The Land of Painted Caves (86 page)

“I think that little one has charmed Ayla completely,” Dalanar said. Everyone smiled benignly.

“He is going to be a big man,” Echozar said. “And I want to teach him to be a good hunter.”

Ayla grinned at him. For a moment, she could imagine that Echozar was a man of the Clan, proud of the son of his hearth. “He may turn out to be more than just a big man, Echozar. I think he’s a very special child.”

“Where is Jondalar?” Echozar asked. “Wasn’t he supposed to come and share a meal with us tonight?”

“I saw him when he was taking Jonayla out with the horses after midday. He said he couldn’t make it,” Dalanar said, sounding disappointed.

“I was going to take Jonayla out, but the zelandonia meeting took longer than I expected,” Ayla said. Everyone glanced up at her forehead.

“Did he say why he couldn’t come?” Echozar asked.

“I don’t know, something about other plans, and promises he made before Ayla came.”

Ayla felt her stomach knot. I can imagine what promises he made, she thought.

   It was nearly dark by the time Ayla insisted she had to go. Echozar walked back with her and Jonayla and Wolf, carrying a torch.

“You look happy, Echozar,” Ayla said.

“I am happy, although I still find it hard to believe Joplaya is my mate. Sometimes I wake up at night and just look at her in the firelight. She is so beautiful, and she’s wonderful. Kind and understanding. I feel so lucky, I sometimes wonder how I could deserve her.”

“She’s lucky, too, you know. I wish we lived closer.”

“So you could see more of Bokovan?” he said. She saw his teeth gleaming with a smile.

“It’s true, I would like to see more of Bokovan, and you and Joplaya, and everyone else,” Ayla said.

“Have you considered coming back with us and staying over winter?” Echozar asked. “You know, Dalanar says you and Jondalar are always welcome.”

Ayla frowned, staring into the dark. Yes, of course, Jondalar, she thought. “I don’t think Jondalar would want to leave his apprentices. He has made promises, and winter is the best time to work on perfecting techniques,” she said.

Echozar was silent for a few paces. “I don’t suppose you’d want to leave Jondalar for a season and visit by yourself, with Jonayla and your animals, of course,” he said. “As much as she loves Bokovan, I know Joplaya would love to have that little girl around. She and Bokovan spent a lot of time at Levela’s camp and got to know her.”

“I … don’t know. I guess I never thought about it. I’ve been so busy training for the zelandonia …,” she said, then glanced around looking for her daughter, who was straggling behind. She has probably found something along the path to distract her, Ayla thought.

“We would never object to having another Donier,” Echozar said.

Ayla smiled at him, then stopped. “Jonayla, why are you so far back?”

“I’m tired, mother,” Jonayla whined. “Would you carry me?”

Ayla stopped to pick her daughter up, using a hip for support. The little girl’s arms felt good around her neck. She had missed Jonayla, and hugged her little body close.

They continued in silence for a while, and began to hear raucous voices. Ahead they could see the light of a campfire behind a fairly dense stand of brush. It wasn’t a regular Cave’s site, Ayla gathered as they drew closer. Through the screen of brush, she noticed several men sitting around the fire. They were obviously gaming, and drinking something from miniature waterbags made from the nearly waterproof stomachs of small animals. She knew many of the men; several were from the Ninth Cave, but there was a sprinkling of others from several different Caves.

Laramar was there, the man who was known for making the potent alcoholic brew from almost anything that would ferment. While they didn’t have the refinement of the wine that Marthona made, the drinks he produced weren’t bad. He did very little of anything else and had perfected what had become his “craft,” but he made it in quantity and many people regularly drank too much, creating problems. His only other claim to fame had been a hearthful of unkempt children, and a slovenly mate who indulged heavily in his product. Ayla and the rest of the Cave took more care of the children than either Laramar or Tremeda did.

Now the oldest girl, Lanoga, was mated to Lanidar and had a child of her own, but the young couple had adopted all her younger siblings. Her older brother, Bologan, also lived with them and helped to provide for the children. He had also helped to build their new dwelling, along with Jondalar and several others. Her mother, Tremeda, and Laramar also lived with them occasionally, when they chose to go to a place they called home, and both of them behaved as though it was theirs.

