the stream, instead of the ham- merstone she was using to make new tools for herself from flint. But she had made fires often, and she understood the implications quickly when striking the iron pyrite and flint together created a long-lived spark that burned her leg. It took several trials at first, but she had long since worked out the best way to use the firestone. Now she could make fire more quickly than anyone with a fire-drill and hearth, and hard concentrated effort, could even imagine. The first time Jondalar had seen it, he couldn't believe it, and the sheer wonder of it had contributed to her being accepted by the Lion Camp when Talut wanted them to adopt her. They thought she had done it with magic. Ayla thought it was magic, too, but she believed the magic was in the firestone, not in her. Before they left her valley for the last time, she and Jondalar had collected as many of the grayish-yellow metallic stones as they could, not knowing if they would ever find them in any other place. They had given some to the Lion Camp and other Ma- mutoi, but still had many left. Jondalar wanted to share them with his people. The ability to make a fire quickly could be extremely useful, for many purposes. Inside the ring of stones, the young woman made a small pile of very dry bark shavings and the fuzz from fireweed as tinder, and laid beside it another pile of twigs and smallwood for kindling. Nearby was some of the dry deadfall from the woodpile. Getting down very close to the tinder, Ayla held a piece of iron pyrite at an angle that she knew from experience would work best, then struck the magical yellowish stone, down the middle of a groove that was forming from use, with a piece of flint. A large, bright, long-lived spark flew from the stone and landed on the tinder, sending a wisp of smoke into the air. Quickly she put her hand around it and blew gently. A small coal glowed with a red light and a shower of tiny sun-yellow sparks. A second breath produced a small flame. She added twigs, and smallwood, and when i1 was going well, a stick of deadfall. rime Jondalar returned, Ay la had several roundish stones, from a dry wash near the river, heating in the fire for cooking, , chunk of bison spitted over the flames, the outer layer of fat She had washed and was cutting up cattail roots, and another l^tarchy root with dark brown skin called groundnuts, preparing fc them in a tightly woven waterproof basket half-full of water, in l d^e fat-rich tongue was waiting. Beside it was a small pile of c wild carrots. The tall man put down his load of wood. smells good already!" he said. "What are you making?" m roasting the bison, but that's mostly for traveling. It's easy to >ld roast along the way. For tonight, and tomorrow morning, I'm ae soup with the tongue and vegetables, and the little bit we have '•am Feather Grass Camp," she said. ;th a stick, she fished a hot stone from the fire and brushed the off with a leafy twig. Then, picking up a second stick and using as tongs, she lifted the stone and dropped it in the basket with fiter and the tongue. It sizzled and steamed as it transferred its to the water. Quickly she dropped several more stones in the t pot, added some leaves she had cut up, and put on a lid. Tiat are you putting in the soup?" •la smiled to herself. He always like to know the details of her ng, even the herbs that she used for making tea. It was another of tie traits that had surprised her because no man of the Clan would dream of showing so much interest, even if he might have been us, in anything that was in the memories of the women. esides these roots, I'm going to add the green tops of the cattails, nibs, leaves, and flowers of these green onions, slices of peeled e stalks, the peas from milk vetch pods, and I just put in some md thyme leaves, for flavor. And maybe I'll put some coltsfoot in ause it has a kind of salty taste. If we're going near Beran Sea, >e we can get some more salt. We had it all the time when I lived the Clan," she mentioned. "I think I'll mash up some of that radish I found this morning, for the roast. I just learned about it the Summer Meeting. It's hot, and you don't need much, but it the meat an interesting taste. You might like it." Tiat are those leaves for?" he asked, indicating a bunch she had d but not mentioned. He liked to know what she used and how lought about food. He enjoyed her cooking, but it was unusual. e were some tastes and flavors that were unique to her methods, lot like the tastes of foods he had grown up with. his is goosefoot, to wrap the roast in when I put it away. They X)d together when they're cold." She paused, looking thoughtful. "Maybe I'll sprinkle some wood ashes on the roast; they taste a little salty, too. And I might add some of the roast to the soup after it browns, for color, and taste. With the tongue and the roast, it should be a good rich broth, and for tomorrow morning, it will be nice to cook up some of the grain we brought with us. There will be tongue left too, but I'll wrap it in dried grass and put it in my meat-keeper for later. There's room, even with the rest of our raw meat, including the piece we took for Wolf. As long as it stays cold at night, it should all keep fora while." "It sounds delicious. I can hardly wait," Jondalar said, smiling with anticipation, and something more, Ayla thought. "By the way, do you have an extra basket I can use?" "Yes, but why?" "I'll tell you when I get back," he said, grinning with his secret. Ayla turned the roast, then removed the stones and added more hot ones to the soup. While the food was cooking, she sorted through the herbs she had gathered for "Wolf repellent," putting aside the plant she had gathered for her own uses. She mashed up some of the horseradish root in a bit of broth for their meal, then began mashing the rest of the hot root and bruising the other harsh, sharp, strong-smelling herbs she had gathered that morning, trying to develop the most noxious combination of the plants that she could imagine. She thought the hot horseradish would be the most effective, but the strong camphor smell of the artemisia could be very helpful, too. But the plant she had put aside occupied her thoughts. I'm glad I found it, she was thinking. I know I don't have enough of the herbs I need for my morning tea to last for the whole Journey. I'm going to have to find more along the way to make sure I don't have a baby, especially being with Jondalar so much. She smiled at the thought. I'm sure that's how babies get started, no matter what people say about spirits. I think that's why men want to put their organs in that place where babies come from, and why women want them to. And why the Mother made that Her Gift of Pleasure. The Gift of Life is from Her, too, and She wants Her children to enjoy making new life, especially since giving birth is not easy. Women might not want to give birth if the Mother hadn't made the starting of them Her Gift o1 Pleasure. Babies are wonderful, but you don't know how wonderful until you have one. Ayla had been privately developing her unorthodox ideas about the conception of life during the winter as she had been learning about Mut, the Great Earth Mother, from Mamut, the old teacher of the Lion Camp, though the original idea had occurred long before. lit Broud wasn't a pleasure for me, she recalled. I hated it when he sd roe, but now I'm sure that's how Durc got started. No one ved I would ever have a baby. They thought my Cave Lion totem too strong for any man's totem spirit to overcome. It surprised yone. But it only happened after Broud began forcing me, and I d see his look in my baby. He had to be the one that started Durc yine inside me. My totem knew how much I wanted a baby of my (.-maybe the Mother did, too. Maybe that was the only way. nut said the way we know Pleasures are a Gift from the Mother is they are so powerful. It's very hard to resist them. He said it is l harder for men than for women. hat's the way it was with that dark red mammoth. All the males ted her, but she didn't want them. She wanted to wait for her big .Is that why Broud wouldn't let me alone? Even though he hated the Mother's Gift of Pleasure was more powerful than his hatred? laybe, but I don't think he was doing it only for the Pleasures. He d get that from his own mate, or any woman he wanted. I think new how much I hated it and that made his Pleasure more. Broud ' have started a baby in me--or maybe my Cave Lion let himself lefeated because he knew how much I wanted one--but Broud d only give me his organ. He couldn't give me the Mother's Gift leasures. Only Jondalar did that. here must be more to Her Gift than just the Pleasures. If She just ted to give Her children a Gift of Pleasure, why would She put it iat place, where children are born from? A place of Pleasures could mywhere. Mine aren't exactly where Jondalar's are. His Pleasure es when he is inside me, but mine is at that other place. When he s me Pleasure there, everything feels wonderful, inside and all '. Then I want to feel him inside me. I would not want to have my e of Pleasure inside. When I'm very sensitive, Jondalar has to be ' gentle, or it can hurt, and giving birth is not gentle. If a woman's e of Pleasure was inside, it would make giving birth much harder, rt's difficult enough as it is. tow does Jondalar always know just what to do? He knew how to me Pleasures before I knew what they were. I think that big Mnoth knew how to give that pretty red one Pleasures, too. I think made that loud deep sound because he made her feel them, and s why all her family was so happy for her. Ayla's thoughts were ^Og tingling sensations and a warming glow. She glanced toward Wooded area where Jondalar had gone, wondering when he'd be L. ut a baby doesn't start every time Pleasures are shared. Maybe spirits are necessary, too. Whether it's the totem spirits of the Clan men, or the essence of a man's spirit that the Mother takes and gives tn a woman, it still starts when a man puts his organ inside and leaves hi essence there. That's how She gives a child to a woman, not with spirits, with Her Gift of Pleasure. But She decides which man's essence will start the new life, and when the life will begin. If the Mother decides, why does Iza's medicine keep a woman from getting pregnant? Perhaps it won't let a man's essence, or his spirit mix with a woman's. Iza didn't know why it worked, but it does seem to, most of the time. I would like to let a baby start when Jondalar shares Pleasures with me. I want to have a baby so much, one that's a part of him. His essence or his spirit. But he's right. We should wait. It was so hard for me to have Durc. If Iza hadn't been there, what would I have done? I'd want to be sure there were people around who would know how to help. I will keep drinking Iza's tea every morning, and I won't say anything. She was right. I shouldn't talk too much about babies starting from a man's organ, either. It made Jondalar so worried when I mentioned it, he thought we'd have to stop having Pleasures. If I can't have a baby yet, at least, I want to have Pleasures with him. Like those mammoths were having. Is that what that big mammoth was doing? Making a baby start in that dark red one. That was so wonderful, sharing their Pleasures with the herd. I'm so glad we stayed. I kept wondering why she was running away from all those others, but she wasn't interested in them. She wanted to choose her own mate, not go with anyone who wanted her. She was waiting for that big light brown bull, and as soon as he came, she knew he was the one. She couldn't wait, she ran right to him. She had waited long enough. I know how she feels. Wolf loped into the clearing, proudly holding up an old rotting bone for her to see. He dropped it at her feet and looked up expectantly. "Whew! That smells rotten! Where did you get that. Wolf? You must have found where someone's leavings were buried. I know you love rotten. Maybe this is a good time to see how you like hot and strong,' she said. She picked up the bone and spread some of the mixture she had been making on Wolfs prize. Then she threw it into the middle of the clearing. The young animal eagerly dashed after it, but he sniffed it warily before he picked it up. It still had the wonderful rotten odor he adored, but he wasn't sure about that other strange smell. Finally he snatched it with his mouth. But very quickly he dropped it and began snorting luffling and shaking his head. Ayla couldn't help it. His antics o funny that she laughed out loud. Wolf sniffed the bone again, acked off and snorted, looking very displeased, and ran toward ring. u don't like that, do you, Wolf? Good! You're not supposed to " she said, feeling the laughter bubbling up inside her as she ed. Lapping water didn't seem to help much. He lifted a paw ibbed it down the side of his face, trying to wipe his muzzle, as l he thought that would get rid of the taste. He was still snorting iffing and shaking his head as he ran into the woods. ialar crossed his path, and when he reached the glade he found aughing so hard there were tears in her eyes. "What is so funny?" ed. u should have seen him," she said, still chortling. "Poor Wolf, s so proud of that rotten old bone he found. He didn't know lappened to it, and he tried everything to get the taste out of his i. If you think you can stand the smell of horseradish and cam- Jondalar, I think I've found a way to keep Wolf away from our ." She held out the wooden bowl she had been using to mix the ients. "Here it is. 'Wolf repellent!' " i glad it works," Jondalar said. He was smiling, too, but the glee lied his eyes wasn't caused by Wolf. Ayla finally noticed that his were behind his back. tiat have you got behind your back?" she asked, suddenly is. ;U, it just happens that when I was out looking for wood I found liing else. And if you promise to be good, I just might give you me what?" brought the filled basket in front of him. "Big, juicy, red rasp- s!" a's eyes lit up. "Oh, I love raspberries." m't you think I know it? What do I get for them?" he asked with Me in his eye. a looked up at him and, walking toward him, smiled, a big fill wide smile that filled her eyes and beamed her love for him, ie warmth she had been feeling, and her delight because he d to give her a surprise. ^nk I just got it," he said, letting out the breath he realized he'd lolding. "Oh, Mother, you are beautiful when you smile. You're fill all the time, but especially when you smile." "enly he was consciously aware of her, aware of every feature and detail. Her long, thick, dark blond hair, gleaming with highlights where the sun had lightened it, was held back out of her way with a thong. But it had a natural wave and loose strands that had escaped the leather binding curled around her tanned face; one fell down her fore, head in front of her eyes. He restrained an urge to reach out and move it aside. She was tall, a good match for his own six-foot, six-inch frame, and the lithe, flat, wiry muscles of real physical strength were sharply denned in her long arms and legs. She was one of the strongest women he'd ever met; as physically powerful as many men he knew. The people who had raised her were endowed with an appreciably greater bodily strength than the taller but lighter-weight people she was born to, and though Ayla was not considered particularly strong when she lived with the Clan, she had developed a far greater strength than she normally might have, just to keep up. Coupled with years of observing, tracking, and stalking as a hunter, she used her body with ease and moved with uncommon grace. The sleeveless leather tunic she wore, belted, over leather leggings fit comfortably, but did not hide her firm, full breasts, which could have seemed heavy but didn't, or her womanly hips that curved back to her well-rounded and firm rear. The laces at the bottom of her leggings were open and she was barefoot. Around her neck was a small, beautifully embroidered and decorated leather pouch, with crane feathers along the bottom, which showed the bumps of the mysterious objects it held. Hanging from the belt was a knife sheath made of stiff rawhide, the hide of an animal that had been cleaned and scraped but not processed in any way, so that it dried hard in whatever shape it was formed, though a good, thorough wetting could soften it again. She had tucked her sling into the right side of her belt, next to a pouch that held several stones. On the left side was a rather strange, pouchlike object. Though old and worn, it was obvious that it had been made from a whole otter skin, cured with the feet, tail, and head left on. The throat had been cut and the insides removed through the neck, then a cord was strung through slits and pulled tight to close. The flattened head became the flap. It was her medicine bag, the one she had brought with her fr010 the Clan, the one Iza had given her. She does not have the face of a Zeiandonii woman, Jondalar w3- thinking; they would notice a foreign look, but her beauty was unnii5' takable. Her large eyes were gray-blue—the color of fine flii11' thought—and wide-spaced, outlined with lashes a shade or two dar^ than her hair; her eyebrows were somewhat lighter, between the oy in color. Her face was heart-shaped, rather wide with high cheekboP^' jaw and a narrow chin. Her nose was straight and finely her full lips» curving up at the corners, were opened and If showing her teeth in a smile that lit up her eyes and her sheer pleasure in the very act of smiling. her smiles and laughter had once singled her out as differ- caused her to restrain them, Jondalar loved it when she and her delight in his laughter, joking, and playfulness magi- flsfonned the already pleasing arrangement of her features; she leyen more beautiful when she smiled. He suddenly felt over timed by the sight of her and his love for her, and silently thanked iMother again for giving her back to him. IWhat do you want me to give you for the raspberries?" Ayla said. |]1 me, and it's yours." il want you, Ayla," he said, his voice suddenly ragged with feeling. tput the basket down, and in an instant he had her in his arms, King her with fierce emotion. "I love you. I don't ever want to lose H," he said in a hoarse whisper, kissing her again. A. heady warmth rushed through her and she responded with a ling as strong. "I love you, too," she said, "and I want you, but can lush the meat away from the fire first? I don't want it to bum while >'re... busy." fondalar looked at her for a moment as though he hadn't understood | words; then he relaxed, gave her a hug, and backed off a step, iling ruefully. "I didn't mean to be so insistent. It's just that I love a so much, sometimes it's hard to hold. We can wait until later." She was still feeling her warm, tingling response to his ardor and Isn't sure she was ready to stop, now. She regretted, a little, her iunent that had interrupted the moment. "I don't have to put the tt away," she said. ondalar laughed. "Ayla, you are an unbelievable woman," he said, ing his head and smiling. "Do you have any idea how remarkable are? You're always ready for me, any time I want you. You always ; been. Not just willing to go along, whether you feel like it or not, right there, ready to interrupt anything, if that's what I want." 'ut, I want you, whenever you want me." fou don't know how unusual that is. Most women want some ing, and if they're in the middle of doing something, most are not ag to be interrupted." Tie women I grew up with were always ready whenever a man ;her the signal. You gave me your signal, you kissed me and let now you wanted me." laybe I'll be sorry I said this, but you can refuse, you know." His lead wrinkled with the effort of trying to explain. "I hope you don't think you have to be ready every time I am. You aren't livin with the Clan any more." - "You don't understand," Ayla said, shaking her head, trying just a hard to make him understand. "I don't think I have to be ready. When you give me your signal, I am ready. Maybe it's because that's how women of the Clan always behaved. Maybe it's because you were the one who taught me how wonderful it is to share Pleasures. Maybe it because I love you so much, but when you give me your signal, I don't think about it, I feel it inside. Your signal, your kiss that tells me you want me, makes me want you." He was smiling again, with relief and pleasure. "You make me ready, too. Just looking at you." He bent his head to her, and she reached up to him, molding herself against him as he pressed her tight. He restrained the impetuous eagerness he felt, though an extraneous feeling of pleasure that he could still feel so eager for her crossed his mind. Some women he'd tired of after a single experience, but with Ayla it always seemed new. He could feel her firm strong body against his, and her arms around his neck. He slid his hands forward and held the sides of her breasts as he bent farther to kiss the curve of her neck. Ayla removed her arms from around his neck and began to untie her belt, dropping it and all the implements attached to it to the ground. Jondalar reached under her tunic, lifting it as he found the round shapes with the hard, upright nipples. He lifted the tunic farther, exposing a dark pink areola surrounding the raised and sensitive node. Feeling the warm fullness in his hand, he touched the nipple with his tongue, then took it in his mouth and pulled in. Tingling strings of fire raced to the place deep within as a small moan of pleasure escaped her lips. She could hardly believe how ready she was. Like the dark red mammoth, she felt as though she had been waiting all day and could hardly wait another moment. A fleeting picture of the big russet bull, with his long, curved organ, flashed through her mind. Jondalar let go, and she took hold of the neck opening of her tunic and pulled it over her head in one smooth motion. He caught his breath at seeing her, caressed her smooth skin, and reached for both full breasts. He fondled one hard nipple, squeezing and rubbing, while he suckled and pulled and nibbled on the other. Ayla felt delightful shocks of excitement, and she closed her eyes 3s she gave herself up to them. When he stopped the delicious caressing and nuzzling, she kept her eyes closed, and soon she felt herself being kissed. She opened her mouth to admit a gently exploring tongue When she put her arms around his neck, she could feel the wrinkle5 ° his leather tunic against her still sensitive nipples. noved his hands over the smooth skin of her back and felt the ient of her firm muscles. Her immediate response had added to i ardor, and his hard, erect manhood strained against his cloth- woman!" he breathed. "How I want you." a ready for you." t let me get these off," he said. He unfastened his belt, then his tunic up his back and over his head. Ayla saw the straining caressed it, and then began untying his drawstring, while he id hers. They both stepped out of their leggings and reached for [her, standing close in a long, slow, sensuous kiss. Jondalar r scanned the clearing, looking for a place, but Ayla dropped to her hands and knees, then looked back up at him with a .smile. it fur may be yellow, and not light brown, but you are the one ie," she said. miled back and dropped down behind her. "And your hair isn't ed, it's the color of ripe hay, but it holds something that is, ling like a red flower with many petals. But I don't have a furry o reach you. I'll have to use something else," he said. pushed her forward slightly, separated her cheeks to expose her female opening, then bent down to taste her warm salt. He i his tongue forward and found her hard nodule buried deep in ds. She gasped and moved to give him easier access, while he id and nuzzled, then dipped deep into her inviting opening to id explore. He always loved to taste of her. l was moving on a wave of sensations, hardly aware of anything the hot pulses of feeling coursing through her. She was more sually sensitive, and every place he touched or kissed burned its rough her to the ultimate spot deep within that tingled with fire aming. She didn't hear her own breath coming faster, or the f pleasure she made, but Jondalar did. traightened up behind her, moved in closer, and found her deep ith his eager straining manhood. As he started penetrating, she back, pushing herself on him until she took all of him in. He »ut at her unbelievably warm welcome, then, holding her hips, back a ways. He reached around with his hand and found her