“You know that one, too. Good. Let’s go and find some,” Ayla said. Jondalar and Jondecam were standing by the fireplace outside the tent, talking, while Jonayla was nearby, listening. “Beladora and Gioneran still have some fever. We are going to look for some plants to help bring down the heat. And something to help the itchiness of all of them. I’ll take Jonayla and Wolf.”
“We were just saying we should collect more wood,” Jondalar said. “And I was thinking that I should look for some trees that would make good poles for a pole-drag or two. Even when Beladora and the children get better, they might not be up to a long walk, and we should start back to Camora’s Cave before they start worrying about us.”
“Do you think Beladora will mind riding on a pole-drag?” Ayla asked.
“We’ve all seen the First riding on one. She seems to like it. I think it has made the idea less frightening,” Levela said. “Why don’t we ask her?”
“I need to get my gathering basket anyway,” Ayla said.
“I’ll get mine, too, and we should let Kimeran and Beladora know where we’re going,” Levela said. “And I’ll tell Jonlevan we’re going to get something to make him feel better.”
“He’ll want to go, since he is better, especially when he finds out that Jonayla is going with you,” Jondecam said.
“I know he will,” Levela said, “but I don’t think he should yet. What do you think, Ayla?”
“If I knew the area better and knew where we were going, it might be all right, but I don’t think so yet.”
“That’s what I’ll tell him,” Levela said.
“I’ll take Beladora,” Ayla said. “Whinney is more accustomed to pulling a pole-drag,” It had been several days since they found the missing families, but Beladora still wasn’t entirely recovered. If she pushed herself too soon, Ayla was afraid she might end up with a chronic problem that could make the rest of the Journey more difficult.
She didn’t add that Racer would not be a good horse to pull her travois because he was harder to control. Even Jondalar, who was very good with him, sometimes had difficulty when the stallion got a bit fractious. Gray was still young, Jonayla even younger in terms of ability, and with Whinney dragging the travois behind her, it would be more difficult for Ayla to use the lead rope to help her daughter control the horse. She wasn’t sure that they should make a pole-drag for Gray.
However, the large tent the other travelers had been camping in while people were sick was assembled from their smaller traveling tents and some extra hides, and the third travois could hold the tent poles and other things they had made while they had stopped that they might otherwise have left behind. The children were very much improved, but still tired easily. The pole-drags would also provide a place for them to rest while they were traveling without having to stop. Ayla and Jondalar wanted to return as quickly as possible. They were sure the ones who were waiting for them were wondering where they were.
The night before they planned to leave, they organized as much as they could so they could leave quickly. Ayla, Jondalar, Jonayla, and Wolf used their own traveling tent. In the morning, they made a quick meal of the leftovers from the night before, and packed everything on the pole-drags, including the backframes they usually wore to carry their essentials—shelter, additional clothing, and food—with them. Though the adults were used to carrying them, they found it much easier to walk without the heavy loads. They got off to a good start and traveled farther than they customarily did, but by evening, most people were tired.
While they were drinking the last of their evening tea, Kimeran and Jondecam brought up the idea of stopping early to go hunting so they would have something to bring with them when they met Camora’s relatives. Ayla was concerned. The weather had cooperated so far. There had been a little shower the night Ayla and Jondalar found the other travelers. It cleared up after that, but Ayla didn’t know how long it would stay that way. Jondalar was aware that she had a good “nose” for weather, and usually knew when rain was coming.
It wasn’t exactly a smell that suggested rain; she thought of it as a special tang in the air and often a damp feel. In later times, some would refer to the ozone in the atmosphere before rain as fresh air; others who had the ability to detect it thought it had a metallic tinge. Ayla didn’t have a name for it and found it hard to explain, but she knew it, and she had perceived that hint of coming rain recently. Slogging through mud and pouring rain was the last thing she wanted to do right now.
Ayla woke up when it was still dark. She got up to use the night basket, but stepped outside instead. There was still a glow from the coals in the fireplace in front of the tent that gave enough light for her to go to a nearby bush instead. The air was cool but fresh and as she headed back to the tent she noticed that the true black of night had shaded into the midnight blue of pre-dawn. She watched for a while as a rich deep red flooded the eastern sky, highlighting a mottled pattern of dark purple clouds, followed by a dazzling light that turned the red sky more fiery and spread the clouds out into bands of vibrant color.
“I’m sure it’s going to rain soon,” she said to Jondalar when she went back into the tent, “and it is going to be a big storm. I know they don’t want to arrive empty-handed, but if we keep going we might get there before the rain starts. I would not want Beladora to get wet and cold just as she is getting better, and I dislike the idea of having everything get wet and muddy when if we hurry we might avoid it.”
The rest woke up early, planning to start out not long after sunup. Everyone could see dark clouds gathering on the horizon, and Ayla was sure they would soon be in for a downpour.
“Ayla says a big storm is coming,” Jondalar told the other two men when they brought up hunting. “She thinks it would be better to hunt later, after we get there.”
“I know there are clouds in the distance,” Kimeran said, “but that doesn’t mean it will rain here. They look pretty far off.”
“Ayla has a good sense of rain coming,” Jondalar said. “I’ve seen it before. I don’t necessarily want to have to dry out wet clothes and muddy footwear.”
“But we only met them at the Matrimonial,” Jondecam said. “I don’t want to ask for their hospitality with nothing to give in return.”
“We were only there a half a day before we left to look for you, but I noticed that they don’t seem to be familiar with the spear-thrower. Why don’t we ask them to come hunting with us and show them how to use it. That might be a better gift than just bringing them some meat,” Jondalar said.
“I suppose … do you really think it’s going to rain that soon?” Kimeran asked.
“I trust Ayla’s ‘nose’ for rain. She is seldom wrong,” Jondalar said. “She’s been smelling rain for a few days and she thinks it will be a big storm. Not one that we’ll want to get caught in without good shelter. She doesn’t even want to stop to cook a midday meal; she says we should just drink water and eat traveling cakes along the way, so we can get there faster. Now that Beladora is getting well, I don’t think you want her to get soaked.” Suddenly he had another thought. “We could get there more quickly riding on the horses.”
“How can we all ride on three horses?” Kimeran asked.
“Some people could ride on the pole-drags and others double up on the horses. Have you ever thought about sitting on a horse? You could sit behind Jonayla.”
“Maybe someone else should sit on a horse. I’ve got long legs and I can run fast,” Kimeran said.
“Not as fast as a horse,” Jondalar said. “Her two children can ride on the pole-drag with Beladora. It would be a bumpy ride, but they have already done it a few times. We could move the gear on Racer’s pole-drag to Gray’s. Then Levela and Jonlevan can ride do