The Mammoth Hunters (Earth's Children 3)

“Good. We’d better leave early, then,” Talut said, but he regarded her with puzzlement, and shook his head wondering what his clever and astute sister was thinking.

When the Lion Camp reached a large sinuous river gouging a channel between steep banks of loess soil, similar to the setting near their lodge, Talut headed out to a promontory between ravines and carefully scanned the surrounding terrain. He saw deer and aurochs near the water on the floodplain below, grazing in a green meadow dotted with small trees. Some distance farther, he noticed a large pile of jumbled bones against a high bank where the river turned sharply. Tiny figures scuttled over the accumulation of dried bones, and he saw several of them carrying away pieces.

“They are still here,” he announced. “They must be building.”

The travelers trooped down a slope toward the Camp, situated on a broad terrace no more

than fifteen feet above the level of the river, and if Ayla had been surprised at the lodge of the Lion Camp, she was astounded by the Mammoth Camp. Rather than a single large, sod-covered, semisubterranean longhouse that Ayla had likened to a cave or even a human-sized burrow, in this Camp several individual round lodges were clustered together on the terrace. They, too, were solid and sturdy under a thick layering of sod covered with clay, and patches of grass grew around the edges, but not on the top. They reminded Ayla of nothing so much as huge, bald, marmot mounds.

As they approached, she could understand why the tops were bare. Just as they did, the Mammoth Camp used the roofs of their dwellings as viewing platforms. Two of the lodges each supported a crowd of onlookers, and though the watchers had turned their attention to the visitors, that was not the reason they were up on the rounded roofs. When the Lion Camp passed around a lodge that blocked their view, Ayla saw the object of their interest, and was astonished.

Talut had been right. They were building. Ayla had overheard Tulie’s remarks about the name these people had chosen for themselves, but after seeing the lodge they were making, it seemed most appropriate. Though it might end up looking like all the others when it was completed, the way they used mammoth bones as structural supports seemed to capture a special quality of the animal. It was true that the Lion Camp had used mammoth bones in the supporting framework of their lodge, and had selected certain pieces and trimmed them to fit, but the bones used in this dwelling did more than support. They were selected and arranged so that the structure managed to convey the essence of the mammoth in a way that expressed the beliefs of the Mamutoi.

To create the design, they first brought up large numbers of the same skeletal parts of many mammoths from the bone pile below. They began with a circle, about sixteen feet across at the base, of mammoth skulls placed so that the solid surface of the foreheads faced inward. The opening was the familiar archway, constructed of two large curved tusks, anchored on each side in the socket of a mammoth skull, and joined at the top. Around the outside and halfway up was a circular wall made of, perhaps, a hundred mammoth mandibles, the V-shaped lower jaws, stacked with the pointed chins down one on top of another four deep.

The overall effect of these stacks of V’s placed side by side was the most impressive concept of the construction, and the most meaningful. Together they created a zigzag pattern, similar to the pattern used to symbolize water on the maps. Arid beyond that, as Ayla had learned from Mamut, the zigzag symbol for water was also the most profound symbol for the Great Mother, Creator of all Life. They represented the downward-pointing triangle of Her mound, the external expression of Her womb. Multiplied many times over, the symbol represented all life; not only water, but the birth waters of the Mother which had flooded the land and filled the seas and rivers when She gave birth to all life on earth. There could be no doubt that this would be the lodge of the Mammoth Hearth.

The circular wall was not completed, but they were working on the rest of the lodge, wedging in shoulder blades and pelvic bones and pieces of spine in a rhythmically symmetrical yet tightly fitted way. An open framework of wood inside provided additional support for the structure and it appeared that the roof would be constructed of mammoth tusks.

“This is the work of a true artist!” Ranec said, stepping closer and openly admiring their handiwork.

Ayla knew he would approve. She noticed Jondalar standing a little distance away holding Racer’s lead rope. She realized that he was no less impressed or appreciative of the inspired mind that had conceived of the idea. In fact the entire Lion Camp was at a loss for words. But as Tulie had suspected, the Mammoth Camp was just as astounded by their visitors—or rather, by the tame animals that traveled with them.

There was a period of mutual staring in wonder and amazement, and then a woman and man, both somewhat younger than the leaders of the Lion Camp, came forward to greet Tulie and Talut. The man had been hauling heavy mammoth bones up the slope—these were by no means temporary dwellings that would be carried from place to place, but a permanent settlement—and he was stripped to the waist and sweaty. His face was heavily tattooed and Ayla had to remind herself not to stare. He not only had a chevron pattern on his left cheek, like the Mamut of the Lion Camp, but a symmetrical arrangement of zigzags, triangles, and diamond shapes, and right-angle spirals in two colors, blue and red.