tard node of pleasure and stroked it as she pushed back in. His on nearly found its peak. He pulled back once more and, sensing diness, stroked faster and harder, as he penetrated fully. She 'Ut her release, and his own voice cried out with hers. 1 ^s lying stretched out, face down in the grass, the pleasant weight of Jondalar on top of her, and felt his breath on the left side of her back. She opened her eyes and, without any desire to move watched an ant crawling on the ground around a single stem. She felt the man stir and then roll over, keeping his arm around her waist. "Jondalar, you are an unbelievable man. Do you have any idea how remarkable you are?" Ayla said. "Haven't I heard those words before? Seems to me I said them to you," he said. "But they're true for you. How do you know me so well? I get lost inside my own self, just feeling what you do to me." "I think you were ready." "That's true. It's always wonderful, but this time, I don't know. Maybe it was the mammoths. I've been thinking about that pretty red mammoth, and her wonderful big bull—and you—all day." "Well, maybe we'll have to play at being mammoths again," he said, with a big smile, as he rolled over on his back. Ayla sat up. "All right, but right now I'm going to go play in the river before it gets dark"—she bent down and kissed him and tasted herself on him—"after I check on the food." She ran to the fireplace, turned the bison roast again, took out the cooking stones and added a couple more from the dying fire that were still hot, put a few pieces of wood in the flames, and ran toward the river. It was cold when she splashed in, but she didn't mind. She was used to cold water. Jondalar soon joined her, carrying a large, soft buckskin hide. He put it down and entered more carefully, finally taking a deep breath and plunging in. He came up pushing his hair out of his eyes. "That's cold!" he said. She came up beside him and, with a mischievous smile, splashed him. He splashed her back, and a noisy water fight ensued. With one last splash, Ayla bounded out of the water, grabbed the soft hide, and began to dry herself. She handed it to Jondalar when he emerged from the river, then hurried back to the campsite and quickly dressed. She was ladling the soup into their personal bowls as Jondalar walked up from the river. .he last rays of the summer sun gleamed through the branches fe trees as it dropped over the edge of the high ground to the west. Joe at Jondalar with contentment, Ayla reached into her bowl for tet ripe raspberry and popped it in her mouth. Then she got up to | up and arrange things for a quick and easy departure in the l^- K gave Wolf the leftovers from their bowls and put cracked and led grains--the wild wheat, barley, and goosefoot seeds that Nez- |d given her when they left--into the warm soup and left it at the jofthe firepit. The cooked bison roast and tongue from their meal |put into a rawhide parfleche in which she stored food. She folded (urge envelope of stiff leather together, tied it with sturdy cords, luspended it from the center of a tripod of long poles, to keep it if the reach of night prowlers. lie tapering poles were made from whole trees, tall, thin, straight tiwith the branches and bark stripped off, and Ayla carried them |Bcial holders sticking up from the back of Whinney's two pack |ts, just as Jondalar carried the shorter tent poles. The lengthy | were also used on occasion to make a travois that could be |ed behind the horses to transport heavy or bulky loads. They ifce long wooden poles along with them because trees that would I suitable replacements were so rare on the open steppes. Even |ivers there was often little more than tangled brush. isthe twilight deepened, Jondalar added more wood to the fire, t the slab of ivory with the map scratched on it and brought it study it by the firelight. When Ayla finished and sat beside ; seemed distracted and had that look of anxious concern that rten noticed the past few days. She watched him for a while, Ut some stones in the fire to boil water for the evening tea it was Stom to make, but instead of the flavorful but innocuous herbs tterally used, she took some packets out of her otter-skin medi- ^ Something calming might be helpful, maybe feverfew or "ine root, in a woodruff tea, she thought, though she wished she knew what the problem was. She wanted to ask him but wasn't sure if she should. Finally she made a decision. "Jondalar, do you remember last winter when you weren't sure ho}v I felt, and I wasn't sure how you felt?" she said. He had been so deeply immersed in his thoughts that it took a few moments before he comprehended her question. "Of course I remem ber. You don't have any doubts how much I love you, do you? I don't have any doubts about your feelings for me." "No, I don't have any doubts about that, but misunderstandings can be about many things, not just if you love me, or if I love you, and I don't want to let anything like last winter ever happen again. I don't think I could stand to have any more problems just because we didn't talk about it. Before we left the Summer Meeting, you promised to tell me if anything was bothering you. Jondalar, something is bothering you, and I wish you would tell me what it is." "It's nothing, Ayla. Nothing you have to worry about." "But it's something you have to worry about? If something is wor rying you, don't you think I should know about it?" she said. She took two small tea holders, each woven out of split reeds into a fine mesh, out of a wicker container in which she kept various bowls and utensils. She paused for a moment, considering, then selected the dried leaves of feverfew and woodruff, added to chamomile for Jondalar, and just the chamomile for herself, and filled the tea holders. "If it concerns you, it must concern me, too. Aren't we traveling together?" "Well, yes, but I'm the one who made the decision, and I don't want to upset you unnecessarily," Jondalar said, getting up for the waterbag, which was hanging from a pole near the entrance to the tent that was set back a few paces from the fireplace. He poured a quantity of liquid into a small cooking bowl and added the hot stones. "I don't know if it's necessary or not, but you are already upsetting me. Why not tell me the reason?" She put the tea holders into their individual wooden cups, poured steaming water over them, and put them aside to steep. Jondalar picked up the marked piece of mammoth tusk and looked at it, wishing it would tell him what lay ahead and whether he was making the right decision. When it was just his brother and him, ll didn't matter too much. They were on a Journey, an adventure, and whatever came along was part of it. He wasn't sure, then, if they would ever return; he wasn't even sure if he wanted to. The woman he was forbidden to love had chosen a path that led even farther away, 311" the one he was expected to mate was... just not the one he wanted. But this Journey was different. This time, he was with a woman b® loved more than life itself. He not only wanted to get back home, but • I fQ get her there, and safely. The more he thought about the dancers they might encounter along the way, the more he d even greater ones, but his vague worries were not something »1 easily explain. tf-iust worried about how long this Journey will take. We need to bat glacier before the end of winter," he said. i told me that before," she said. "But why? What will happen if ft reach it by then?" she asked. ; ice starts to melt in spring and it becomes too dangerous to C a crossing." 1 if it's too dangerous, then we won't attempt it. But if we can't what do we do then?" she asked, pushing him to think about irives he had avoided thinking about. "Is there any other way to l not sure. The ice we have to cross is just a small plateau glacier Ion a highland north of the great mountains. There is land to the I of it, but no one ever goes that way. It would take us even more four way, and it's cold. They say the northern ice is closer there, IS south in that region. The land between the high mountains of ibuth and the great ice of the north is the coldest anywhere. It prgets warm, not even in summer," Jondalar said. Kit isn't it cold on that glacier you want to cross?" (&f course, it's cold on the glacier, too, but it's a shorter way, and be other side it's only a few days to Dalanar's Cave." Jondalar put fs. the map to take the cup of hot tea Ayla was handing him, and Hared into the steaming contents for a while. "I suppose we could < northern route around the highland glacier, if we had to, but I W not want to. That's flathead country, anyway," Jondalar tried Xplain. ^t»u mean people of the Clan live north of that glacier we're sup- id to cross?" Ayla asked, stopping just as she was taking the tea w out of her cup. She was feeling a strange mixture of dread and iBftment. pi sorry. I guess I should call them Clan people, but they are not Onae as the ones you knew. They live very far from here, you ad not believe how far. They are not the same at all." |"t they are, Jondalar," Ayla said, then took a sip of the hot, j'fal liquid. "Maybe their everyday language and ways might be a 'lifferent, but all Clan people have the same memories, at least der memories. Even at the Clan Gathering, everyone knew the 't sign language that is used to address the spirit world, and spoke a other with it," Ayla said. Ut they don't want us in their territory," Jondalar said. "They already let us know that when Thonolan and I happened to be on the wrong side of the river." "I'm sure that's true. People of the Clan don't like to be around the Others. So, if we can't cross the glacier when we get there, and we can't go around it, then what do we do?" Ayla asked, going back to the original problem. "Can't we wait until the glacier is safe to cross again?" "Yes. I suppose we'd have to, but it might be almost a year until the next winter." "But if we waited a year, then we could make it? Is there a place we could wait?" "Well, yes, there are people we could stay with. The Losadunai have always been friendly. But I want to get home, Ayla," he said with a tone of such anguish that it made her realize pst how important it was to him. "I want us to get settled." "I want to get settled, too, Jondalar, and I think we should do everything we can to try to get there while it's still safe to cross the glacier. But if it's too late, it doesn't mean we won't get back to your home. It only means a longer wait. And we would still be together." "That's true," Jondalar said, acquiescing but not happy. "I guess it wouldn't be so bad if we did get there late, but I don't want to wait around for a whole year," he said, and then his frown tightened. "And maybe if we went the other way, we would get there in time. It's still not too late." "There is another way to go?" "Yes, Talut told me we could go around the north end of the mountain range we'll be coming to. And Rutan of Feather Grass Camp said the route was northwest of here. I've been thinking that maybe we should go that way, but I had hoped to see the Sharamudoi once more. If I don't see them now, I'm afraid I never will, and they live around the south end of the mountains, along the Great Mother River," Jondalar explained. Ayla nodded, thinking. Now I understand. "The Sharamudoi are the people you lived with for a while; your brother mated a woman 01 those people, right?" "Yes, they are like family to me." "Then of course we must go south so you can visit them one la51 time. They are people you love. If it means we may not get to the glacier in time, then we'll wait until the next season for crossing. E^ if it means waiting another year before we reach your home, don't y011 think it would be worth it to see your other family again? If part of the reason you want to go home is to tell your mother about your brothe1'' roll think the Sharamudoi would like to know what happened to J- were his family, too." frowned, then brightened. "You're right, Ayla. They at to know about Thonolan. I've been so worried about made the right decision, I just didn't think it through." He relief. idalar watched the flames dancing over the blackened sticks of leaping and cavorting in their short-lived joy as they beat back icroaching dark. He sipped his tea, still thinking about the long ey ahead of them, but he didn't feel quite as anxious about it. He d over at Ayla. "It was a good idea to talk it over. I guess I'm still sed to having someone around that I can talk to about... things. I think we can make it in time or I wouldn't have decided to go fsy in the first place. It will make a longer trip, but at least I know oute. I don't know the northern way." hink you made the right decision, Jondalar. If I could, if I hadn't cursed with death, I would visit Brun's clan," Ayla said, then 1, so low that he could hardly hear her, "If I could, if I only , I would go to see Durc one last time." The forlorn, empty sound " voice made him aware that she was feeling her loss acutely just o you want to try to find him, Ayla?" is, of course I want to, but I can't. It would only cause everyone ss. I was cursed. If they saw me they would think I was an evil , I am dead to them, and there isn't anything I could do or say would convince them that I am alive." Ayla's eyes seemed to be ig far away, but they were seeing an inner vision, a memory. ;sides, Durc isn't the baby I left behind. He is getting close to ood, though I was late in reaching womanhood, for a woman of lan. He is my son, and he may lag behind the other boys, too. aon Ura will be coming to live with Brun's clan--no, it's Broud's now," Ayla said, frowning. "This is the summer of the Clan iring, so this fall Ura will leave her clan and go to live with Brun ^bra, and when they are both old enough, she will be Durc's " She paused, then added, "I wish I could be there to welcome )ut I would only scare her, and maybe make her think Durc is ky, if the spirit of his strange mother won't stay where she be- in the other world." 'e you sure, Ayla? I mean it, we'll take the time to look for them, want," Jondalar said. 'en if I wanted to find him," she said, "I wouldn't know where to I don't know where their new cave is, and I don't know where the Clan Gathering is. It is not meant for me to see Durc. He is not my son any more. I gave him to Uba. He is Uba's son now." Ayla looked up atjondalar. He noticed that tears were threatening. "I knew when Rydag died I would never see Durc again. I buried Rydag in Durc's carrying cloak, the one I took with me when I left the Clan and in my heart, I buried Durc at the same time. I know I will never see Durc again. I am dead to him, and it's best if he is dead to me." The tears were wetting her cheeks, though she seemed oblivious to them, as though she didn't know they had begun. "I'm really lucky you know. Think of Nezzie. Rydag was a son to her, she nursed him even if she didn't give birth to him, and she knew she would lose him. She even knew that no matter how long he lived, he would never have a normal life. Other mothers who lose their sons can only imagine them in another world, living with spirits, but I can imagine Durc here, always safe, always lucky, always happy. I can think of him living with Ura, having children at his hearth... even if I will never see them." The sob in her voice finally opened the way to let her grief out. Jondalar took her in his arms and held her. Thinking of Rydag made him sad, too. There was nothing anyone could have done for him, though everyone knew Ayla had tried. He was a weak child. Nezzie said he always had been. But Ayla had given him something no one else could. After she came and started teaching him, and the rest of the Lion Camp, to talk the way the Clan did, with hand signs, he was happier than he had ever been. It was the first time in all his young life that he had been able to communicate with the people he loved. He could let his needs and wishes be known, and he could let people know how he felt, especially Nezzie, who had taken care of him since his real mother died, at his birth. He could finally tell her that he loved her. It had been a surprise to the members of the Lion Camp, but once they realized that he wasn't just a rather clever animal, without the ability to speak, but instead, a different kind of person, with a different kind of language, they began to understand that he was intelligent, and to accept him as a person. It had been no less a surprise to Jondalar, even though she had tried to tell him, after he began to teach her to speak with words again. He had learned the signs along with the oW ers, and he had come to appreciate the gentle humor and the depth o understanding in the young boy from the ancient race. Jondalar held the woman he loved as she heaved great sobs in the release of her sorrow. He knew Ayla had held back her grief over to death of the half-Clan child that Nezzie had adopted, who had w- minded her so much of her own son, and understood she was grieviDg for that son as well. g it was more than Rydag or Durc. Ayla was grieving for all her the ones from long ago, her loved ones from the Clan, and 's of the Clan itself. Brim's clan had been her family, Iza and raised her, cared for her, and in spite of her difference, there time when she thought of herself as Clan. Though she had to leave with Jondalar because she loved him and wanted to be their talk had made her realize how far away he lived; it he a year, maybe two years just to travel there. The full idine of what that meant had finally come to her; she would nvijrn. "was not only giving up her new life with the Mamutoi, who had td her a place among them, she was giving up any faint hope she (t have had of seeing the people of her clan again, or the son she feft with them. She had lived with her old sorrows long enough so (they had eased a little, but Rydag had died not long before they lie Summer Meeting, and his death was still too fresh, the grief too raw. The pain of it had brought back the pain of her other S, and the realization of the distance she would be putting between (had brought the knowledge that the hope of recovering that part STpast would have to die, too. yla had already lost her early life; she had no idea who her real ter was, or who her people were, the ones she had been born to. Spt for faint recollections--feelings more than anything--she could lemember anything before the time of the earthquake, or any 9e before the Clan. But the Clan had banished her; Broud had put snrse of death upon her. To them she was dead and now she came »e full understanding that she had lost that part of her life when |torned her out. From this time on, she would never know where |»me from, she would never meet a childhood friend, she would |;lmow anyone, not even Jondalar, who would comprehend the pwind that made her who she was. to accepted the loss of her past, except that which lived in her [and in her heart, but she grieved for it, and she wondered what 'd when she reached the end of her Journey. Whatever awaited atever his people were like, she would have nothing else; only '3ries... and the future. i the wooded glade it was completely black. Not the faintest a silhouette or darker shadow could be discerned against the ttding background, except for a faint redness from the lingering i the fireplace, and the blazing epiphany of stars. With only a ^breeze penetrating the protected grove, they had moved their ^e furs outside the tent. Ayla lay awake under the starlit sky, staring up at the patterns of constellations and listening to the niphr sounds: the wind sifting through the trees, the soft liquid running nf the river, the chirk of crickets, the harsh harumph of a bullfrog. Sh heard a loud plunk and splashing, then the eerie who-iohoing of an ow] and in the distance, the deep roar of a lion and the loud trumpet of a mammoth. Earlier Wolf had quivered with excitement at the sound of wolf howls and then run off. Not long afterward she heard wolf song again and an answering howl much closer. The woman was waiting for the animal to return. When she heard his panting breath--he must have been running, she thought--and felt him snuggle up to her feet, she relaxed. She had just dozed off when she suddenly found herself wide awake. Alert and tense, she lay still, trying to discover what woke her. First she felt the rumbling, almost silent growl vibrating through her coverings from the warm spot at her feet. Then she heard faint snufflings. Something was in camp with them. "Jondalar?" she said softly. "I think the meat is drawing something. It could be a bear, but I think it's more likely to be a wolverine or a hyena," Jondalar replied, his whisper barely audible. "What should we do? I don't want anything to get our meat." "Nothing, yet. Whatever it is may not be able to reach it. Let's -- » wait. But Wolf knew exactly what was nosing around and had no intention of waiting. Wherever they set up camp, he denned it as his territory and took it upon himself to defend it. Ayla felt him leave, and an instant later heard him snarl menacingly. The growling response had an entirely different tone and seemed to come from higher up. Ayla sat up and reached for her sling, but Jondalar was already on his feet with the long shaft of a spear resting on his spear-thrower in readiness. "It's a bear!" he said. "I think he's up on his hind legs, but I can't see a thing." They heard movement, shuffling sounds from somewhere between the fireplace and the poles from which the meat was suspended, then the growling warnings of the animals facing off. Suddenly, from the other side, Whinney neighed, then, even louder. Racer voiced his nervousness. There were more sounds of movement in the dark, and then Ayla heard the particular excited deep snarling rumble that signaled Wolfs intention to attack. "Wolf!" Ayla called out, trying to prevent the dangerous encounter' Suddenly, amid vicious snarls, a sonorous bellow rang out, then a I. .of pai" as a scattering of bright sparks flew around a large shape bline into the fireplace. Ayla heard the whistle of an object mov- ipidly through the air nearby. A solid thunk was followed by a and then the noise of something crashing through the trees, ng away fast. Ayla whistled the call she used for Wolf. She did rant him to follow. e knelt down to hug the young wolf with relief when he came to while Jondalar built up the fire again. In the firelight, he saw a yf blood left behind by the retreating animal. was sure my spear had found that bear," the man said, "but I In't see where it hit. I'd better track it in the morning. A wounded ;can be dangerous, and we don't know who will be using this site next." 'la came to examine the trail. "I think it's losing a lot of blood. It not go far," she said, "but I was worried about Wolf. That was a nimal. It could have hurt him." m not sure if Wolf should have attacked like that. He could have id that bear to go after someone else, but it was a brave thing to and I'm glad to know he's so quick to protect you. I wonder what |do if anyone ever really tried to hurt you," Jondalar said. | don't know, but Whinney and Racer were anxious about that 11 think I'll see how they are." mdalar wanted to check on them, too. They found the horses had led in close to the fire. Whinney had learned long ago that the fire k by people usually meant security, and Racer was learning from Own experience, as well as from his dam. They seemed to relax | the comforting words and touches of the people they trusted, but fcfelt uneasy and knew she'd have trouble going back to sleep. She (Bed to make herself some calming tea and went into the tent to get ^tter-skin medicine bag. Rule the cooking stones were heating, she stroked the fur of the ft bag, remembering when Iza gave it to her and recalling her life Jl the Clan, especially the last day. Why did Creb have to go back |Jhe cave? she thought. He might still be alive, even though he was Ittg old and weak. But he wasn't weak during that last ceremony |%ht before, when he made Goov the new Mog-ur. He was strong JN The Mog-ur, just like before. Goov will never be as powerfiil as .