The Mammoth Hunters

30

The great grasslands, bountiful source of life in that cold land, displayed yet another face of the renewing cycle as the Lion Camp traveled. The bluish-violet and yellow flowers of the last dwarf iris were fading but still colorful, and fernleaf peonies were in full bloom. A broad bed of the dark red lossoms filling the entire depression between two hills caused exclamations of wonder and appreciation from the travelers. But it was the young bluegrass and ripening fescue and feather grasses that predominated, turning the steppes into waves of softly billowing silver accented by shadows of blue sage. Not until later, after the young grass grew ripe and the feather grass lost its plumes, would the rich plains change from silver to golden.

The young wolf took delight in discovering the multitude of small animals that lived and thrived on the vast prairie. He dashed after polecats and stoats – ermine in summer-brown coats – and backed off when the dauntless predators held their ground. When mice, voles, and velvety-furred shrews, who were used to evading foxes, scurried into holes burrowed just below the surface, Wolf chased gerbils, hamsters, and long-eared, prickly hedgehogs. Ayla laughed at his look of startled surprise when a thick-tailed jerboa, with short forelegs, and three toes on its long hind legs, bounded away in jumps and dived into the burrow in which it had hibernated all winter. Hares, giant hamsters, and great jerboas were large enough for a meal, and tasty when skinned and skewered over an evening fire. Ayla's sling brought down several that Wolf flushed.

The digging steppe rodents were beneficial, loosening and turning over the topsoil, but some changed the character of the land with their extensive burrowing. As the Lion Camp hiked overland, the ubiquitous holes of spotted susliks were too numerous to count, and in some areas they had to wend their way around hundreds of grass-covered mounds, two to three feet high, each a community of steppe marmots.

Susliks were the preferred prey of black kites, though the long-winged hawks also fed on other rodents, and carrion and insects as well. The graceful birds usually detected the unsuspecting susliks while soaring in the air, but the kite could also hover like a kestrel, the native falcon, or fly very low to take its prey by surprise. Besides hawks and falcons, the tawny eagle favored the prolific little rodent. On one occasion, when Ayla noticed Wolf striking a pose that caused her to look closer, she saw one of the large dark brown predatory birds land near its nest on the ground, bringing a suslik to its young. She watched with interest, but neither she nor the wolf disturbed them.

A host of other birds lived off the bounty of the open land. Larks and pipits were everywhere on the steppes, willow grouse, ptarmigan, and partridges, sand grouse and great bustards, and beautiful demoiselle cranes, bluish-gray with black heads and white tufts of feathers behind the eyes. They arrived to nest in spring, flourished on a diet of insects, lizards, and snakes, and left in fall in great V-shaped formations, trumpeting across the sky.

Talut had started out by setting a pace that he was accustomed to using when traveling with the whole Camp, one that would not push the slower members of the band too hard. But he found they were moving much faster than usual. The horses were making a difference. By carrying gifts, trade goods, and hides for tents on the travois, and the people who had to be helped on their backs, they had lightened everyone's load. The headman was pleased at their increased pace, especially since they were going out of their way, but it also presented a problem. He had planned the route they would take, and the stops, to take advantage of certain known watering places. Now, he was having to reconsider as he went.

They had stopped near a small river, though it was still early in the day. The steppes sometimes gave way to woods near water, and they set up camp in a large field partially surrounded by trees. After Ayla removed the travois from Whinney, she decided to take Latie for a ride. The girl enjoyed helping with the horses, and the animals showed a strong attachment in return. As they rode double through a small grove of trees, a mixture of spruce, birch, hornbeam, and larch, they came to a flowering glade, a small luxuriant meadow that was a verdant piece of the steppes, enclosed by trees. Ayla stopped, and whispered quietly into the ear of the young woman sitting astride the horse in front of her.

"Be very still, Latie, but look over there, near the water."

Latie looked where Ayla indicated, frowned at first when she couldn't see anything, then smiled when she saw a saiga antelope hind with two small young ones raise her head, wary, but uncertain. Then Latie saw several others. The spiral horns grew straight out of the head of the small antelope, tipping back slightly at the end, and its large nose overhung, giving it a distinctive long face.

Sitting quietly on the back of the horse, watching, the sound of birds became noticeable: the cooing of doves, the merry lilt of a warbler, the call of a woodpecker. Ayla heard the beautiful flutelike note of a golden oriole, and gave it back, mimicking so exactly it confused the bird. Latie wished she could whistle like that.

Ayla gave Whinney a slight signal that edged her slowly toward the parklike opening in the woods. Latie almost shook with excitement when they drew near the antelope, and she saw another hind with two young ones. Suddenly there was a shift in wind, and all the saigas lifted their heads, and in an instant were bounding through the woods toward the open steppes. A streak of gray followed them, and Ayla knew who had caused them to run.

By the time Wolf returned, panting, and plopped down, Whinney was grazing peacefully, and the two young women were sitting in the sunny meadow picking wild strawberries. A handful of colorful flowers was on the ground beside Ayla, bright red blooms with long thin petals that appeared to have been dipped in a bright red dye, and bunches of large golden-yellow flower heads, mixed in with white, downy spheres.

