The Land of Painted Caves

encourage his family to come out and eat, too.'

'I'll take her the food and try to persuade them to come out here,' Proleva said, getting up and walking toward the stack of visitors' dishes. She took an ivory plate, which had been flaked off a large mammoth tusk and smoothed with sandstone rocks, and selected some slices of meat from the whole mountain goat kid that had been roasted on a spit. It was rare treat. Several hunters from the Ninth and neighbouring Caves had gone ibex hunting, and had had some luck. Proleva added some leafy greens and lightly cooked spring stalks of new thistle and roots of some kind, then carried it to the entrance of Zelandoni's dwelling and scratched at the exposed side of a piece of rawhide next to the heavy leather drape across the entrance. A moment later she went in. Not long after, she walked out with the mate and mother of the injured man, brought them to the main hearth, and gave them visitor plates.

'I should go back in,' Ayla said, looking at Jondalar. 'Did Matagan tell you I will probably be late tonight?'

'Yes. I'll put Jonayla to bed,' he said, standing and picking up the child. He embraced the woman, touching cheeks, while Ayla held them both close.

'I rode Grey today,' Jonayla said. 'Jonde took me out. He rode Racer. Whinney came too, but she didn't have anyone to ride her. Why didn't you come, mama?'

'I wish I could have, Baby,' Ayla said, hugging them both again. Her pet name for her child was similar to the word for 'baby' that she had called the injured lion cub she had once found, nursed back to health, and then raised. It was a modification of the Clan word for infant or little one. 'But a man fell down and got hurt today. Zelandoni has been trying to make him feel better, and I've been helping her.'

'When he gets better, will you come?' Jonayla said.

'Yes, when he gets better, I will come riding with you,' Ayla said, thinking, if he gets better. Then she turned to Jondalar. 'Why don't you take Wolf with you, too.' She had noticed the mate of the man eyeing the animal warily. Everyone knew about the wolf and most had seen him, at least from a distance, but not everyone had tried to find a place to sit and eat with him nearby. The woman had also been looking askance at Ayla, especially after hearing the word she had used to refer to her child. Even modified, the word had a distinctly strange and unfamiliar sound.

After Jondalar left with Jonayla and Wolf, Ayla went back into Zelandoni's dwelling. 'Has there been any improvement in Jacharal?' she asked.

'Not that I've been able to see,' the One Who Was First said. She was glad the two women relatives had gone out so she could speak frankly. 'Sometimes people languish in this condition for quite a while. If someone can manage to get them to take in water and food, they last longer, but if not they are gone within days. It's as though the spirit is confused, the elan is not sure if it wants to leave this world while the body still breathes, even if the rest of the body is damaged beyond repair. Sometimes they wake up, but may not be able to move, or some part of them won't move or doesn't heal right. Occasionally, given enough time, some people will heal from a fall like that, but most often they don't.'

'Has he lost fluid from his nose or ears?' Ayla asked.

'Not since he's been here. There is an injury to his head, but it doesn't seem very deep, just a few superficial scratches. He has so many broken bones, I'm guessing his real damage is internal. I'll watch him tonight.'

'I'll stay with you. Jondalar took Jonayla, and Wolf, with him. This man's mate seemed uncomfortable around Wolf,' Ayla said. 'I thought most people were used to him by now.'

'I suspect she hasn't had time to get used to your wolf. She's not from here; Amelana is her name. Jacharal's mother told me the story. He went on a Journey to the south, mated her there, and brought her back with him. I'm not even sure if she was born in Zelandonii territory or only near it. The borders of territories are not always clear. She seems to speak it well enough, though with that southern inflection, a little like Beladora, Kimeran's mate.'

'What a shame, to come all the way here, and then possibly lose her man. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to Jondalar right after I got here, or even now,' Ayla said, shuddering at the thought.