>dalar noticed her pensive mood. He thought she was still think- ff"°ut the child who had died and the son she would never see .»:» and he didn't quite know what to say. He wanted to help but want to intrude. They were sitting together close to the fire, ^ sipping, the tea, when Ayla happened to look up at the sky. She caught her breath. "Look, Jondalar," she said. "In the sky. It's red, like a fire, but high up and far away. What is it?" "Ice Fire!" he said. "That's what we call it when it's red like that, or sometimes Fires of the North." They watched the luminous display for a while as the northern lights arced across the sky like gossamer drapes blowing in a cosmic wind. "It has white bands in it," Ayla said, "and it's moving, like streaks of smoke, or white chalky water rippling through it. And other colors too." "Star Smoke," Jondalar said. "That's what some people call it, or Star Clouds when it's white. It has different names. Most people know what you mean when you use any name like that." "Why haven't I seen this light in the sky before, I wonder?" Ayla said, feeling awe, and a touch of fear. "Maybe you lived too far south. That's why it is also called Fires of the North. I haven't seen it very often and never this strong, or this red, but people who have made northern Journeys claim the farther north you go, the more you see it." "But you can only go as far north as the wall of ice." "You can travel north beyond the ice, if you go by water. West of the place where I was born, several days' distance, depending on the season, the land comes to an end at the edge of the Great Waters. It is very salty, and it never freezes, although large chunks of ice are some times seen. They say some people have traveled beyond the wall of ice in boats, when they are hunting animals that live in the water," Jon dalar said. "You mean like the bowl boats the Mamutoi used to cross rivers?" "Like them, I think, but bigger and stronger. I never saw them, and I wasn't sure if I believed the stories until I met the Sharamudoi and saw the boats they make. Many trees grow along the Mother River, near their Camp, big trees. They make boats out of them. Wait until you meet them. You won't believe it, Ayla. They don't just cross the river, they travel on it, both upstream and downstream in those boats. Ayla noticed his enthusiasm. He was really looking forward to j seeing them again, now that he had resolved his dilemma. But she w^ not thinking about meeting Jondalar's other people. The strange lig11 in the sky worried her. She wasn't sure why, exactly. It was unnerving and she wished she understood what it meant, but it didn't fill ne with fear the way earthly disturbances did. She was terrified of a^ movements of the earth, especially earthquakes, not just because the r of what should be solid earth was frightening in itself, but [ (.ugy had always signaled drastic, wrenching change in her life. thquake had torn her away from her own people and given Idhood that was alien to everything she had known, and an he had led to her ostracism from the Clan, or at least given l excuse for it. Even the volcanic eruption far to the southeast showered them with fine, powdered ash seemed to have pre- a- leaving the Mamutoi, though the choice had been hers and id on her. But she didn't know what signs from the sky meant, t if this was a sign. > would think a sky like this was a sign of something, I'm sure," id. "He was the most powerful mog-ur of all the clans, and ne like this would make him want to meditate until he under- hat it meant. I think Mamut would think it was a sign, too. Edo you think, Jondalar? Is it a sign of something? Maybe of thing... not good?" |y.. I don't know, Ayla." He was hesitant to tell her the beliefs | people that when the northern lights were red, it was often Hered a warning, but not always. Sometimes it just presaged thing important. "I'm not One Who Serves the Mother. It could |ign of something good." |lt this Ice Fire is a powerful sign of something, isn't it?" Equally. At least most people think so." Ha mixed a little columbine root and wormwood into her chamo- fepa, making a somewhat more than mildly calming drink for her- |lut she was uneasy after the bear in their camp and the strange 'in the sky. Even with the sedative, Ayla felt as though sleep was RPg her. She tried every position to fall asleep, first on her side, |er back, then the other side, even her stomach, and she was sure Rising and turning was bothering Jondalar. When she finally did f, her sleep was disturbed by vivid dreams. 'yy roar shattered the silence, and the watching people jumped back The huge cave bear pushed at the gate to the cage and sent it crashing wind. The maddened bear was loose! Broud was standing on his two other men were clinging to his fur. Suddenly one was in the sanimal's grip, but his agonized scream was cut short when a powerful 'snapped his spine. The mog-urs picked up the body and, with solemn ^carried it into a cave. Creb, in his bearskin cloak, hobbled in the lead. ^ftared at a white liquid sloshing in a cracked wooden bowl. The liquid wwod red, and thickened, as white, luminous bands moved in slow ripples » tt- She felt an anxious worry, she had done something wrong. There wasn't supposed to be any liquid left in the bowl. She held it to her lips a^ drained it. Her perspective changed, the white light was inside her, and she seemed to he growing larger and looking down from high above at stars blazing a path. The stars changed to small flickering lights leading through a long endless cave. Then a red light at the end grew large, filling her vision, and with a sinkinp sickening feeling, she saw the mog-urs sitting in a circle, half-hidden by stalao. mite pillars. She was sinking deeper into a black abyss, petrified with fear. Suddenly Creh was there with the glowing light inside her, helping her, supporting her, easino her fears. He guided her on a strange trip back to their mutual beginnings through salt water and painful gulps of air, loamy earth and high trees. Then they were on the ground, walking upright on two legs, walking a great distance going west toward a great salty sea. They came to a steep wall that faced a river and a flat plain, with a deep recess under a large overhanging section; it was the cave of an ancient ancestor of his. But as they approached the cave, Creb began fading, leaving her. The scene grew hazy, Creb was fading faster, was nearly gone, and she felt panicky. "Creb! Don't go, please don't go!" she called out. She scanned the landscape, searching desperately for him. Then she saw him at the top of the cliff, above his ancestor's cave, near a large boulder, a long, slightly flattened column of rock that tilted over the edge, as though frozen in place as it was about to fall. She called out again, but he had faded into the rock. Aylafelt desolate; Creb was gone and she was alone, aching with sorrow, wishing she had something of his to remember, something to touch, to hold, but all she had was an overwhelming sorrow. Suddenly she was running, running as fast as she could; she had to get away, she had to get away. "Ayla! Ayla! Wake up!"Jondalar said, shaking her. "Jondalar," she said, sitting up. Then, still feeling the desolation, she clung to him, as tears fell. "He's gone... Oh, Jondalar." "It's all right," he said, holding her. "It must have been a terrible dream. You were shouting and crying. Do you think it would help if you told me?" "It was Creb. I dreamt about Creb, and that time at the Clan Gathering when I went into the cave and those strange things happened. For a long time afterward, he was very upset with me. Then, just as we were finally getting back together, he died, before we could even talk very much. He told me Durc was the son of the Clan. I never w35 sure what he meant. There was so much I wish we could have talked about, so much I wish I could ask him now. Some people just though1 of him as the powerful Mog-ur, and his missing eye and arm made hin1 r " ^ more frightening. But they didn't know him. Creb was kind. He understood the spirit world, but he understood If I wanted to talk to him in my dream, and I think he was (talk to me." ie he was. I never could understand dreams," Jondalar said. ifeeling better?" right now," Ayla said, "but I wish I knew more about : think you should go looking for that bear alone," Ayla said kfast. "You're the one who said a wounded bear could be -j." ; watchful." |«o with you, both of us can be watchful, and staying at the (fe won't be any safer. The bear could come back while you're 1-" jt's true. All right, come along." jteStarted into the woods, following the bear's trail. Wolf decided c the bear and plunged ahead through the underbrush, heading an. They had traveled less than a mile when they heard a com- I ahead, snarls and growls. Hurrying ahead, they found Wolf, ries raised, a low growl deep in his throat, but holding his head Id his tail between his legs, staying well back from a small pack |ves who were standing guard over the dark brown carcass of the Cieast we don't have to worry about a dangerous wounded bear," jsad, holding her spear and thrower ready. |E a pack of dangerous wolves." He was also standing braced to Its spear. "Did you want some bear meat?" W,we have enough meat. I don't have room for more. Let's leave till-to them." |0n't care about the meat, but I wouldn't mind having the claws f»P big teeth," Jondalar said. |iy don't you take them? They are yours by right. You killed the that's true," Ayla conceded. "A smile makes you feel happy." VVt least relieved. If you've met a stranger and he smiles back at (hat usually means you've been welcomed, so you know where tand. Not all smiles are necessarily meant to make you happy." ybe feeling relieved is the beginning of feeling happy," Ayla fhey rode together in silence for a while; then the woman contin- fl think there is something similar about a person smiling in Bg when he is feeling nervous around strangers, and people of »n having a gesture in their language of showing their teeth that ((.they're nervous or implying a threat. And when Wolf shows his Go dangers, he's threatening them because he's feeling nervous totective." ten when he shows his teeth to us, to his own pack, it's his smile," sal^. "There are times when I'm convinced he's smiling, and I know he teases you. I'm sure he loves you, too, but the trouble ' it's natural for him to show his teeth and threaten people he doesn''1 know. If he's protecting you, how are you going to train him to sta where you tell him, if you're not there? How can you teach him not t attack strangers if he decides he wants to?" Jondalar's concern w serious. He wasn't sure that taking the animal with them was such good idea. Wolf could create a lot of problems. "Remember, wolvw attack to get their food; that's the way the Mother made them. Wolfic a hunter. You can teach him many things, but how can you teach a hunter not to be a hunter? Not to attack strangers?" "You were a stranger when you came to my valley, Jondalar. Do you remember when Baby came back to visit me and found you there'" Ay la asked, as they again separated into single file to start up a gully leading away from the river toward the highland. Jondalar felt a flush of heat, not exactly embarrassment, but a recollection of the strong emotions of that encounter. He had never been so scared in his life; he had been sure he was going to die. It took some time to pick their way up the shallow ravine, around rocks that washed down during spring floods, and black-stemmed ar- temisia brush that burst into life when the rains came and retreated into dry stalks that appeared dead when they stopped. He thought about the time Baby came back to the place where Ayla had raised him and found a stranger on the broad ledge in front of her small cave. None of them were small, but Baby was the biggest cave lion he'd ever seen, nearly as tall as Whinney, and more massive. Jondalar was still recovering from the mauling that same lion, or his mate, had given him earlier when he and his brother had foolishly broached their den. It was the last thing Thonolan was ever to do. Jondalar was sure he was seeing his last moments when the cave lion roared and gathered himself to spring. Suddenly Ayla was between them, holding up her hand in a motion to stop, and the lion stopped! It would have been comical the way that huge beast pulled himself up short and twisted around co avoid her, if he hadn't been so petrified. The next thing he knew, she was scratching the gigantic cat and playing with him. "Yes, I remember," he said, when they reached the highland and again rode side by side. "I still don't know how you made him stop ii1 the middle of that attack on me." "When Baby was just a cub, he made a game of attacking me, but when he started to grow, he got too big for me to play that kind or game with him. He was too rough. I had to teach him to stop," Ay^ explained. "Now I have to teach Wolf not to attack strangers, and to stay behind if I want him to. Not only so he won't hurt people, but so they won't hurt him." ie can teach him, Ayla, you can," Jondalar said. She had --)int and if she could, it would make Wolf easier to travel he still wondered how much trouble the wolf might cause had delayed their crossing the river and chewed up their ffh Ayla had apparently worked out that problem, too. It he didn't like the animal. He did. It was fascinating to [>lf so closely, and it surprised him how friendly and affec- F was, but he did require extra time, attention, and proving- horses took some extra care, but Racer was so responsive to ley were a real help. The trip back was going to be difficult icy didn't need the added burden of an animal that was t; /. ri-i pyomsome as a child. I, that would be a problem, Jondalar thought as he rode. I lithe Great Earth Mother doesn't give Ayla a child before we fff we were already there and settled, it would be different. |-could think about children. Not that we can do anything (anyway, except ask the Mother. I wonder what it would be e a small one around? Ayla is right? What if children are started by Pleasures? But i together for some time, and there are no signs of children to be Doni who puts the baby inside a woman, but what if r decides not to give Ayla a child? She did have one, even if ed. Once Doni gives one, She usually gives more. Maybe I wonder, can Ayla have a baby that would come from my 'an any woman? tared Pleasures and honored Doni with many. Did any of them (W a baby that I started? How does a man know? Ranee knew. |bring was so strong, and his features so unusual, you could see teace in some of the children at the Summer Meeting. I don't ttch strong coloring or features... or do I? »t about that time the Hadumai hunters stopped us on the way That old Haduma wanted Noria to have a baby with blue eyes Be, and after her First Rites, Noria told me she would have a -toy spirit, with my blue eyes. Haduma had told her. I wonder Wtt had that baby? ns, up to twice the size of their later southern descendants, the young and old of even the largest grazers, though a woolly >th in its prime had little to fear. The usual choice of the great re the huge bison, aurochs, and deer, while packs of oversize wolves, and dholes selected from more middle-size game. ivided the plentiful prey with lynxes, leopards, and small wild- itrous cave bears, essentially vegetarian and only limited , were twice the weight of the smaller brown or black bears, illso preferred an omnivorous diet that often included grass, the white bear of the icy coasts subsisted on meat from the sea. i wolverines and steppe polecats took their toll of smaller ani- acluding the vast number and variety of rodents, as did the I sables, weasels, otters, ferrets, martens, minks, and stoats that ermines in snow. Some foxes also turned white, or the rich iled blue, to match the winter scenery and hunt in stealth. and golden eagles, falcons, hawks, crows, and owls snatched acting, or unlucky, small prey on the wing, while vultures and ites cleaned up the leavings of others on the ground. ^reat diversity and size of the animals that lived on those ancient | and their bonus of exaggerated and richly enhanced appen- hd supplementary growths, could only be sustained by an en- vironment of exceptional quality. Yet it was a frigid, sere, demand; I land surrounded by mountain-high barriers of ice and bleak oceans ^s frozen water. It seemed a contradiction that such a harsh environm could provide the richness that was necessary for the lavish growth nt the animals but, in fact, the environment was entirely right for it. tl^ cold, dry climate fostered the growth of grass and inhibited the grort> of trees. Trees, such as oaks or spruces, are luxuriant growths, but they tak a long time and ample moisture to mature. Woodlands may feed and support a range of other plants and animals, but trees need resource. to maintain themselves, and they do not encourage the development of multitudes of large animals. A few animals may eat nuts or fruits and others may browse leaves, or even twig tips from a tree, but bark and wood are largely inedible, and grow back slowly once destroyed. The same energy and soil nutrients put into an equal weight of grass will feed many, many more, and the grass will constantly renew itself. A forest may be the quintessential example of rich, productive vegetabk life, but it was grass that gave rise to the extraordinary and abundant animal life, and it was the complex grassland that supported and maintained it. Ay la was feeling uncomfortable, but she wasn't sure why. It was nothing specific, just a strange, edgy feeling. Before they started down the high hill, they had watched storm clouds gathering over the mountains to the west, seen flashes of sheet lightning, and heard distant rolling thunder. The sky above, however, was a clear, deep blue, with the sun still high, though past the zenith. It was unlikely to rain nearby, but she didn't like thunder. The deep rolling roar always reminded her of earthquakes. Maybe it's just that my moon time should start in a day or two, Aytt thought, trying to dismiss the feeling. I had better keep my leather straps handy, and the mouflon wool Nezzie gave me. She told me it was the best padding to use when traveling, and she was right. Tut blood washes right out in cold water. Ay la had not seen onagers before, and with her thoughts turned inward, she wasn't paying attention as they proceeded down the slope- She thought the animals she saw in the distance were horses. Butwn they got closer, she began to notice differences. They were ^S?"' smaller, their ears were longer, and their tails were not a flowingtr^ of many hair strands, but a shorter, thin shaft covered with the sa"" ^ kind of hair that was on their bodies, with a darker tuft at the e0^ Both kinds of animals had erect manes, but the onagers' were o10 j "he coats of the animals in the small herd were a light reddish their backs and sides, and a much paler, almost white color- neath, even on their legs and muzzles, but they had a dark ttg their backbones, plus another across their shoulders, and nds of the darker shade on their legs. ung woman compared them with the general coloring of the hough her dun coat was a shade lighter than average, with a en yellow tone, most steppe horses were a similar neutral rown shade and generally resembled Whinney. Racer's deep lor was unusual for his breed. The mare's stiff thick mane k gray» ai^d the color extended down the middle of her back g, loose tail. Her lower legs were dark, too, almost black, and it, only the bare suggestion of stripes showed on her upper bay stallion's color was too dark to show the black feral stripe iown his backbone very well, but his black mane, tail, and ved the typical pattern. icone who was knowledgeable about horses, the body confor- ' the animals ahead was somewhat different, as well, yet they to be horses. Ayla noticed that even Whinney showed more ian she usually did at the sight of other animals, and the herd >ed grazing and was watching them. Wolf was interested, too, issumed a stalking posture, ready to take out after them, but taled him to stay. She wanted to observe them. One of the uddenly voiced a sound and the woman noticed another dif- It wasn't a neigh, or a whinny, but rather a more strident ound. tossed his head and neighed an answer, then gingerly his head forward to sniff at a large pile of fresh dung. It id smelled like horse dung to Ayla, when she rode up along- alar. Whinney nickered and sniffed the pile, too, and as the :ed up to her a while longer, Ayla thought she detected a faint rent of something else, perhaps from somewhat different food es. lose horses?" she asked. xacdy. They're like horses, the way elk are like reindeer, or 'e like megaceroses. They're called onagers," Jondalar ex- der why I haven't seen them before." t know, but they do seem to like this kind of country," he "ung his head in a gesture that indicated the rocky hills and gelation of the arid, semidesert upland plains they were riding Onagers were not a cross between horses and asses, though they appeared to be, rather a unique and viable species, with characteristics of both, and extremely hardy. They could subsiw even coarser food than horses, including bark, leaves, and roots When they got closer to the herd, Ayla noticed a pair of younp and couldn't help smiling. They reminded her of Whinney when was young. Just when the wolf yelped to get her attention. "All right, Wolf. If you want to chase those... onagers"—she c. the unfamiliar word slowly, getting used to the sound—"go ahea She was pleased with the progress she was making in training him \softline he didn't like staying in one place for long. He was still too full puppy ish enthusiasm and curiosity. Wolf yelped and bounded af the herd. With a startled burst, they raced away with a sustained six that soon left the young, would-be hunter behind. He caught up w Ayla and Jondalar as they were approaching a broad valley. Though the valleys of rivers carrying the silt of slowly erodi mountains still cut across their path, the land was falling off gradua toward the basin of the Great Mother River delta and Beran Sea. they were traveling south, the summer was deepening, and wai winds caused by the passage of atmospheric depressions across the; added to the increasing temperatures of the season, and to wead disturbances. The two travelers no longer wore outer clothes, not even when th first got up. Ayla thought the cool, crisp air of early morning was t best time of the day. But the late afternoon was hot, hotter than usu she thought, wishing for a nice cool stream to swim in. She glanced the man riding a few paces ahead. He was bare to the waist, and bai legged, wearing only a loincloth. His long blond hair, pulled backil a thong at the nape of his neck, had lighter streaks from the sun, a was darker where the sweat had made it wet. She caught glimpses of his clean-shaven face and liked being able see his strong )aw and well-defined chin, though she still had a residi feeling that it was odd to see a grown man without a beard. He h explained to her once that he liked to let his beard grow in winter, warm his face, but he always cut it off in summer, because it w cooler. He used a special sharp flint blade, one that he knapped huns and replaced when needed, to shave himself every morning. Ayla, too, had stripped down to a short garment, patterned a" Jondalar's loincloth. Both were basically a length of soft leather,w, between the legs, and held on with a cord around the waist- .. Aa ill garment was worn with the loose end at the back tucked insid6' the one in front left out in a short flap. Hers was also held on , cord around the waist, but she started with a longer piece, ^ »th loose ends out, pulled together at the sides, to hang down t of apron in front and back. The effect was of a short skirt the sides. With the soft porous leather to sit on, riding for long on the back of a sweaty horse was more comfortable, though (skin across the animal's back helped, too. Jar had used the high hill to check their location. He was with their progress, which made him feel easier about the , Ayla noticed that he seemed more relaxed. Part of it, she yas his increasing skill in managing the young stallion. Though ridden the animal frequently before, traveling on horseback n the constant association that developed an understanding of character, preferences, and habits, and allowed the horse to ?. Even his muscles had learned to adjust to the animal's motion seat was more comfortable, both for him and the stallion. ^yla thought his easy, relaxed riding indicated more than facility on horseback. There was less tension in his movements, sensed that his concern had diminished. Though she couldn't face, she guessed that his frown of worry would be gone, and might be in a mood for smiling. She loved it when he