The Land of Painted Caves (55 page)

There was no doubt that they were people, and there were many similarities between them and the ones they called “the Others.” They hunted the animals in their vicinity, and gathered the food that grew. They shaped tools out of stone and with them made other objects like clothing and containers and shelters. They cared about each other and took care of each other, and even recognized that Ayla was a child when they found her, and though she was one of the Others, they took care of her. But they were different in some ways that, even though she grew up with them, she never fully understood.

Though she sympathized with the young women who lived far away from their families and missed them, she didn’t fully empathize with them. At least they were living with people like themselves. She was grateful to have found her own kind, and especially to have found a man who cared about her among them. She couldn’t even put into words how much she cared for Jondalar. He was more than she could ever have hoped for. He not only said he loved her, he treated her with love. He was kind, he was generous, he adored her daughter. If it weren’t for him, she would not have been able to be an acolyte, to be a part of the zelandonia. He supported her, took care of Jonayla when she wasn’t home, even though she knew he would rather she was there with him, and he could bring her to unbelievable joy when they shared Pleasures. She trusted him implicitly and completely, and could not believe how fortunate she was.

Camora looked at the Zelandoni Who Was First. “Do you think something might have happened to Kimeran and Jondecam?” she asked, with a worried frown. “Accidents can happen.”

“Yes, they can, Camora, but it could also be that they were delayed and didn’t start as soon as they planned. Or something may have occurred at their Cave that made them change their mind and decide not to go. They would have no way of letting us know. We will wait here a few days, if Farnadal doesn’t mind,” she glanced at him and he smiled and nodded, “before we continue on our Journey, to give them a chance to catch up.”

“Perhaps we can do even more,” Jondalar said. “Horses can travel much faster than people can. We can ride back along the trail they were on and see if we can find them. If they are not too far away, we might. At least we can try.”

“That’s a good plan, Jondalar,” Ayla said.

“So they do carry you on their backs, like the Storytellers said,” Farnadal said.

“Have the Storytellers been here recently?” Ayla asked.

“No, about a year ago. But I thought someone had just made up some remarkable new stories. I didn’t know they were true,” he said.

“We’ll start in the morning,” Jondalar said. “It’s too late now.”

   Everyone from the Cave who could was gathered at the bottom of the slope that led up to the ledge where they lived. Ayla and Jondalar had tied riding blankets and carry-baskets that held their camping gear and supplies on all three horses, and put halters on the stallion and young mare. Then Jondalar lifted Jonayla up to Gray’s back.

Does that little girl control a horse, too? Farnadal wondered. All by herself? She’s so small and a horse is a big powerful animal. And those horses should be afraid of that wolf. Anytime I’ve seen a wolf get close to a horse before, they would shy and run away, or if they thought one was ready to attack, they would try to trample it.

What kind of powerful magic does that woman have? For a moment he felt a tingle of fear, then he shook himself. She seemed like just an ordinary woman; she talked to the other women, helped with the work, tended to the children. She is an attractive woman, especially when she smiles, and except for her accent, you wouldn’t think there was anything remarkable about her, or even unusual. Yet, there she is leaping up onto the back of that dun-yellow mare.

He watched them start off, the man in the lead, the child in the middle, and the woman bringing up the rear. The man was big for the compact horse, which he called Racer, his feet nearly dragged the ground when he sat on the dark brown horse—an unusual color that he had not seen before. But as the animals began a fast trot, the man sat farther back on the horse, pulled up his knees, and hugged the body of the stallion with his legs. The girl sat forward, almost riding the neck of the taupe-colored young mare, her little legs sticking out. Again the grayish-tan horse’s coat was an unusual color, though he had seen it before when he’d made a trip north. Some called the taupe color gruya; Ayla just called it gray, and it had became the mare’s name.

Not long after they started out, the fast trot speeded up to a gallop. Without encumbrances, like the pole-drags, the horses liked to stretch their legs, especially on a morning ride. Ayla leaned forward low on Whinney’s neck, which was her signal to the horse to go as fast as she wished. Wolf yipped and joined in the sprint. Jondalar leaned forward as well, keeping his knees bent and close to the animal. Jonayla grabbed Gray’s mane with one hand, and with her cheek resting high on the horse’s neck while she squinted to see ahead, she wrapped her other arm around as best she could. With the wind in their faces, the fast ride was exhilarating, and the riders let the horses have their run and delighted in it.

