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

“They’d like that,” Proleva said.

As Ayla approached the campsite, she heard childish voices raised in a squabble. “So you won. I don’t care,” Jonayla shouted at a boy somewhat bigger than her. “You can win all you want, you can take it all, but you can’t have a baby, Bokovan. When I grow up I’m going to have lots of babies, but you can’t have any at all. So there!”

Jonayla stood facing the boy, overpowering him in spite of his greater size. The wolf hovered close to the ground, his ears back, looking confused. He didn’t know who to protect. Although the boy was bigger, he was younger. He looked hardly more than a baby, but an oversize baby. His chubby short legs were bowed, his body was long in proportion, and his big barrel chest was accentuated by a baby’s pot belly. Wolf ran to Ayla when he saw her, and she put her arms around him to calm him down.

Bokovan’s shoulders were already much broader than her daughter’s, Ayla noticed. He had a big nose on a face that jutted out in the middle, accentuating that nose, and a receding chin. Though his forehead was straight and not sloped, he had a definite bony ridge over his eyes, not huge, but there.

To Ayla there was no question that he had the cast of the Clan, including his dark liquid eyes, but their shape was not quite Clan. Like his mother, he had a slight epicanthic fold, making his eyes seem slanted, and at that moment they were filled with tears. Ayla thought he was an exotically handsome child, though not many others agreed.

The boy ran to Dalanar. “Dalanah,” he cried, “Jonayah say I can’t ha’wa baby. Tell haw not twue.”

Dalanar picked the boy up and put him on his lap. “I’m afraid it is true, Bokovan,” Dalanar said. “Boys can’t have babies. Only girls can grow up to have babies. But someday you can mate with a woman and help take care of her babies.”

“But, I wan’na baby, too,” Bokovan said, crying a new sob.

“Jonayla! That was a cruel thing to say,” Ayla reprimanded. “Come here and say you’re sorry to Bokovan. It’s not nice to make him cry like that.”

She did feel contrite; she really hadn’t meant to make him cry. “I’m sorry, Bokovan,” Jonayla said.

Ayla almost said that he would help to make babies when he grew up, but thought better of it. She hadn’t even spoken to Zelandoni yet, and Bokovan wouldn’t understand anyway, but her heart went out to the boy. She knelt down in front of him.

“Hello, Bokovan. My name is Ayla and I’ve been wanting to meet you. Your mother and Echozar are my friends.”

“Can you say hello to Ayla, Bokovan?”

“He’wo, Ayla,” the boy said, then buried his head in Dalanar’s shoulder.

“Can I hold him, Dalanar?”

“I’m not sure if he’ll let you. He’s very shy and not used to people,” Dalanar said.

Ayla held her arms out to the boy. He looked at her in serious contemplation. There was a liquid depth to his dark, slanted eyes, and something more, she felt. He reached out to her and she took the child from the man’s arms. He was heavy! Ayla was surprised at his weight. “You are going to grow up to be a very big man, Bokovan. Do you know that?” Ayla hugged the boy to her.

“I’m really surprised he went to you,” Dalanar said. “He never takes to strangers like that.”

“How old is he now?” she asked.

“We can count just past three years for him, but he’s big for his age. That can be a problem, especially for a boy. People think he’s older than he is. I was always tall for my age when I was a youngster. Jondalar was, too,” Dalanar said.

Why did it hurt so much just to hear Jondalar’s name? Ayla thought. She must learn to overcome that. After all, if she was going to be Zelandoni now, she needed to show composure. She had been training to control her mind in many ways—why couldn’t she control herself now?

Ayla held the boy as she greeted Levela and Marsheval. “I understand Jonayla has been here quite often. It seems she’d rather be here than any other place. Thank you for looking after her.”

“We’re happy to have her,” Levela said. “She and my girls are good friends, but I’m glad you finally made it here this year. It was getting so late in the season, we didn’t know if you were coming.”

“I had planned to come before this, but things came up an

d I couldn’t leave sooner,” Ayla said.

“How’s Marthona? Everyone has missed her,” Levela said.

“She seems better … which reminds me …” She looked at Dalanar.

He spoke before she could ask. “Joharran sent some people for her yesterday, in the afternoon. If she’s up to it, she should be here in a few days.” He saw the questioning look on Levela’s face. “They’re going to carry her here on a litter, if she’ll allow it. It was Ayla’s idea. Folara and young Aldanor seem to be seeing a lot of each other, and she thought Marthona would want to be here if they are getting serious. I know how Jerika would feel if it were Joplaya.” The young couple smiled and nodded. “Have you seen Jerika or Joplaya yet, Ayla?” Dalanar asked.

“No, I haven’t, but I’m on my way to see Zelandoni; then I promised Jonayla we’d go riding together.”

“Why don’t you come back to the Lanzadonii camp this evening and stay for a meal?” Dalanar said.