"I wish there was enough to bring some back," Ayla said, putting another tiny, but exceptionally sweet and flavorful berry in her mouth.

"There would have to be a lot more. I wish there was more for me," Latie said, with a big smile. "Besides, I want to think of this as a special place, just for us, Ayla." She put a strawberry in her mouth and closed her eyes, savoring the taste. Her expression turned thoughtful. "Those baby antelope, they really were young, weren't they? I never was that close to such young ones before."

"It's Whinney, that's why we can get so close. Antelopes aren't afraid of horses. But Wolf there," Ayla said, looking toward the animal. He looked up at the sound of his name. "He's the one who chased them away."

"Ayla, can I ask you something?"

"Of course. You can always ask something."

"Do you think I could find a horse someday? I mean a little one, that I could take care of the way you took care of Whinney, so it would get used to me."

"I don't know. I didn't plan to find Whinney. It just happened. It would be hard to find a little one. All mothers protect their young."

"If you wanted to get another horse, a little horse, how would you do it?"

"I never thought about it… I suppose if I wanted a young horse… let me think… you'd have to catch its mother. Remember the bison hunt last fall? If you were hunting horses, and drove a herd in a surround like that, you wouldn't have to kill them all. You could keep a young one or two. Maybe you could even separate a young one from the rest, and then let the others go, if you didn't need them." Ayla smiled. "I find it harder to hunt horses, now."

When they returned, most people were sitting around a large fire, eating. The two young women helped themselves and sat down.

"We saw some saigas," Latie said. "Even little ones."

"I think you saw some strawberries, too," Nezzie commented dryly, seeing her daughter's red-stained hands. Latie blushed, remembering that she had wanted to keep them all for herself.

"There weren't enough to bring any back," Ayla said.

"It wouldn't have mattered. I know Latie and strawberries. She would eat a whole field of them, without sharing any, if she had the chance."

Ayla noticed Latie's embarrassment, and changed the subject. "I also picked some coltsfoot for coughs, for the sick Camp, and a red-flowered plant – I don't know the name – whose root is very good for deep coughs and bringing up phlegm from the chest," she said.

"I didn't know that was why you were picking those flowers," Latie said. "How do you know they have that kind of sickness?"

"I don't know, but since I saw the plants, I thought I might as well get some, especially since we were so sick with that kind of sickness. How long before we get there, Talut?"

"It's hard to tell," the headman said. "We're traveling faster than usual. We should reach the Sungaea Camp in another day or so, I think. The map Ludeg made for me was very good, but I hope we're not too late. Their sickness is worse than I thought."

Ayla frowned. "How do you know?"

"I found signs that were left by someone."

"Signs?" Ayla said.

"Come with me. I'll show you," Talut said, putting his cup down and getting up. He led her to a pile of bones near the water. Bones, particularly big ones such as skulls, could be found all over the plains, but as they drew near, it was obvious to Ayla that it was not a natural arrangement. Someone had purposefully stacked them up. A mammoth skull with broken tusks had been placed on top of the heap, upside down.

"That is a sign of bad news," Talut said, pointing to the skull. "Very bad. Do you see this lower jaw, with the two spine bones leaning against it? The point of the jaw shows which way to go, and the Camp is two days away."

"They must need help, Talut! Is that why they put this sign here?"

Talut pointed to a piece of charred birchbark, held down by the broken end of the left tusk. "See this?" he said.

"Yes. It's burned black, like it was in a fire."

"It means sickness, killing sickness. Someone has died. People are afraid of that kind of sickness, and this is a place people often stop. That sign was not put here to ask for help, but to warn people away."

"Oh, Talut! I must go. The rest of you don't have to, but I must go. I can leave now, on Whinney."

"And what will you tell them when you get there?" Talut said. "No, Ayla. They won't let you help. No one knows you. They are not even Mamutoi, they are Sungaea. We have talked about it. We knew you would want to go. We started out this way, and we will go with you. I think, because of the horses, we can make it in one day instead of two."

The sun was skimming the edge of the earth when the band of travelers from the Lion Camp approached a large settlement situated on a broad natural terrace some thirty feet above a wide, swift river. They stopped when they were noticed by some people, who stared in amazement before running toward one of the shelters. A man and a woman emerged. Their faces were reddened with a salve of ochre, and their hair was covered with ashes.

It's too late, Talut thought, as he and Tulie approached the Sungaea Camp, followed by Nezzie and Ayla, who was leading Whinney with Mamut on her back. It was obvious they had interrupted something important. When the visitors were about ten feet away, the man with the red-colored face raised his arm and held up his hand, palm facing front. It was an obvious signal to stop. He spoke to Talut in a language that was different, yet there was something familiar about it to Ayla. She felt she should be able to understand it; a similarity to Mamutoi, perhaps. Talut answered, in his own language. Then the man spoke again.

