The Plains of Passage (Earth's Children 4)

Ayla had signaled Wolf to stay down, but he couldn't hide his eager anticipation in seeing the children. Solandia eyed the carnivore warily. She couldn't tell if he was showing eagerness out of happiness or hunger, but she was also curious about the visitors. One of the best parts of being the mate of Losaduna was that she had the advantage of being the first to talk with the infrequent visitors, and she could spend more time with them because they usually stayed at the ceremonial hearth.

"Well, I did say he could stay," she said.

Ayla walked Wolf inside, led him to an out-of-the-way corner, and signaled him to stay. She stayed with him for a while, knowing it would be particularly difficult for him, but just having children to watch seemed to satisfy him for the moment.

His behavior calmed Solandia, and after serving her guests a warming hot tea, she introduced her children, then went back to preparing the meal she had started. The presence of the animal slipped to the back of her mind, but the children were fascinated. Ayla studied them, trying to be unobtrusive. The oldest of the four youngsters, Larogi, was a boy of about ten years, she guessed. There was a girl of perhaps seven years, Dosalia, and another of four or so, Neladia. Though the baby was not yet walking, that did not limit his mobility. He was at the crawling stage and was fast and efficient on all fours.

The older children were wary of Wolf, and the elder of the girls picked up the baby and held him while they watched the animal, but after a while when nothing happened, she put him down. While Jondalar spoke with Losaduna, Ayla began to set out their things. There was spare bedding for guests and she hoped she would have time to clean their sleeping furs while they were here.

Suddenly there was a peal of babyish laughter. Ayla caught her breath and looked in the corner where she had left Wolf. There was absolute silence in the rest of the dwelling space as everyone stared in wonder and awe at the baby, who had crawled to the corner and was sitting beside the large wolf, pulling on his fur. Ayla glanced at Solandia and saw her staring transfixed as her precious baby boy proceeded to poke and prod and pull at the wolf, who simply wagged his tail and looked pleased.

Finally Ayla walked over, picked up the child, and brought him to his mother.

"You're right," Solandia said with amazement, "that wolf loves children! If I hadn't seen it myself, I would never have believed it."

It wasn't long before the rest of Solandia's children approached the wolf who liked to play. After a small problem with some teasing by the oldest boy, which Wolf responded to by taking the child's hand in his teeth and growling, but not biting down, Ayla explained that they had to treat him with respect. Wolf's reaction frightened the boy just enough to make him pay attention. When they went outside, all the children of the community watched Solandia's four and the wolf with fascination. Solandia's children were envied for their special privilege of living with the animal.

Before it got dark, Ayla went out to check on the horses. When she stepped outside the cave, she heard Whinney nicker in greeting, and she felt that her friend had been a little worried. When she nickered back, causing several heads to turn in her direction and stare in surprise, Racer responded with a somewhat louder neigh. She walked across the field, heavy with snow nearer the cave, to give the horses some attention and make sure they were both all right. Whinney watched her coming with her tail raised, looking alert and responsive. As the woman neared, she dropped her head, then flipped it high and described a circle in the air with her nose. Racer, just as happy to see her, pranced and reared up on his hind legs.

It was a new situation for them to be around so many people again, and the familiar woman brought reassurance. Racer arched his neck and pricked his ears forward when Jondalar appeared at the mouth of the cave, and he met the man halfway across the field. After hugging and petting and talking to the mare, Ayla decided she would comb Whinney the next day, for the relaxation it would give them both.

Led by Solandia's four, all the children had clustered together and were edging toward them and the horses. The fascinating visitors allowed the children to touch or pet one or the other of the horses, and Ayla let a few ride on Whinney's back, which many of the adults watched with a little envy. Ayla planned to let any adults ride who wanted

to try it, but she felt that it was too soon for that. The horses needed rest, and she did not want to put too much strain on them.

With shovels made from large antlers, she and Jondalar began to clear heavy snow away from some of the pasturage nearer the cave, to make it easier for the horses to forage. Several others joined in, making it fast work, but shoveling snow reminded Jondalar of a concern he had been trying to resolve for some time. How were they going to find food and forage, and, more important, enough drinkable water for themselves, a wolf, and two horses while crossing a frozen expanse of glacial ice?

Later in the evening everyone gathered in the large ceremonial space to listen to Jondalar and Ayla tell about their travels and adventures. The Losadunai were particularly interested in the animals. Solandia had already begun to rely on Wolf to keep her children distracted, and watching the wolf playing with them even distracted the adults. It was hard to believe. Ayla didn't go into detail about the Clan, or the death curse that had forced her to leave, though she did hint at differences that had arisen.

The Losadunai thought the Clan were just a group of people who lived far to the cast, and though she tried to explain that the process of making animals accustomed to people was not anything supernatural, no one quite believed her. The idea that just anyone could tame a wild horse or wolf was too hard to accept. Most people assumed that her time of living alone in a valley was a period of trial and abstinence that many who felt called to Serve the Mother endured, and to them her way with animals verified the appropriateness of her Calling. If she wasn't One Who Served yet, it was only a matter of time.

But the Losadunai were distressed to learn of their visitors' difficulties with Attaroa and the Sarmunai.

"No wonder we've had so few visitors from the east during the past several years. And you say one of the men who was held there was a Losadunai?" Laduni asked.

"Yes. I don't know what his name was here, but there he was called Ardemun," Jondalar said. "He had hurt himself and was crippled. He couldn't walk very well, and he certainly couldn't run away, so Attaroa let him move around the Camp freely. He's the one who set the men free."

"I remember a young man who went on a Journey," an older woman said. "I did know his name once, but I can't recall ... let me think— he had a nickname ... Ardemun ... Ardi ... no, Mardi. He used to call himself Mardi!"

"You mean Menardi?" a man said. "I remember him from Summer Meetings. He was called Mardi, and he did go on a Journey. So that's what happened to him. He has a brother who would be glad to know he's alive."

"It's good to know that it's safe to travel that way again. You were lucky you missed them on your way east," Laduni said.

"Thonolan was in a hurry to get as far along the Great Mother River as we could. He didn't want to stop," Jondalar explained, "and we stayed on this side of the river. We were lucky." When the gathering broke up, Ayla was glad to go to bed in a warm, dry place with no wind, and she fell asleep quickly.

Ayla smiled at Solandia, who was sitting beside the fireplace nursing Micheri. She had awakened early and decided to make the morning tea for herself and Jondalar. She looked for the pile of wood or dried dung, whatever fuel they used, that was usually kept nearby, but all she saw was a pile of brown stones.

"I want to make some tea," she said. "What do you burn? If you tell me where it is, I'll go get it."

"Don't have to. Plenty here," Solandia said.

Ayla looked around and, still not seeing the fireplace burning material, wondered if she had been understood.

Solandia saw her puzzled look and smiled. She reached over and picked up one of the brown stones. "We use this, burning stone," she said.

Ayla took the stone from her hand and examined it closely. She saw a distinctive wood grain, yet it was definitely stone, not wood. She had never seen anything quite like it before; it was lignite, brown coal, a material between peat and bituminous coal. Jondalar had awakened, and he walked up behind her. She smiled at him, then gave the stone to him. "Solandia says this is what they burn in the fireplace," she said, noticing the smudge it left on her hand.

It was Jondalar's turn to examine it and look puzzled. "It does look something like wood, but it's stone. Not a hard stone like flint, though. This must break up easily."