They were filling, high-energy food but they took some effort to prepare and most people saved them for later when they wanted to cover long distances quickly or were stalking game and didn't want to start a fire.
'This is where we turn,' Manvelar said. 'From now on, if we just continue due west, when we reach West River, we should be close to the Twenty-sixth Cave and the floodplain, which is where the Summer Meeting will be held.' He was sitting with Joharran and several others. They looked at the hills rising up on the west bank and the tumultuous tributary tumbling down the slope.
'Should we camp here tonight?' Joharran asked, then looked up at the sun to check its path across the sky. 'It's a little early, but we got off to a late start this morning, and that looks like a hard climb. We might be able to handle it better after a good night's rest.' He feared it might be hard for some.
'Only for the next few miles, then it levels out on higher ground, more or less,' Manvelar said. 'I usually try to make the climb first, then stop and set up camp for the night.'
'You're probably right,' Joharran said. 'It's better to have this behind us and start out fresh in the morning, but some people may find this climb more difficult than others.' He looked hard at his brother, then flicked his eyes toward their mother, who had just arrived, and seemed grateful to sit and rest. He had noticed that she seemed to be having a harder time than usual.
Jondalar caught the silent signal, and turned toward Ayla. 'Why don't we stay back and bring up the rear, and direct any stragglers who may have fallen behind.' He motioned toward a few others who were still coming.
'Yes, that's a good idea. The horses would rather be behind everyone, anyway,' she said, lifting Jonayla up and patting her back. She had finished nursing, but seemed to want to play around at her mother's breast. She was awake and lively, and giggled at Wolf, who happened to be behind them. He reached out and licked her face and the milk dribbling down her chin, which made her giggle more. Ayla, too, had seen the signal pass between Joharran and Jondalar, and like Joharran, she had noticed that Marthona seemed to be slowing as the day progressed. She had noticed that Zelandoni, who had just arrived, had been falling back also, but she wasn't sure if it was because she was tiring, or if she was slowing down to keep pace with Marthona.
'Is there some hot water to make tea?' Zelandoni said when she reached them, pulling out the pouch in which she kept her medicines, and bustling around preparing to make her tea. 'Have you had any tea yet, Marthona?' Even before the woman shook her head from side to side to indicate that she hadn't, the Donier continued, 'I'll make some for you along with mine.'
Ayla watched them both closely and quickly realised that Zelandoni had also noticed that Marthona seemed to be having some difficulty with the hike, and was preparing some medicinal tea for her. Marthona knew it, too. Many people seemed to be concerned for the woman, but they were keeping it at a subtle undercurrent. Ayla could tell, however, that no matter how they tried to minimise it, they were genuinely worried. She decided to see what Zelandoni was doing.
'Jondalar, will you take Jonayla? She's fed and wide awake and wants to play,' Ayla said, giving the baby to him.
Jonayla waved her arms and smiled at him and Jondalar smiled back as he took her. It was obvious that he adored this baby girl, this child of his hearth. He never seemed to mind taking care of her. To Ayla he seemed more patient with her than she was. Jondalar himself was a little surprised at the strength of his feeling for her, and wondered if it was because for a time, he had doubted that there would ever be a child of his hearth. He feared he had offended the Great Earth Mother when he was young by wanting to mate with his donii-woman, and wasn't sure She would ever choose a piece of his spirit to mix with the spirit of a woman to create a new life.
That was what he had been taught. The creation of life was caused by the spirits of women mingling with the spirits of men with the help of the Mother, and most people he knew, including those he had met on his Journey, believed essentially the same thing … except for Ayla. She had a different view of the way new life came to be. She was convinced that there was more to it than just the mixing of spirits. She had told him that it wasn't only his spirit that had combined with hers to create this new person, but his essence when they shared Pleasures. She said Jonayla was as much his child as hers, and he wanted to believe her. He wanted this child to be as much his as hers, but he didn't know.
He knew Ayla had come to that belief when she lived with the Clan, though it wasn't what they believed either. She had told him that they thought it was totem spirits that caused a new life to start growing inside a woman, something about the male totem overpowering the female totem spirit. Ayla was the only one he knew who thought that a new life was begun by something more than spirits. But Ayla was an acolyte, training to become a Zelandoni, and it was the zelandonia that explained Doni, the Great Earth Mother, to Her children. It made him wonder what would happen when the time came for her to explain how new life began to the people. Would she say that the Mother chose the spirit of a particular man to combine with her spirit the way the other Zelandonia did, or would she insist that it was a man's essence, and what would the zelandonia have to say about it?
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 a while 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 passers-by. 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 Jonayla. '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.