"Why has the Lion Camp of the Mamutoi come here at this time?" he said, speaking now in Mamutoi. "There is sickness, and great sadness at this Camp. Did you not see the signs?"

"Yes, we saw the signs," Talut said. "We have with us one who is a daughter of the Mammoth Hearth, a skilled Healer. The runner, Ludeg, who passed by here some days ago, told us of your troubles. We were preparing to travel to our Summer Meeting, but first, Ayla, our Healer, wished to come here to offer her skills. One of us was related to one of you; we are kin. We came."

The man looked at the woman standing beside him. It was obvious that she was grieving, and she gathered herself together with some effort.

"It is too late," she said. "They are dead." Her voice trailed off in a wail, and she cried out in anguish. "They are dead. My children, my babies, my life, they are dead." Two people stepped up on either side of the woman and led her away.

"My sister has suffered a great sorrow," the man said. "She has lost both a daughter and a son. The girl was nearly a woman, the boy a few years younger. We all grieve."

Talut shook his head in sympathy. "It is indeed a great sorrow. We share your grief, and offer whatever solace we may. If it is within your custom, we would like to stay to add our tears to yours as they are returned to the breast of the Mother."

"Your kindness is appreciated, and will always be remembered, but there are still those among us who are sick. It may be dangerous for you to stay. It may be dangerous for you to have come."

"Talut, ask him if I can look at the ones who are still sick. I may be able to help them," Ayla said quietly.

"Yes, Talut. Ask if Ayla may look at the sick ones," Mamut added. "I think she will be able to say if it's safe for us to stay."

The man with the red face looked hard at the old man sitting on the horse. He had been amazed when he first saw the horses, but he did not want to seem overwhelmed, and he was so numbed with grief he had put his curiosity aside for the moment, while he acted as spokesman for his sister, and his Camp. But when Mamut spoke, the strange sight of a man sitting on the back of a horse was suddenly brought to his awareness with new impact.

"How does that man come to be sitting on a horse?" he finally blurted out. "Why does the horse stand still for it? And that other one, back there?"

"It is a long story," Talut said. "The man is our Mamut, and the horses answer to our Healer. When there is time, we will be happy to tell you about it, but first, Ayla would like to look at your sick ones. She may be able to help them. She will be able to tell us if the evil spirits still linger, and if she can contain them and make them harmless; whether it is safe for us to stay."

"You say she is skilled. I must believe you. If she can command the horse spirit, she must have powerful magic. Let me speak to those within."

"There is one other animal you should know about," Talut said, then turned to the woman. "Call him, Ayla."

She whistled, and even before Rydag could let him go, Wolf had wriggled free. The Sungaea man and other bystanders were startled as the young wolf came racing toward them, but even more surprised when he stopped at Ayla's feet, and looked up at her with expectation. At her signal, he dropped down to his stomach, but his alert attention focused on the strangers made them uneasy.

Tulie had been carefully observing the reactions of the Sungaea Camp and quickly realized what a powerful impression the tractable animals had made. They had enhanced the stature of the people they were associated with, and the Lion Camp as a whole. Mamut, by the simple act of sitting on the back of the horse, had garnered prestige. They watched him with wary glances, and his words had carried great authority, but the response to Ayla was even more revealing. They looked at her with awe, and a kind of fearful reverence.

The headwoman realized that she had grown accustomed to the horses, but she recalled her own apprehension the first time she had seen Ayla with her horses, and it wasn't hard to put herself in their place. She had been there when Ayla brought the tiny wolf pup to the lodge, and she had watched him grow up, but looking at Wolf as a stranger might see him, she realized he would not be seen as a puppyish young animal. He might be young but, to all appearances, he was nearly a full-grown wolf, and the horse was a mature mare. If Ayla could bend the will of high-strung horses and the spirit of independent wolves to her command, what other forces could she control? Especially when told she was the daughter of the Mammoth Hearth, and a Healer.

Tulie wondered what kind of reception they would receive when they arrived at the Summer Meeting, but she wasn't at all surprised when Ayla was invited in to examine the ailing members of the Camp. The Mamutoi settled down to wait. When Ayla came out, she went to Mamut, Talut, and Tulie.

"I think they have what Nezzie calls spring sickness, fever, and tightness in the chest, and trouble breathing, except they got it later in the season, and harder," Ayla explained. "Two older people died earlier, but it is most sad when children die. I'm not sure why they did. Young people are usually strong enough to recover from this kind of sickness. Everyone else seems to be over the worst of it. Some of them are coughing a lot, and I can help make them a little more comfortable, but no one seems seriously ill any more. I would like to fix something to help the mother. She is taking it very hard. I can't blame her. I am not absolutely certain, but I don't think it will endanger us to stay for the burial. I don't think we should stay inside their lodges, though."

"I would have suggested we set up our own tents, if we decided to stay," Tulie said. "It's hard enough for them without having strangers in their midst all the time, and they aren't even Mamutoi. Sungaea are… different."

