why she was feeling this way, but it took everything in her power to not run
after them to stop. Wolf whined beside her and she reached down to give him
a reassuring pat. Even he knew something wasn't right.
Taking a deep breath, she turned and surveyed the area. If the men were
successful in their hunt they'd need a lot more fires to keep away the
predators as well as dry the meat. She hoped they would be. That would prove
the Mother was still watching over them, and that they'd made the right
decision.
She noticed Madenia watching her with worry and forced herself to smile. "It looks like we'll have fresh meat soon! I think I'm going to get my sling and see if I can find anything to go with it. I saw some pine nuts not too far
from here."
"I'll go with you." Madenia offered as she stood and brushed the snow off of
her bottom.
Ayla went into the tent to dress Tholiza, and packed a small lunch for them.
It didn't take long before they too, were headed out of camp, Wolf at their
heels.
Madenia broke a twig in two and looked at the meaty inside. She glanced at
Ayla questioningly and the older woman nodded. "even in winter if you break
the twigs and strip the outer bark you can eat the inside. It's sorta bitter
but nourishing. Sometimes I add it to rosehips and steep it. The bitterness
goes away then and it makes a good tea."
Once again she was surprised at how much Ayla knew and handed her half of
the twig. They both sucked on their twigs as Ayla went to the base of a tree
and started digging. After getting through the three feet of snow, she
started on the frozen ground beneath. Madenia helped her, and it wasn't long
before Ayla uncovered some frozen carrot roots.
"How did you know these were here?" Madenia asked in awe.
Ayla smiled at her, feeling rather well. "Actually I didn't. Wolf knocked
the snow off those branches when he went past and I saw the tip. This is a
welcome treat! It's almost as if we'll have our own festival tonight."
Both women grinned as Ayla added their latest find to the almost full basket
she carried.
Madenia shifted Tholiza's weight from the back carrier she was wearing.
Though it was easier than carrying her in a front carrier, and left her arms
free for doing tasks, the toddler didn't want to stay still and more than
once Madenia had to rearrange her. She knew it would be awhile before she
got all the baby goo out of her hair though.
When Ayla stopped for a rest, Madenia placed Tholiza on the ground in front
of them and let out a sigh. What she wouldn't give to be in the hot springs
right now!
Ayla handed her some dried meat and the stomach of cold tea. Knowing they
wouldn't be stopping long ayla didn't want to start a fire. The baby kicked
and Ayla smiled as she placed her hand on her stomach. When she noticed
Madenia looking at her, she took the woman's hand and placed it along side
so she could also feel the new life moving.
"It kicked!" Madenia exclaimed as her face broke into a wide grin.
"He does that a lot." Ayla admitted. After a few moments Madenia pulled back
and smiled a dreamy smile. "I can't wait until I have a baby."
Broaching the subject hadn't been easy for Ayla, but now she had some kind
of opening.
"Madenia, can I ask you something?"
The woman nodded as she took a sip of tea from the bladder. "anything."
"You've mentioned that your first rites weren't the way you'd have liked
them. Have you.shared pleasures since then with anyone?"
Madenia felt the heat rise to her face as she looked away. Ayla watched as
she brushed imaginary snow off her trousers, and play with her meat.
Finally, she spoke.
"No. It's all a lie. There were no pleasures in it for me."
Ayla felt her heart go out to Madenia. Had she not had such a wonderful and
caring teacher in Jondalar, she may have always hated the Mother's gift.
Instead she now embraced it.
"I'm sorry. You may not want to hear this, but if you don't honor the
Mohter, you may never have a child of your own."
Madenia's eyes welled up with tears and she pulled her knees up, buring her
face. "don't say that." Came her muffled reply.
Ayla moved over and hugged her. "I know you don't want to face that, but it'
s true. I believe.that when a man fills a woman with his essense, a baby
starts." Ayla frowned. "It doesn't happen every time though, so the spirits
have something to do with it too, but I'm sure you can see if you look at a
baby and those who started it."
Madenia thought about the birth's at her cave despite not wanting to accpet
what ayla had said. Yes, a lot of times they could tell just by looking at a
child who's spirit had helped make it, but other times you couldn't.
"Why don't you give it another chance? When we reach the Zelandonii, or even
the Lanzandonii, try honoring the Mother. She may be so pleased with you
that she blesses you."
Madenia shrugged as she pulled back and wiped her nose and eyes with the
sleeve of her parka. The last thing she wanted was for any man to touch her!
Well, that wasn't exactly true. She wouldn't mind if one man touched her.
