The Mammoth Hunters (Earth's Children 3)

The noses and tongues of the bison were saved—choice delicacies along with livers—then the carcasses were cut into seven pieces: two hindquarters, two forequarters, the midsection halved, and the huge neck. The intestines, stomachs, and bladders were washed and rolled in the hides. Later they would be blown up with air, to keep them from shrinking, and then used for cooking or storage containers for fats and liquids, or floats for fishing nets. Every part of the animal was used, but not every part of every animal was taken; only the choicest or most useful. Only so much as could be carried.

Jondalar had taken Racer partway up the steep path and, to the young horse’s distress, tied him securely to a tree to keep him out of the way, and out of danger. Whinney had found him as soon the bison were penned and Ayla let her go. Jondalar went to get him after he finished helping Latie and Danug with the first bison, but Racer was skittish around all the dead animals. Whinney didn’t like it either, but she was more accustomed to it. Ayla saw them coming, and noticed Barzec and Druwez walking downstream again, and it occurred to her that in the rush to get the bison turned and chased into the trap, their packs had been left behind. She went after them.

“Barzec, you go back for packs?” she asked.

He smiled at her. “Yes. And the spare clothes. We left in such a hurry … not that I’m sorry. If you hadn’t turned them when you did, we would have lost them for sure. That was quite a trick you did with that horse. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it, but I’m worried about leaving everything back there. All these dead bison are going to draw every meat-eating animal around. I saw wolf tracks while we were waiting, and they looked fresh. Wolves love to chew up leather when they find it. Wolverines will, too, and be nasty about it, but wolves will do it for fun.”

“I can go for packs and clothes on horse,” Ayla said.

“I didn’t think of that! After we’re through, there will be plenty to feed on, but I don’t want to leave anything out that I don’t want them to have.”

“We hid the packs, remember?” Druwez said. “She’ll never find them.”

“That’s true,” Barzec said. “I guess we’ll have to go ourselves.”

“Druwez know where to find?” Ayla asked.

The boy looked at Ayla, and nodded.

Ayla smiled. “You want come on horse with me?”

The boy’s face split in a wide grin. “Can I?”

She looked over at Jondalar, and caught his eye. Then beckoned him to come with the horses. He hurried over.

“

I’m going to take Druwez and go get the packs and things they left behind when we started chasing,” Ayla said, speaking Zelandonii. “I’ll let Racer come, too. A good run might settle him down. Horses don’t like dead things. It was hard for Whinney in the beginning, too. You were right about keeping the halter on him, but we ought to start thinking about teaching him to be like Whinney.”

Jondalar smiled. “It’s a good idea, but how do you do it?”

Ayla frowned. “I’m not sure. Whinney does things for me because she wants to, because we’re good friends, but I don’t know about Racer. He likes you, Jondalar. Maybe he would do things for you. I think we both need to try.”

“I’m willing,” he said. “Someday I’d like to be able to ride on his back the way you ride on Whinney.”

“I would like that, too, Jondalar,” she said, remembering, with the warm feeling of love she’d felt even then, how she had once hoped that if the blond man of the Others grew to have feeling for Whinney’s colt, it might encourage him to stay in her valley, with her. That was why she had asked him to name the foal.

Barzec had been waiting while the two strangers spoke in the language he didn’t understand, getting a bit impatient. Finally he said, “Well, if you are going to get them, I’ll go back and help with the bison.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll help Druwez up, and go with you,” Jondalar said.

They both helped him up, and stood watching them go.

Shadows were already getting long by the time they returned, and both hurried to help. Later, as she was washing out long tubes of intestines at the edge of the small river, Ayla recalled skinning and butchering animals with the women of the Clan. Suddenly she realized this was the first time she had ever hunted as an accepted member of a hunting group.

Even when she was young, she had wanted to go with the men, though she knew women were forbidden to hunt. But the men were held in such high esteem for their prowess, and they made it seem so exciting, that she would daydream about herself as a hunter, especially when she wanted to escape from an unpleasant or difficult situation. That was the innocent beginning that led to situations far more difficult than she ever imagined. After she was allowed to hunt with a sling, though other hunting was still taboo, she had often quietly paid attention when the men were discussing hunting strategy. The men of the Clan did almost nothing but hunt—except discuss hunting, make hunting weapons, and engage in hunting rituals. The Clan women skinned and butchered the animals, prepared the hides for clothing and bedding, preserved and cooked the meat, in addition to making containers, cordage, mats, and various household objects, and gathering vegetable products for food, medicine, and other uses.

Brun’s clan had had almost the same number of people as the Lion Camp, but the hunters had seldom killed more than one or two animals at a time. Consequently, they had to hunt often. At this time of year, the Clan hunters were out almost every day to get as much as they could stored ahead for the coming winter. Since she arrived, this was the first time anyone of the Lion Camp had hunted and though she wondered, no one else seemed worried about it. Ayla paused to look at the men and women skinning and butchering a small herd. With two or three people working together on each animal, the work was accomplished far more quickly than Ayla had thought possible. It made her think about the differences between them and the Clan.

The Mamutoi women hunted; that meant, Ayla thought, there were more hunters. It was true that nine of the hunters were male and only four were female—women with children seldom hunted—but it made a difference. They could hunt more effectively with more hunters, just as they could process and butcher more efficiently with everyone working together. It made sense, but she felt there was more involved, some essential point she was missing, some fundamental meaning to be drawn. The Mamutoi had a different way of thinking, too. They were not so rigid, so bound by rules of what was considered proper, and what had been done before. There was a blurring of roles, the behavior of women and men was not so strictly defined. It seemed to depend more on personal inclination, and what worked best.

Jondalar had told her that among his people no one was forbidden to hunt and, though hunting was important and most people did hunt, at least when they were young, no one was required to hunt. Apparently the Mamutoi had similar customs. He had tried to explain that people might have other skills and abilities that were equally worthwhile, and used himself as an example. After he had learned to knap the flint, and had developed a reputation for quality workmanship, he could trade his tools and points for anything he needed. It wasn’t necessary for him to hunt at all, unless he wanted to.

But Ayla still didn’t quite understand. What kind of manhood ceremony did they have if it didn’t matter whether a man hunted or not? Men of the Clan would have been lost if they hadn’t believed it was essential for them to hunt. A boy didn’t become a man until he made his first major kill. Then she thought about Creb. He had never hunted. He couldn’t hunt, he was missing an eye, and an arm, and he was lame. He had been the greatest Mog-ur, the greatest holy man of the Clan, but he had never made his kill, never had a manhood ceremony. In his own heart, he wasn’t a man. But she knew he was.

Though it was already dusk by the time they were through, none of the blood-splattered hunters hesitated to strip off clothes and head for the stream. The women washed somewhat upstream of the men, but they stayed in sight of each other. Rolled hides and split carcasses had been stacked together and several fires lit around them to keep four-legged predators and scavengers away. Driftwood, deadfall, and the green wood used in the construction of the fence were piled nearby. A joint was roasting on a spit over one of them, and several low tents were spaced around it.

The temperature dropped quickly as darkness engulfed them. Ayla was glad for the mismatched and ill-fitting garments that had been loaned to her by Tulie and Deegie while her outfit, which she had washed to remove the bloodstains, was drying by a fire along with several others. She spent some time with the horses, making sure they were comfortable and settling down. Whinney stayed just within the edge of light from the fire where the meat was roasting, but as far away as she could from the carcasses waiting to be transported back to the earthlodge, and from the pile of scraps beyond the pale guarded by fire, from which snarls and yaps could be heard occasionally.