Several hours later, when Ayla returned she found the cave practically deserted. She wondered what was going on. Seeing that no one was around, she settled down with a cup of tea to wait for the return of the zelandonii. Ayla didn't have to wait very long, a few minutes later she heard excited voices coming up from the valley. She went down to greet them and was delighted to find they had made the first kill of the season. And what a kill it was! At first she only saw three deer, then four, and wait- five. Five deer, what a feast they would have that night! Ayla was sure that the successfulness of the hunt was because of Jondalar's spear thrower. Ever since the spear thrower had been introduced to the cave the hunts had been very fortunate and they had, had plenty of meat to get them through the winter. Low and behold, Jonadalar was being hailed as the hero of the hunt. He came striding up the path with Jonayla on his shoulders, big grins on the faces of both of them. Ayla was overjoyed at the relationship that existed between her mate and daughter. Other than Ayla, Jondalar didn't love anyone more than he loved Jonayla. Before the party reached the cave, Wolf bounded up and jumped on Ayla in the friendly matter in which he always greeted her. "Hi Wolf" she replied to his playful licks, "I see you have had a successful hunt." Wold replied in a joyful bark. As soon as the others were back, she greeted Jondalar with a kiss (something she had never experienced before he came along) and Ayla set to work preparing for the feast. That night the entire Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii ate until they were stuffed and then they danced and told stories by the firelight until the wee hours of the morning. Ayla looked around her at the light flickering on the faces of her family members. She finally had found her people. The upcoming spring and summer would bring many good fortunes including the arrival of the new baby, and a Summer Meeting of the Zelandonii. There was also talk of a trip, on that she would not be able to go on, but that Jonayla was begging to participate in.

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The next day dragged on slowly, no one was very productive. The entire cave was going about the day in a sloth like manner. They were all pretending to be working hard when in reality nothing much got done. The real excitement came that night.