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

“Yes, Zelandoni Who Is First,” the young man who had spoken before replied, in a much more deferential tone. It was always smart to be careful around Zelandonia, but especially the One Who Was First.

The young Zelandoni of the local Cave arrived, and most of the others who had visited the Sacred Site. They were standing around watching to see what the powerful woman would do to the young men who had threatened the special horses.

The First turned to the hunters of the local Cave. “It appears that there are now seven more hungry mouths to feed. That will cut down on supplies in a hurry. I think we’ll have to stay a little longer, until a hunting expedition can be organized. You will have help, fortunately. We have several experienced hunters in our group, and with some proper direction, even those young men should be able to make a contribution. I’m sure they will be disposed to help in any way they can, under the circumstances,” she said, then gave the young man who seemed to speak for the group a hard stare.

“Yes, of course,” he said. “Hunting is what we were doing.”

“But not very well,” someone in the crowd who was watching said, under his breath, but loud enough so that everyone heard. Some of the young men blushed and looked away.

“Has anyone spotted any herds recently?” Jondalar asked, directing his question to the two hunters of the Cave. “I think we’ll need to hunt more than one animal.”

“No, but it’s the right season for red deer to be migrating through, especially the does and young. Someone could go out and look, but it usually takes a few days,” one of the Cave hunters said.

“What direction would they be coming from?” Jondalar asked. “I can go and look this afternoon, on Racer. He can travel faster than anyone on foot. If I find anything, Ayla and I can go back and perhaps chase them this way. Wolf can help, too.”

“You can do that?” the young man blurted out.

“We told you they were special horses,” Jondalar said.

The deer meat had been spread out on cordage that was stretched across a slow, smoky fire overnight. As Ayla was packing it into her parfleche meat container, she wished it had had more time to dry, but they’d already stayed two days longer than the First had planned. Ayla thought she could continue drying it over fires along the way, or even after they arrived at the Seventh Cave of the South Land Zelandonii, since they would be staying for a while.

The Donier Tour group had grown again; the seven young men would be with them. They had proved quite helpful on the hunt, if a little too eager. They did know how to throw spears; they just didn’t know how to cooperate to drive animals toward one another or into some kind of a cul-de-sac so they could be effectively hunted. The young men were quite impressed with the spear-throwers used by the travelers from north of Big River, including the First’s acolyte, as were the two local hunters, who had heard of the weapon but had not seen one in action. With Jondalar’s help, most had already made spear-thrower

s of their own and were practicing with them.

Ayla had also persuaded Dulana to come with them and enjoy at least part of her Summer Meeting. She was lonely for her mate and children and wanted to see them, though she was still nervous about the scars on her hands and face. She shared a sleeping place with Amelana. They had become friendly, especially since Dulana was willing to chat about pregnancy and giving birth from the point of view of her own experience. Amelana never felt comfortable just chatting with the First or her acolyte, even though Ayla had a child with her. The young woman had heard them discussing medicines and healing practices, and other knowledge and lore of the zelandonia, most of which she didn’t understand, and felt intimidated by the accomplished women.

She did, however, like the attention she was getting from all the young men, both the young hunters and Willamar’s apprentices, though the traders did back off when she was surrounded by all of the rather bumptious youths. They didn’t need to vie for her attention. They knew the youngsters would be with them only a few days, and they had the rest of the trip. While Jondalar with the help of Jonokol and Willamar was hitching the First’s special riding travois to Whinney, Ayla and the Donier were watching the byplay of Amelana and the young men.

“They remind me of a litter of wolf cubs,” Ayla said.

“When did you see wolf cubs?” Zelandoni said.

“When I was young and still living with the Clan,” Ayla said. “Before I started hunting meat-eaters, I used to watch them, sometimes for a long time, all morning, or all day, if I could stay away that long. I watched all kinds of four-legged hunters, not just wolves. That was how I learned to track very silently. Watching the young of any animal was always fascinating, but I particularly liked wolf cubs. They liked to play, just like those boys—I suppose I should call them young men, but they still act like boys. Look how they wrestle and punch and bump each other out of the way, all trying to get Amelana’s attention.”

“I notice Tivonan and Palidar are not with them,” the Donier said. “I think they know they’ll have plenty of time to pay attention to her after we reach the next Sacred Site and the youngsters go away, and when we start traveling again.”

“You think those young men will go off someplace when we get to the next Cave? She’s a very attractive young woman,” Ayla said.

“She’s also their only audience right now. They will be the center of attention of admiring friends and relatives when they arrive at their Camp with us, and bringing deer meat to share. Everyone will be asking them questions and be eager to hear the stories they have to tell. They won’t have time for Amelana.”

“Won’t that make her sad or upset?” Ayla said.

“She’ll have new admirers by then, and they won’t all be boys. An attractive young, pregnant widow will not lack for attention, and neither will those young traders. I’m glad neither one of them seems overly infatuated with Amelana,” the older woman said. “She’s not the kind of woman who would make a good mate for either one of them. A woman mated to a traveler has to have strong interests of her own and not depend on her man to keep her occupied.”

Ayla thought that she was glad Jondalar was not a trader, or involved in some other craft that would require him to travel long distances. It wasn’t that she didn’t have interests of her own or that she needed him to keep her occupied; it was that she would worry if he were gone for a long time. He occasionally took his apprentices to search out new sources of flint, and often examined likely sources when he was out with hunting parties, but traveling alone could be dangerous, and if he got hurt, or worse, how would she know? She would have to wait and wait, wondering if he would ever return. Traveling with a group or even two is better. Then one at least can come back and tell you.

It occurred to her that perhaps Willamar wouldn’t choose just one of his apprentices to be the next Master Trader. He might choose both, and suggest that they travel together for company and to help each other. Of course, a trader’s mate could travel with him, too, but once children came along she might not want to travel away from other women much anymore. It would have been much more difficult, when we were on our Journey, if I’d had a baby along the way. Most women would want the help and companionship of their mothers and other relatives and friends … just like Amelana does. I don’t blame her for wanting to go home.

Once they were under way, the travelers settled into a routine quickly, and since they’d had such a good hunt before they left, they didn’t have to allow time for hunting along the way, and traveled a little faster than usual. They did spend extra time collecting food that grew, however. Since the season had progressed, they had a greater selection and abundance of vegetables—roots, stems, leafy greens—and fruits to gather.

About midmorning on the day they left, as the temperature began to warm, Ayla began to notice a delicious aroma. Strawberries! We must be walking through a field of wild strawberries, she thought. She wasn’t the only one who became aware of the favorite fruit, and everyone was glad to stop to make tea and to pick several small baskets of the tiny bright red berries. Jonayla didn’t bother with a basket—she picked them right into her mouth. Ayla smiled at her, then looked at Jondalar, who was picking strawberries alongside her.

“She reminds me of Latie. Nezzie would never send her daughter out to pick strawberries for a meal. Latie ate everything she picked and never brought anything back, no matter how often her mother chided her. She loved strawberries too much,” Ayla said.

“Is that right?” Jondalar said. “I didn’t know that. I guess I was too busy with Wymez or Talut when you were talking to Latie or Nezzie.”

“I even made excuses for Latie sometimes,” Ayla said. “I’d tell Nezzie there weren’t enough berries for everyone. It was true enough; by the time Latie got through, there weren’t, and she could pick them fast.” Ayla picked for a while in silence, but mentioning Latie brought up other memories. “Remember how much she loved the horses? I wonder if Latie ever managed to find a young one to bring home. Sometimes I miss the Mamutoi. I wonder if we’ll ever see any of them again.”