After they had worked out all the kinks, Ayla sat up somewhat, Jonayla sat lower near the base of Gray’s neck, and Jondalar sat a little straighter and let his legs hang down. They all felt more relaxed and cantered on at a somewhat slower pace. Ayla gave Wolf a signal and said “Search,” which he knew meant search for people.

There were very few people on earth at that time. They were far outnumbered by millions of other creatures from the very large to the very small, and those humans who were there tended to cluster close together. When Wolf sampled all the smells that were in the wind, he could identify many different animals in various stages of life, and death. He seldom detected the scent of human on the wind, but when he did, he knew it.

The rest of them also searched, scanning the landscape to see if they could find any sign that people had passed by recently. They didn’t think they would discover anyone so close, sure that the other party of travelers would have sent a runner ahead if they were in any kind of trouble and that close to their destination.

Around midday, they took a break for a meal and to let the horses graze. When they continued, they scanned the countryside more intently. There was a trail of sorts that they followed: occasional blazes on trees, limbs on brush bent in certain ways, sometimes a small pile of stones tapering from front to back, and rarely a mark on a rock made with red-ocher paint. They searched until sundown, then made camp and set up their traveling tents near an active stream that had begun as a spring on higher ground.

Ayla took out some traveling cakes made with dried bilberries, rendered fat, and dried meat that had been ground with a pestle into small pieces, and broke them into boiling water, then added some extra dried meat to the soup. Jondalar and Jonayla took a walk in the rather flat meadow nearby, and the child returned with her hands full of onions they had found, mostly by smell. The level ground had been a wetland earlier in the season, the result of the stream flooding, and as it dried it became a suitable place for certain plants to grow. Ayla thought she might take a look at it the next morning to gather more onions and whatever else she might find.

They started out the next day after their meal, finishing the soup made the night before, which included some additional roots and greens that Ayla had found in her quick exploratory hike around the area. Their second day was as disappointing as the first; they found no sign that any people had passed that way recently. Ayla did see tracks of many animals and began pointing them out to Jonayla, showing her the subtle aspects that indicated the movements of various creatures. By the time they stopped for a midday meal on the third day, both Jondalar and Ayla were feeling some concern. They knew how much Kimeran and Jondecam wanted to see Camora and they knew that Beladora was anxious to visit her family.

Had the ones they were expecting just not made the trip? Had something come up that caused them to cancel or postpone their planned journey, or had something happened to them along the way?

“We could go back to Big River and the First Cave of South Land Zelandonii and see if they made the crossing,” Ayla said.

“You and Jonayla wouldn’t have to make that long trip. I could go and you could return to let everyone know. If we don’t return in a few days, they’ll be worrying about us,” Jondalar said.

“You are probably right,” Ayla said, “but let’s keep looking, at least until tomorrow. Then we can decide.”

They made camp late, and avoided talking about the decision they knew they would have to make. In the morning, the air felt damp and they noticed clouds had formed in the north. In the early morning the wind was erratic, coming from every direction. Then it shifted and started blowing from the north, with some strong gusts, which made the horses nervous as well as the people. Ayla always packed extra clothing for warmth in case of shifts in the weather, or if they needed to be up late in the evening.

The glaciers, beginning in the farthest north and lying like a huge pancake on the curved top of the earth, presented walls of solid ice more than two miles thick only a few hundred miles away. On the hottest days of summer, the nights were usually cool and even the daytime weather could change abruptly. The north wind brought a chill and a reminder that even in summer, winter ruled the land.

But the north wind brought something else as well. In the bustle of striking camp and preparing a meal, no one noticed the shift in Wolf’s posture. But a loud yip that was almost a bark got Ayla’s attention. He was standing, almost leaning into the wind, with his nose high and forward. He had picked up a scent. Each time they started out from camp, she had given him the signal to search for people. The wolf’s highly developed sense of smell had found something, some small whiff brought in by the wind.

“Look, mother! Look at Wolf!” Jonayla said. She had seen his bearing, too.

“He’s located something,” Jondalar said. “Let’s hurry and finish packing.”

They threw things into the pack baskets much less neatly than usual, and tied them on the horses along with the riding blankets, put the halters on Racer and Gray, doused the fire, and mounted.

“Find them, Wolf,” Ayla said. “Show us which way to go.” She made the Clan hand signals when she gave the command.

