The Shelters of Stone (Earth's Children 5)

After meeting several people and introducing Wolf to a few, Ayla was led to the other stone shelter, the one in which Kareja lived. She met the leader’s mother, Dorova, but no other relatives. Kareja did not appear to have a mate or siblings, and she made it clear that she wanted no children, saying that taking care of her Cave was responsibility enough.

Kareja paused and seemed to be studying Ayla, then she said, “Since you are so knowledgeable about horses, I want to show you something.”

Jondalar was a little surprised when the leader headed toward a small cave. He knew where they were going, and people didn’t usually bring unknown visitors to their sacred places on their first visit. Near the entrance of the cave’s single gallery was a series of cryptic lines, and inside were several crude engravings that were rather difficult to see. On the ceiling, however, was a large, finely engraved horse, and more markings at the end.

“That is a remarkable horse,” Ayla said. “Whoever made it must know horses well. Does that person live here?”

“I don’t think so, though her spirit may still linger,” Kareja said. “It has been here a long time. Some ancestor made it, we don’t know who.”

The last thing Ayla was shown was the dock with two rafts tied to it, and a working area where another raft was being built. She would have liked to stay longer and learn more, but Joharran was in a hurry and Jondalar had said he had to make some preparations as well. Ayla didn’t want to stay by herself, especially on her first visit, but she did promise to return.

The party continued north upstream along The River to the foot of a small rocky escarpment where there was a small rock shelter. Ayla noticed that rock debris tended to accumulate along the edge of the cliff overhang. The accumulation of talus created a wall of loose, sharp-edged gravel below t

he lip of the abri.

There was some evidence of use. Several panel screens stood behind the talus, and one that had fallen down. An old sleeping roll, so worn that most of the fur was gone, had been tossed against the back wall. The black circular remains of a few fireplaces were evident, two of them encircled by stones and one with two forked sticks planted in the ground across from each other, used, Ayla was sure, to support meat spitted for roasting.

Ayla thought she saw a few wisps of smoke coming from one hearth, and she was surprised. The place seemed to be abandoned, yet it looked as though it had been used recently.

“What Cave lives here?” she asked.

“No Cave lives here,” Joharran said.

“But all of them use it,” Jondalar added.

“Everyone uses this place occasionally,” Willamar said. “It’s a place to get out of the rain, or for a group of youngsters to gather, or for a couple to be alone at, night, but no one lives here permanently. People just call it ‘The Shelter.’ ”

After stopping at The Shelter, they continued up the valley of The River to the Crossing. Looking ahead, Ayla again saw the cliffs and distinctive overhanging shelter of the Ninth Cave on the right bank at the outside of the sharp bend. After crossing, they followed a well-worn path beside The River along the base of a slope with thinning trees and brush.

They again walked single file as the trail narrowed between The River and a sheer vertical cliff. “This is the one called ‘High Rock,’ isn’t it?” Ayla said, slowing down to let Jondalar catch up.

“Yes,” he said as they approached a fork in the path just beyond the sheer wall. The fork headed back the way they had come but angled up.

“Where does that path go?” she asked.

“To some caves that are high up in that steep wall we just passed,” he said. She nodded.

After a few yards, the trail going north led to a valley oriented in an east-west direction that was enclosed by cliffs. A small stream ran down the middle of the valley into The River, which at that point was flowing almost exactly north to south. So narrow that it was very nearly a gorge, the valley nestled between two steep embankments: High Rock, the vertical cliff just passed on the south, and a second mass of rock of even more grand proportions on the north.

“Does that have a name?” Ayla asked.

“Everybody just calls it Big Rock,” Jondalar said, “and the little stream is called Fish Creek.”

As they looked up the path that ran beside a stream, they saw several people walking down. Brameval was leading the way, approaching them with a big smile. “Come and visit, Joharran,” he said when he reached them. “We’d like to show Ayla around and introduce her to a few people.”

Jondalar could tell from his expression that his brother really didn’t want to stop again, though he knew it would be very impolite to refuse. Marthona, too, could read his expression and jumped in, not willing to let her son make a blunder that might antagonize a good neighbor just because he thought he had to hurry back. Whatever his plans, they weren’t that important.

“Of course,” she said. “We’d love to stop for a while. We can’t stay long this time. We have to get ready for the hunt, and Joharran has some things he must do.”

“How did he know we were passing by just now?” Ayla asked Jondalar as they walked up the path that ran beside Fish Creek and approached their settlement.

“Remember that fork in the path that headed up to caves in High Rock?” he said. “Brameval must have had a watcher up there, and when he saw us coming, he just ran down and told him.”

Ayla saw a crowd of people waiting for them and noticed that the sections of the huge blocks of limestone that faced the creek held several small caves and abris and one immense rock shelter. When they reached it, Brameval turned around and held out his arms in a gesture that encompassed the entire place.

“Welcome to Little Valley, the home of the Fourteenth Cave of the Zelandonii,” he said.

The spacious abri was fronted by a large terrace that was accessible from either side by means of a gradual ramp into which a narrow path of shallow steps had been carved out along the wall. A small hole in the cliff wall above had been slightly enlarged and could be used as a lookout or a smoke hole. A portion of the front opening of the stone shelter was protected from the elements by a wall of piled limestone shards.