smiled playful. She watched the way his muscles moved beneath his skin as he matched Racer's gait with a gentle up-and-down and she felt a glow of warmth that was not from the tempera- . and smiled to herself. She loved watching him. ird the west, they could still see the mountains rising up purple istance, capped by glistening white that pierced the dark clouds below. They seldom saw the icy peaks, and Jondalar was j the rare pleasure. Most often they were hidden by low misty hat clung like soft white furs cloaking a sparkling secret, open- enough to reveal tempting glimpses and make them more de- 'as feeling warm, too, and wished they were closer to those j>ped mountaintops, at least as close as the Sharamudoi lodges. an he noticed the glint of water in the valley below and glanced ky to check the position of the sun, though it was earlier than ie decided they might as well stop and make camp. They were good time, traveling faster than he had estimated, and he didn't yv long it would take to reach the next source of water. slope supported a rich growth of grass, primarily feather |fescues, and herbs mixed with varieties of quick-seeding anses. The thick loess subsoil, which supported a black fertile lit was high in the humus of decaying plantlife, even encour- |es, which, except for the occasional scrub pine struggling for so subsoil water, were unusual for the steppes in this vicinity. An mixed woods of birch and larch, conifers that dropped their needli'iL winter, marched downhill with them, with alder and willow fillin iS lower down. At the bottom of the slope, where the land leveled some distance from the gurgling stream, Ayla was surprised to see occasional dwarfed oak, beech, or linden in some of the open olac,? She had not seen many large-leaf trees since she left the cave of Bm.' clan, on the well-watered southern end of the peninsula that jutted inn. Beran Sea. The small river weaved its way around brush as it meandered acn» the level valley floor, but one loop edged close to some tall, thin willow that were an extension of the more thickly forested slope of the oth» side. They usually liked to cross a river before making camp, so the» wouldn't have to get wet when they started in the morning, and the» decided to camp near the willows. They rode downstream, looking f» a place to cross, and found a wide, stony, fordable crossing, then rode back. While they were setting up the tent, Jondalar found himself watch. ing Ayla, conscious of her warm, tanned body, and thinking how lucky he was. Not only was she beautiful--her strength, her supple grace, the assurance of her movements, all pleased him--but she was a gooi traveling companion, contributing equally to their well-being. Though he felt responsible for her safety and wanted to protect her from harm, there was comfort in knowing he could rely on her. In some ways, traveling with Ayla was like traveling with his brother. He had felt protective toward Thonolan, too. It was his nature to be concerned fat those he cared about. But only in some ways. When the young woman lifted her arms to shake out the ground cover, he became aware that the skin was lighter on the underside of her rounded breasts, and he had an urge to compare the tone with her browned arm. He didn't think that he might be staring, but he did notice when she stopped working and turned toward him. When he caught her eye, Ayla smiled slowly. ; Suddenly he felt an urge to do more than compare skin tones. » pleased him to know that if he wanted to share Pleasures with her rig"1 then, she would be willing. There was comfort in that, too. It w^ ' as necessary to seize every opportunity. The feeling was as strong, " the urgency was less, and sometimes waiting a bit made it better. could think about it and enjoy the anticipation. Jondalar smiled bac ^ After they set up camp, Ayla wanted to explore the valley. u unusual to find such a thickly wooded area in the middle of the stepP" and she was curious. She hadn't seen such vegetation for years. wanted to explore, too. After their experience with the bear aosite near the grove of trees, he wanted to check for tracks jications of the animals that might be in the vicinity. With v along her sling and collecting basket, and Jondalar his vet with a couple of spears, they headed into the willows. ie horses to graze, but Wolf was eager to accompany them. were an unusual place for him, too, full of fascinating i the water, the willow trees gave way to alder, then birch larch became common, and there were some good-size i eagerly picked a few cones when she saw they were stone the large, delicious pine nuts they contained. But more »her were the occasional large-leafed trees. In one area, still sl valley plain but near the bottom of the slope that led to the land above, was a pure stand of beech trees. »ked them over carefully, comparing them with her memory (Itrees that grew near the cave where she had lived as a child. 'twas smooth and gray, and the leaves were oval narrowing to tibe end with shallow sharp teeth around the edge, and silky tderneath. The small brown nuts, encased in their bristly are not yet ripe, but the mast of nuts and shells on the ground tseason showed the plentiful yield. She recalled that beechnuts |d to crack. The trees were not as large as the ones she remem- Mit respectable. Then she noticed the unusual plants growing Ie trees and knelt down to take a closer look. grou going to collect those?" Jondalar asked. "They look dead. I no leaves on them." ^aren't dead. That's how they grow. Here, feel how fresh it la said, breaking off the upper few inches of the foot-high, gteafless stem with slender branches the whole length of it. The lant was a dull reddish color, including the flower buds, with- itt of green. f grow from the roots of other plants," Ayla said, "like the Used to put on my eyes when I cried, except those were white, " of shiny. Some people were afraid of them because they ;d get a fresh one of those white corpse plants and the juice right out of the stem into my eyes. If they were sore from crying too much, it always made them feel better." She was sile ^ for a time, then shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure if these are gooj for eyes. Iza used them for little cuts and bruises, and for certa growths." "What are they called?" "I think her name for them would be... what is your name for thi tree, Jondalar?" "I'm not sure. I don't think they grow near my home, but the Sha. ramudoi name is 'beech.' " "Then I think these would be called 'beechdrops,' " she said, gettino up and brushing her hands together to dust them off. Suddenly Wolf froze, his nose pointed toward the deep woods. Jondalar noticed his stalking posture and, remembering how Wolf had scented the bear, reached for a spear. He laid it on top of the groove in his spear-thrower, a shaped piece of wood about half the length of a spear, which was held in a horizontal position with his right hand. He fitted the hollow at the butt of the spear into the notch at the back of the thrower. Then he put his fingers through the two loops near the front of the throwing weapon, which reached a place just short of the middle of the spear, to hold the shaft in place as it rested on top of his spear-thrower. It was done quickly with a smooth motion, and he stood with knees slightly flexed, ready to cast. Ayla had reached for stones and was ready with her sling, wishing she had brought her spear-thrower, too. Moving through the sparse undergrowth. Wolf made a dash toward a tree. There was a scurry of movement in the beechnut mast, then a small animal raced straight up the smooth trunk. Standing up on his hind legs, as though he was trying to climb the tree as well, Wolf yelped after the furry creature. Suddenly a commotion up in the branches of the tree attracted their attention. They caught sight of the rich sable-brown coat and long sinuous shape of a beech marten chasing after the loudly chittenng squirrel, who thought it had just escaped up the tree. Wolf wasn't the only one who thought the squirrel was worthy of interest, but the large weasellike animal, a foot and a half in length with a bushy tail that added another twelve inches to its dimensions, had a much better chance of success. Racing through the high branches, it was as ninible and fleet as its intended prey. „ "I think that squirrel jumped out of the cooking skin into the coalSi Jondalar said, watching the drama unfold. "Maybe he'll get away," Ayla said. "It's doubtful. I wouldn't wager a broken blade on it." The squirrel was cluttering loudly. An excited jay squawking a ra caw added to the disturbance, then a willow tit stridently an- ;ed its presence. Wolf couldn't stand it, he had to join in. ;hing his head back, he voiced a long howl. The small squirrel ed out to the end of a limb; then, to the surprise of the two ling people, it leaped into the air. Spreading its legs, it stretched Ie broad skin flap that extended along the sides of its body, joining ont and back legs, and soared through the air. la caught her breath as she watched the flying squirrel avoiding faes and trees. The bushy tail acted as a rudder, and by changing osition of its legs and tail, which changed the tension on the w membrane, the squirrel could steer clear of objects in its flight as it descended in a long, smooth curve. It was aiming for a tree (distance away and, when it drew near, it turned both its tail and up, and landed low on the trunk, then quickly scurried up. When ched some high branches, the furry little animal turned around limbed down again, headfirst, its outstretched hind claws stuck fae bark to anchor it. It looked around, then disappeared into a hole. The dramatic leap and soaring glide had prevented its re, though not even that amazing feat was always successful. >lf was still up on his hind legs against the tree looking for the rel that had so easily eluded him. He dropped down, began sniff- hrough the underbrush, then suddenly dashed away, chasing thing else. ndalar! I didn't know squirrels could fly," Ayla said, with a smile prised wonder. should have made that wager, but I've never seen them before, ;h I have heard of them. I don't think I really believed it. People 's talked of seeing the squirrels flying at night, and I thought it >robably a bat that someone mistook for a squirrel. But that was tely not a bat." With a wry smile he added, "Now I'll be one of that no one quite believes when he talks about seeing a flying rel." n glad it was just a squirrel," Ayla said, suddenly feeling a chill. lanced up and noticed that a cloud was blocking the sun. She felt /er across her shoulders and down her back, though it wasn't cold. "I didn't know what Wolf was after this time." sling a bit foolish for reacting so strongly to a threat he only ned, Jondalar relaxed his grip on his spear and thrower, but still an. "I thought it might have been a bear," he said. "Especially these thick woods." me trees always grow near rivers, but I haven't seen trees like since I left the Clan. Isn't this a strange place for them to be?" is unusual. This place reminds me of the land of the Sharamudoi, ^ but that's south of here, even south of those mountains we see to A west, and near Donau, the Great Mother River." Suddenly Ayla stopped where she was. Nudging Jondalar, she s lently pointed. At first he didn't see what had caught her attention then he noticed a slight movement of a foxy-red coat, and saw tk. three-pronged antlers of a roe deer. The commotion and the smell of wolf had caused the small wary deer to freeze. It had stood without moving, hidden in the brush, waiting to see if there was anything tn fear from the predator. With the four-legged hunter gone, it had cau tiously begun to move away. Jondalar's spear and spear-thrower were still in his right hand. He raised it slowly, and taking aim, hurled the spear at the throat of the animal. The danger it feared had come from an unexpected direction. The hard-flung spear landed true. Even as it hit, the roe deer attempted to leap away, took a few bounding steps then crashed to the ground. The flight of the squirrel and the unsuccessful sable were quickly forgotten. Jondalar crossed the distance to the roe deer in a few steps, with Ayla beside him. While Ayla turned the head, he knelt down beside the still struggling animal and slit its throat with his sharp blade to finish it off quickly and let it bleed. Then he stood up. "Roe Deer, when your spirit returns to the Great Earth Mother, thank Her for giving us one of your kind, that we may eat," Jondalar said quietly. Ayla, standing beside the man, nodded, then prepared to help him skin and butcher their dinner. , hate to leave the hide. Roe deer makes such soft leather," Ayla she put the last piece of meat in her parfleche, "and did you see on that sable?" t we don't have time to make leather, and we can't take much with us than we already have," Jondalar said. He was erecting pod of poles from which the parfleche full of meat would be ided. now, but I still hate to leave it." y hung the parfleche; then Ayla glanced toward the fireplace, ig about the food she had just put on to cook, though nothing (parent. It was cooking in a ground oven, a hole in the ground with hot rocks into which she had put the deer meat seasoned erbs, along with mushrooms, bracken fern fiddleheads, and cat- its she had gathered, all wrapped in coltsfoot leaves. She then more hot rocks on top and a layer of dirt. It would be a while it was done, but she was glad they had stopped early enough-- d been lucky enough to get fresh meat soon enough--to cook it ay. It was a favorite method since it made food both flavorful ider. i hot and the air feels heavy and humid. I'm going to go and cool tie said. "I'm even going to wash my hair. I saw some soaproot ig downstream. Are you going to come for a swim?" i, I think I will. I may even wash my hair, if you can find enough soaproot for me," Jondalar said, his blue eyes crinkling with a is he held up a lank strand of greasy blond hair that had fallen his forehead. y walked side by side along the broad sandy bank of the river. winded after them, running in and out of brush, exploring new Then he dashed ahead and disappeared around a bend. lalar noticed the trail of horse hooves and wolf track they had sarlier. "I wonder what someone would make of spoor like this," 1» grinning at the thought. lat would you make of it?" Ayla asked. ^ "If Wolfs track was clear, I'd think a wolf was trailing two hr -- but in some places it's obvious that the horse prints are on top of"! wolf prints, so he can't have been following. He was walking le them. That would confuse a tracker," he said. ' "Even if Wolfs prints were clear, I'd wonder why a wolf was foil ing these two horses. The tracks show they are both strong nj healthy, but look at the impression, how deep it is, and the set oftk! hooves. You can tell they're carrying weight," Ayla said. "That would confuse a tracker, too." "Oh, there they are," Ayla said, seeing the rather tall, soniewh straggling plants with light pink flowers and leaves shaped like snea points, that she had noticed earlier. With her digging stick she quicklv loosened several roots and pulled them out. On their way back, she searched for a flat, hard stone or piece of wood, and a rounded stone to crush the soaproot and release the sa- ponin, which would foam into a light cleansing lather in the water. At a bend, upstream but not too far from their campsite, the small river had scoured out a waist-deep pool. The water was cool and refreshing and after washing, they explored the rocky river, swimming and wading farther upstream until they were stopped by a churning waterfall and swift rapids where the sloping sides of the valley narrowed and became steeper. It reminded Ayla of the small river in her valley, with its fuming, churning waterfall blocking her way upstream, though the rest of the area made her think more of the mountain slopes around the cave where she grew up. There was a waterfall there that she remembered, a gentler, mossy one that had led her to a small cave she had claimed as her own, and that had more than once offered her a haven. They let the current carry them back, splashing each other and laughing along the way. Ayla loved the sound ofjondalar's laughter. Though he smiled, he didn't laugh often, tending instead to exhibit a more serious demeanor, but when he did, it was such a big, hearty, exuberant laugh, it came as a surprise. When they got out and dried off, it was still warm. The dark cloud Ayla had noticed earlier was gone from the sky above them, but the sun was lowering toward a black and brooding mass languishing intn west, whose ponderous movement was emphasized by a ragged ^Y streaming swiftly beneath it in the other direction. Once the fire" dropped behind the somber clouds and banked above the weste ridge, it would cool off fast. Ayla looked for the horses and saw titf in an open meadow on the slope, some distance from camp, but wi range of a whistle. Wolf was not in sight; still exploring downstre she assumed. rot out the long-toothed ivory comb and a brush made of stiff »th-hair bristles that Deegie had given her, then pulled their r roll out of the tent and spread it out to sit on while she combed '. Jondalar sat beside her and began to comb his own hair with pronged comb, struggling with some tangles. me do that for you, Jondalar," she said, getting up on her knees him. She combed loose the knots in his long, straight yellow lighter shade than hers, admiring the color. When she was r her hair had been almost white, but it had become somewhat md resembled Whinney's coat with its ashy golden hue. liar closed his eyes while Ayla worked on his hair, but he was >f her warm presence behind him as her bare skin brushed his now and then, and by the time she was through, he was a warmth from more than the sun. v it's my turn to comb your hair," he said, getting up to move her. For a moment, she thought about objecting. It wasn't ry. He didn't have to comb her hair just because she had 1 his, but when he lifted her thick hair off her neck and pulled gh his fingers, like a caress, she acquiesced. lair had a tendency to curl, and it tangled easily, but he worked y, freeing each snarl with very little pulling. Then he brushed r until it was smooth and nearly dry. She closed her eyes, a strange, shivery delight. Iza had combed her hair for her when a little girl, gently pulling out the tangles with a long, smooth, stick, but no man ever had. Jondalar's combing of her hair gave ntense feeling of being cared for and loved. he discovered that he enjoyed combing and brushing her hair. rk gold color reminded him of ripe grass, but with sun-bleached its that were nearly white. It was beautiful, and so thick and indling it was a sensuous pleasure that made him want more. ie finished, he put the brush down, then lifted up the slightly i"esses, and, moving them aside, bent down to kiss her shoulders back of her neck. kept her eyes closed, feeling the tingles caused by his warm and soft lips as he brushed them lightly over her skin. He i at her neck and caressed both her arms, then reached around both breasts, lifting them and feeling their pleasant substantial and the firm, upright nipples in his palms. tt he reached around to kiss her throat, Ayla lifted her head and slightly, then felt his hot rigid organ against her back. She around and took it in her hands, enjoying the softness of the t covered the warm hard shaft. She put one hand above the md moved them firmly up and down, and Jondalar felt a surge of sensation, but the feeling magnified beyond measure when he fd I the warm wetness of her mouth enclose him. Letting out an explosive sigh, he closed his eyes as the sensation coursed through him. Then he opened his eyes a crack to watch and could not help but reach for the soft beautiful hair that filled his lan When she drew him in farther, he thought for a moment he could not hold back and would give it up at that instant. But he wanted to wait wanted the exquisite pleasure it gave him to Pleasure her. He loved to do it, loved knowing he could. He would almost be willing to give uo his own Pleasure to Pleasure her... almost. Hardly knowing how she got there, Ay la found herself on her back on top of their sleeping roll, with Jondalar stretched out beside her He kissed her. She opened her mouth a little, just enough to allow his tongue entrance, and put her arms around him. She loved the way it felt when his lips were firmly on hers, with his tongue gently exploring. Then he pulled away and looked down at her. "Woman, do you have any idea how much I love you?" She knew it was true. She could see it in his eyes, his brilliant, vivid, unbelievable blue eyes that caressed with their look, and even from a distance, could send shivers through her. His eyes expressed the emotions he tried so hard to keep under control. "I know how much I love you," Ayla said. "I still can hardly believe it, that you are here with me, and not back at the Summer Meeting mated to Ranee." At the thought of how close he came to losing her to the charming, dark-skinned carver of ivory, he suddenly clutched her to him tightly with fierce need. She held him, too, grateful that their long winter of misunderstanding had finally ended. She had sincerely loved Ranee--he was a good man and would have made a good mate--but he wasn't Jondalar, and her love for the tall man who was holding her in his arms was beyond anything she could explain. His powerful dread of losing her eased, replaced, as he felt her warm body beside him, by a desire for her that was as strong. Suddenly h0 was kissing her neck and her shoulders and her breasts, as though be couldn't get enough of her. Then he stopped and took a deep breath. He wanted to make it la^' and he wanted to use his skill to give her the best he could--and he was skilled. He had been taught by one who knew, and with more lovfi than she should have felt. He had wanted to please and had been more than willing to learn. He had learned so well that among his pe°P there was a joke about him that had often been made: it was said B was an expert in two crafts; he was also an excellent knapper of "in tools. Itooked down at her, watching her breathe, loving the sight f womanly form, and delighting in the mere fact of her His shadow fell across her, blocking the heat of the sun. ed her eyes and looked up. The brilliant sun behind him hroueh his fair hair surrounded his shadowed face with a a She wanted him, was ready for him, but when he smiled (own to kiss her navel, she closed her eyes again and gave to him, knowing what he wanted, and the Pleasures he could eel. her breasts, then slowly ran his hand along her side, to the of her waist and lush swelling of her hip, then down her tingled at the touch. He brought his hand back up her inner ing the special softness there, and over the springy golden a- mound. He caressed her stomach, then bent to kiss her re he reached for her breasts again, and kissed both nipples. were like gentle fire, feeling warm and wonderful, and left lg with excitement. He caressed her again, and her skin id every place he touched. d her on the mouth and gently, slowly, kissed her eyes and i, her chin and her jaw, then breathed into her ear. His ind the hollow of her throat and continued down between i. He took each one in his hands and held them together, in their fullness, the slight salty taste of her, and the feel of is his own desire was mounting. His tongue tickled one 1 then the other, and then she felt the deep throbbing surge d it in his mouth. He explored her nipple with his tongue, lulling, nibbling lightly, then reached for the other with his ssed up to him, losing herself in the sensations coursing ;r body, and centered on the seat of pleasure she felt deep ith his warm tongue, he found her navel again, and as a light cool on her skin, he circled and then dropped lower, to the ^ur of her mound, then for a quick moment to her warm slit lode of her Pleasure. She raised her hips to him, and cried ed between her legs, and with his hands, opened her to look m rosy flower of petals and folds. He dipped down to taste / her taste and loved it--then held back no longer, and exploring her. His tongue found the familiar folds, reached eep well, and then reached up higher for the small, hard wked his tongue over it, suckling and nibbling, she cried and again, her breath coming faster, and the surge inside building. All feeling was turned inward, there was no wind, no