The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children 5)

“No,” she said, feeling rather grateful that someone thought to ask. “I slept very late, then I went to the trenches, and up Wood River Valley to check on the horses. I refilled this waterbag at a little creek.” She held it up. “That’s where Jondalar found me.”

“Good. If you don’t mind, we’ll use it to make more tea, and I’ll get someone to bring food for everyone,” Proleva said as she headed toward the dwellings at a brisk pace.

Ayla glanced aroun

d to see who was at this meeting and immediately caught Willamar’s eye. They exchanged smiles. He was talking to Marthona, Zelandoni, and Jondalar, whose back was to her at the moment. Joharran had turned his attention to Solaban and Rushemar, his close friends and advisers. Ayla recalled that Ramara, the woman with the little boy with whom she had spoken earlier, was Solaban’s mate. She had met Rushemar’s mate the night before, too. She closed her eyes to try to remember her name. Salova, that was it. Sitting still had helped; her nausea had quieted.

Of the others who were there, she remembered that the gray-haired man was the leader of a nearby Cave. Manvelar was his name. He was talking to another man, whom she did not think she had met. He glanced apprehensively at Wolf now and then. A tall, thin woman who carried herself with a great deal of authority was another Cave leader, Ayla recalled, but she could not remember her name. The man beside her had a tattoo similar to Zelandoni’s, and Ayla guessed he was also a spiritual leader.

It occurred to her that this group of people were all leaders of one kind or another in this community. In the Clan, these people would be the ones with the highest status. Among the Mamutoi, they would be the equivalent of the Council of Sisters and Brothers. The Zelandonii did not have dual leadership of a sister and brother as headwoman-headman for each Camp as the Mamutoi did; instead some Zelandonii leaders were men and some were women.

Proleva was returning at the same brisk pace. Though she seemed to be responsible for providing food for the group—she had been the one they turned to when food was wanted, Ayla noticed—she was obviously not the one who would bring and serve it. She was returning to the meeting; she must have considered herself an active participant. It appeared that the leader’s mate could be a leader, too.

In the Clan, all the people at this kind of meeting would be men. There were no women leaders; women had no status in their own right. Except for medicine women, a woman’s status depended on the rank of her mate. How would they reconcile that if they ever visited each other? she wondered.

“Ramara and Salova and some others are organizing a meal for us,” Proleva announced, nodding toward Solaban and Rushemar.

“Good,” Joharran said, which seemed to be a signal that the meeting was back in session. Everyone stopped chatting with one another and looked at him. He turned to her. “Ayla was presented last night. Have all of you introduced yourselves?”

“I wasn’t here last night,” said the man who had been talking with the gray-haired leader.

“Then allow me to introduce you,” Joharran said. As the man stepped forward, Ayla stood up, but signaled Wolf to stay back. “Ayla, this is Brameval, Leader of little Valley, the Fourteenth Cave of the Zelandonii. Brameval, meet Ayla of the Lion Camp of the Mamutoi …” Joharran paused for a moment, trying to bring to mind the rest of her unfamiliar names and ties. “Daughter of the Mammoth Hearth.” That’s enough, he thought.

Brameval repeated his name and his function as he held out his hands. “In the name of Doni, you are welcome,” he said.

Ayla accepted his hands. “In the name of Mut, Great Mother of All, also known as Doni, I greet you,” she said, smiling.

He had noticed the difference in the way she spoke before, and even more now, but he responded to her smile and held her hands a moment longer. “Little Valley is the best place to catch fish. The people of the Fourteenth Cave are known as the best fishers; we make very good fish traps. We are close neighbors, you must visit us soon.”

“Thank you, I would like to visit. I like fish, and I like to catch them, but I don’t know how to trap them. When I was young, I learned to catch fish with my hands.” Ayla emphasized her comment by lifting hers, which were still held by Brameval.

“Now that, I would like to see,” he said as he let go.

The woman leader stepped forward. “I would like to introduce our donier, the Zelandoni of River Place,” she said. “He was not here last night, either.” She glanced at Brameval, raised her eyebrows, and added, “The Eleventh Cave is known for making the rafts that are used to travel up and down The River. It’s much easier to transport heavy loads on a raft than on the backs of people. If you are interested, you are welcome to come and visit.”

“I would be most interested to learn about the way you make your floating river craft,” Ayla said, trying to remember if they had been introduced and what her name was. “The Mamutoi make a kind of floating bowl out of thick hides fastened to a wooden frame, and use them to carry people and their things across rivers. On our way here, Jondalar and I made one to cross a large river, but the river was rough, and the small round boat was so light, it was hard to control. When we attached it to Whinney’s pole drag, it was better.”

“I don’t understand ‘winnies pole drag.’ What does that mean?” the leader of the Eleventh Cave asked.

“Whinney is the name of one of the horses, Kareja,” Jondalar said, getting up and coming forward. “The pole drag was devised by Ayla. She can tell you what it is.”

Ayla described the conveyance and added, “With it Whinney could help me bring the animals I hunted back to my shelter. I’ll show you sometime.”

“When we reached the other side of that river,” Jondalar added, “we decided to attach the bowl boat to the poles instead of the woven platform because we could put most of our things in it. That way, when we crossed rivers, the boat would float and nothing got wet, and attached to the poles, it was easier to control.”

“Rafts can be a little hard to control, too,” the woman leader said. “I think all watercraft must be hard to control.”

“Some are easier than others. On my Journey, I stayed for a while with the Sharamudoi. They carve beautiful boats out of large tree trunks. The front and back come to points, and they use oars to steer them where they want to go. It takes practice, but the Ramudoi, the River People half of the Sharamudoi, are very good at it,” Jondalar said.

“What are oars?”

“Oars look something like flattened spoons, and they use them to push the boat through the water. I helped to make one of their boats and learned to use oars.”

“Do you think they would work better than the long poles we use to push the rafts through the water?”

“This talking about boats can, be very interesting, Kareja,” the man who had stepped forward said, interrupting. He was shorter than the woman and slight of build. “But I haven’t been introduced yet. I think I’d better do it myself.” Kareja flushed slightly, but made no comment. When Ayla heard her name, she recalled that they had been introduced.

“I am Zelandoni of the Eleventh Cave of the Zelandonii, also known as River Place. In the name of Doni, Great Earth Mother, I welcome you, Ayla of the Mamutoi, Daughter of the Mammoth Hearth,” he said, holding out his hands.