Ayla was awakened in the morning by the sound of voices not too far from the tent. She quickly got up, dressed, and looked out. Several people were digging a long, narrow trench. Tronie and Fralie were outside, sitting near a fire nursing their babies. Ayla smiled and joined them. The smell of sage tea rose from a steaming cooking basket. She scooped out a cup and sat with the two women, sipping the hot liquid.

"Are they going to bury them today?" Fralie asked.

"I think so," Ayla said. "I don't think Talut wanted to ask outright, but I got that impression. I can't understand their language, though I can catch a few words now and then."

"They must be digging the grave. I wonder why they are making it so long?" Tronie said.

"I don't know, but I'm glad we'll be leaving soon. I know it's right for us to stay, but I don't like burials," Fralie said.

"No one does," Ayla said. "I wish we could have gotten here a few days earlier."

"You don't know if you could have done anything for those children anyway," Fralie said.

"I feel so sorry for the mother," Tronie commented. "It would be hard enough to lose one child, but to lose two at the same time… I don't know if I could stand it." She cuddled Hartal to her, but it only made the toddler squirm to get away.

"Yes. It is hard to lose a child," Ayla said. Her voice was so grim it made Fralie look, and wonder. Ayla put her cup down and got up. "I saw some wormwood growing nearby. The root makes a very strong medicine. I don't often use it, but I want to make something to calm and relax the mother, and it needs to be strong."

The Lion Camp observed or peripherally participated in various activities and ceremonies during the day, but toward evening the atmosphere changed, became charged with an intensity that caught up even the visitors. The heightened emotions evoked genuine cries of sorrow and grief from the Mamutoi when the two children were solemnly carried out of a lodge on hammocklike biers, and brought around to each person for a final farewell.

As the people who were carrying the stretchers slowly walked by the mourning visitors, Ayla noticed that the children had been clothed in beautifully made and elegantly decorated finery, as though dressed for an important festival. She could not help but be impressed and intrigued. Pieces of variously dyed and naturally colored leathers and furs had been carefully stitched together into intricate geometric patterns in making the tunics and long trousers, outlined and highlighted by solid areas that were filled in with thousands of small ivory beads. A stray thought passed through her mind. Had all the work been done using only a sharp awl? Maybe someone would appreciate the small, sharp-pointed, ivory shaft with the hole in the end.

She also noticed headbands and belts, and across the shoulders of the girl, a cape with fascinating designs that were worked into a material which appeared to have been constructed out of strands of the underwool shed by the passing woolly beasts. She wanted to touch it, examine it closely, and learn how it had been made, but it would not have been appropriate. Ranec, standing beside her, noticed it, too, and commented on the intricate pattern of right-angled spirals. Ayla hoped that before they left, she could find out more about how it was made, perhaps in exchange for one of her ivory points with a hole.

Both children were also adorned with jewelry made of shells, animal canines, bone; the boy even had a large, unusual stone which had been pierced to wear as a pendant. Unlike the adults whose hair was in disarray and covered with ashes, their hair was neatly combed and arranged in elaborate styles – the boy in braids, the girl with large buns on both sides of her head.

Ayla could not dispel the feeling that the children were only sleeping and would wake up any moment. They looked too young, too healthy, with their round-cheeked, unlined faces, to be gone, to have passed into the realm of the spirits. She felt a shudder pass through her, and involuntarily glanced toward Rydag. She caught Nezzie's eye and looked away.

Finally the bodies of the children were brought to the long, narrow trench. They were lowered into it and placed head to head. A woman with a peculiar headdress and a long beaded tunic stood up and began a keening, high-pitched chant that sent shivers through everyone. She wore many necklaces and pendants around her neck that jangled and clicked when she moved, and several loose ivory bracelets around her arms, consisting of several separate half-inch-wide bands. Ayla realized they were similar to the ones some of the Mamutoi used.

A deep reverberating drumbeat sounded with the familiar tone of a mammoth skull drum. Keening and chanting, the woman began to weave and sway, rising up on her toes and lifting her feet, sometimes facing different directions, but staying in one place. As she danced, she waved her arms about sharply and rhythmically, causing her bracelets to rattle. Ayla had met her, and though they had not been able to converse, she felt drawn to her. Mamut had explained that she was not a medicine woman as Ayla was, but one who could communicate with the spirit world. She was the Sungaea counterpart of Mamut – or Creb, Ayla realized with a jolt. It was still difficult for her to conceive of a woman mog-ur.

The man and woman with red faces sprinkled powdered red ochre over the children, making Ayla think of the red ochre salve that Creb had rubbed on Iza's body. Several other things were ceremoniously added to the grave: shafts of mammoth tusk that had been straightened, spears, flint knives and daggers, carvings of a mammoth, a bison, and a horse – not as well made as Ranec's, Ayla thought. She was surprised to see a long ivory staff, decorated with a circular, spoked, wheellike carving to which feathers and other objects were attached, laid beside each child. When the people of the settlement joined in the wailing, keening song of the woman, Ayla quietly leaned forward and whispered to Mamut, "Those staffs look like Talut's. Are they Speaking Staffs?"