only the rising intensity of her senses. He knew it was coming a11'^ though he could hardly hold back himself, he slowed and backed oft hoping to draw it out, but she reached for him unable to wait. As ' came closer, building, growing, tightening with anticipation, he couU hear her moans of pleasure. Suddenly it was there, the powerful shuddering waves seizing hp then with a convulsive cry, crashing over her. She burst with rii» spasm of release, and with it came the indescribable desire to feel hi< manhood inside her. She reached for him, trying to bring him to her He felt her spurt of wetness and, sensing her need for him, raised up, clasping his eager shaft to guide it into her deep and welcomim? well. She felt him enter and raised up to meet him as he plunged in The embrace of her warm folds encircled him, and he penetrated deeply, feeling no fear that his size was more than she could hold. That was part of the wonder of her, that she matched him. He pulled out, feeling the exquisite pleasure of the movement, and with complete abandon, plunged in again, deeply, while she raised up tight against him. He almost reached his peak, but the intensity backed down, and he pulled out again, then pushed in again, and again, and again, with each stroke building higher. Pulsing with the sensations of his movement, she felt the fullness of him, then his drawing back and filling her again, and was beyond feeling anything else. She heard his strong breathing, and her own, as their cries mingled. Then he cried out her name, she rose to meet him, and, with a great overflowing burst, they felt a release that matched the fiery sun in its glowing flame as it shot its last bright rays into the valley, and dropped behind the dark and rolling clouds, outlined in burnished gold. After a few more strokes, he relaxed on top of her, feeling her rounded curves beneath him. She always loved that moment with him, the feeling of his weight on her. He never felt heavy; it was just a comfortable pressure and a closeness that warmed her while they rested. Suddenly a warm tongue was licking her face, and a cold nose v/ss exploring their closeness. "Go away, Wolf," she said, shoving the animal away. "Go on, get out of here." "Wolf, go away!" Jondalar said harshly, adding his command, an pushing the cold wet nose away, but the mood was broken. As ne lifted off Ay la and rolled to his side, he felt a trifle annoyed, but be couldn't really be angry; he felt too wonderful for that. Getting up on one elbow, Jondalar looked at the animal that h3 backed off a few paces and was sitting on his haunches watching ule rl , hanging out, panting. He could have sworn the animal '"at them, and he smiled wryly at the woman he loved. . getting him to stay. Do you think you'll be able to teach ten you want him to?" p-B going to try." Pafwork, having a wolf around," Jondalar said. it takes a little effort, especially since he's so young. So but it's worth it. I like having them around. They are ial friends." e man thought, the horses gave something back. Whinney ried them, and their gear; because of them, their Journey - e as long. But except for flushing out an animal once in a ididn't seem to contribute much. Jondalar decided, though, don his thoughts. I sun behind the angry rolling black clouds, discoloring to a id purple as though battered and bruised by the churning, @f quickly in the wooded valley. Ayla got up and splashed 'er once more. Jondalar followed in after her. Long before, BiWas growing up, Iza, the Clan medicine woman, had taught pinfication rituals of womanhood, even though she doubted |i;Strange and--even she admitted--ugly adopted daughter, |tir have need for some of them. Nonetheless, she felt it was ji''and she explained, among other things, how to take care of Ifter being with a man. She stressed that, whenever possible, tern with water was especially important to a woman's totem Cashing, no matter how cold the water, was a ritual that Ayla tomembered. jdried off again and dressed, put the sleeping furs back in the irekindled the fire. Ayla removed the dirt and the stones from tod oven and, with her wooden tongs, retrieved their meal. I'd, while Jondalar rearranged his packs, she made her prepa- for an easy departure, including their usual morning meal of Btt the evening before, eaten cold except for the hot herbal tea. |fe put cooking stones to heat for boiling water; she made tea frying the ingredients for taste or need. torses wandered back as the last streaks of the departing sun we sky. Usually they fed during part of the night, since they s^So much during the day and needed large quantities of the ^ss of the steppes to sustain them. But the meadow grass had >ecially rich and green, and they liked to stay near the fire at i Ayla was waiting for the stones to heat, she contemplated the valley in the last glow of twilight, adding to her observations knowledge gained during the day: the steeply sloping sides riT^ abruptly.joined the broad flat valley floor with its little river wind; a down the middle. It was a rich valley, reminding her of her childho'1 I with the Clan, but she didn't like the place. Something about it ma,i 3 her uneasy, and the feeling worsened with the coming of night Sh " was also feeling some fullness and a little backache, and she attributed her disquiet to the slight discomforts she occasionally experienced when her moon time was coming on. She wished she could go for a walk, activity usually helped, but it was already too dark. She listened to the wind moaning as it sighed through the swavino willow trees, silhouetted against silvery clouds. The glowing ful] moon, encircled by a distinct halo, took turns hiding behind, then brilliantly illuminating the softly textured sky. Ayla decided some wil- lowbark tea might relieve her discomfort and quickly got up to cut some fresh. While she was at it, she decided to gather some flexible willow withes. By the time their evening tea was ready and Jondalar joined her, the night air was damp and cold, cold enough for outer clothes. They sat close to the fire, glad to be sipping the hot tea. Wolf had hovered close to Ayla all evening, following her every step, but he seemed content to curl up by her feet when she sat near the warm flames, as though he'd done enough exploring that day. She picked up the thin, long willow twigs and began weaving with them. "What are you making?" Jondalar asked. "A head covering, to make a shade from the sun. It is getting very hot in the middle of the day," Ayla explained. She paused for a moment, then added, "I thought you might find use for one." "You are making that for me?" he said with a smile. "How did you know I was wishing I had something to shade the sun today?" "A woman of the Clan learns to anticipate the needs of her mate. She smiled. "And you are my mate, aren't you?" He smiled back. "Without doubt, my woman of the Clan. And we'll announce it to all the Zeiandonii at the Matrimonial of the first Summer Meeting we join. But how can you anticipate needs? And why must Clan women learn that?" "It's not difficult. You just think about someone. It was hot today> and I thought about making a head covering... making a sun hat. for myself, so I knew it must be hot for you, too," she said, picking "P another willow withe to add to the broadly conical hat that was begin ning to take shape. "Men of the Clan don't like to ask for anything' especially for their own comfort. It is not considered manly behavi about comfort, so a woman must anticipate a man's ts her from danger; it's her way of protecting him, to has the right clothing and eats well. She doesn't want »happen to him. Who would protect her and her children In"1 .what you are doing? Protecting me so I will protect you?" nnine. "And your children?" In the firelight, his blue eyes yiolet, and they sparkled with fun. (exactly," she said, looking down at her hands. "I think s way a Clan woman tells her mate how much she cares for she has children or not." She watched her rapidly mov- ough Jondalar had the feeling that she didn't need to see -j doing. She could have made the hat in the dark. She | another long twig, then looked directly at him. "But I do ye another child before I get too old." we a long way to go for that," he said, putting another piece i the fire. "You're still young." l getting to be an old woman. I am already..." She closed ^concentrate as she pressed her fingers against her leg, saying er words he had taught her, to verify to herself the right ||the number of years she had lived. "... Eighteen years." lold!" Jondalar laughed. "I have seen twenty-two years. I'm jtyhoisold." takes us a year to travel, I will be nineteen years when we xor home. In the Clan, that would be almost too old for child- » K- grZelandonii women have children at that age. Maybe not their fit their second or third. You are strong and healthy. I don't ?U're too old to have children, Ayla. But I will tell you this. |e times when your eyes seem ancient, as though you've lived crimes in your eighteen years." »an unusual thing for him to say, and she stopped her work to |an. The feeling she evoked in him was almost frightening. She Oeautiful in the light of the fire, and he loved her so much, he Enow what he would do if anything ever happened to her. ne, he looked away. Then, to ease the moment, he tried to » a lighter subject. me one who should worry about age. I'd be willing to wager wll be the oldest man at the Matrimonial," he said, then Twenty-three is old for a man to be mated for the first time. en my age have several children at their hearths." oked at her, and she saw again that look of overwhelming love and fear in his eyes. "Ayla, I want you to have a child, too, but n while we're traveling. Not until we're safely back. Not yet." "No, not yet," she said. She worked quietly for a while, thinking about the son she had lefr behind with Uba, and about Rydag, who had been like her son in many ways. Both of them lost to her. Even Baby, who was in a strange way, like a son—at least, he was the first male animal she found and cared for—had left her. She would never see him again She looked at Wolf, suddenly worried that she might lose him, too I wonder, she thought, why is my totem taking all my sons away from me? I must be unlucky with sons. "Jondalar, do your people have any special customs about wantinc children?" Ayla asked. "Women of the Clan are always supposed to want sons." "No, not really. I think men want a woman to bring sons to his hearth, but I think women like to have daughters first." "What would you like to have? Someday?" He turned to study her in the light of the fire. Something seemed to be bothering her. "Ayla, it doesn't matter to me. Whatever you want, or whatever the Mother gives you." Now it was her turn to study him. She wanted to be sure he really meant it. "Then I think I'm going to wish for a daughter. I don't want to lose any more children." Jondalar didn't quite know what she meant and didn't know how to respond. "I don't want you to lose any more children, either." They sat quietly while Ayla worked on the sun hats. Suddenly, he asked, "Ayla, what if you are right? What if children are not given by Doni? What if they are started by sharing Pleasures? You could have a baby starting inside you right now, and not even know it." "No, Jondalar. I don't think so. I think my moon time is coming on," she said, "and you know that means no babies have started. She didn't usually like to talk about such personal matters with a man, but Jondalar had always been comfortable around her then, D01 like the Clan men. A woman of the Clan had to be especially careful not to look directly at a man when she was going through her woniai. curse. But even if she wanted to, she couldn't exactly go into seclusio or avoid Jondalar while they were traveling, and she sensed that needed reassurance. She considered, for a moment, telling him a"" Iza's secret medicine that she had been taking to fight off any iinp1^ nating essences, but she couldn't do it. Ayla could no more t€"- ^. than Iza could, but, short of a direct question, she could refrain n" mentioning it. If she didn't bring it up, it wasn't likely that a would think to ask if she was doing something to prevent pregna" /lr le wouldn't think it was possible that such powerful magic sure?" he asked. i sure," she said. "I am not pregnant. No baby has started linside me." He relaxed then. Ha was finishing up the sun hats, she felt a soft sprinkling of [e hurried to finish. They brought everything inside the tent fed except the parfleche hanging from the poles, and even the ^olf seemed happy to curl up at Ayla's feet. She left the lower ; entrance flap open for him, in case he needed to go out, but d the smoke-hole flap when the rain began coming down hey cuddled together when they first lay down, then rolled t they both had trouble sleeping. ivas feeling anxious, and achy, but she tried not to toss and much so she wouldn't disturb Jondalar. She listened to the : rain on the tent, but it didn't lull her to sleep the way it , and after a long while she wished it were morning so she et up and leave. after all his worry, and being reassured that Ayla had not d by Doni, began to wonder, again, if there was something i him. He lay awake thinking, wondering if his spirit, or essence it was that Doni took from him, was strong enough, he Mother had forgiven him his youthful indiscretions and would |it. gybe it was her. Ayla said she wanted a child. But, with all the they spent together, if she wasn't pregnant, it could be that ouldn't have children. Serenio never had any more... unless tas expecting when he left... As he stared into the darkness t inside of the tent, listening to the rain, he wondered if any of 'omen he had known had ever given birth, and if any babies had born with his blue eyes. " was climbing, climbing, a steep rocky wall, like the steep path up to We in the valley, but it was much longer, and she had to hurry. She looked ttt the small river swirling around the bend, but it wasn't a river. It was frfall, cascading in a wide spray over jutting rocks softened by lush green 'looked up, and there was Creb! He was beckoning to her and making the f hurry. He turned around and started climbing, too, leaning heavily on ff, leading her up a steep but climbable grade beside the waterfall, toward "»cave in a rocky wall hidden by hazelnut bushes. Above the cave, at the 9 ^ff, was a large, flattened boulder tilting over the edge, ready to fall. Wnly she was deep in the cave, following a long, narrow passage. There was a light! A torch with its beckoning flame, and then another, and then sickening roar of an earthquake. A wolf howled. She felt a whirling, spinn,^ vertigo, and then Creb was inside her mind. "Get out!" he common/Sri "Hurry! Get out now!" ^1 She sat up with a start, throwing her sleeping furs off, and bolhJt for the tent opening. I "Ayla! What is it!" Jondalar said, grabbing her. I Suddenly a brilliant flash of light could be seen through the skin rf 1 the tent, and in a bright outline around the seams of the smoke-hok I flap, and the crack around the entrance left open for Wolf. It vy»g followed almost instantly by a loud, sharp boom. Ayla screamed and Wolf howled outside the tent. "Ayla, Ayla. It's all right," the man said, holding her in his arms "It's just lightning and thunder." "We have to get out! He said to hurry. Get out now!" she said fumbling into her clothes. ] "Who said? We can't go out there. It dark, and it's raining." "Creb. In my dream. I had that dream again, with Creb. He said. Come on, Jondalar! We have to hurry." "Ayla, calm down. It was just a dream, and probably the storm. Listen to it. It sounds like a waterfall out there. You don't want to go ' out in that rain. Let's wait until morning." "Jondalar! I have to go. Creb told me to, and I can't stand this place," she said. "Please, Jondalar. Hurry." Tears were streaming down her face, though she was oblivious to them, as she piled things into pack baskets. He decided he might as well. It was obvious she wasn't going to wait until morning, and he'd never get back to sleep now. He reached for his clothes while Ayla opened the entrance flap. The rain poured in as though someone had spilled it from a waterbag. She went outside and whistled, loud and long. It was followed by another wolf howl. After a wait, Ayla whistled again, then began tearing the tent stakes out of the ground. She heard the hoofbeats of the horses and cried with relief to see them, though the salt of her tears was lost in the pouring deluge. She reached out to Whinney, her friend who had come to help her, an" hugged the soaking-wet mare around the sturdy neck and fel1 tn frightened horse shivering. She swished her tail and circled nervously with small prancing steps; at the same time she fumed her head ar flicked her ears back and forth, trying to find and identify the soul".^ of her apprehension. The horse's fears helped the woman bring ne ntrol. Whinney needed her. She spoke to the animal in stroking and trying to calm her, and then felt Racer 'n y anything more frightened than his dam. Inn settle him, but he soon backed away in prancing little A them together while she hurried to the tent for the i pack baskets. Jondalar had rolled up sleeping furs and I his pack before he heard the sound of hooves, and he had ses and Racer's halter ready. es are very frightened, Jondalar," Ay la said when she t tent. "I think Racer's ready to bolt. Whinney is calming ait she's scared, too, and he's making her more nervous." up the halter and went out. The wind and the pouring over him in sheets, almost knocking him down. It was ltd that he felt as though he were standing in a waterfall. l worse than he thought. Before long the tent would have and the rain would soon have soaked the ground cover cping furs. He was glad Ayla had insisted they get up and ither flash of light, he saw her struggling to tie pack baskets f. The bay stallion was beside them. Xacer, come here. Come on. Racer," he called. A great m tore through the air, sounding as though the very skies ing apart. The young stallion reared and neighed, then kid pivoted in erratic circles. His eyes were rolling, showing IS nostrils were flaring, his tail was lashing violently, and his ?flicking in all directions, trying to focus on the source of his pAey were inexplicable and all around him, and that was t^ Iman reached up for the horse, trying to put his arms around iBbring him down, talking to the animal to steady him. There |Ag bond of trust between them, and the familiar hands and )fe settling. Jondalar managed to get the halter device on, and, |p the harness straps, he hoped the next nerve-shattering bolt Bg and blast of thunder would hold off. |tne to get the last of their things from inside the tent. The ^behind her, though she hadn't noticed the animal before. t;backed out of the conical skin shelter. Wolf yelped, started ftward the willow woods, then ran back and yelped at her ^oing, Wolf," she said, and then to Jondalar, "It's empty. She ran toward Whinney and dumped the armload she carried k basket. w communicated her distress, and Jondalar was afraid Racer wouldn't stand still much longer. He didn't worry about dismam the tent. He yanked the support poles out through the smoke h tearing off the flap, dropped them in a pack basket, then bunched the heavy waterlogged skins and stuffed them in after. The skitti horse rolled his eyes and backed away as Jondalar reached for the ma as a hold to leap on. Though his jump was a bit awkward, he manap to gain his seat, and then he was nearly pitched off when Racer reare But he threw his arms around the stallion's neck and held on. Ayla heard a long wolf howl and a strange deep roar as she climb on Whinney's back, and she turned to see Jondalar holding on to t rearing stallion. As soon as Racer settled back down, she leaned ft ward urging Whinney to go. The mare sprang ahead in a fast gallo as though something were chasing her, as though, like Ayla, s couldn't wait to get away from there. Wolf bounded ahead, ra through brush, and as Racer and Jondalar followed close on her hi the menacing roar grew louder. Whinney tore through the woods of the level valley floor, dod around trees, jumping over obstacles. Keeping her head low, with arms around the horse's neck, Ayla let the mare find her own way. couldn't see anything in the darkness and the rain, but she sensed i were heading toward the slope leading to the steppes above. Sudde another burst of lightning flashed, filling the valley with instant liance. They were in the beech woods and the slope was not far. glanced back at Jondalar and gasped. The trees behind him were moving! Before the light died, tall pines leaned precariously, then it went dark. She hadn't the rumble growing louder until she waited to hear the trees became aware that the sound was drowned out by the overpower noise. Even the crack of thunder seemed to dissolve into the boo roar. They were on the slope. She knew from the change in Whin pace that they were climbing up, though she still couldn't see. could only trust to the mare's instincts. She felt the animal slip, recover her footing. Then they broke out of the woods and ws."