Besides Laramar, Ayla noticed the distinctive forehead markings of a Zelandoni on one man, but when he smiled, she saw the gap of his missing front teeth and frowned, realizing it was Madroman. Had he already been accepted into the zelandonia and tattooed? She didn’t think so. She looked again and noticed that an edge of the “tattoo” was smeared. He must have painted it on, using the colors that some people used to temporarily decorate their faces for special occasions, but she had never seen anyone decorate with Zelandoni marks before.

Seeing him reminded her of the backpack she had found in the cave and had brought to the First. Though he invariably smiled and tried to engage her in conversation, she had always felt uneasy around Madroman. He disturbed her in a way that made her think of how a horse’s fur looked when it was stroked opposite to the direction in which it grew; he rubbed her the wrong way.

She saw many young men, talking and laughing loudly, but there were other men of all ages. From what she knew of those she recognized, none of them contributed much. Some were not too bright, or were easily led. One of them spent most of his time drinking Laramar’s brew, barely stumbling home each night, and often could be found in some out-of-the-way place completely unconscious, smelling of drink and vomit. Another was known to be unnecessarily brutal, especially to his mate and her children, and the zelandonia had talked of ways to intercede, waiting only for his mate to ask for help.

Then almost hidden in the shadows, she caught sight of Brukeval sitting somewhat off by himself with his back to a tall, roughly pointed stump, taking a drink from one of the bags. His temper still bothered her, but he was a cousin of Jondalar’s and had always been kind to her. She hated to see him with such an unsavory lot.

She was about to turn away when she heard Wolf growl low in his throat. A voice spoke up loudly behind her back.

“Well, look what we have here. The animal lover, and a couple animals.”

She spun around in surprise. A couple of animals, she thought, but I only have Wolf … it took her a moment before she realized that he had called Echozar an animal. She felt her anger rise.

“The only animal I see here is a wolf … or were you thinking of yourself?” Ayla countered.

There were a few guffaws from some who had heard the remarks and she saw the man frown. “I wasn’t saying I was an animal,” he said.

“That’s good. I wouldn’t put yourself in the same category as Wolf. You don’t measure up,” she said.

Some of the other men pulled the brush aside to see what was going on. They saw Ayla holding her daughter on one hip, her leg in front of the wolf to restrain him, and Echozar holding a torch.

“She sneaked up and was watching us,” the man said defensively.

“I was walking along a main path and stopped to see who was making all the noise,” Ayla said.

“Who is she? And why does she talk so funny?” asked a young man Ayla didn’t know. Then he added with surprise, “That’s a wolf!” Ayla had all but forgotten about her “accent” and so had most of the people who knew her, but occasionally a stranger brought it to her attention. From the pattern on the man’s shirt, and the design of the necklace he wore, she guessed he was from a Cave that lived on another river to the north, a group that did not regularly attend their Summer Meeting. He must have arrived only recently.

“She’s Ayla of the Ninth Cave, the one Jondalar brought back with him,” Madroman said.

“And she’s a Zelandoni who can control animals,” another man said. Ayla thought he was from their neighbor, the Fourteenth Cave.

“She’s not Zelandoni,” Madroman said with an air of condescension. “She’s an acolyte, still in training.”

He had obviously not yet seen her new tattoo, Ayla thought.

“But when she came, she could already control that wolf and a couple of horses,” the man from the Fourteenth Cave said.

“I told you she was an animal lover,” the first man said with a sneer, looking pointedly at Echozar.

Echozar glared back, and moved toward Ayla protectively. This was a large group of men, and they had been drinking Laramar’s brew. It had been known to bring out the worst in people.

“You mean like those horses from that Cave camped upstream?” the stranger said. “That’s the first place I was taken when I got here. She’s the one who controls them? I thought it was that man and the girl.”

“Gray is my horse,” Jonayla spoke up.

“They’re all the same hearth,” Brukeval said, strolling into the firelight.

Ayla glanced from Brukeval to Echozar, and saw their similarity immediately. Brukeval was clearly a modified version of Echozar, though neither of them was fully Clan.

“I think you should let Ayla get on her way,” Brukeval continued. “And I think it might be smart to have our parties a little farther off the main path in the future.”

