Wolves were always sensitive to weakness in others. When living in a hunting pack, it was the weak ones they generally attacked. But Wolf had formed a particularly close bond with the weak half-Clan child that Nezzie, the leader's mate had adopted when the wolf was very young and imprinting on his Mamutoi pack. Wolves of a pack adore their puppies, but humans were Wolf's pack. She knew he was drawn to human babies and children, and those that his wolf-sense told him were weak, not to hunt them, but to bond with as wild wolves did with their puppies.
Ayla noticed that Danella seemed a little apprehensive. 'I think Wolf wants to meet you, Danella. Have you ever touched a living wolf?' she asked.
'No, of course not. I have never been this close to one before. Why do you think he wants to meet me?'
'He is drawn to certain people sometimes. He loves babies — Jonayla crawls all over him and even if she pulls his hair or pokes at his eyes or ears, he never seems to mind. When we first arrived at the Ninth Cave, he acted like this when he saw Jondalar's mother. He just wanted to meet Marthona.' Ayla suddenly wondered if Wolf had sensed that the woman, who had once been the leader of the largest Cave of the Zelandonii, had a weak heart. 'Would you like to meet him?'
'What do I have to do?' Danella said.
The visitors to Sun View were standing around watching. The ones who were familiar with Wolf and his ways were smiling, others were interested, but Stevadal, Danella's mate, was concerned.
'I'm not sure about this,' he said.
'He won't hurt her,' Jondalar said.
Ayla handed Jonayla to Jondalar, then led Wolf to Danella. She took the woman's hand and went through the process of Wolf's introduction.
'The way Wolf recognises someone is by scent, and he knows that when I introduce him to someone like this, they are friends.' Wolf sniffed at Danella's fingers, then licked them.
She smiled. 'His tongue is smooth, soft.'
'Some of his fur is, too,' Ayla said,
'He's so warm!' Danella said. 'I've never touched fur on a warm body before. And right here, you can feel something throbbing.'
'Yes, that's how a living animal feels.' Ayla turned to the leader of the Twenty-sixth Cave of the Zelandonii. 'Would you like to meet him, Stevadal?'
'You might as well,' Danella said.
Ayla went through a similar process with him, but Wolf seemed eager to return to Danella, and walked near her when they continued on to Sun View. They found places to sit — logs, padded stones, sometimes on the ground. The visitors took out their cups from pouches attached to their waist bands. They were served tea by the few people who had not gone to the Meeting Camp, among them both Danella's and Stevadal's mothers, who had stayed to help the leader's mate. When Danella sat down, Wolf sat beside her, but he did look at Ayla, as though asking for permission. She nodded, and he put his head down on his paws that were stretched out in front of him. Danella found herself petting him now and then.
Zelandoni sat beside Ayla. After she drank her tea, Ayla nursed Jonayla. Several people had come to chat with the First and her acolyte, but when they were finally alone, they began to discuss Danella.
'Wolf seems to be offering her some comfort,' Zelandoni said.
'I think she needs it,' Ayla said. 'She's still so weak. I think she may have had a late miscarriage or a stillborn, and probably a difficult time before.'
The First gave her a look of interest. 'What makes you say that?'
'Because she's so thin and frail, I'm sure she's been ill or has had some problem for some time, and I noticed a certain sadness when she looked at Jonayla. It made me think she had had a long, hard pregnancy, and then lost the baby,' Ayla said.
'That's a very astute judgment. I think you are right. I was thinking something very similar. Perhaps we should ask her mother. I'd like to examine her, just to make sure she's recovering well,' the Donier said. 'There are some medicines that could help her.' The First turned to Ayla. 'What would you suggest?'
'Alfalfa is good for fatigue, and the stinging pain when you pass water,' Ayla said, then paused to think. 'I don't know the name, but there's a plant with a red berry that's very good for women. It grows along the ground as a small vine and the leaves are green all year. It can be used for the cramps that can come with the moontime bleeding, and can ease heavy bleeding. It can encourage birth, and make it easier.'
'I'm familiar with that one. It grows so thick, it sometimes forms a mat on the ground, and birds like the berries. Some people call it birdberry,' the First said. 'Alfalfa tea might help restore strength, also a decoction of the roots and bark of spikenard …' She stopped when she saw the puzzled expression on Ayla's face. 'It's a tall bush with big leaves and purple berries … the flowers are small, greenish white … I'll show you sometime. It can help if the sac that holds the baby inside a woman drops down, slips out of place. That's why I'd like to examine her, so I know what to give her. Zelandoni of the Twenty-sixth is a good general healer, but he may not be as knowledgeable about women's ailments. I'll have to talk to him before we leave today.'
After a polite length of time, the men who came to help build the pole-drag and then went to visit the home shelter of the Twenty-sixth Cave finished their tea and got up to leave. The First stopped Joharran. Jondalar was with him.
'Will you go to the zelandonia camp and see if you can find Zelandoni of the Twenty-sixth?' the Donier said quietly. 'Stevadal's mate has not been well and I'd like to see if there is anything we can do. He's a good healer, and he may have done everything that can be done, but I need to talk to him. I think it's a woman's problem, and we are women …' She left the rest unsaid. 'Ask him to come here; we'll wait awhile.'
'Should I wait here with you?' Jondalar asked the two women.
'Weren't you planning on going to the practice field?' Joharran said.
'Yes, but I don't have to.'
'Why don't you go, Jondalar. We'll be along later,' Ayla said, brushing his cheek with hers.
The two women joined Danella and the two mothers, and a few others. When he saw that the First and her acolyte were not leaving, Stevadal stayed behind as well. The head Zelandoni was adept at finding out what was wrong with people, and soon discovered that Danella had been pregnant, and the baby was stillborn as they suspected, but she sensed that the two older women were holding something back, especially around Danella and Stevadal. There was more to the story than they were willing to say. The Donier would have to wait for the Twenty-sixth. In the meantime, the women chatted. Jonayla was passed around to the women. Although at first Danella seemed reluctant to take her, once she did, she held her for quite a while. Wolf seemed happy to stay with both of them.
Ayla took the pole-drag off Whinney and let her graze, and when she returned, they asked some tentative questions about the horse and how Ayla came to have her. The First encouraged Ayla to tell them. She was developing into quite a good storyteller and enthralled her listeners, especially when she added the sound effects of horse-neighs and lion-roars. Just as she was finishing, the Zelandoni of the Twenty-sixth Cave appeared.
'I thought I heard a familiar lion-roar,' he said, greeting them with a big smile.
'Ayla has been telling us how she adopted Whinney,' Danella said. 'Just as I guessed, she has some captivating stories to tell. And now that I've heard one, I want to hear more.'
The First was getting anxious to leave, though she didn't want to show it. It was entirely appropriate for the First Among Those Who Served The Great Earth Mother to visit with the leader of the Cave that was hosting the Summer Meeting and his mate, but she had many things to do. The ceremony of the Rites of First Pleasures would be the day after next, and then the first Matrimonial of the season. Though there would be another mating ceremony near the end of the summer for those who wanted to finalise their decisions before they returned to their winter shelters, the first one was invariably the largest and most well attended. There were many plans yet to be made.
While people fussed around making more tea, since they had drunk all there was, the First and her acolyte managed to get the Twenty-sixth aside and speak privately with him.
'We learned that Danella delivered a stillborn,' the First said, 'but more happened, I'm sure. I'd like to examine her and see if there is anything I can do to help.'
He breathed a long sigh and frowned.