^ clearing. She could even see the rolling clouds through the rain. must be in that meadow on the slope where the horses had grazed, thought. Racer and Jondalar pulled up alongside. He, too, hunched over his horse's neck, though it was too dark to see more the shape of their silhouette, a black-on-black shadow. Whinney was slowing, and Ayla could feel her labored breat The woods on the other side of the meadow were thinner, and ney was no longer racing at a frantic pace, dodging trees. Ayl3 ; it still kept her arms around her mare's neck. Racer had in his burst of speed, but soon he slowed to a walk and ifiht up. The rain was easing up. The trees gave way to den grass, and then the slope leveled out as the steppes efore them in a darkness softened only slightly by clouds iidden moon through a veil of rain. oed and Ayla dismounted to let Whinney rest. Jondalar id they stood side by side trying to see into the darkness nine flashed, but it was farther away, and the thunder r in a low growl. In a dazed state, they stared out over the of the valley, knowing that some great destruction was though they could see nothing. They realized they had id a terrible disaster, but they didn't yet comprehend its strange prickly sensation on her scalp and heard a faint ;r nose crinkled at the acrid smell of ozone; it was a pecu- xlor, but not of fire, nothing as earthy as that. Suddenly ) her that it must be the smell of the streaking fire in the ie opened her eyes in wonder and fear and, in a moment t)bed for Jondalar. A tall pine, rooted in the slope below, from the cutting winds by a rocky outcrop and projecting ie steppes, glowed with an eerie blue light. i arm around her, wanting to protect her, but he felt the mis, and fears, and knew these otherworldly fires were ontrol. He could only hold her close. Then, in an awe- » a J^E^d crackling bolt arced across the glowing clouds, t into a network of fiery darts, and in a blinding flash and speared the tall pine, illuminating the valley and the the clarity of noon. Ayla started at the sharp crack, so ler ears ringing, and she cringed as the booming roar across the sky. In that moment of radiance they saw the ley had so narrowly escaped. valley was ravaged. The entire level floor was a heavy, Istrom. Opposite them, on the far slope, a mudslide had Ie of boulders and fallen trees halfway across the wild ig a raw scar of reddish soil exposed. of the torrential onslaught was a set of circumstances not ad begun in the mountains to the west, and with atmo- sssions over the inland sea; warm, moisture-laden air had to and condensed into huge billowing clouds with white °ps that hung stalled and motionless over the rocky hills. v had been invaded by a cold front, and the turbulence of the resulting combination had created a thunderstorm of unco intensity. The rains had poured from the bloated skies, disgorging into and hollows that gushed into creeks, burst over rocks, and surged ' streams overfilling with frantic haste. Gathering momentum theh".' multuous water, abetted by the continuing deluge, raged down A., steep hills, fountained over barriers, and crashed into sister stream I joining together into walls of rampaging, devastating force. ^^S | When the flash flood reached the green dell, it erupted over Hr3 waterfall and, with a ravenous roar, engulfed the entire valley, but tho' lush, verdant depression held a surprise for the churning waters. Dur. ing the era, extensive movements of the earth were uplifting the land. raising the level of the small inland sea to the south, and openino passageways to an even larger sea farther south. Within recent decades.i the uplift had closed off the valley, forming a shallow basin, which had! been filled by the river, creating a small lake behind the natural dam. i But an outlet had broken through a few years before and drained the I small reservoir of water, leaving in its wake moisture enough for a wooded valley in the middle of the dry steppes. A second mudslide, farther downstream, had dammed the outlet channel again, containing the raging floodwaters within the confines of the valley and causing a backwash. Jondalar thought the scene below must have come from some nightmare. He could hardly believe what he had seen. The entire valley was a wild, turbulent, frenzied slimy of mud and rocks, sloshing back and forth, churning brush and whole trees torn out by their roots, and splintered by the battering. No living thing could have survived in that place, and he shuddered to think what would have happened if Ayla hadn't wakened and insisted that they leave. He doubted if they would have made it to safety without the horses. He glanced around; they were both standing with heads down, feet apart, looking as exhausted as he thought they must be. Wolf was beside Ayla, and when he saw Jondalar look his way be lifted his head straight up and howled. The man had a fleeting memory of a wolf howl disturbing his sleep, just before Ayla woke up. Another lightning bolt flashed, and at the sound of the thunder, be felt Ayla shiver violently in his arms. They were not out of danger we" They were wet and cold, everything was soaked, and, in the middle o the open plain in a thunderstorm, he had no idea where to find shelter- [ pine that had been struck by lightning was burning, ti that fed the fire had to contend with the dousing rain, acring flames shed little light. It was enough, though, to H general contours of the nearby landscape. There was not ||way of shelter on the open plains, except some low brush |jde a nearly overflowing runoff ditch that was dry most of |r staring down into the darkness of the valley, as if spell- lie scene they had seen below. While she stood there, the Icoming down harder again, sluicing over them, drenching ly soaked clothing, and finally winning out over the strug- A the tree. |pme on," Jondalar said. "We've got to find some shelter and this rain. You're cold. We're both cold, and wet." red for a moment longer, then shuddered. "We were down (elooked up at him. "Jondalar, we would have died if we'd |t in that." »got out in time. Now we need to find shelter. If we don't (rface to warm up, it won't matter that we got out of the .',, ied up Racer's lead rope and started toward the brush. Ayla fhinney and followed, with Wolf at her side. When they |e ditch, they noticed that the low bushes led to a thicker igher brush, almost low trees, farther back from the valley Ppes, and they headed for that. ashed their way into the center of the dense growth of sallow. ?d around the slender, many-stemmed bases of the silvery low brush was wet, and rain still filtered in through the ives, but not quite as hard. They cleared woody stems out of cket, then removed the pack baskets from the horses. Jonda- out the heavy bundle of wet tent and shook it out. Ayla l® poles and set them around the inside of the brush pocket, !a spread the skins of the tent, still tied to the ground cover, over them. It was a haphazard construction, but for now they ' wanted shelter from the rain. They brought their pack baskets and other things into the inakesh'i.1 shelter, tore leaves off the trees to line the wet ground, and spread I their damp sleeping furs. Then they took off their outer clothes helrw^ii- each other wring out the soaked leather, and draped them on branch 1 Finally, shivering hard, they huddled down and pulled their sleenim! furs around them. Wolf came in and shook himself vigorously sunn8 ing water, but everything was so wet that it hardly mattered. Th» steppe horses, with their thick shaggy coats, much preferred cold dry winter to the drenching summer storm, but they were used to livino outside. They stood close together beside the stand of brushy growth and let the rain pour over them. Within the damp shelter, too wet to even consider a fire, Ayla and Jondalar, wrapped in heavy furs, cuddled close together. Wolf curled up on top of their sleeping furs, pressing close to them, and finally their combined body heat warmed them. The woman and man dozed a bit, though neither of them slept much. Near dawn the rain slacked off, and their sleep deepened. Ayla listened, smiling to herself, before opening her eyes. Within the medley of birdsong that had awakened her, she could distinguish the sharp elaborate call notes of a pipet. Then she heard a melodious warble that seemed to be getting louder, but when she tried to find the source of the trilling song, she had to look carefully to see the drab, brown, inconspicuous little skylark just landing. Ayla rolled on her side to watch him. The skylark walked along the ground easily and quickly, well- balanced by its large hind claws, then bobbed its crested head and came up with a caterpillar in its beak. With quick, jerky steps, it rushed toward a bare scrape in the ground near the stems of a sallow bush, where a camouflaged cluster of newly hatched fluffy chicks suddenly sprang to life, each open mouth begging to be filled with the delectable morsel. Soon a second bird, similar in markings though slightly more drab, and nearly invisible against the dun earth of the steppes, sp" peared with a winged insect. While she stuffed it into an open mouth, the first bird leaped into the air and climbed in circles until he w almost lost from view. But his presence was not lost. He had disap- peared into a spiral of incredibly glorious song. Ayla softly whistled the musical call, replicating the sounds wi such precision that the mother bird stopped pecking at the ground ^ search of food and turned in her direction. Ayla whistled again, wl ' jie grain to offer, as she had done when she lived in her ilirst began imitating bird calls. After she had gained skill, Iwhen she called, whether she offered grain or not, and ^ many for her during those lonely days. The mother skylark looking for the bird that was invading the territory of her hen she found no other skylarks, she went back to feeding | repetitive phrases, more mellow and ending with a chuck- in perked Ayla's interest even more. Sandgrouse were big ake a decent meal, and so were those cooing turtledoves, looking around to see if she could spot the buxom birds ed the brown sandgrouse in general size and shape. In the s, she saw a simple twig nest with three white eggs in it aw the plump pigeon with its small head and bill and short- it, dense plumage was a pale brown, almost pinkish, and its ittemed back and wings, which somewhat resembled the irde, glistened with iridescent patches. (.rolled over, and Ayla turned to watch the man lying beside (ring with the deep rhythms of sleep. Then she became aware fipd to get up and relieve herself. She was afraid that if she |;Would wake up, and she hated to disturb him, but the more jto forget about it, the more urgent her need became. Maybe |yed slowly, she thought, trying to ease out of the warm, lamp furs wrapped around them. He snorted and snuffled and <( as she extricated herself, but it was when he reached for bund her missing that he woke up. Oh, there you are," he mumbled. ^ck to sleep, Jondalar. You don't have to get up yet," she said jwled out of their nest in the brush. A bright, fresh morning, the sky a clear sparkling blue without |» cloud in sight. Wolf was gone, probably hunting or explor- ^ thought. The horses had moved off, too; she saw them ?ear the edge of the valley. Though the sun was still low, IS already rising from the wet ground, and Ayla felt the hu- (she hunkered down to pass her water. Then she noticed the ?on the inside of her legs. Her moon time, she thought. She'd pGting it; she'd have to wash herself and her undergarment, (he needed the mouflon wool. (inoff ditch was only half-full, but the streamlet flowing ?t was clear. She leaned over and rinsed her hands, drank wpped handfuls of the cool running liquid, and then hurried peir sleeping place. Jondalar was up, and he smiled when she made her way into their shelter within the sallow brush to get her pack baskets. She pulled it out in the open and began runm through it. Jondalar brought both of his baskets out with him went back for the rest of their things. He wanted to see how' damage had been done by the soaking rains. Wolf came lopine just then and went straight to Ayla. "You're looking satisfied with yourself," she said, roughing no k| neck fur, so thick and full it was almost a mane. When she stopped kj jumped up on her, putting his muddy paws on her chest, nearly attril level of her shoulders. He caught her by surprise, almost knocking h.^ down, but she recovered her balance. "Wolf! Look at all this mud," she said, as he reached to lick hw throat and face, and then, with a low rumbling growl, he opened hit mouth and took her jaw in his teeth. But for all his impressive canim armaments, his action was as restrained and gentle as if he'd bew handling a new puppy. No tooth broke skin; they hardly made aa impression on it. She buried both her hands in his ruff again, pushed his head back, and looked at the devotion in his wolfish eyes with as much affection as he showed her. Then she grabbed his jaw with her' teeth, and gave him the same kind of growling, gentle love-bite back. "Now, get down, Wolf. Look at the mess you've made of me! I'm going to have to wash this, too." She brushed off the loose, sleeveless leather tunic she wore over the short leggings that had been used as undergarments. "If I didn't know better, Ayla, I could almost be frightened for you when he does that," Jondalar said. "He's gotten so big, and he is a hunter. He could kill someone." "You don't have to worry about Wolf when he does that. That's the way wolves greet each other and show their love. I think he's glad we woke up in time to get out of the valley, too." "Have you looked down there?" "Not yet... Wolf, get away from there," she said, pushing him away when he began to sniff between her legs. "It's my moon time. She looked aside and flushed slightly. "I came to get my wool, and I haven't had the chance to look." While Ayla attended to her personal needs, washing herself and her clothes in the little stream, tying on the straps that held the wool® place, and getting something else to wear, Jondalar walked toward w" edge of the valley to pass his water and looked down. There was sign of a campsite, or of any place there could be one. The natl1" basin of the valley was partially filled with water, and the logs trees and other floating debris were bobbing and dipping as the agit^ i »„ ^se. The small river that fed it was still blocked at I still creating backwash, though it was not sloshing with aack-and-forth movement of the night before. v moved beside Jondalar, who had been staring intently ad thinking. He looked up when he felt her presence. , must set narrow downstream, and something must be jyer " he said, "probably rocks or a mudslide. It's holding " Maybe that's why it was so green down there, it may ^efore." h flood alone would have washed us away if it had caught 3d. "My valley used to flood every spring, and that was l&but this..." She could find no words to express her Ishe unconsciously finished her sentence with the motions uuniage that to her conveyed more strongly and precisely F dismay and relief. derstood. He, too, was at a loss for words and shared her / both stood silently watching the movement below; then his forehead knotting with concentration and concern. he. islide, or whatever it is, gives away too quickly, that f downstream will be very dangerous. I hope there are at way," he said. Al.be any more dangerous than it was last night," Ayla said. ^ ight it was raining, so people might expect something like a |tf this breaks through, without the warning of a rainstorm, SBtch people by surprise, and that would be devastating," he ^. idded, then said, "But if people are using this river, wouldn't »S that it had stopped flowing and try to find out why?" |ed to face her. "But what about us, Ayla? We're traveling, Wuldn't have any way of knowing that a river had stopped We could be downstream of something like this sometime, Buldn't have any warning." Ined back to look at the water in the valley and didn't answer tfy. "You're right, Jondalar," she said then. "We could get another flash flood without warning. Or the lightning could B instead of that tree. Or an earthquake could open up a crack tend and take everyone except a little girl, leaving her alone "d. Or someone could get sick, or be born with a weakness '""ty. The Mamut said no one can know when the Mother c to call one of Her children back to Her. There's nothing to be gained by worrying about things like that. We can't do about them. That's for Her to decide." ^ything1 Jondalar listened, still frowning with worry; then he relaxed and n his arms around her. "I worry too much. Thonolan used to telliL that. I just started thinking about what would happen if we vyp downstream of that valley, and remembered last night. And then t thought about losing you, and..." He tightened his arms around her "Ayla, I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you," he said with sudden fervor, holding her to him. "I'm not sure I'd want to go on i.. 0 U living. She felt a tinge of worry at his strong reaction. "I hope you would go on living, Jondalar, and find someone else to love. If anything ever happened to you, a piece of me, of my spirit, would be gone with you because I love you, but I would go on living, and a piece of your spirit would always be living with me." "It wouldn't be easy to find someone else to love. I didn't think I'd ever find you. I don't know if I'd even want to look," Jondalar said. They started back, walking together. Ayla was quiet for a while, thinking, then said, "I wonder if that's what happens when you love someone, and that person loves you back? I wonder if you exchange pieces of each other's spirit. Maybe that's why it hurts so much to lose someone you love." She paused, then continued. "It's like the men of the Clan. They are hunting brothers, and they exchange a piece of each other's spirit, particularly when one saves the other's life. It's not easy to go on living when a piece of your spirit is missing, and each hunter knows a piece of himself will go to the next world if the other goes, so he will watch and protect his brother, do almost anything to save his life." She stopped and looked up at him. "Do you think we have exchanged pieces of our spirits, Jondalar? We are hunting partners, aren't we?" "And you once saved my life, but you are much more than a hunting brother," he said, smiling at the idea. "I love you. I understand now why Thonolan didn't want to go on living when Jetamio died. Some" times I think he was searching for a way into the next world, so could find them, Jetamio and the baby who was never born." "But if anything ever happened to me, I wouldn't want you to foil. me to any spirit world. I'd want you to stay right here, and someone else," Ayla said, with conviction. She didn't like all t11. about next worlds. She wasn't sure what some other world after one would be like, or even, deep in her heart, if one really exl ^ What she did know was that to get to any next world, you had in this one, and she didn't want to hear about Jondalar dying' e a before or after she did. ine about worlds of the spirit led to other random thoughts. that's what happens when you get old," she said. "If you . pieces of your spirit with people you love, after you've lost a an so many pieces of your spirit have gone with them to the Id that there's not enough left to keep you alive in this world. , hole inside of you that keeps getting bigger, so you want to e next world where most of your spirit and your loved ones do you know so much?" Jondalar asked with a little smile. cr lack of knowledge of the world of the spirits, her ingenuous itaneous observations made sense to him in a way, and dis- genuine and thoughtful intelligence, though he had no way of ' if there was any merit in the ideas. If Zeiandoni were there, I ask her, he thought. Then suddenly he realized they were me, and he would be able to ask her, some day soon. : pieces of my spirit when I was a little girl and the people I i to were taken by the earthquake. Then Iza took a piece when , and Creb, and so did Rydag. Even though he isn't dead, even s a piece of me, of my spirit, that I will never see. Your brother ece of you with him, didn't he?" ' Jondalar said, "he did. I will always miss him, and always ut it. Sometimes I still think it was my fault, and I would have rthing to save him." I't think there is anything you could have done, Jondalar. The wanted him, and it is for Her to decide, not for someone to »r a way to the next world." they got back to the tall sallow brush where they had spent t, they began going through their belongings. Almost every- is at least damp, and many things were still very wet. They ie swollen knots that still tied the ground cover to the upper >art of the tent and, each taking an end and twisting in oppo- ctions, tried to wring the pieces out. But too much twisting rain on the stitching. When they decided to erect the tent letting it dry out, they discovered they had lost some of the s. spread the ground cover out over the brush, and then checked 'er clothes, which were also still quite wet. Objects that were ick baskets had fared a little better. Many things were damp, Id probably dry soon enough, if they had a warm, dry place Mi out. The open steppes would be fine during the day, but ten they needed to travel, and it could get damp and cool on nd at night. They did not look forward to sleeping in a wet ^ "I think it's time for some hot tea," Ayla said, feeling disco It was already later than usual. She got a fire started and puth^ stones in it, thinking about breakfast. That was when she realize^ didn't have the food left from their evening meal the night before "Oh, Jondalar, we don't have anything to eat this morning'' complained. "It's still down in that valley. I left the grains in my cooking basket near the hot coals in the fireplace. The cooking" is gone, too. I have others, but it was a good one. At least I still k my medicine bag," she said with obvious relief when she found "And the otter skin still resists water, even as old as it is. EvervA inside is dry. At least I can make tea for us, I have some good-tast herbs in it. I'll get some water," she said, then looked around. "Whe my tea-making basket? Did I lose that, too? I thought I brought it i the tent when it began to rain. It must have dropped when we w hurrying to leave." "We left something else back there that isn't going to make you v happy," Jondalar said. "What?" Ayla said, looking upset. "Your parfleche, and the long poles." She shut her eyes and shook her head in dismay. "Oh, no. Thati a good meat-keeper and it was full of roe deer meat. And those po! They were just the right size. It's going to be hard to replace them. better see if anything else was lost and make sure the emergency fi is all right." She reached for the pack basket where she kept the few perso things she was taking with her and the clothing and equipment t would be used later. Though all the baskets were wet, and saggi the spare ropes and cords on the bottom had kept the contents of < one reasonably dry and undamaged. The food they were using al< the way was near the top of the basket; below it the emergency tra' ing-food package was still securely wrapped and essentially dry. ' decided this might be a good time to look over all their supplies )US be certain nothing was spoiled, and to judge how long the food tl had with them would last. She took out all the various kinds of dried preserved food she brought with them and spread it out on top of their sleeping roll. 1 were berries--blackberries, raspberries, bilberries, elderberries, berries, strawberries, alone or mixed together--that had been m" and dried into cakes. Other sweet varieties were cooked down, dried to a leathery texture, sometimes with added pieces of sma apples, tart but high in pectin. Whole berries and wild appi05' with other fruits such as wild pears and plums, were sliced whole, and sweetened a bit as they dried in the sun. Any of them is they were, or soaked or cooked with water, and were often avor soups or meats. There also were grains and seeds, some been partially cooked and then parched; some shelled and azelnuts; and the stone-pine cones full of rich nuts she had from the valley the day before. ibles were also dried--stems, buds, and particularly starchy ch as cattail, thistle, licorish fern, and various lily conns. ;re steam-cooked in ground ovens before being dried, but ere dug, peeled, and strung immediately on cords made of tv bark of certain plants or sinew from the backbone or leg of various animals. Mushrooms were also strung, and for are often hung over smoky fires to dry, and certain edible /ere steamed and dried into dense, nutritious loaves. Their s were rounded out by a large selection of dried smoked meat and in a special packet, put aside for emergencies, was a of ground-up dried meat, clean rendered fat, and dried fruits, ato small cakes. ied food was compact and kept well; some of it was more than 1 and had come from the previous winter's supplies, but the s of certain items were quite limited. Nezzie had collected it from friends and relatives who had brought it to the Summer Ay la had drawn sparingly from their store of food; for the : they were living off the land. It was the season for it. If they : survive by harvesting the bounty of the Great Earth Mother r offerings were rich, they could never hope to survive trav- >ss country during leaner times. acked everything back up. She had no intention of depending dried traveling food for their morning meal, though the ad fewer fat birds to feed after they ate. A pair of sandgrouse a- sling and were roasted on a spit; some pigeon eggs that ver hatch were lightly cracked and put directly in the fire in Is. Contributing to a filling breakfast was the fortunate find of c's cache of spring beauty corms. The hole in the ground was sir sleeping furs and filled with the sweet and starchy vegeta- ch had been gathered earlier by the small animal when the orms were at their peak. They were cooked with the rich pine l had gathered the day before, which were released from the s by fire and cracked with a rock. Some fresh ripe dewberries out the meal. they left the flooded valley, Ayla and Jondalar continued ering slightly toward the west, drawing imperceptibly closer 'untain range. Though it was not an exceptionally high range, 1 10 the taller peaks of the mountains were perpetually covered with often shrouded with mists and clouds. They were in the southern region of the cold continent and character of the grassland had changed subtly. It was more than sim a profusion of grass and herbs that accounted for the diversity of. mals that thrived on the cold plains. The animals themselves "I evolved differences in diets and migratory patterns, spatial separati-l and seasonal variations, which all contributed to the wealth of life a! in later times on the great equatorial plains far to the south-the o 1.J place that came close to matching the profound richness of the Ice A^ steppes--the great abundance and variety of animals shared the on" ductive land in complex and mutually sustaining ways. Some specialized in eating particular plants, some in particular pan! of plants; some grazed the same plants at slightly different stages of development; some fed in places that others did not go, or they feU lowed later, or migrated differently. The diversity was maintained because eating and living habits of one species fit in between or around^ those of another in complementary niches. Woolly mammoths needed great quantities of fibrous filler, rouA grasses, stems, and sedges, and because they tended to bog down in deep snows, marshes or sphagnum meadows, they kept to the firm,; windswept ground near