The wolf headed north, but took a more easterly direction than they had been traveling. If what he had scented was the group they were supposed to meet, they seemed to have veered off the infrequently marked trail, or perhaps they had traveled into the eastern highland for some other reason. Wolf moved with single-minded purpose using the ground-covering lope that was common to his species; the horses with Whinney in the lead followed behind. They traveled all morning and past the time when they would normally have stopped for a midday meal.

Ayla thought she caught a whiff of something burning, then Jondalar called out to her, “Ayla, do you see smoke ahead?”

She did see a faint trace of smoke rising in the distance and urged Whinney to a faster pace. She was holding Gray’s lead rope, and glanced back at her beloved daughter on the young mare’s back to make sure Jonayla was prepared for the increased speed. The girl smiled at her mother in excitement, which indicated that she was prepared. Jonayla loved riding her horse by herself. Even when her mother or Jondalar wanted her to ride in front on one of their mounts for safety because the trail was rough, or so she could rest and not have to hold on as firmly, the child resisted, though it seldom did any good.

When they saw a camp with people around it, they slowed down as they approached. They weren’t sure who the people were. Someone else could also be traveling, and rushing into a camp of strangers on the backs of horses could cause distress for everyone.

23

T
hen Ayla saw a man as tall as Jondalar with blond hair. He also saw her. “Kimeran! We’ve been looking for you! I’m so glad we found you,” Ayla said, with relief in her voice.

“Ayla!” Kimeran said. “Is it really you?”

“And how did you find us?” Jondecam said. “How did you know where to look?”

“Wolf found you. He has a good nose,” Ayla said.

“We went to Camora’s Cave, expecting to meet you there, but they were surprised to see us,” Jondalar said. “Everyone was getting worried, especially your sister, Jondecam. So I suggested we go back on the horses along the trail that I thought you would take, because they can go much faster than people.”

“But we went off the trail to find a place to make a good camp when the children got sick,” Levela said.

“You say the children are sick?” Ayla asked.

“Yes, and Beladora, too,” Kimeran said. “Maybe you shouldn’t come too close. Ginadela got it first. She was hot, feverish, then Levela’s son, Jonlevan, and then Beladora. I thought Gioneran might avoid it, but about the time that Ginadela started to get red spots all over her, he started getting feverish.”

“We didn’t know what to do for them, except let them rest, make sure they drank plenty of water, and try to cool the fever with wet compresses,” Levela said.

“You did the right thing,” Ayla said. “I’ve seen something like this before. At the Mamutoi Summer Meeting, when I was spending a lot of time with the mamuti. They are like the zelandonia, the ones who know the spirit world, and are healers. One of the Camps arrived with several people who were sick, mostly children. The Mamuti made them stay at the far edge of the Meeting Camp, and posted several Mamuti to make everyone else stay away. They were afraid most of the people at the Summer Meeting would get the sickness.”

“Then you should make sure that Jonayla doesn’t play with the children,” Levela said, “and you should stay away.”

“Are they still hot and feverish?” Ayla asked.

“Not much anymore, but they are full of red spots.”

“I’ll take a look at them, but if they are not feverish, it may be all right. The Mamutoi think it is an ailment of childhood, and they say it’s better if you get it as a child. Children tend to recover more easily,” Ayla said. “It’s harder on adults.”

“That’s true for Beladora. I think she was sicker than the children,” Kimeran said. “She’s still weak.”

“The mamuti told me the fever is more intense and lingers, and the spots take longer to go away if you get it after you are grown,” Ayla said. “Why don’t you take me to see Beladora and the children.”

Their tent had two tops. A primary pole held up the higher one, and a thin wisp of smoke was coming out of a hole near the top of that one. A smaller pole supported an extension of the tent, making more room. The entrance was a little low and Ayla ducked to go inside. Beladora was lying on a sleeping roll in the enlarged area. The three children were sitting up on their bedrolls but did not seem to feel very energetic. Three other sleeping places were in the other side, two together and one separate. Kimeran came in after Ayla. He could stand erect near the pole in that section, but had to bend over or stoop to move around in the rest of the tent.

Ayla first went to check on the children. The youngest, Levela’s son Jonlevan, seemed to be over his fever, though he was still listless and covered with red spots that seemed to be itchy.