'You would stay here and become a Zelandoni, just as you are now. You said yourself, you don't really have anyplace to go back to. You're not going to make the long Journey all the way back to the Mamutoi alone, and weren't you adopted by them? You're more than adopted here. You belong. You are Zelandonii,' the woman said.

Ayla was a little surprised at the vehemence of the First's statement, but more than that, she was gratified. It let her know she was wanted.

It wasn't the next morning, but early the day after, that Ayla finally returned to her home. The sun was just coming up, and she paused a moment to watch the glowing colour, brighter in one spot, begin to saturate the sky across The River. The rain had stopped, but clouds hanging low on the horizon strung out in wispy threads of brilliant reds and golds. When the searing light first lifted above the cliffs, Ayla tried to shade her eyes to take notice of the formations nearby so she could compare the rising of the intense radiance with where it rose the day before.

Soon she would be required to note the risings and settings of the sun and moon for a whole year. The hardest part of that, she was told by others of the zelandonia, was missing sleep, especially watching the moon, which sometimes first appeared or disappeared in the middle of the day, and sometimes in the middle of the night. The sun, of course, always rose in the morning and set in the evening, but some days were longer than others, and it moved across the horizon in a predictable way. For half the year as the days grew longer, it travelled a little farther north every day until it stood still for a few days in the middle of summer, when the days were longest, the time of the Summer Longday. Then it reversed its direction, setting a little farther south every day while the days got shorter, passing the time when day and night were the same length, and the sun set nearly directly west, until it stood still again for a few days in the middle of winter, the time of the Winter Shortday.

Ayla had talked with Jacharal's mother and Amelana, and had become better acquainted with the young woman. They had at least one thing in common: they were both foreign women who had mated Zelandonii men. She was quite young, Ayla realised, and a little unpredictable and capricious. And she was pregnant, and still suffering some morning sickness. She really wished they could do more for Jacharal, for Amelana's sake as well as his own.

Both Ayla and Zelandoni watched him closely, for themselves as well as for him. They wanted to see his progress to try to learn more about conditions such as his. So far they had managed to get some water into him, but it was only reflex action that caused him to swallow, and sometimes choke, when they put water in his mouth. He didn't wake up as a result of their efforts. While they were together, Zelandoni also spent some time instructing Ayla in the ways of the zelandonia. They discussed medicines and healing practices, and conducted several ceremonies in an effort to elicit the help of the Great Earth Mother. Ayla was familiar with only some of it. They hadn't yet got the whole community involved in the healing ceremonies, which would be much more elaborate and formal.

They also discussed a forthcoming Journey the older woman wanted to make with her Acolyte, a long Journey that would take the entire summer, and she wanted to leave soon. There were several sacred sites to the south and the east that the First thought they should visit. They would not be going alone. Not only would Jondalar come, but Willamar, the Trade Master and his two young assistants. They were discussing who else should make the trip with them, and Jonokol's name came up. The idea of travelling so far to see new places was exciting, but Ayla knew it would also be arduous, and was grateful for the horses. It would make travelling easier for her and the First. Besides, Zelandoni liked arriving on the pole-drag being pulled by Whinney. It created a commotion and she liked doing things that brought attention to the zelandonia, and the importance of the position of the First.

When Ayla arrived at her dwelling, she thought about making a morning tea for Jondalar, but she was so tired. She hadn't slept much, staying up so Zelandoni could rest. In the morning, the Donier had sent her home to get some sleep. It was so early, everyone was still sleeping, except Wolf, who was outside waiting to greet her. She smiled when she saw him. It amazed her how he always seemed to know when she was coming, or where she was going.

When she went in, Ayla noticed that Jonayla was sleeping beside Jondalar. She had her own smaller sleeping roll beside theirs, but she liked to crawl in with them, and when Ayla wasn't there, which was happening more often, she climbed in with him. Ayla started to pick Jonayla up to move her back to her own sleeping place, then changed her mind and decided to let them finish sleeping without being disturbed. They'd be up soon enough. She