The Plains of Passage (Earth's Children 4)

"Yes," Solandia said. "Burning stone breaks easy."

"Where does it come from?" Jondalar asked.

"South, toward the mountains, are fields of it. Still use some wood, start fires, but this burns hotter, longer than wood," the woman said.

Ayla and Jondalar looked at each other, and a knowing expression passed between them. "I'll get one," Jondalar said. By the time he returned, Losaduna and the eldest boy, Larogi, were awake. "You have burning stones, we have a firestone, a stone that will start a fire."

"And it was Ayla who discovered it?" Losaduna said, more a statement than a question.

"How did you know?" Jondalar said.

"Maybe because he discovered the stones that burn," Solandia said.

"It looked enough like wood that I thought I would try burning it. It worked," Losaduna said.

Jondalar nodded. "Ayla, why don't you show them," he said, giving her the iron pyrite and flint along with the tinder.

Ayla arranged the tinder, then turned the metallic yellow stone around in her hand until it felt comfortable and the groove worn into the iron pyrite from continued use faced the right way. Then she picked up the piece of flint. Her motion was so practiced that it almost never took more than one strike to draw off a spark. It was caught by the tinder, and, with just a few blows of air, a little flame burst forth. There was a collective sigh from the watchers, who had been holding their breaths.

"That is amazing," Losaduna said.

"No more amazing than your stones that burn," Ayla said. "We have a few extra. I'd like to give you one, for the Cave. Perhaps we can demonstrate it during the Ceremony."

"Yes! That would be a perfect time, and I will be happy to accept your gift for the Cave," Losaduna said. "But we must give you something in return."

"Laduni has already promised to give us whatever we need to get over the glacier and continue our Journey. He owes me a future claim, though he would have done as much anyway. Wolves broke into our cache and got our traveling food," Jondalar said.

"You plan to cross the glacier with the horses?" Losaduna asked.

"Yes, of course," Ayla said.

"What will you do for food for them? And two horses must drink much more than two people—what will you do for water when everything is frozen solid?" the One Who Serves asked.

Ayla looked at Jondalar. "I've been thinking about that," he said. "I thought we could take some dry grass in the bowl boat."

"And perhaps burning stones? If you can find a place to start a fire on top of the ice. You don't have to worry about getting them wet, and it would be much less to carry," Losaduna said.

Jondalar looked thoughtful, and then a big happy grin warmed his face. "That would do it! We can put them in the bowl boat—it will slide across the ice even with a heavy load—and add a few other stones to use as a base for a fireplace. I've been worrying about that for so long ... I can't thank you enough, Losaduna."

Ayla discovered by accident, when she happened to overhear some of the people talking about her, that they considered her unusual speech mannerism to be a Mamutoi accent, although Solandia thought it was a minor speech impediment. No matter how hard she tried, she could not overcome the difficulty she had with certain sounds, but she was glad that no one else seemed very concerned about it.

Over the next few days, Ayla became better acquainted with the group of Losadunai who lived near the hot well—the group was called a "Cave" whether they lived in one or not. She particularly enjoyed the people whose dwelling space they shared, Solandia, Losaduna, and the children, and she realized how much she had missed the company of friendly people who behaved in a normal way. The woman spoke the language of Jondalar's people reasonably well, with some Losadunai words mixed in, but she and Ayla had no trouble understanding each other.

She was even more drawn to the mate of the One Who Served when she discovered they had a common interest. Although Losaduna was the one who was supposed to have learned about plants, herbs, and medicines, it was actually Solandia who had picked up most of the lore. The arrangement reminded Ayla of Iza and Creb, with Solandia treating the Cave's illnesses with practical herbal medicine, leaving the exorcism of spirits and other unknown harmful emanations to her mate. Ayla was also intrigued by Losaduna with his interest in histories, legends, myths, and the spirit world—the intellectual aspects she was forbidden to know when she lived with the Clan—and she was coming to appreciate the wealth of knowledge he possessed.

As soon as he discovered her genuine interest in the Great Earth Mother and the nonmaterial world of the spirits, and her quick intelligence and amazing ability to memorize, he was eager to pass on the lore. Without even understanding them completely, Ayla was soon reciting long verses of legends and histories and the precise content and order of rituals and ceremonies. He was fluent in Zelandonii, though he spoke it with a strong Losadunai flavor in the expression and phrasing, making the languages so close that most of the rhythm and meter of the verses were retained although some of the rhyme was lost. Even more fascinating to both of them were the minor differences, and many similarities, between his interpretation and the received wisdom of the Mamutoi. Losaduna wanted to know the variations and divergences, and Ayla found herself being not only an acolyte, as she had been with Mamut, but a teacher of sorts, explaining the eastern ways, at least those she knew.

Jondalar was also enjoying the Cave of people, and becoming aware of how much he had missed having a variety of individuals around. He spent quite a lot of time with Laduni and several of the hunters, but Solandia was surprised at the interest he showed in her children. He did like children, but it wasn't so much her offspring that interested him, as watching her with her youngsters. Especially when she nursed the baby, it made him long for Ayla to have a baby, a child of his spirit, he hoped, but at least a son or daughter of his hearth.

/> Solandia's youngest, Micheri, aroused similar feelings in Ayla, but she continued to make her special contraceptive tea each morning. The descriptions of the glacier they had yet to cross were so intimidating that she would not even consider trying to make a baby with Jondalar yet.

Though he was grateful it hadn't happened while they were traveling, Jondalar was filled with mixed emotions. He was getting worried about the failure of the Great Earth Mother to bless Ayla with pregnancy, feeling that in some way it was his fault. One afternoon he brought up his misgivings to Losaduna.

"The Mother will decide when the time is right," the man said.

"Perhaps She understood how difficult your travels would be. However, this may be the time for a ceremony to honor Her. Then you could ask Her to give Ayla a baby."

"Maybe you're right," Jondalar said. "It certainly couldn't hurt." He laughed disparagingly. "Somebody once told me that I was a favorite of the Mother, and that She would never refuse anything I asked." Then his brow wrinkled. "But Thonolan still died."