He smiled when he saw Ayla. “Where’s Jonayla?” he asked. The woman recalled that she liked to play with him. He could count three years to her four, but he was approaching her in height. She liked to play his mother or sometimes his mate, and boss him around. They were cousins since his mother, Levela, was the sister of Proleva, who was mated to Jondalar’s brother, Joharran, close cousins who would not be allowed to mate.

“She’s outside,” Ayla said as she put the back of her hand on his forehead; it wasn’t abnormally hot, and his eyes didn’t have the glazed look of fever. “I think you are feeling better, aren’t you? Not so hot anymore?”

“I wan’ play wif’ Jonayla.”

“Not yet, maybe in a little while,” Ayla said.

She checked out Ginadela next. She also seemed well on the way to recovery, though her red spots were certainly colorful. “I want to play with Jonayla, too,” she said. The twins could count five years, and just as Kimeran and Jondalar resembled each other—both were tall and blond—though they were not related, Jonayla and Ginadela were also blond and fair with blue eyes, though Jonayla had the same vivid, startling blue color of Jondalar’s eyes.

Gioneran, Ginadela’s twin, had rather dark brown hair, and brownish-green hazel eyes, like his mother, but he seemed to have some of Kimeran’s height. When Ayla put the back of her hand to his head, there was still some heat, and his eyes had the shiny look of fever. His spots were coming on strong, but they seemed a little raw, not as distinctly developed.

“I’ll give you something to make you feel better in a little while,” she said to the boy. “Would you like a drink of water now? Then I think you should lie down.”

“All right,” he said, with a weak smile.

She reached for the waterbag, and poured some into a cup that was beside his sleeping roll, then helped him hold it while he drank. He did lie down afterward.

Finally she went to Beladora. “How are you feeling?” Ayla asked.

“I’ve felt better,” she said. Her eyes were still glazed, and she was sniffling. “I’m really glad you’re here, but how did you find us?”

“When you weren’t at Camora’s Cave, we thought something must have delayed you. It was Jondalar’s idea to take the horses and look for you. They can go faster than people, but it was Wolf who picked up your scent and brought us here,” Ayla said.

“I didn’t realize how useful your animals could be,” Beladora said. “But I hope you don’t get this sickness. It’s terrible, and now I’m feeling itchy. Will these red spots go away?”

“They should fade soon,” Ayla said, “though it may take a while before they are completely gone. I’ll fix something to help the itch and bring the fever down a little.”

Everyone had crowded into the tent by then. Jondalar and Kimeran were both standing by the taller pole, and the rest were crammed around them.

“I wonder why Beladora and the children got sick, but not the rest of us,” Levela said. “At least not yet.”

“If you haven’t by now, you probably won’t,” Ayla said.

“I was worried that someone might have set evil spirits on us because they were jealous that we were making a Journey,” Beladora said.

“I don’t know,” Ayla said. “Did you anger anyone?”

“If I did, I didn’t mean to. I was excited about seeing my family and my Cave again. When I left with Kimeran, I didn’t know if I ever would. It might have seemed like I was bragging,” Beladora said.

“Did anyone at the First Cave of South Land Zelandonii talk about anyone who had stayed there before you? Or was anyone sick when you were there?” Ayla asked Kimeran.

“Now that you mention it, some people did make a crossing before us, more than one group, and I think their Zelandoni was taking care of someone who was sick,” Kimeran said. “I didn’t ask, though.”

“If there were evil spirits present, they may not have been directed at you. It may be that they were left over from the people who were there before you, Beladora, but some sickness happens without anyone wishing it on you. It just seems to get passed around,” Ayla said. “This fever with red spots might be one like that. If you get it when you are young, you don’t usually get it after you are grown. That’s what one Mamut told me. My guess is that all of you had it when you were children, or you’d be sick, too.”

“I think I do remember a time when a lot of us were sick at a Summer Meeting,” Jondecam said. “They put us all together in one tent, and once we got to feeling better, we felt special because we were getting so much attention. It was like a game; I think we had spots, too. Do any of you remember?”

“I was probably too young to remember,” Levela said.

“And I was just enough older that I didn’t pay any attention to younger children, sick or not,” Jondalar said. “If I didn’t get sick then, I must have had it when I was so young, I don’t remember. What about you, Kimeran?”

“I think I do remember, sort of, but only because my sister was in the zelandonia,” the other tall man said. “At a Summer Meeting, there’s always so much going on, and youngsters from the same Cave tend to stay together. They don’t always notice what others are doing. What about you, Ayla? Have you had the red-spot fever sickness?”