"Yes, they are. The Sungaea are related to the Mamutoi, more closely than some people want to admit," Mamut said. "There are some differences, but this burial ceremony is very much like ours."

"Why would they put Speaking Staffs in a grave with children?"

"They are given those things which they will need when they wake up in the spirit world. As the daughter and son of the headwoman, they are a sister and brother who were destined to become co-leaders, if not in this lifetime, then the next," Mamut explained. "It is necessary to show their rank so they do not lose status there."

Ayla watched for a while, then, when they started to put the dirt back in, she spoke to Mamut again.

"Why are they buried like that, head to head?"

"They are brother and sister," he said, as though the rest was self-explanatory. Then he saw her puzzled expression and continued, "It can be a long, difficult, and confusing Journey to the spirit world, especially for those who are so young. They need to be able to communicate, to help and comfort each other, but it is an abomination to the Mother for a brother and sister to share Pleasures. If they wake up side by side, they may forget they are brother and sister, and couple by mistake, thinking they were sleeping together because they were meant to be joined. Head to head, they can encourage each other on the Journey, and still not be confused about their relationship when they reach the other place."

Ayla nodded. It seemed logical, but as she watched the grave being filled in, she fervently wished they had gotten there a few days sooner. Maybe she couldn't have helped, but she could have tried.

Talut stopped at the edge of a small waterway, looked upstream and then downstream, then consulted the marked piece of ivory he held in his hand. He checked the position of the sun, studied some cloud formations in the north, and sniffed the wind. Finally he examined the area nearby.

"We camp here for the night," he said, shrugging off his haversack and packframe. He walked toward his sister as she was deciding where the primary tent would be placed, so the adjoining ones that utilized part of the same structural supports would have plenty of level ground. "Tulie, what would you say to stopping to do a little trading? I was looking at these maps Ludeg made. It didn't occur to me at first, but seeing where we are, look," he said, showing her two different pieces of ivory with marks scratched on them, "here's the map showing the way to Wolf Camp, the new location of the Summer Meeting, and here's the quick one he made showing the way to the Sungaea Camp. From here, it wouldn't be much out of our way to visit Mammoth Camp."

"You mean Musk-Ox Camp," Tulie said, with annoyed disdain. "It was presumptuous of them to rename their Camp. Everyone has a Mammoth Hearth, but no one should name a Camp for the mammoth. Aren't we all Mammoth Hunters?"

"But Camps are always named after the headman's hearth, and their new headman is their Mamut. Besides, that doesn't mean we can't trade with them – if they are not gone for the summer. You know they are related to Amber Camp, and they always have some amber to trade," Talut said, knowing his sister's weakness for the warm, gold-hued stones of petrified resin. "Wymez says they have access to good flint, too. We have plenty of reindeer hides, not to mention some nice furs."

"I don't know how a man can establish a hearth when he doesn't even have a woman, but I just said they were presumptuous. We can still trade with them. Of course we should stop, Talut." The headwoman's expression changed to an enigmatic smile. "Yes, by all means. I think it would be interesting for the 'Mammoth' Camp to meet our Mammoth Hearth."

"Good. We'd better leave early, then," Talut said, but he regarded her with puzzlement, and shook his head wondering what his clever and astute sister was thinking.

When the Lion Camp reached a large sinuous river gouging a channel between steep banks of bess soil, similar to the setting near their lodge, Talut headed out to a promontory between ravines and carefully scanned the surrounding terrain. He saw deer and aurochs near the water on the floodplain below, grazing in a green meadow dotted with small trees. Some distance farther, he noticed a large pile of jumbled bones against a high bank where the river turned sharply. Tiny figures scuttled over the accumulation of dried bones, and he saw several of them carrying away pieces.

"They are still here," he announced. "They must be building."

The travelers trooped down a slope toward the Camp, situated on a broad terrace no more than fifteen feet above the level of the river, and if Ayla had been surprised at the lodge of the Lion Camp, she was astounded by the Mammoth Camp. Rather than a single large, sod-covered, semisubterranean longhouse that Ayla had likened to a cave or even a human-sized burrow, in this Camp several individual round lodges were clustered together on the terrace. They, too, were solid and sturdy under a thick layering of sod covered with clay, and patches of grass grew around the edges, but not on the top. They reminded Ayla of nothing so much as huge, bald, marmot mounds.

As they approached, she could understand why the tops were bare. Just as they did, the Mammoth Camp used the roofs of their dwellings as viewing platforms. Two of the lodges each supported a crowd of onlookers, and though the watchers had turned their attention to the visitors, that was not the reason they were up on the rounded roofs. When the Lion Camp passed around a lodge that blocked their view, Ayla saw the object of their interest, and was astonished.

