The Plains of Passage (Earth's Children 4)

"I think it will work, Laduni," Jondalar said. "I do think it will work! Let me go through it again. We'll use the bowl boat to carry dried grass, and enough burning stones to melt ice for water, plus extra rocks to build a fire on, and the heavy mammoth hide to put the rocks on so they won't sink into the ice when they get hot. We can carry food for us, and probably Wolf, in pack baskets and our backframes."

"It will be a heavy load," Laduni said, "but you don't have to boil the water—that will save on burning stones. You just have to melt it enough so the horses can drink it; both of you and the wolf, too. It doesn't have to be hot, but make sure it's not icy. And make sure you drink enough; don't try to be sparing. If you have warm clothes, get enough rest, and drink enough water, you can resist the cold."

"I think they should try it out in advance, to see how much they will need," Laronia said.

Ayla saw that Laduni's mate had made the suggestion. "That's a good idea," she said.

"But Laduni's right, it will be a heavy load," Laronia added.

"Then we'll have to go through our things and get rid of everything we can," Jondalar said. "We won't need much. Once we get across, we'll be close to Dalanar's Camp."

They were already down to bare necessities. How much more could they get rid of? Ayla thought as the meeting broke up. Madenia fell in beside her as she walked back to their sleeping place. The girl-woman had not only developed a strong crush on Jondalar, but a bit of hero-worship toward Ayla, which made Ayla a little uncomfortable. But she liked Madenia and asked her if she would like to sit with her while she sorted through her things.

As Ayla began unpacking and spreading out her belongings, she tried to remember how many times she had done this before on this Journey. It would be difficult to make choices. Everything had some meaning to her, but if they were going to get across this formidable glacier that Jondalar had been worrying about from the beginning, with Whinney and Racer, and Wolf, she had t

o eliminate as much as possible.

The first package she opened contained the beautiful outfit made of soft chamois that Roshario had given to her. She held it up, then spread it out in front of her.

"Oooh! How beautiful! The patterns that are sewn on, and the way it's cut, I've never seen anything like it," Madenia said, unable to resist reaching out to touch it. "And so soft! I have never felt anything so soft."

"It was given to me by a woman of the Sharamudoi, people who live far away from here, near the end of the Great Mother River, where she is truly a great river. You wouldn't believe how big the Mother River gets. The Sharamudoi are really two people. The Shamudoi live on the land and hunt chamois. Do you know that animal?" Ayla asked. Madenia shook her head. "It is a mountain animal, something like an ibex, but smaller."

"Yes, I do know that, but we call it by a different name," Madenia said.

"The Ramudoi are River People and hunt the great sturgeon—that's a huge fish. Together, they have a special way of curing the hides of the chamois to make them soft and supple like this."

Ayla picked up the embroidered tunic and thought about the Sharamudoi people she had met. It seemed so long ago. She could have lived with them; she still felt the same way, and she knew she would never see them again. She hated the thought of leaving the gift from Roshario behind. Then she looked into Madenia's shining eyes as she admired it, and Ayla made a decision.

"Would you like to have this, Madenia?"

Madenia jerked her hands back as though she had touched something hot. "I couldn't! It was a gift to you," she said.

"We have to lighten our load. I think Roshario would be pleased if you would accept it, since you love it so. It was meant to be a matrimonial outfit, but I already have one."

"Are you sure?" Madenia said.

Ayla could see her eyes glistening, incredulous at the thought of such a beautiful, exotic outfit. "Yes, I'm sure. You might consider it for your Matrimonial, if it is appropriate. Think of it as a gift to remember me."

"I don't need a gift to remember you," Madenia said, her eyes brimming with tears. "I will never forget you. Because of you, maybe, someday, I will have a Matrimonial, and if I do, I will wear it then." She couldn't wait to show it to her mother, and to all her friends and age-mates at the Summer Meeting.

Ayla was glad she had decided to give it to her. "Would you like to see my Matrimonial outfit?"

"Oh, yes," Madenia said.

Ayla unwrapped the tunic Nezzie had made for her when she had planned to mate with Ranec. It was an ochre yellow, the color of her hair. A carving of a horse had been wrapped inside it, and two almost perfectly matched pieces of honey-colored amber. Madenia couldn't believe Ayla could have two outfits that were so exotically beautiful, yet so different from each other, but she was afraid to say too much, for fear Ayla might feel required to give her this one, too.

Ayla studied it, trying to decide what to do with it. Then she shook her head. No, she could not part with it, it was her Matrimonial tunic. She would wear it when she mated with Jondalar. In a way, it had a part of Ranec in it, too. She picked up the small horse carved out of mammoth ivory and fondled it absentmindedly. This, too, she would keep. She thought about Ranec, wondered how he was. No one had ever loved her more, and she would never forget him. She could have mated him and been happy with him, if she hadn't loved Jondalar so much.

Madenia had tried to restrain her curiosity, but finally she had to ask. "What are those stones?"

"They're called amber. They were given to me by the headwoman of the Lion Camp."

"Is that a carving of your horse?"

Ayla smiled at her. "Yes, it's a carving of Whinney. It was made for me by a man with laughing eyes and skin the color of Racer's coat. Even Jondalar said he had never known a better carver."

"A man with brown skin?" Madenia asked, incredulous.