“I remember occasionally being sick and having a fever when I was growing up, but I don’t remember if I ever had red spots with it,” Ayla said. “But I didn’t get sick when I went with a Mamut to the Mamutoi Camp that had the sickness, so that I could learn something about it, and how to treat it. And speaking of that, I want to go out and see what I can find to help you feel better, Beladora. I have some medicines with me, but the plants I want grow almost everywhere, and I’d rather have fresh ones if I can find some.”

Everyone filed out of the tent except Kimeran, who stayed to look after Beladora and her children, as well as Levela’s child.

“Can’t I stay here, mother? With them?” Jonayla asked, indicating the other children.

“They can’t play right now, Jonayla,” her mother said. “They need to rest, and I’d like you to help me find some plants that I can use to make them feel better.”

“What are you looking for?” Levela asked when they got outside. “Can I help you?”

“Do you know yarrow, or common coltsfoot? I also want willow bark, but I know where that is. I saw some just before we got here.”

“Is yarrow the one with the fine leaves and tiny white flowers that grow together in a bunch? A little like carrots, with a stronger smell? That’s one way you can tell the difference, from the smell,” Levela asked.

“That is a very good description,” Ayla said. “And coltsfoot?”

“Big roundish green leaves that are thick, white, and soft underneath.”

“You know that one, too. Good. Let’s go and find some,” Ayla said. Jondalar and Jondecam were standing by the fireplace outside the tent, talking, while Jonayla was nearby, listening. “Beladora and Gioneran still have some fever. We are going to look for some plants to help bring down the heat. And something to help the itchiness of all of them. I’ll take Jonayla and Wolf.”

“We were just saying we should collect more wood,” Jondalar said. “And I was thinking that I should look for some trees that would make good poles for a pole-drag or two. Even when Beladora and the children get better, they might not be up to a long walk, and we should start back to Camora’s Cave before they start worrying about us.”

“Do you think Beladora will mind riding on a pole-drag?” Ayla asked.

“We’ve all seen the First riding on one. She seems to like it. I think it has made the idea less frightening,” Levela said. “Why don’t we ask her?”

“I need to get my gathering basket anyway,” Ayla said.

“I’ll get mine, too, and we should let Kimeran and Beladora know where we’re going,” Levela said. “And I’ll tell Jonlevan we’re going to get something to make him feel better.”

“He’ll want to go, since he is better, especially when he finds out that Jonayla is going with you,” Jondecam said.

“I know he will,” Levela said, “but I don’t think he should yet. What do you think, Ayla?”

“If I knew the area better and knew where we were going, it might be all right, but I don’t think so yet.”

“That’s what I’ll tell him,” Levela said.

   “I’ll take Beladora,” Ayla said. “Whinney is more accustomed to pulling a pole-drag,” It had been several days since they found the missing families, but Beladora still wasn’t entirely recovered. If she pushed herself too soon, Ayla was afraid she might end up with a chronic problem that could make the rest of the Journey more difficult.

She didn’t add that Racer would not be a good horse to pull her travois because he was harder to control. Even Jondalar, who was very good with him, sometimes had difficulty when the stallion got a bit fractious. Gray was still young, Jonayla even younger in terms of ability, and with Whinney dragging the travois behind her, it would be more difficult for Ayla to use the lead rope to help her daughter control the horse. She wasn’t sure that they should make a pole-drag for Gray.

However, the large tent the other travelers had been camping in while people were sick was assembled from their smaller traveling tents and some extra hides, and the third travois could hold the tent poles and other things they had made while they had stopped that they might otherwise have left behind. The children were very much improved, but still tired easily. The pole-drags would also provide a place for them to rest while they were traveling without having to stop. Ayla and Jondalar wanted to return as quickly as possible. They were sure the ones who were waiting for them were wondering where they were.

The night before they planned to leave, they organized as much as they could so they could leave quickly. Ayla, Jondalar, Jonayla, and Wolf used their own traveling tent. In the morning, they made a quick meal of the leftovers from the night before, and packed everything on the pole-drags, including the backframes they usually wore to carry their essentials—shelter, additional clothing, and food—with them. Though the adults were used to carrying them, they found it much easier to walk without the heavy loads. They got off to a good start and traveled farther than they customarily did, but by evening, most people were tired.