Talut had been right. They were building. Ayla had overheard Tulie's remarks about the name these people had chosen for themselves, but after seeing the lodge they were making, it seemed most appropriate. Though it might end up looking like all the others when it was completed, the way they used mammoth bones as structural supports seemed to capture a special quality of the animal. It was true that the Lion Camp had used mammoth bones in the supporting framework of their lodge, and had selected certain pieces and trimmed them to fit, but the bones used in this dwelling did more than support. They were selected and arranged so that the structure managed to convey the essence of the mammoth in a way that expressed the beliefs of the Mamutoi.

To create the design, they first brought up large numbers of the same skeletal parts of many mammoths from the bone pile below. They began with a circle, about sixteen feet across at the base, of mammoth skulls placed so that the solid surface of the foreheads faced inward. The opening was the familiar archway, constructed of two large curved tusks, anchored on each side in the socket of a mammoth skull, and joined at the top. Around the outside and halfway up was a circular wall made of, perhaps, a hundred mammoth mandibles, the V-shaped lower jaws, stacked with the pointed chins down one on top of another four deep.

The overall effect of these stacks of V's placed side by side was the most impressive concept of the construction, and the most meaningful. Together they created a zigzag pattern, similar to the pattern used to symbolize water on the maps. And beyond that, as Ayla had learned from Mamut, the zigzag symbol for water was also the most profound symbol for the Great Mother, Creator of all Life. They represented the downward-pointing triangle of Her mound, the external expression of Her womb. Multiplied many times over, the symbol represented all life; not only water, but the birth waters of the Mother which had flooded the land and filled the seas and rivers when She gave birth to all life on earth. There could be no doubt that this would be the lodge of the Mammoth Hearth.

The circular wall was not completed, but they were working on the rest of the lodge, wedging in shoulder blades and pelvic bones and pieces of spine in a rhythmically symmetrical yet tightly fitted way. An open framework of wood inside provided additional support for the structure and it appeared that the roof would be constructed of mammoth tusks.

"This is the work of a true artist!" Ranec said, stepping closer and openly admiring their handiwork.

Ayla knew he would approve. She noticed Jondalar standing a little distance away holding Racer's lead rope. She realized that he was no less impressed or appreciative of the inspired mind that had conceived of the idea. In fact the entire Lion Camp was at a loss for words. But as Tulie had suspected, the Mammoth Camp was just as astounded by their visitors – or rather, by the tame animals that traveled with them.

There was a period of mutual staring in wonder and amazement, and then a woman and man, both somewhat younger than the leaders of the Lion Camp, came forward to greet Tulie and Talut. The man had been hauling heavy mammoth bones up the slope – these were by no means temporary dwellings that would be carried from place to place, but a permanent settlement – and he was stripped to the waist and sweaty. His face was heavily tattooed and Ayla had to remind herself not to stare. He not only had a chevron pattern on his left cheek, like the Mamut of the Lion Camp, but a symmetrical arrangement of zigzags, triangles, and diamond shapes, and right-angle spirals in two colors, blue and red.

The woman had obviously been working, too, and was also bare from the waist up, but rather than pants, she wore a wrapped skirt that fell to just below her knees. She had no tattoos, but the side of her nose was pierced and she wore a labret made of a small piece of carved and polished amber through the hole.

"Tulie, Talut, what a surprise! We were not expecting you, but in the name of the Mother, we welcome the Lion Camp," the woman said.

"In the name of Mut, we thank you for your welcome, Avarie," Tulie said. "We did not mean to come at an inconvenient time."

"We were nearby, Vincavec," Talut added, "and could not pass without stopping."

"It is never inconvenient for the Lion Camp to visit," the man said, "but how do you happen to be nearby? This is not on the way to Wolf Camp for you."

"The runner that came to tell us that the Meeting place had been changed stopped off at a Sungaea Camp as he was making his stops and told us they were very sick. We have a new member, a Healer, Ayla of the Mammoth Hearth," Talut said, beckoning her forward, "and she wanted to go and see if she could help. We have just come from there."

"Yes, I know that Sungaea Camp," Vincavec said, then turned to Ayla. For a moment she felt his eyes bore into her. She hesitated for a moment, still not entirely used to returning the direct look of a stranger, but she sensed this was not a moment for shyness, or the modesty of a Clan woman, and returned his intense gaze. Suddenly he laughed, and his pale gray eyes gleamed with approval, and a look that appreciated her womanliness. She noticed then that he was a striking, attractive man, not because he was handsome or for any particular feature, although the tattoos did make him stand out, but because of a quality of strength of will and intelligence. He looked up at Mamut sitting on Whinney.

"So you're still with us, old man," he said, obviously pleased, then added with a knowing smile, "and still coming up with surprises. Since when have you become a Caller? Or do we need another name? Two horses and a wolf traveling with the Lion Camp? This is more than a Gift of Calling."

"Another name might be appropriate, Vincavec, but it is not my gift. The animals answer to Ayla."

"Ayla? It seems the old Mamut has found himself a worthy daughter." Vincavec looked her over again, with obvious interest. He didn't notice Ranec glower, but Jondalar did. He understood the feeling, and for the first time, felt a strange sort of kinship with the carver.