"We should go back. It 's getting late in the day." Madenia offered, trying
to changed the subject.
Ayla nodded and stood, then helped madenia strap Tholiza onto her back. Once
settled, Ayla picked up the basket and was straightening when a pain shot
through her. Gasping, she dropped the basket and fell to her knees as she
held her stomach.
"Ayla!" Madenia rushed back to her sitting in front of her. "What's wrong?!"
Ayla finally managed to take a breath and she looked at Madenia wide eyed in
shock. "I think the baby's coming."
Madenia's hand flew to her mouth as she looked around. "No! you can't have
the baby here. We have to get you back to the camp!"
Ayla felt the warm liquid trickle down her leg and knew her birthwaters had
broke. She also knew they had at least a half hour walk back to camp and
only hoped that they could make it.
Ayla nodded and Madenia helped her stand, then gathered the vegetables and p
lants back into the basket. Holding the basket with one hand, she took hold
of Ayla's arm and they slowly made their way back to camp.
Jondalar could barely feel his face as he charged forward on Racer's back
towards a small herd of bison. Normally that would have been suicide, but he
knew luck was with them when they saw an older bull off by himself. It was
apparent he was having trouble keeping up with the rest, and from what they
could tell, the herd hadn't been fairing well this winter, but they were
still dangerous if you came too close. The herd scattered into a stampeed as
both Jondalar and Ranec moved in on the animal. As if sensing the end was
near the beast ran away from the two normally docile horses but was coming
up fast on a rock face.
There was no where left for the animal to escape to, and in a last ditch
effort to thwart its attackers, the bison turned on the men. Two spears hit
the bull at the same time and it let out a loud protest before falling
gracefully to the ground.
The earth beneath the beast grew crimson as the Great Earth Mother took Her
creature home. Jondalar smiled broadly at Ranec as he lept off Racer with
years of practice. Yanking his spear from the animal, he offered his thanks
to the Mother for allowing them food.
Ranec pulled his spear also and frowned when he noticed a broken tip. It
must have hit a bone, he thought wryly as he took the shattered tip off the
shaft and placed the shaft back into his carrying case.
Ranec rubbed his chin as he looked at the large animal. It would take them a
few hours just to gut the creature, then they'd have to make a travoise to
haul the meat back to camp.
"Jondalar." Ranec looked at the blond man who was getting ready to slit the
underside of the bison. "Why don't we take it back to camp with us? That way
we can clean it there and we'll be with the women?"
Jondalar considered the idea, and shrugged. "we're only a few hours away. It
should be alright. We could tie a rope around it and the horses could pull
it."
"That's what I was thinking also." Ranec agreed, and the two set out to take
their prize home.
~~~~~~~~~
Ayla rested again by a fallen tree as she watched Madenia pace nervously
back and forth. This was the fifth time they'd stopped and Ayla knew they
were only about half way to camp. She was surprised that her contractions
had come on so strong and felt as if she could give birth to the baby right
here. The pain subsided again and Ayla vaguely wondered how she had enough
stregnth to even continue on. Knowing she didn't want to give birth out
here, with no fire, no furs, kept her motivated. Wolf whined by her leg and
she gave him a firm signal. She hadn't used it in awhile, but when she added
the words "Find Jondalar", Wolf yipped and took off through the woods.
Madenia was surprised and looked at Ayla. "Do you really think he'll be able
to find him?"
ayla was about to tell her of the time at the Mamutoi summer meeting when
Rydag was ill, and she origionally taught Wolf the signal but another pain
was starting. The most she could do was nod as they continuted forward
slowly.
Both Ranec and Jondalar wanted to get back to the camp
as soon as possible, but the bison presented a problem.
They briefly thought of leaving it behind, but many
years of survival told them not to. After all, it was
winter and the Mother could take her blessings back at
any time.
"You go ahead. I'll catch up when I can." Ranec
selflessly offered. Though his guts were twisting into a
hard knot of anxiety, he knew that if Ayla sent Wolf she
needed at least one of them right away.
Jondalar didn't need anymore encouragement than
that. "Hah!" letting out a yell and nudging Racer with
his legs, the stallion took off at a fast gallop, with
Wolf at his heels.
Ranec had to hold onto Whinney's guide strap to make
sure she stayed with him. It wasn't easy. For as compact
as the step horse was, she was all muscle.
Ranec adjusted the ropes around their kill and urged
Whinney on at a faster pace. The hide of the animal
would all but be ruined, but at least they'd still have
the meat and intestines. Getting back to camp took
precedence over everything.
