'I'm looking for the same thing. An easy way. Perhaps I should follow your horses,' Marthona said, not entirely in jest.
'It's not so much the horses — they are good climbers — it's getting up there with the heavy pole-drags and the loads on their backs,' Ayla said. 'I think we need to traverse our way up, making wide turns to allow for the poles they are dragging behind them.'
'So you want an easy way with a gentle slope,' Willamar said. 'As Marthona said, that's what we want. If I'm not mistaken, I think we passed a gentler slope on our way here. Ayla, why don't we walk back a ways and see if we can find it?'
'Since Jondalar is so comfortable holding the baby, he can stay and keep me company,' Marthona added.
And watch out for her, Ayla thought as she and Willamar started out. I don't like the idea of her waiting alone. There are many animals that might wander by and think of her as fair game: lions, bears, hyenas, who knows what? Wolf, who had been resting on the ground with his head between his paws, got up and seemed uneasy when he saw that Jonayla was staying, but Ayla was getting ready to leave.
'Wolf, stay!' she said, signalling the same thing to him. 'Stay with Jondalar and Jonayla, and Marthona.' The wolf lowered himself back down, but his head was up and his ears cocked forward, alert to any other words or signals from her as she walked away with Willamar.
'If we hadn't loaded the horses so heavily, Marthona could ride up that hill on a pole-drag,' Ayla commented, after a while.
'Only if she were willing,' Willamar said. 'I've noticed something interesting since you came with your animals. She has absolutely no fear of that wolf, who is a powerful hunter that could easily kill her if he chose, but the horses are another matter. She doesn't like to get too close to them. She hunted horses when she was younger, but she fears them much more than the wolf, and they only eat grass.'
'Perhaps it's because she doesn't know them as well. They are bigger, and can be skittish when they are nervous, or if something startles them,' Ayla said. 'Horses don't come into the dwelling; maybe if she spent more time with them, she wouldn't be so anxious about them.'
'Maybe, but first you'd have to persuade her, and if she gets it in her mind that she doesn't want to, she's very good at evading what you want and doing what she wants, without seeming to. She's a very strong-minded woman.'
'Of that, I have no doubt,' Ayla said.
Though they weren't gone very long, by the time Ayla and Willamar returned, Jonayla had awakened and was now being held by her grandam. Jondalar was with the horses, checking their loads, making sure everything was securely fastened.
'We found a better place to climb that ridge. In some places it's a little steep, but it is climbable,' Willamar said.
'I'd better get Jonayla,' the young woman said, heading toward Marthona. 'She's probably made a mess and doesn't smell too good. She usually does when she wakes in the afternoon.'
'She did,' Marthona said, holding the baby so that she was sitting on her lap, facing her. 'I haven't forgotten how to take care of a baby. Have I, Jonayla?' She bounced the infant lightly and smiled at her, and saw her smile returned along with some soft cooing sounds. 'She is such a sweet little thing,' she added, giving up the child to her mother.
Ayla couldn't help smiling at her daughter when she picked her up, and saw the smile returned as she arranged her baby in her carrying blanket, tying it securely. Marthona seemed rested and more lively when she stood up, which pleased her. They headed back along Wood River and around a bend, then started up the easier slope. When they reached the top, they went north again until they reached the small stream that had been spilling down to the river below, then proceeded west. The sun was shining almost directly in their eyes as it neared the horizon before they reached the camp that had been set up by the Third and the Ninth Caves. Proleva had been watching out for them and was relieved to see them when they finally arrived.
'I kept some food warm by the fire. What took you so long?' she said, leading them to the travelling tent they were sharing. She seemed particularly solicitous of Joharran's mother.
'We walked back along Wood River and found a slope that was easier for the horses to climb, so it was easier for me, too,' Marthona said.
'I didn't think that the horses would have difficulties. Ayla said they were strong and could carry the loads,' Proleva said.
'It wasn't the size of the loads, it was those pole things trailing behind them,' Marthona said.
'That's right,' Jondalar said. 'The horses need a wider, easier path up a steep hill. They can't turn as sharply when they are pulling the pole-drags. We found a way up that allowed them to traverse their way up the hill, but we had to backtrack a ways down Wood River.'
'Well, it's nearly level and open for the rest of the way,' Manvelar said. He and Joharran had just joined them, and had heard Jondalar's comments.
'That will make it easier for everybody. Keep the food warm for us, Proleva. We have to unload the horses and find a good place for them to graze,' Jondalar said.
'If you have a nice bone with some meat left on for Wolf, I'm sure he'd appreciate it,' Ayla added.
It was dark when they returned from settling the horses and were finally able to have their meal. Everyone using their family travelling shelter was gathered around the fire: Marthona and Willamar, and Folara; Joharran and Proleva, and her two children, Jaradal and Sethona; Jondalar, Ayla, and Jonayla, and Wolf; and Zelandoni. Although she wasn't technically part of the family, she didn't have any other family in the Ninth Cave and usually stayed with the leader's family when they travelled.
'How long until we reach the Summer Meeting, Joharran?' Ayla asked.
'It depends how fast we go, but Manvelar said probably no more than three or four days.'
It rained off and on most of the way and everyone was glad when, by the afternoon of the third day, they saw some tents ahead. Joharran and Manvelar, and Joharran's two close aides, Rushemar and Solaban, hurried ahead to find a place to set up their camps. Manvelar chose a place along a tributary, near its confluence with West River, and claimed it with his backpack. Then he found the leader of Sun View, and they all went through a short form of the formalised greeting.
'… In the name of Doni, I greet you, Stevadal, leader of Sun View, the Twenty-sixth Cave of the Zelandonii,' Joharran finished.
'You are welcome to the Gather Field of the Twenty-sixth Cave, Joharran, leader of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii,' Stevadal said, letting go of his hands.
'We are glad to be here, but I'd like to ask your advice about where to set up our camp. You know how big we are, and now that my brother has returned from his Journey with some rather unusual … companions, we need to find a place where they won't disturb neighbours, and won't feel too crowded by people they don't know yet.'
'I saw the wolf and two horses last year. They are rather unusual 'companions',' Stevadal said, grinning. 'They even have names, don't they?'
'The mare is Whinney — that's the horse Ayla usually rides. Jondalar calls the stallion he rides Racer; the mare is his dam, but it's three horses now. The Great Mother saw fit to Bless the mare with another young one, a little female. They call her Grey, for the colour of her coat.'
'You may end up with a whole herd of horses at your Cave!' Stevadal said.
I hope not, Joharran thought, but he didn't say anything, just smiled.
'What kind of place are you looking for, Joharran?'
'You remember last year we found a place somewhat out of the way. At first I thought it might be too far away from all the activities, but it turned out to be just right. There was a place for the horses to graze and for the wolf to be away from the people of the other Caves. Ayla controls him perfectly, and he even pays attention to what I say sometimes, but I wouldn't want him frightening anyone. And most of us liked that we were able to spread out a bit.'
'As I recall, you also had plenty of firewood right to the end of the season,' Stevadal said. 'We even came and got some the last few days.'
'Yes, we were fortunate. We weren't even looking for that. Manvelar told me he thought there might be a place for us a little closer to your Sun View. A little valley with some grass?'