"Enough standing here talking," Avarie said. "We have plenty of time for that. The travelers must be tired, and hungry. You must let me arrange a meal for you, and a place to rest."

"We can see that you are making a new lodge, Avarie. You don't need to go to trouble for us. A place to set up tents will be enough," Tulie said. "Later, we would be pleased to share a meal with you, and perhaps show you some fine reindeer skins and furs we happen to have with us."

"I have a better idea!" Talut boomed, shrugging off his packframe where he stood. "Why don't we help you? You may have to tell me where to put it, but I have back enough to carry a mammoth bone or two."

"Yes, I'd like to help," Jondalar volunteered, leading Racer forward and helping Rydag off. "That's an unusual lodge. I have never seen anything quite like it."

"By all means. We welcome your help. Some of us are in a hurry to get to the Summer Meeting, but a lodge needs a summer to set up properly, so we needed to build it before we left. The Lion Camp is most generous," Vincavec said, wondering how many pieces of amber their generosity was going to cost when the trading started. Then he decided it would be worth it to get his lodge finished, and quiet some of the complainers.

Vincavec hadn't noticed the tall blond man in the crowd of people at first, but he looked twice, then glanced back at Ayla, who was unharnessing Whinney from the travois. He was a stranger, as Ayla was, and he seemed as comfortable with the horses as she did. But then the little flathead seemed familiar with the wolf, and he was no stranger any more. It must have something to do with the woman. The Mamut-headman of the Mammoth Camp turned his attention back to Ayla. He noticed the brown-skinned carver was hovering around her; Ranec always did have an eye for the beautiful and the exceptional, he thought. In fact, he was acting possessive, but then who was the stranger? Wasn't he associated with the woman? Vincavec glanced at Jondalar, and noted that he was watching Ayla and Ranec.

Something was going on here, Vincavec decided, then smiled. Whatever the relationships, if they were both so interested, it was likely the woman was not formally joined, yet. He looked her over once again. She was a striking woman, and a daughter of the Mammoth Hearth, a Healer, or so they claimed, and she certainly had some unique talent with animals. A woman of high status, no doubt, but where had she come from? And why was it always the Lion Camp that turned up with someone unusual?

The two headwomen were standing inside an almost complete, but empty new earthlodge. Although the outside was covered, the zigzag pattern of the walls was subtly apparent on the inside.

"Are you sure you won't travel with us, Avarie?" Tulie said. A new string of large amber beads graced her neck. "We'd be happy to wait a few more days, until you are ready."

"No, you go ahead. I know everyone is anxious to get to the Meeting, and you have already done too much. The lodge is nearly finished, and without you, we would never have been so far along."

"It was our pleasure to work with you. I must admit, the new lodge is quite impressive. It is an honor to the Mother. Your brother is truly remarkable. One can almost feel the Mother's presence inside." She was sincere, and Avarie knew it.

"Thank you, Tulie, and we will not forget your help. That's why we don't want to keep you any longer. You are already late because you stayed to help us. All the best places will be taken."

"It won't take us long to get there now. Our load is considerably lighter. Mammoth Camp strikes a hard bargain."

Avarie's eyes glanced at the big headwoman's new necklace. "Not nearly as hard a bargain as Lion Camp," she said.

Tulie agreed. She believed the Lion Camp had gotten the better of the bargaining, but it was unseemly to admit to it. She changed the subject. "Well, we'll look forward to seeing you there. If we can, we'll try to mark a place for you."

"We would appreciate that, but I suspect we'll be the last ones. We will have to take what we can get. We will look for you, though," Avarie said, as they walked out.

"We'll leave in the morning, then," Tulie said. The two women embraced, and touched cheeks, then the headwoman of the Lion Camp started toward the tents.

"Oh, Tulie, in case I don't see Ayla to tell her before you go, please thank her again for the firestone," Avarie said, then added in an apparently offhand way, "Have you set a Bride Price for her yet?"

"We have been thinking about it, but she has so much to offer, it's difficult," Tulie said, then turned to go. After a few steps, she turned back and smiled. "She and Deegie have become so close Ayla is almost like a daughter to me."

Tulie could hardly suppress a smile as she walked away. She thought she had noticed Vincavec paying particular attention to Ayla, and she knew Avarie's comment was no casual remark. He had put his sister up to it. It would not be a bad match, Tulie thought, and having ties with the Mammoth Camp could prove beneficial. Of course, Ranec has first claim. They are, after all, Promised, but if someone like Vincavec made an offer, it wouldn't hurt to consider it. At the very least, it would raise her value. Yes, Talut had a good idea when he suggested they stop and do some trading.

Avarie watched her go. So Tulie is going to negotiate the Bride Price herself. I thought as much. Perhaps we should stop off at Amber Camp on the way, I know where Mother keeps the raw stone, and if Vincavec is going to try for Ayla, he's going to need everything he can get. I never saw a woman drive a harder bargain than Tulie, Avarie thought with begrudging admiration. She hadn't particularly cared for the big headwoman of the Lion Camp before, but these past few days when they had a chance to get better acquainted, she had come to respect her, and even like her. Tulie had worked hard with them and was generous with her praise when it was deserved, and if she was a formidable trader, well, that was the headwoman's role. In fact, if she were young and ready to make a joining, Avarie thought, she wouldn't mind having someone like Tulie negotiating her Bride Price.