Jondalar was confused at first when Wolf veered in
another direction away from the camp. If Ayla needed
him, then why was he going this way? It occurred to him
that she may have went hunting on her own and that
thought was followed by a number of scenarios, each
worse than the first. He imagined her being attacked by
a wild animal, unable to make it back to the camp, or
she could have fallen down a hill and hurt herself. By
the time Wolf stopped he was imagining the worst that
she was dead.
Looking around the area he couldn't see anything out of
the ordinary. "Ayla!" he called, but there was no
answer. Scanning the area where Wolf whined he saw a few
fresh pulled roots laying on the ground. Picking one up,
he sat on his haunches and looked for tracks. There
weren't any animal ones, except for Wolf's, but there
was definitely two sets of footprints in the snow. He
recognized Ayla's as if it were his own.
Slightly comforted by the fact that Madenia must have
been with her, and that there was no blood, he took note
that the tracks were heading back in the direction of
camp. Jondalar leapt onto Racer's back again and quickly
headed off into that direction.
Ranec had made good time getting back to camp despite
the extra weight he was dragging behind him. He knew it
was not too far away, and would be relieved when he
reached there. The bison had inadvertently drawn a few
scavengers who Ranec knew were trailing him. Every once
in a while he would hear the unmistakable cackle of a
hyena. Not stopping, he patted the mare
affectionately. "I know your nervous. We're almost
there."
Whinney's ears laid back as he spoke soothingly and she
picked up her pace somewhat.
Ranec could smell the fire and was just coming up on the
camp when a noise from his left caught his attention.
He turned just in time to see a bold hyena lunge towards
Whinney, aiming for her hind legs. The Mare shied away
and reared, knocking Ranec off before she ran towards
the smell of the fire. The smell of safety.
Ranec was temporarily winded as he pulled himself up to
a sitting position. His spear thrower was still in the
side basket on Whinney, and he was defenseless. The
Hyena that had gone after Whinney had now turned its
attention to Ranec and he threw his arm up to protect
himself as it leapt towards him.
A low growl came from somewhere and the hyena was
knocked off course by Wolf! Ranec could only watch as
the two fought it out, then a spear struck true and the
hyena let out a yelp of pain before succumbing to the
darkness.
Jondalar slid off Racer's back and ran over to
Ranec. "Are you ok?"
Ranec, breathing hard, continued to stare at the dead
animal a moment longer before nodding his head and
tearing his eyes away from the scene. Wolf's stance was
proud as he let out a victory howl. If other challengers
were in the area, they stayed away from the large lupine.
Jondalar held his hand out and helped Ranec to
stand. "It looks as if I owe you my life once again."
Ranec conceded.
"You can thank me later," Jondalar offered with a small
hint of humor, but his eyes belied the anxiety he was
feeling. Both men turned their attention back to their
goal and ran the small distance to the camp. Racer and
Whinney had both huddled close to the fire and Wolf took
it upon himself to guard the area. Sounds could be heard
in the woods as scavengers made little work of their
fallen friend. For now, they were appeased.
"Ayla? Madenia?" Jondalar called out as he headed
towards the tent, and Madenia immediately crawled out.
At first she looked at Ranec, confused, then looked at
Jondalar.
Both men could tell she'd been crying and Jondalar
rushed forward. "Where's Ayla?"
"She's in the tent. We went to gather what we could and
she went into labor. I didn't think we'd make it back to
camp. She was so exhausted."
Jondalar didn't wait for her to finish speaking as he
went to the tent. Hesitating slightly, he scratched on
the leather and entered. Though he helped to birth
Tholiza, this was a woman's place. He still felt awkward
being there at a time like this.
Ranec followed Jondalar, hoping he wasn't intruding. He
stayed at the entrance as he looked on.
Ayla was curled into a ball, her back to them as
Jondalar approached her.
"Ayla? I'm here."
He gently turned her over slightly to find her eyes
closed. A small bundle of furs laid beside her and he
had to swallow the lump in his throat. There was blood
on the furs, and her hair was plastered to her forehead
with sweat.
"Ayla?" he called again softly, then realized she must
be sleeping.
Kissing her lips gently, he turned his attention to the
baby. As he picked up the tiny bundle, Ranec felt
someone nudge him into the tent and without thinking, he
found himself drawn to the scene before him.
Madenia came into the tent then, and all were quiet as
Jondalar held the small babe close to him, pulling back
the furs to see if Ayla had been blessed with a son, or
a daughter.