the glaciers. They made long migrations along the wall of ice, moving south only in spring and summer. Steppe horses also required bulk; like mammoths, they digested coarse stems and grasses quickly, but were somewhat more selective, preferring the mid-height varieties of grass. They could dig down through snow to find feed, but this used up more energy than they gained, and it was a struggle for them to travel when snow piled up. They could not subsist for long in deep snow and preferred the hard- surfaced, windy plains. Unlike mammoths and horses, bison needed the leaves and sheaths of grass for the higher protein content and tended to select shortgrass, utilizing the areas of mid- and tallgrass only for new growth, usually in spring. In summer, however, an important, if inadvertent, cooperation was practiced. Horses used their teeth like clippers to bite through the tough stalks. After the horses had passed by, cutting down the stems, the densely rooted grass was stimulated to send out ne leaves ofregrowth. The migrations of horses were often followed, an an interval of a few days, by the gigantic bison, who welcomed new shoots, i In winter, bison moved to southern ranges of variable weather more snow, which kept low-growing grass leaves moist and are northern plains. They were skilled at sweeping snow „ noses and cheeks to find their preferred close-to-the- but the snowy steppes of the south were not without risk. |ft kept them warm in the relatively dry cold, even of the temore snow fell, the heavy, shaggy coats of bison and other gssed animals that migrated south in winter could be hazard- t fatal when the climate turned cold and wet, with frequent en freezing and thawing. If their coats became soaking wet ew they could be vulnerable to a fatal chill during a subse- e especially if a cold snap caught them resting on the i if their long hair froze fast, they would be unable to get sly deep snow, or icy crusts on top of snow, could also be as winter blizzards, or falling through the thin ice of s, or flooding river valleys. i and saiga antelopes also thrived by selectively foraging on Ked to very dry conditions, small herbs and ground-hugging crass, but unlike bison, saiga did poorly on broken terrain i snow, and they were not able to leap well. They were fast tee runners that could outdistance their predators only on vel surfaces of the windy steppes. Mouflon, the wild sheep, ter hand, were expert climbers and used steep terrain to it they could not dig through snow that piled up. They ji the windblown rocky high ground. (catlike species related to mouflon, chamois and ibex, divided Ige by altitude, or by differences of terrain and landscape, with Igoat-antelope, ibex, taking the highest ground with the steeply followed at slightly lower elevations by the smaller and very thamois, with the mouflon below them. But they were all |k rough terrain of even the lowest levels of the arid steppes, By were adapted to cold, so long as it was dry. »oxen were also goatlike animals, although larger, and their Mible coats, which resembled the fur of mammoths and woolly (OSes, made them seem bigger and more "oxiike." They nibbled lusly on the low shrubs and sedges, and they were particularly to the coldest regions, preferring the extremely cold, windy, Uns close to the glacier. Though their underwool was shed in ', musk-oxen became stressed if the weather turned too warm. ; deer and reindeer kept to open ground in herds, but most !er were browsers of tree leaves. The solitary woodland moose Fe- 1 hey loved the summer leaves of deciduous trees, and the tt Pondweeds and water plants of marshes and lakes, and with °oves and long legs, they could negotiate marshy, boggy got- tomlands. In winter they survived on the more indigestible grass high willow twigs of trees that grew on the low ground of river vail their splay-footed long legs easily carrying them through the w blown snow that drifted and piled up there. Reindeer were winter-loving animals, feeding on lichens that p on barren soil and rocks. They could smell the favored plants through snow, from a long distance, and their hooves were adaote digging down through deep snows if they needed to. In summer t ate both grass and leafy shrubs. Elk and reindeer both preferred alpine meadows or herbaceous K lands during spring and summer, but below the elevation of the rs ing sheep, and the elk tended to eat grasses more than shrubs. A and onagers invariably preferred the arid higher hills, while bi ranged a bit lower, though they generally climbed higher than hor which had a broader choice of terrain than mammoths or rhii eroses. Those primal plains with their complex and diverse grasslands; tained in great multitudes a fantastic mixture of animals. No sil place on a later earth did more than approximate parts of it. The ( cold environment of high mountains could not compare, though d were similarities. Mountain-dwelling sheep, goats, and antelopes tended their range to the lower ground then, but large herds of pi animals could not exist in the steep, rocky terrain of high mount when the climate of the lowlands changed. The soggy and fragile northern bogs were not the same. They v too wet for much grass to grow, and their stinting, acid soils cai plants to develop toxins to avoid being grazed by the great multitu. which would destroy such delicate slow-growing flora. The vane were limited and offered poor nutrients for the diversity of large h( ing animals; there was not sufficient feed. And only those with v splaying hooves, like reindeer, could live there. Huge creatures ofg weight with large stumpy legs, or fast runners with narrow da) hooves became mired in the soft, wet land. They needed firm, < solid ground. Later, the grassy plains of warmer, more temperate regions de oped distinct bands of more limited vegetation controlled by temp ture and climate. They offered too little diversity in summer, ^w much snow in winter. Snow also bogged down animals that requ1 firm ground, and it was difficult for many to push aside to reach Deer could live in woods where the snow was deep, but only De^ they browsed leaves and twig tips from trees that grew above the s reindeer could dig through snow to reach the lichen on which they in winter. Bison and aurochs subsisted, but they were reduced i0 r their full potential. Other animals, such as horses, aber as their preferred environment shrunk. .jaue combination of all the many elements of the Ice at fostered the magnificent multitudes, and each was line the bitter cold, the withering winds, and the ice en the vast glaciers shrank back to polar regions and m the lower latitudes, so, too, did the great herds and i become dwarfed or disappear entirely from a land that j land that could no longer sustain them. I traveled, the missing parfleche and long poles preyed on ,They were more than useful, they might be necessary i trip ahead. She wanted to replace them, but it would i an overnight stop, and she knew Jondalar was anxious ever, was not happy about the wet tent, nor the ding on it for shelter. Besides, it wasn't good for wet I up and packed together so tight; it could make them I to be spread out to dry, and the hides would proba- the worked as they were drying to keep them pliable, in fc smoking they had received when the leather was made. pake more than a day, he was sure. ttmoon they approached the deep trench of another large |l separated the plain from the mountains. From their van- 1 the plateau of the open steppes, above the broad valley Ie, swiftly flowing waterway, they could see the terrain on |e. The foothills across the river were fractured with many and gullies, the ravages of flooding, as well as many more ifcitaries. It was a major river, channeling a good proportion a, which drained the eastern face of the mountains into the 'I'. Bounded the shoulder of the steppe plateau and rode down feyla was reminded of the territory around the Lion Camp, more broken landscape across the river was different. But ;she saw the same kind of deep-cut gullies carved out of the ^rain and melting snow, and high grass drying into standing 6 floodplain below, isolated larch and pine trees were scat- g leafy shrubs, and stands of cattails, tall phragmite reeds, tes marked the river's edge. sy reached the river, they stopped. This was a major water- It and deep, and swollen from the recent rains. They were are how they were going to get across. It was going to take ing. wd we don't have a bowl boat," Ayla said, thinking of the ^ skin-covered round boats the Lion Camp had used to cross rh i ' i i n' near their lodge. "You're right. I think we are going to need some kind of a boa. get across this without getting everything all wet. I'm not sure wl but I don't remember having so much trouble crossing rivers wt Thonolan and I were traveling. We just piled our gear on a couok logs and swam across," Jondalar said. "But I guess we didn't have much, only a back frame for each of us. That's all we could cap With the horses, we can take more with us, but then, we have mon worry about." As they rode downstream, looking over the situation, Ayla norii a stand of tall, slender birches growing near the water. The place I such a familiar feeling that she half expected to see the long, semis) terranean earthlodge of the Lion Camp tucked into the side of the sk at the back of a river terrace, with grass growing out of the sides rounded top, and the perfectly symmetrical arched entrance that t so surprised her when she first saw it. But when she actually saw si an arch, it gave her an eerie, spine-tingling shock. "Jondalar! Look!" He looked up the slope where she was pointing. There he saw i just one, but several, perfectly symmetrical archways, each an entrai to a circular, dome-shaped structure. They both dismounted and, fh ing the path up from the river, climbed to the Camp. Ayla was surprised at how eager she was to meet the people v lived there, and realized how long it had been since they had seen spoken to anyone besides each other. But the place was empty, a planted in the ground between the two curved mammoth tusks will tips were joined together at the top, forming the arched entrance one of the dwellings, was a small carved ivory figure of a female w ample breasts and hips. "They must be gone," Jondalar said. "They left a donii to gui each lodge." "They're probably hunting, or at a Summer Meeting, or visinD| Ayla said, feeling real disappointment that there were no pe°F "That's too bad. I was looking forward to seeing someone." She vffl to go. "Wait, Ayla. Where are you going?" "Back to the river." She looked puzzled. "But this is perfect," he said. "We can stay here.". "They left a mutoi--a donii--to guard their lodges. The sp ^ the Mother is protecting them. We can't stay here and ^lstur^, spirit. It will bring us bad luck," she said, knowing full 'weu a knew it. J n stay, if we wed to. We just can't take anything we don't at's always understood. Ayla, we need shelter. Our tent is We have to give it a chance to dry out. While we're waiting, »hunting. If we get the right kind of animal, we can use the ake a bowl boat to cross the river." frown slowly changed to an enlightened smile, as she grasped ne and realized the implications. They did need a few days r from their near disaster and replace some of their losses. ye can get enough hide to make a new parfleche, too," she >ce it's cleaned and dehaired, rawhide doesn't take that long not any longer than it takes to dry meat. It just has to be and left to get hard." She glanced down toward the river. i at those birches down there. I think I could make good poles ne of those. Jondalar, you're right. We need to stay here for rs. The Mother will understand. And we could leave some for the people who live here, to thank them for the use of lp... if we're lucky with our hunting. Which lodge should l?" lammoth Hearth. That's where visitors usually stay." >u think there is a Mammoth Hearth? I mean, do you think lamutoi Camp?" Ayla asked. t know. It's not one big earthlodge that everyone lives in like ip," Jondalar said, looking at the group of seven round dwell- red with a smooth layer of hardened earth and river clay. an a single, large, multifamily longhouse, like the one they in during the winter, this place had several smaller dwellings together, but the purpose was the same. It was a settlement, ttity of more-or-less related families. :.s like Wolf Camp, where the Summer Meeting was," Ayla ping in front of the entrance of one of the small dwellings, reluctant to push the heavy drape aside and enter the home ers without being invited, in spite of generally understood hat had developed out of a mutual necessity for the sake of n time of need. of the younger people at the Summer Meeting thought the s were old-fashioned," Jondalar said. "They liked the idea of lual lodge for just one or two families." ttean they wanted to live by themselves? Just one lodge with o families? For a winter Camp?" Ayla asked. he said. "No one wanted to live alone all winter. You never tte of these small lodges by itself; there are always at least five inetimes more. That was the idea. The people I talked to 1 was easier to build a smaller lodge for a new family or two, than to crowd into one big lodge until they had to build another they wanted to build near their families, and stay with their Ca and share in the activities and the food that everyone worked too to collect and store for winter." He pushed aside the heavy skin hanging from the joined tusk's formed the entrance, ducked under it and stepped inside. Avia < back, holding up the drape to shed some light. "What do you think, Ayla? Does it look like a Mamutoi lodge1'' "It could be. It's hard to tell. Remember that Sungaea Camn stopped at on the way to the Summer Meeting? It wasn't very differ»3 from a Mamutoi Camp. Their customs may have been a little differe but they were like the Mammoth Hunters in many ways. Mamut a even the funeral ceremony was very similar. He thought they w< once related to Mamutoi. I did notice the patterns of their decoratk were not the same, though." She paused, trying to think of od differences. "And some of their clothes--like that beautiful shouh blanket made out of mammoth and other wools on the girl who h died. But even Mamutoi Camps have different patterns. Nezzie alws knew what Camp someone was from just by the small changes in I style and shape of the patterns on their tunics, even when I coul' see very much difference at all." With the light coming in from the entrance, the main suppor construction was plain to see. The lodge was not framed with woodj| although a few of the birch poles were strategically placed; it had be built out of mammoth bones. The large sturdy bones of the huge bea; were the most abundant and accessible building material available i the essentially treeless steppes. Most of the mammoth bones used for building material did not coi from animals that had been hunted and killed for that purpose. They were from animals that had died of natural causes, gathered fro® wherever they happened to fall on the steppes or, most often, from accumulated piles that had been swept up by flooding rivers and deposited at certain bends or barriers in the river, like driftwood. Ptf" manent winter shelters were often built on river terraces near suctt piles, because mammoth bones and tusks were heavy. It usually took several individuals to lift a single bone and no wanted to carry them very far; the total weight of the mammoth bo0® that were used to construct one small dwelling was two or three tn sand pounds or more. Building such shelters was not the activity single family, but a community effort, directed by someone ^ knowledge and experience, and organized by someone with the a ^ to persuade others to help. called a Camp was a settled village, and the people were not nomadic followers of the itinerant game, but ntary hunters and gatherers. The Camp might be left jiile in the summer, when the inhabitants went to hunt ace, which was brought back and kept in nearby storage [ family and friends from other villages to trade gossip it was a permanent home site. ik this one is the Mammoth Hearth, or whatever that I here," Jondalar said, letting the drape fall behind him. d of dust. itened the small female figure, whose feet were purposely irion, leaving the legs in a peglike shape that had been he ground to stand guard in front of the entrance, then [alar to the next lodge. is probably either the leader's lodge or the mamut's, I." Jondalar said. Ixd that it was slightly larger, and the woman-figure in lanewhat more elaborate, and she nodded agreement. "A iunk, if they are Mamutoi, or people like them. Both the l and the headman of the Lion Camp had hearths that were |D Mamut's, but his was used for visitors, and by everyone I?." Ith stood at the entrance, holding up the drape, waiting for |to adjust to the dimmer light within. But two small lights |o glow. Wolf growled, and Ayla's nose detected a scent that |ervous. Ijfo in, Jondalar! Wolf! Stay!" she commanded, making the |er hand as well. yit, Ayla?" Jondalar said. Du smell it? There's an animal in there, something that can &ng smell, a badger, I think, and if we scare it, it will make tink that lingers. We won't be able to use this lodge, and the (> live here will have trouble getting rid of the smell. Maybe I the drape back, Jondalar, it will come out by itself. They ys and don't like the light much, even if they do hunt in the imes." Ited a low rumbling growl, and it was obvious he was strain- Bl after the fascinating creature. But like most members of family, the badger could spray an attacker with the power- g and acrid contents of its anal glands. The last thing Ayla is to be around a wolf that stunk of that strong musky odor, isn't sure how long she could hold Wolf back. If the badger didn't come out soon, she might have to use a more drastic way to -.1 the lodge of the animal. The badger did not see well with its small and inconspicuous ev but they were watching the lighted opening with unwavering atr ' tion. When it seemed obvious the badger was not going to leave ut the man honors the spirit animal of each, and the people of TO must know and honor the Cave Lion Spirit. This woman say the Great Spirit of the Cave Lion will always be welcome | always have a place wherever this woman is welcome." II Ayla opened her eyes, she saw Jondalar watching her. "You ? • •. occupied," he said. "I didn't want to disturb you." te •.. thinking about my totem, my Cave Lion," she said, "and '^ne. I hope he will be... comfortable there." "The spirit animals are all comfortable near Doni. The Great Mother created and gave birth to all of them. The legends tell. it," he said. "Legends? Stories about the times before?" "I guess you could say they were stories, but they are told ' " certain way." ' "There were Clan legends, too. I used to love it when Dorv them. Mog-ur named my son after one of my favorites, 'The Lee ofDurc,'"Aylasaid. c Jondalar felt a moment of surprise and a twinge of disbelief at th.1 thought that the people of the Clan, the flatheads, could have legend. and stories. It was still difficult for him to overcome certain ingrainal3 ideas he had grown up with, but he had already been made aware thtfl they were much more complex than he would have thought possit why couldn't they have had legends and stories, too? "Do you know any Earth Mother legends?" Ayla asked. "Well, I think I remember part of one. They are told in a way i make them easier to remember, but only special zeiandonia know tt all." He paused to remember, then began in a chanting singsong: "Her birth waters gushed, filling rivers and seas, Then flooded the land and gave rise to the trees. From each drop that spilled, new grass and leaves grew Till sprouting green plants filled all the earth's view." Ayla smiled. "That's wonderful, Jondalar! It tells the story withlj nice feeling, and a nice sound, something like the rhythms of the| Mamutoi songs. It would be very easy to remember that." ] "It is often sung. Different people sometimes make different song»| for it, but the words mostly stay the same. Some people can sing the whole story, with all the legends." "Do you know any more?" "A little. I've heard it all, and generally know the story, but the verses are long, a lot to remember. The first part is about Doni wb% lonely and giving birth to the sun, Ball, 'the Mother's great joy, bright shining boy,' then they tell how She loses him and becomes lonely again. The moon is Her lover, Lumi, but She created him,t00, That story is more of a woman's legend; it's about moon times, an"j becoming a woman. There are other legends about Her giving ^lrtn | all the spirit animals, and to the spirit woman and man, to all ofE3"" | Children." ^| Wolf barked then, an attention-getting puppy bark that he i° j did accomplish his aim, encouraging him to keep it beyond the P"'17! stage. They both looked in his direction and then saw the cause o ow on the sparsely wooded, grassy floodplain of the Isinall herd of aurochs were straggling by. The wild cattle ch massive horns and shaggy coats, mostly of a solid > deep it was almost black. But among the herd were a ds that sported large white spots, primarily around the larters, mild genetic aberrations that showed up occa- ilarly among aurochs. ; same moment, Ayla and Jondalar looked at each other, r a knowing nod, then called their horses. Quickly re- ;k baskets, which they took inside the dwelling, and iar-throwers and spears, they mounted and headed to- As they neared the grazing herd, Jondalar stopped to don and decide upon the best approach. Ayla halted as f his lead. She knew carnivorous animals, particularly ;s, although animals as large as lynx and the massively hyena had been among her prey, and a lion had once , and now a wolf, but she was not as familiar with the owsers that were normally hunted for food. Though she r own ways to hunt them when she lived alone, Jondalar »hunting them and had much more experience. ause she had been in a mood to communicate with her ; world of the spirits, Ayla was in a strange state of mind i the herd. It seemed almost too coincidental that, just ikad decided that the Mother would not object if they stayed I'to replenish their losses and hunt for an animal with a Ie and plenty of meat, suddenly a herd of aurochs should (ria wondered if it was a sign, from the Mother or, maybe, Mem, that they had been guided there. lot so unusual, however. All through the year, especially I ivarmer seasons, various animals, in herds or singly, mi- BUgh the gallery forests and lush grasslands of large river t.:wy particular site along a major river, it was usual to see s such an intimate understanding of each other, she hardly realized v^ the subtle movements of her body that accompanied the thought given a signal to the sensitive and intelligent animal..