From the Mammoth Camp, the Lion Camp traveled in a generally northerly direction, for the most part following the river. Near the great waterways that coursed down the continent, the northern landscape changed continually and displayed a rich diversity of plant life. Their trek took them from tundra fells and bess plains to reedy forest lakes, from lush bogs to windy knolls and grassy meadows bright with summer blooms. Though the northern plants were stunted, the flowers were often larger and more brilliant than southern varieties. Ayla could identify most of them; though she didn't always know what to call them. When they passed them, or if she was out riding or walking alone, she often picked some to bring to Mamut, or Nezzie, or Deegie, or someone to tell her the names.

The closer they came to the place of the Summer Meeting, the more Ayla found reasons to make side trips. Summer had always been the time when she wanted solitude. It had been her pattern for as long as she could remember. In the winter, she accepted the confinement imposed by severe weather, whether it was to the cave of Brun's clan, or the one in her valley, or the Mamutoi earthlodge. But in summer, though she did not like to be alone at night, she had often enjoyed getting off by herself during the day. It was her time to think her own thoughts, and follow her own impulses, free from the restriction of being watched too much, either because of suspicion, or love.

When they stopped for the evening, it was easy enough to say she wanted to identify plants or to hunt, and she did both, using the spear-thrower as well as her sling to bring back fresh meat, but she really wanted to get away alone. She needed time to think. She was dreading their arrival, and couldn't quite understand why. She had met enough people now, and had been easily enough accepted, so she knew that wasn't the problem. But the closer they got, the more excited Ranec became, and the more morose Jondalar seemed. And the more she wished she could avoid this gathering of the Camps.

On their last night of traveling, Ayla returned from a long walk with a handful of flowers. She noticed that a patch of ground near the fire had been smoothed out, and that Jondalar was making marks in it with the drawing knife. Tornec had a broken piece of ivory in his hand and a sharp knife out, and was studying marks.

"Here she is," Jondalar said. "Ayla can tell you better than I can. I'm not sure I could find my way back to the valley from Lion Camp, and I know I couldn't do it from here. We've taken too many turns and detours."

"Jondalar was trying to make a map showing the way to the valley where you found the firestones," Talut said.

"I've been looking ever since we left, and I haven't seen one firestone," Tornec added. "I'd like to make a trip there sometime and get some more. The ones we have won't last forever. Mine already has a big groove in it."

"I'm having trouble judging distance," Jondalar said. "We traveled on horseback, so it's hard to say how many days it would take on foot. And we explored a lot, stopped when we felt like it, didn't follow any logical trail. I'm almost certain we went back across the river that runs through your valley, farther north. Maybe more than once. When we went back, it was almost winter, and many landmarks had changed."

Ayla put down the flowers, and picked up the drawing knife, and tried to think about how to make a map to the valley. She started to make a line, and then hesitated.

"Don't worry about trying to do it from here," Talut encouraged. "Just think about how to get there from Lion Camp."

Ayla crinkled her brow in concentration. "I know I could show you the way from Lion Camp," she said, "but I still don't understand maps very well. I don't think I know how to draw one."

"Well, don't worry about it," Talut said. "We don't need a map, if you can show us the way. Maybe after we return from the Summer Meeting, we can make a trip there." Then he motioned with his red-bearded chin toward the flowers. "What did you bring back this time, Ayla?"

"That's what I want you to tell me. I know what they are, but I don't know what you call them."

"I know that red one is a geranium," Talut said. "And this is poppy."

"More flowers?" Deegie said, just joining them.

"Yes. Talut told me these two," Ayla said.

"Let's see, that's heather, and that's cushion pink," Deegie said, identifying the other two, then sat down beside Ayla. "We're almost there. Talut says sometime tomorrow. I can hardly wait. Tomorrow I'll see Branag, and then it won't be long until we are finally joined. I don't even know if I'll be able to sleep tonight."

Ayla smiled at her. Deegie was so excited it was hard not to share her enthusiasm, but it only served to remind her that she, too, would soon be joined. Jondalar's talk about the valley and going back there had renewed her ache of longing for him. She had been watching him, trying not to make it obvious, and she had a distinct feeling that he had been observing her. She kept meeting his eyes briefly before both looked away.

"Oh, Ayla, there are so many people I want you to meet, and I'm so glad we are going to be joined at the same Matrimonial. That's something we'll always have together."

Jondalar got up. "I need to go… and… uh… set up my sleeping roll," he said, then hurried away.

Deegie watched Ayla's eyes follow after him, and was almost certain she saw tears being held back. She shook her head. Ayla just didn't seem like a woman who was about to join and establish a new hearth with a man she loved. There was no joy, no excitement. Something was missing. Something called Jondalar.