“Yes, I think that is a good idea,” said another voice that had suddenly appeared. Joharran, accompanied by some other men, stepped into the light of the torch held by Echozar. Several of them had unlit torches, which they immediately lit from Echozar’s, showing how many there were. “We heard you, and came to see what was going on. There are plenty of places to have drinking parties, Laramar. I don’t think you men need to be bothering people who are walking along main paths between camps. Perhaps you should move your party now. We don’t need children stumbling over you in the morning.”

“He can’t tell us where to go,” a slurred voice called out.

“That’s right, he can’t tell us where to go,” said the first man who had seen Ayla.

“It’s all right,” Laramar said, picking up several of the small drinking bags that had not been unstoppered, and putting them in a backframe. “I’d rather find a place where we won’t be bothered.”

Brukeval began to help him. He glanced up at Ayla and caught her eye. She smiled at him with gratitude for taking her part and suggesting they move. He smiled back with a lingering expression that puzzled her, then frowned and looked away. She put Jonayla down and knelt to restrain Wolf while the men moved off.

“I was going to walk over to the Lanzadonii camp to talk to Dalanar, anyway, Echozar,” Joharran said. “Why don’t you walk back with me? Ayla can go on with Solaban and the others.”

Ayla wondered what was so important that Joharran had to talk to Dalanar about that it couldn’t wait until morning. Neither one was going anywhere in the dark. Then she noticed a few of the men who had been sitting around the fireplace move out from behind a bush and head in the direction the others had taken, their heads turning to watch Echozar, Joharran, and a couple of others go. She frowned with concern. Something did not feel right.

   “I’ve never seen such goings-on with the zelandonia,” Joharran commented. “Have you heard anything about the special ceremony everyone says they are planning? Ayla has her mark, but they haven’t announced her yet. They usually do it right away. Has she said anything to you?”

“She’s been so busy with the zelandonia, I haven’t seen much of her,” Jondalar said, which was not entirely true. He had not seen much of her, but not because she was so busy. He was the one who had been staying away and his brother knew it.

“Well, it looks like they must be planning something very big. Zelandoni spent a long time talking with Proleva, and she told me the zelandonia want a huge, elaborate feast. They are even talking to Laramar about supplying his brew for the festival. We’re getting together a hunting party, probably be gone a day or two. Do you want to join us?” Joharran asked.

“Yes,” Jondalar answered, almost too quickly, causing his brother to give him a questioning look. “I’d be glad to.”

If he’d been thinking straight, Jondalar might have recalled that Ayla had said something to him when he first saw her, but he hadn’t been able to think of anything but Ayla finding him with Marona since the incident. He just couldn’t bring himself to simply crawl into the sleeping furs beside her under the circumstances. He didn’t even know if she would let him. He was certain he had lost her, but was afraid to find out for sure.

He thought he had managed to find a plausible excuse for not returning to their camp another night, when Proleva asked him about it. He had actually slept near the horse enclosure, using horse blankets, and the ground covering he and Marona had used at the swimming place for bedding, to keep warm, but he didn’t think he could continue staying away without arousing curiosity from the whole Camp. Being away on a hunting trip would solve the problem for the next day or two. He didn’t even want to think beyond that.

Though Ayla was trying to behave as if nothing were wrong, and Jondalar thought his avoidance of her went unnoticed, in fact the whole camp was aware by now that something was wrong between the couple, and many guessed what it was. His clandestine trysts with Marona were not nearly so secret as he had thought. To most people, he was just being appropriately discreet and they ignored the affair. But the news that the formerly doting couple had not even shared the same bed since Ayla arrived, even though Marona had moved to a different camp, had spread quickly.

It was the kind of gossip people loved to speculate about. The fact that Ayla had been marked as a Zelandoni without being immediately announced, and that plans for a major ceremony were under way, only added to the delicious innuendos. People were guessing that the event had something to do with the newest Zelandoni, but no one seemed to know anything for sure. Usually one or another of the zelandonia would let something slip to an interested questioner, but this time none of them was talking. Some people were suggesting that even the acolytes didn’t know the real reason for the big festival, though they all tried to act as if they did.