The woman had obviously been working, too, and was also bare from the waist up, but rather than pants, she wore a wrapped skirt that fell to just below her knees. She had no tattoos, but the side of her nose was pierced and she wore a labret made of a small piece of carved and polished amber through the hole.

“Tulie, Talut, what a surprise! We were not expecting you, but in the name of the Mother, we welcome the Lion Camp,” the woman said.

“In the name of Mut, we thank you for your welcome, Avarie,” Tulie said. “We did not mean to come at an inconvenient time.”

“We were nearby, Vincavec,” Talut added, “and could not pass without stopping.”

“It is never inconvenient for the Lion Camp to visit,” the man said, “but how do you happen to be nearby? This is not on the way to Wolf Camp for you.”

“The runner that came to tell us that the Meeting place had been changed stopped off at a Sungaea Camp as he was making his stops and told us they were very sick. We have a new member, a Healer, Ayla of the Mammoth Hearth,” Talut said, beckoning her forward, “and she wanted to go and see if she could help. We have just come from there.”

“Yes, I know that Sungaea Camp,” Vincavec said, then turned to Ayla. For a moment she felt his eyes bore into her. She hesitated for a moment, still not entirely used to returning the direct look of a stranger, but she sensed this was not a moment for shyness, or the modesty of a Clan woman, and returned his intense gaze. Suddenly he laughed, and his pale gray eyes gleamed with approval, and a look that appreciated her womanliness. She noticed then that he was a striking, attractive man, not because he was handsome or for any particular feature, although the tattoos did make him stand out, but because of a quality of strength of will and intelligence. He looked up at Mamut sitting on Whinney.

“So you’re still with us, old man,” he said, obviously pleased, then added with a knowing smile, “and still coming up with surprises. Since when have you become a Caller? Or do we need another name? Two horses and a wolf traveling with the Lion Camp? This is more than a Gift of Calling.”

“Another name might be appropriate, Vincavec, but it is not my gift. The animals answer to Ayla.”

“Ayla? It seems the old Mamut has found himself a worthy daughter.” Vincavec looked her over again, with obvious interest. He didn’t notice Ranec glower, but Jondalar did. He understood the feeling, and for the first time, felt a strange sort of kinship with the carver.

“Enough standing here talking,” Avarie said. “We have plenty of time for that. The travelers must be tired, and hungry. You must let me arrange a meal for you, and a place to rest.”

“We can see that you are making a new lodge, Avarie. You don’t need to go to trouble for us. A place to set up tents will be enough,” Tulie said. “Later, we would be pleased to share a meal with you, and perhaps show you some fine reindeer skins and furs we happen to have with us.”

“I have a better idea!” Talut boomed, shrugging off his packframe where he stood. “Why don’t we help you? You may have to tell me where to put it, but I have back enough to carry a mammoth bone or two.”

“Yes, I’d like to help,” Jondalar volunteered, leading Racer forward and helping Rydag off. “That’s an unusual lodge. I have never seen anything quite like it.”

“By all means. We welcome your help. Some of us are in a hurry to get to the Summer Meeting, but a lodge needs a summer to set up properly, so we needed to build it before we left. The Lion Camp is most generous,” Vincavec said, wondering how many pieces of amber their generosity was going to cost when the trading started. Then he decided it would be worth it to get his lodge finished, and quiet some of the complainers.

Vincavec hadn’t noticed the tall blond man in the crowd of people at first, but he looked twice, then glanced back at Ayla, who was unharnessing Whinney from the travois. He was a stranger, as Ayla was, and he seemed as comfortable with the horses as she did. But then the little flathead seemed familiar with the wolf, and he was no stranger any more. It must have something to do with the woman. The Mamut-headman of the Mammoth Camp turned his attention back to Ayla. He noticed the brown-skinned carver was hovering around her; Ranec always did have an eye for the beautiful and the exceptional, he thought. In fact, he was acting possessive, but then who was the stranger? Wasn’t he associated with the woman? Vincavec glanced at Jondalar, and noted that he was watching Ayla and Ranec.

Something was going on here, Vincavec decided, then smiled. Whatever the relationships, if they were both so interested, it was likely the woman was not formally joined, yet. He looked her over once again. She was a striking woman, and a daughter of the Mammoth Hearth, a Healer, or so they claimed, and she certainly had some unique talent with animals. A woman of high status, no doubt, but where had she come from? And why was it always the Lion Camp that turned up with someone unusual?