^ As Ayla was taking aim with her spear, suddenly Wolf w^ ra"' alongside the fleeing cow. The aurochs was distracted by the lO i^a F^ Her and it veered to the side, slowing its stride. Wolf jfauee aurochs, and the great spotted cow turned to fend kmed predator with large sharp horns. The wolf fell back, wain and, trying to find any vulnerable place, clamped ^soft exposed nose with sharp teeth and strong jaws. The Rowed, raised her head, lifting Wolf off the ground, and wing to rid herself of the cause of her pain. Dangling like ((, the dazed young canine held on. id been quick to see the change of pace, and he was ake advantage of it. He raced toward them at a gallop and ear with great force from close quarters. The sharp bone j-the heaving sides, sliding in deeply between ribs to vital Ayla was just behind him and her spear found its mark a r entering at an angle just behind the rib cage on the penetrating deep. Wolf hung on to the cow's nose until to the ground. With the weight of the large wolf pulling e fell heavily on her side, breaking Jondalar's spear. as a help," Ayla said. "He did stop the cow before she trees." The man and woman strained to roll the huge to expose its underside, stepping over the thick blood that elow the deep cutjondalar had made in its throat. n't started chasing her when he did, that cow probably 'e started running until we were almost on top-of her. It een an easy kill," Jondalar said. He picked up the shaft of pear, then threw it down again, thinking he might have save it if Wolf hadn't pulled the cow over on it. It took a ) make a good spear. be sure of that. That cow was quick to dodge us, and a :oo." was weren't bothered by us at all, until Wolf came. I tried call him away, but I didn't want to shout and drive them now what you wanted. Why didn't you tell me in Clan asking you, but you weren't paying attention," Ayla said. ? Jondalar thought. It hadn't occurred to him that she was tnguage. That would be a good way to signal. Then he 'd. "I doubt if it would have done any good," he said. "He aldn't have stopped even if you had tried to call him." >t, but I think Wolf could learn to be a help. He already >h small game. Baby learned to hunt with me. He was a ? partner. If a cave lion can learn to hunt with people, Wolf could, too," Ayla said, feeling defensive about him. they had killed the aurochs, and Wolf did help. Jondalar thought Ayla's judgment of the skills a wolf was c learning was unrealistic, but there was no point in arguing She treated the animal like a child, as it was, and it would o her defend him more. "Well, we'd better gut this cow before it starts to swell. An have to skin it out here and divide it into pieces so we can pack; the Camp," Jondalar said, and then another problem occurred i "But what are we going to do about that wolf?" "What about Wolf?" Ayla asked. "If we cut that aurochs into pieces and carry part of it up Camp, he'll be able to eat the meat left here," the man said, hi; tion rising, "and when we come back here to get more, he'll be get to the meat we brought up to the Camp. One of us would ] stay here to watch it, and the other will have to stay there, h how do we bring any more back up there? We're going to have i up a tent here to dry the meat instead of using the lodge at the 1 just because of Wolf!" He was exasperated with the problems 1 ceived the wolf to be causing and was not thinking clearly. But he made Ayla angry. Maybe Wolf would go after the i she wasn't there, but he wouldn't touch it as long as she was wit She would just make sure Wolf stayed with her. He wasn't that mu of a problem. Why was Jondalar picking on him so much? She i to answer him, then changed her mind and whistled for Wh With a smooth bound, she mounted, then turned back to Jor "Don't worry about it. I'll get that cow up to the Camp," she • she rode away, calling Wolf to her. She rode hard back to the earthlodge, jumped down and h inside, and came out with a stone axe with a short handle, one Jo had made for her. Then she mounted again and urged Whinney t the birch woods. Jondalar watched her ride up and saw her coming back down •• into the woods, wondering what she was planning. He had start belly cut to remove the intestines and stomach of the cow, but 1 having mixed feelings as he worked. He did think he was just his concerns about the young wolf, but he was sorry he had l them up to Ayla. He knew how she felt about the animal. H1 plaints were not going to change anything, and he had to adi training had accomplished much more than he would have t possible. When he heard her chopping wood, he suddenly realized w »and he headed for the woods, too. He saw Ayla hacking tell straight birch tree from the center of the grove of Itrees venting her anger in the process. & bad as Jondalar says, she was thinking. Maybe he did iff that aurochs, but then he did help. She paused for a ang and frowned. What if they hadn't made a kill, lhave meant they weren't welcome? That the spirit of the It want them to stay at the Camp? If Wolf had spoiled t she wouldn't be thinking of how to move that cow, they lying. But if they were meant to stay, he couldn't have Ihunting, could he? She started chopping again. It was iplicated. They had killed the spotted cow, even with nee--and his help--so it was all right to use the lodge. 1 been guided to this place, after all, she thought. idalar appeared. He tried to take the axe from her. a look for another tree and let me finish this one," he I"? jaot as angry, Ayla resisted his assistance. "I told you I'd teup to the Camp. I can do it without your help." btou can, the same way you brought me to your cave in the Keith both of us, you'll have your new poles much faster," id added, "And yes, I have to admit, you are right. Wolf »r' tod in midstroke and looked up at him. His brow revealed llboncem, but his expressive blue eyes showed mixed feel- ^h she didn't understand his misgivings about Wolf, the »ve he felt for her showed in his eyes, too. She felt drawn to ^to the sheer male magnetism of his closeness, to the fasci- he didn't fully realize he had or know the strength of, and (stance evaporate. k're right, too," she said, feeling a little contrite. "He did ytim before we were ready, and he might have spoiled the S» frown vanished in a relieved smile. "So we're both right," »e smiled back, and the next moment they were in each S, and his mouth found hers. They clung together, relieved TRument was over, wanting to cancel out the distance that Ctween them with physical closeness. »y stopped expressing their fervent relief, but still stood "ns around each other, Ayla said, "I do think Wolf could P us hunt. We just have to teach him." "low. Maybe. But since he's going to be traveling with us, I think you should teach him as much as he'll learn. If nothing maybe you can train him not to interfere when we're hunting," he <--i^ "You should help, too, so he'll mind both of us." f "I doubt that he'll pay attention to me," he said. Then seeing A I she was ready to disagree, he added, "But if you want, I'll try "u took the stone axe from her and decided to bring up another idea A. had raised. "You said something about using Clan signs when we don' want to shout. That could be useful." As Ayla went to look for anothor tree of the right shape and size, she was smiling. Jondalar examined the tree she had been working on to see how much more chopping it would need. It was difficult to cut down a hard tree with a stone axe. The brittle flint of the axe head was made rather thick so that it would not break too easily from the force of the blow and a strike did not cut in deeply, but instead chipped a little away. The tree looked more as if it had been gnawed than cut. Ayla listened to the rhythmic sound of stone hitting wood as she carefully examined the trees in the grove. When she found one that was suitable, she notched the bark then looked for a third. When the necessary trees were cut down, they dragged them out to the clearing and, using knives and the axe, stripped the branches, then lined them up on the ground. Ayla judged the size and marked them, and they cut them all to an equal length. While Jondalar removed the internal organs from the aurochs, she walked back to the lodge for ropes and a device she had made of leather straps and thongs knotted and braided together. She brought along one of the torn floor mats as well when she returned, then signaled for Whinney and adjusted the special harness on her. Using two of the long poles--the third was only necessary for the tripod she used to keep food out of the reach of prowling scavengers- she attached the narrower ends to the harness she had put on the horse, crossing them over above the withers. The heavier ends dragged on the ground, one on either side of the mare. With ropes, they fastened the grass mat across the more widely spread poles of the travois, near the ground, and attached extra ropes to tie down and hold the aurochs. Looking at the size of the huge cow, Ayla began to wonder if perhaps it would be too much even for the strong steppe horse. The man an woman both strained to get the aurochs on the travois. The mat offer only minimal support, but by tying the animal directly to the poles, did not drag on the ground. After their efforts, Ayla was even ino concerned that the load would be too much for Whinney, sw s almost changed her mind. Jondalar had already removed the stoina niher organs; perhaps they should skin it out right there rmore manageable pieces. She didn't feel the need to she could bring it to the Camp alone any more, but ady loaded on the travois, she decided to have Whinney (surprised when the horse began to pull the heavy load l terrain, Jondalar was even more so. The aurochs was avier than Whinney, and it was a strain, but with only logins, and most of the weight borne by the poles resting the load was manageable. The slope was more difficult, |y horse of the steppes accomplished even that effort. On round of any natural surface, the travois was by far the t conveyance to transport loads. I was Ayla's invention, the result of need, opportunity, rive leap. Living alone with no one to help her, she often fwith the need to move things that were too heavy for her Irag alone--such as a whole, full-grown animal--and usu- Teak them down into smaller pieces, and then had to think sy to protect what was left behind from scavengers. Her XMtunity was the mare she had raised, and the chance to | strength of a horse to help her. But her special advantage H that could recognize a possibility and devise the means. ley reached the earthlodge, Ayla and Jondalar untied the ml after words and hugs of thanks and praise, they led the & down to get the animal's innards. They, too, were useful. |y reached the clearing, Jondalar picked up his broken spear. | of the shaft had snapped off; the point was still embedded |eass, but the long straight back section was still whole. Per- ^ld find a use for it, he thought, taking it with him. t the Camp they removed Whinney's harness. Wolf was nos- id the inner organs; intestines were a favorite of his. Ayla a moment. If she'd had need, she could have used them for ttrposes, from fat storage to waterproofing, but it wasn't pos- Ae much more than they already had with them. id it seem, she thought, that just because they had horses and ; to take more with them, they needed more? She recalled that i left the Clan and was traveling on foot, she carried every- I needed in a pack basket on her back. It was true that their much more comfortable than the low hide shelter she had ^ and they did have changes of clothes, and winter ones that ? t using, and more food and utensils, and... she'd never > carry everything in a pack basket now, she realized. She threw the useful, though presently unnecessary, intest' Wolf, and she and Jondalar turned to butchering the wild beef making several strategic cuts, together they began to pull off the k-. a process that was more efficient than skinning it with a knife T?-? only used a sharp implement to sever a few points of attachment w51 a little effort, the membrane between the skin and the muscle seoaisuS a lll.LX^ mjt»., Lll^, m^ni.ui ait 1^/t.w^^AA ^tt^, jjvjaa aixu Lll^. lUUSCie Senarrafc^A cleanly, and they ended up with only the two holes of the spear no marring a perfect hide. They rolled it up to keep it from drviup inn quickly, and they put the head aside. The tongue and brains were in. and tender, and they planned to eat those delicacies that night. Tir skull with its large horns, however, they would leave for the Camo h could have special meaning for someone, and if not, there were man» useful parts to it. Then Ayla took the stomach and bladder to the small stream thtf supplied water for the Camp to wash them, and Jondalar went down to the river to find brush and slender trees that could be bent to make a round bowl-shaped frame for the small boat. They also searched fell deadfall and driftwood. They would need several fires to keep aniindil and insects away from their meat, as well as a fire inside overnight. |1 They worked until it was nearly dark, dividing the cow into land segments, then cutting the meat into small tongue-shaped pieces an)| hanging them to dry over makeshift racks made of brushwood, bat they still didn't finish. They brought the racks into the lodge overnight. Their tent was still damp, but they folded it and brought it in, too. They would set it up again the next day when they brought the meat out, to let the wind and the sun finish the drying. ( In the morning, after they cut up the last of the meat, Jondalar beg- to construct the boat. Using both steam and hot rocks heated in d» fire, he bent the wood for the boat frame. Ayla was very interesteB and wanted to know where he learned the process. "My brother, Thonolan. He was a spearmaker," Jondalar explainer holding down the end of a small straight tree that he had formed in-- a curve, while she lashed it to a circular section with sinew made a J tendon from the hind legs of the aurochs. ^^ "But what does spear-making have to do with making a boat. "Thonolan could make a spear shaft perfectly straight and true. to learn how to take the bend out of wood, you first have to learn to bend wood, and he could do that just as well. He was much w at it than I am. He had a real feel for it. I suppose you could say craft was not only making spears, but shaping wood. He could the best snowshoes, and that means taking a straight branch o and bending it completely around. Maybe that's why he felt so " ith the Sharamudoi. They were expert wood shapers. They rater and steam to bend out their dugouts to the shape they s a dugout?" Ayla asked. oat carved out of a whole tree. The front end is shaped to a the back end, too, and it can glide through the water so smoothly, it's like cutting with a sharp knife. They're beau- . This one we're making is clumsy by comparison, but there ' trees around here. You'll see dugouts when we reach the oi." auch longer before we get there?" ite a long ways, yet. Beyond those mountains," he said, ;st, toward the high peaks indistinct in the summer haze. he said, feeling disappointed. "I was hoping it wouldn't be would be nice to see some people. I wish someone had been s Camp. Maybe they'll come back before we leave." Jondalar yistfulness in her tone. U lonely for people?" he asked. "You spent such a long time kit valley, I thought you'd be used to it." that's why. I spent enough time being alone. I don't mind lile, sometimes I like it, but we haven't seen any people for . I just thought it would be fun to talk to someone," she looked at him. "I'm so happy you are with me, Jondalar. It so lonely without you." ippy, too, Ayla. Happy I didn't have to make this trip alone, an I can say that you came with me. I'm looking forward to pie, too. When we reach the Great Mother River, we should ;. We've been traveling across country. People tend to live water, rivers or lakes, not out in the open." dded, then held the end of another slender sapling, which heating over hot rocks and steam, while Jondalar carefully a a circle, then helped him lash it to the others. Judging from it, she began to see that it would take the entire hide of the > cover it. There would be no more than a few scraps left enough to make a new rawhide meat-keeper to replace the id lost in the flash flood. They needed the boat to cross the would just have to think of something else to use. Maybe a uld work, she thought, tightly woven, long in shape, and » with a lid. There were cattails and reeds and willows, ^sket-making materials around, but would a basket work? >blem with carrying freshly killed meat was that blood con- ^p out, and no matter how tightly woven, it would even- tually leak through a basket. That was why thick, hard worked so well. It absorbed the blood, but slowly, and didn't 1 after a period of use, could be washed and redried. She needed thing that would do the same thing. She'd have to think about it The problem of replacing her parfleche stayed on her mind when the frame was finished, and they left it to wait for the sinp dry hard and firm, Ayla headed down to the river to collect < basket-making materials. Jondalar went with her but only as far a' birch woods. Since he was all set up for shaping wood, he decided make some new spears, to replace those that had been lost or broken Wymez had given him some good flint before he left, roughed a and preshaped so that new points could be made easily. He had m^l the bone-pointed spears before they left the Summer Meeting, to how they were done. They were typical of the kind his people but he had learned how to make the flint-tipped Mamutoi spe well, and because he was a skilled flint knapper, they were fas) him to make than shaping and smoothing bone points. In the afternoon Ayla started to make a special meat-keeping h When she lived in the valley, she had spent many long winter easing her loneliness by making baskets and mats, among other t and she had become very quick and adept at weaving. She could; make a basket in the dark, and her new carrying container foi was finished before she went to bed. It was made extremely we had thought carefully about the shape and size, materials and tig] of weave, but she wasn't quite satisfied with it. She went out in the darkening twilight to change her absorbent and wash the piece she was wearing in the small stream. She pi near the fire to dry, but out of Jondalar's sight. Then, without c looking at him, she lay down in their sleeping furs beside him. We of the Clan were taught to avoid men as much as possible when 1 bled, and never to look at them directly. It made Clan men very vous to be around women during that time. It had surprised her Jondalar had no qualms about it, but she still felt uncomfortable, she took pains to be discreet in caring for herself. Jondalar had always been considerate of her during her moon til sensing her disquiet, but once she was in bed, he leaned over to her. Though she kept her eyes closed, she responded with wan and when he rolled over on his back again, and they were lying by side watching the play of firelight on the walls and ceilings ° comfortable structure, they talked, though she was careful not to at him. "I'd like to coat that hide after it's mounted on the frame," ne. F' the hooves and scraps of hide and some bones together a- a long time, it will make a very thick and sticky kind of Iries hard. Do we have something that I can use to cook we can think of something. Does it have to cook long?" ies need to cook down, to thicken." night be best to cook it directly over the fire, like a soup t piece of hide. We'll have to watch it, and keep adding ; long as it stays wet, it won't bum... wait. What about of that aurochs? I've been keeping water in it, so it out, and to have it handy for cooking and washing, but e a good cooking bag," Ayla said. link so," Jondalar said. "We don't want to keep adding ant it to get thick." ippose a good watertight basket and hot stones might be ake one in the morning," Ayla said, but as she lay quietly, tuldn't let her sleep. She kept thinking that there was a »boil down the mixture Jondalar wanted to make. She just ite think of it. She was nearly asleep when it came to her. ow I remember." was dozing off but was jerked awake. "Huh! What's > wrong. I just remembered how Nezzie rendered out fat, t: would be the best way to cook your thick stuff. You dig Ie in the ground, in the shape of a bowl, and line it with a there should be a big enough piece left from the aurochs ik up some bones and scatter them over the bottom, then tter and the hooves and whatever else you want. You can long as we keep heating stones, and the little pieces of ;p the hot stones from actually touching the leather, so it tirough." ^la. That's what we'll do," Jondalar said, still half-asleep. sr and was soon snoring. was still something else on Ayla's mind that kept her lad planned to leave the aurochs's stomach for the people to use as a waterbag when they left, but it needed to be ice it dried out, it got stiff, and would not go back to its ble, nearly waterproof condition. Even if she filled it with dd eventually seep out and evaporate away, and she didn't he people would return. it came to her. She almost called out again, but muffled it ^s sleeping, and she didn't want to wake him. She would let the stomach dry out and use it to line her new meat-keeper a it while it was still wet to fit exactly. As she fell asleep in the da lodge, Ayla felt pleased that she had thought of a way to reola.6' very necessary item that had been lost. ' During the next few days, while the meat dried, they were busy. They finished the bowl boat and coated it with the glue If made by boiling down the hooves, bone, and hide scraps. While drying, Ayla made baskets, for the meat they were leaving as a the people of the Camp, for cooking to replace those she had lo. for gathering, some of which she planned to leave behind. She gat vegetable produce and medicinal herbs daily, drying some to tak< them. Jondalar accompanied her one day to look for something to into paddles for the boat. Shortly after they started out, he was pi to find the skull of a giant deer that had died before the large pa antlers were shed, giving him two of equal size. Though it was i he stayed out with Ayla for the rest of the morning. He was Ie to identify certain foods himself, and in the process he was beg to understand how much Ayla really knew. Her knowledge of and her memory for their uses were incredible. When they retui the Camp, Jondalar trimmed the tines off the broad antlers a tached them to sturdy, rather short poles, making entirely servic paddles. The next day he decided to use the wood-shaping apparatus h set up to bend the wood for the boat frame, to straighten shaf new spears. Shaping and smoothing them took most of the next' of days, even with the special tools he had with him, carried in of leather tied with thongs. But while he was working, every ^ passed by the side of the earthlodge where he had thrown it, j noticed the truncated spear shaft he had brought up from thi and felt a flush of annoyance. It was a shame that there wasnt to salvage that straight shaft, short of making a cropped and ' anced spear out of it. Any of the spears he was working so t make could break just as easily. When he was satisfied that the spears would fly true, he u. another tool, a narrow flint blade with a chisellike tip hafted antler-tine handle, to hollow out a deep notch in the thicker bu of the shafts. Then, from the prepared flint nodules he had witti Jondalar knapped new blades and attached them to the SP€ar. with the thick glue he had made as a coating for the boat, a sinew. The tough tendon shrank as it dried, making a strong) by affixing pairs of long feathers, found near the "numerous white-tailed eagles, falcons, and black kites e region feeding on the abundance of susliks and other n «t up a target, using a thick, grass-stuffed bed pad that I torn up and made worthless. Patched with scraps from ; absorbed the force of a throw without damage to the aidalar and Ayla practiced a little every day. Ay la did it p accuracy, but Jondalar was experimenting with differ- J'shaft and sizes of point to see which would work best jt-thrower. Sew spears were finished and dried, he and Ayla took target area to try them out with the spear-thrower and sones each wanted. Though they were both very adept fog weapon, some of their practice casts inevitably went nark and missed the cushioned target, usually landing ^ t the ground. But when Jondalar cast a newly completed Ipowerrul throw, and not only missed the target, but hit a loth bone that was used as an outdoor seat, he flinched. He bit as it bent and bounced back. The wooden shaft had ^a weak spot about a foot back from the point. walked over to examine it, he noticed that the brittle flint I shattered along one edge and spalled off a large chip, Kided point that was not worth salvaging. He was furious Ifor wasting a spear that had taken so much time and effort (are it could be used for anything worthwhile. In a sudden |Er, he cracked the bent spear across his knee and broke it tthrew it down. looked up, he noticed Ayla watching him, and he turned fed with embarrassment over his outburst, then stooped (fcked up the broken pieces, wishing he could dispose of Msively. When he looked up again, Ayla was getting ready her spear as though she hadn't seen anything. He walked Wthlodge and dropped the broken spear near the shaft that 'during the hunt, then stared down at the pieces, feeling Its ridiculous to get so angry over breaking a spear. I lot of work to make one, he thought, looking at the long w end broken off, and the section of the other spear with Hint point still attached that happened to be lying just in .° bad those pieces can't be put together to make a whole Beu at them, he began to wonder if maybe he could, and he picked up both pieces again, examining the broken ends careful! fitted them together and, for a while, the splintered ends sta i tached, then fell apart again. Looking over the entire long sh fi. noted the hollowed-out indentation he had carved at the butt pn