The Land of Painted Caves (Earth's Children 6)

When Ayla approached the two women, she noticed Zelandoni looking through her bag of medicinal herbs, and Marthona sitting on a log in the shade of a tree near Wood River. Jondalar’s mother did look tired, though it seemed to Ayla that she was trying not to make an issue of it. She was smiling and chatting with some people nearby, but she looked as if she would rather just close her eyes and rest.

After she greeted Marthona and the others, Ayla joined the One Who Was First. “Do you have everything you need?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, though I wish I had time to prepare a fresh foxglove mixture properly, but I’ll have to use the dried preparation I have,” the woman said.

Ayla noticed that Marthona’s legs seemed a little swollen. “She needs to rest, doesn’t she? Not visit with those people who just want to be sociable,” Ayla said. “I’m not as good as you at letting people know they should let her be for a while, without embarrassing her. I don’t think she wants people to know how tired she feels. Why don’t you tell me how to make the tea for her.”

Zelandoni smiled and said almost inaudibly, “That was perceptive of you, Ayla. They are friends from the Third Cave whom she hasn’t seen recently.” Then she quickly explained how to make the infusion she wanted, and approached the chatting friends.

Ayla was concentrating on the instructions she had been given, and when she looked up, she saw that Zelandoni was walking away with Marthona’s friends, and Marthona had closed her eyes. Ayla nodded to herself; that will discourage others from stopping to talk, she thought. She waited awhile to let the hot drink cool, and just as she was bringing it to Marthona, Zelandoni returned. They both hovered around the former leader of the Ninth Cave, making a point of showing their backs while she sipped her tea, blocking the view of passersby. Whatever was in Zelandoni’s mixture, after a while it seemed to help, and Ayla thought that she would ask the Donier about it later.

When Manvelar started out again, leading the way up the incline, Zelandoni followed, but Ayla stayed seated beside Marthona. Willamar had joined them, and was seated on the other side of his mate. “Why don’t you wait with us and let Folara go ahead,” she said. “Jondalar has volunteered to stay until the last, to make sure everyone gets started in the right direction. Proleva has promised to save something for us to eat whenever we get to the camp.”

“I will,” Willamar said, without hesitation. “Manvelar said from here, it’s straight west for the next few days. How many days depends on how fast someone wants to go. No one has to be in a hurry. But it’s good if someone follows along at the end just to make sure no one is delayed because they got hurt or ran into some other problem.”

“Or has to wait for a slow old woman,” Marthona said. “There may come a time when I won’t be going to Summer Meetings.”

“That’s true for all of us,” Willamar said, “but not yet, Marthona.”

“He’s right,” Jondalar said, holding a sleeping baby in one arm. He had just arrived after talking to a family group with several young children, making sure they got started in the right direction. The wolf was following behind, keeping watch on Jonalya. “It doesn’t matter if we take a little longer to get there. We won’t be the only ones.” He motioned toward the family starting the climb. “And once we get there, people will still be wanting your counsel and advice, mother.”

“Do you want me to take Jonayla in my carrying blanket, Jondalar?” Ayla said. “We seem to be the last ones.”

“I’m fine with her, and she seems comfortable. She’s sound asleep, but we have to find an easy way for the horses to get to the top of that waterfall,” he said.

“I’m looking for the same thing. An easy way. Perhaps I should follow your horses,” Marthona said, not entirely in jest.

“It’s not so much the horses—they are good climbers—it’s getting up there with the heavy pole-drags and the loads on their backs,” Ayla said. “I think we need to traverse our way up, making wide turns to allow for the poles they are dragging behind them.”

“So you want an easy way with a gentle slope,” Willamar said. “As Marthona said, that’s what we want. If I’m not mistaken, I think we passed a gentler slope on our way here. Ayla, why don’t we walk back a ways and see if we can find it?”

“Since Jondalar is so comfortable holding the baby, he can stay and keep me company,” Marthona added.

And watch out for her, Ayla thought as she and Willamar started out. I don’t like the idea of her waiting alone. There are many animals that might wander by and think of her as fair game: lions, bears, hyenas, who knows what? Wolf, who had been resting on the ground with his head between his paws, got up and seemed uneasy when he saw that Jonayla was staying, but Ayla was getting ready to leave.

“Wolf, stay!” she said, signaling the same thing to him. “Stay with Jondalar and Jonayla, and Marthona.” The wolf lowered himself back down, but his head was up and his ears cocked forward, alert to any other words or signals from her as she walked away with Willamar.

“If we hadn’t

loaded the horses so heavily, Marthona could ride up that hill on a pole-drag,” Ayla commented, after a while.

“Only if she were willing,” Willamar said. “I’ve noticed something interesting since you came with your animals. She has absolutely no fear of that wolf, who is a powerful hunter that could easily kill her if he chose, but the horses are another matter. She doesn’t like to get too close to them. She hunted horses when she was younger, but she fears them much more than the wolf, and they only eat grass.”

“Perhaps it’s because she doesn’t know them as well. They are bigger, and can be skittish when they are nervous, or if something startles them,” Ayla said. “Horses don’t come into the dwelling; maybe if she spent more time with them, she wouldn’t be so anxious about them.”

“Maybe, but first you’d have to persuade her, and if she gets it in her mind that she doesn’t want to, she’s very good at evading what you want and doing what she wants, without seeming to. She’s a very strong-minded woman.”

“Of that, I have no doubt,” Ayla said.

Though they weren’t gone very long, by the time Ayla and Willamar returned, Jonayla had awakened and was now being held by her grandam. Jondalar was with the horses, checking their loads, making sure everything was securely fastened.

“We found a better place to climb that ridge. In some places it’s a little steep, but it is climbable,” Willamar said.

“I’d better get Jonayla,” the young woman said, heading toward Marthona. “She’s probably made a mess and doesn’t smell too good. She usually does when she wakes in the afternoon.”

“She did,” Marthona said, holding the baby so that she was sitting on her lap, facing her. “I haven’t forgotten how to take care of a baby. Have I, Jonayla?” She bounced the infant lightly and smiled at her, and saw her smile returned along with some soft cooing sounds. “She is such a sweet little thing,” she added, giving up the child to her mother.

Ayla couldn’t help smiling at her daughter when she picked her up, and saw the smile returned as she arranged her baby in her carrying blanket, tying it securely. Marthona seemed rested and more lively when she stood up, which pleased her. They headed back along Wood River and around a bend, then started up the easier slope. When they reached the top, they went north again until they reached the small stream that had been spilling down to the river below, then proceeded west. The sun was shining almost directly in their eyes as it neared the horizon before they reached the camp that had been set up by the Third and the Ninth Caves. Proleva had been watching out for them and was relieved to see them when they finally arrived.