Chapter 3
The next morning she heard Mamut telling Talut that he would make a search for a herd to hunt. As they started the search Ayla felt herself being drawn out of her body, and as she was flying over the snow covered steppes she could feel Mamut nearby. They seemed to make a circle and then they stopped and hovered over a small herd of bison and they seemed to be headed the direction of the camp. All of a sudden she found herself moving very fast then laying on a sleeping platform. Torvon asked, What happened? When she said I don't know Mamut said, You went with me on the search, what do you remember? She said, We flew over the land and saw a herd of bison coming this way. Mamut looked at her and said, This is why I wanted you to be trained, you have the gift but without training you could get lost even on a search and not be able to find your way back to your body. She looked at the old man and said, I will take the training Mamut. Torvon told Talut that he and Ayla could ride out and drive the herd into a surround if they had one and the hunters could take what they needed. Talut told him where the surround was located and how to get there. He and Ayla left camp on the horses and the hunters went on to the surround to make sure it was ready. Ayla and Torvon shadowed the herd until they were in position, then they started moving closer and the bison picked up their scent the animal started moving at a more steady pace. The herd kept moving until they were in sight of the surround then the couple started shouting and got the herd to run. As they entered the surround six turned aside and were not captured. Ayla and Torvon started throwing their spears at the bison as fast as they could. They stopped at five each and let the other hunters take the rest.. As the hunters started to skin and butcher the animals and were starting to wonder how they were going to get all the meat back when Ayla got Danug to go with her and cut four long poles then four short poles as well. She took the poles and she and Torvon started to build the pole drags, she used the four shorter poles as cross bars to stabilize the devices. She told them that they could even build a smaller version that one or two people could pull. By the time they were finished the hunters had all they could carry on their backboards and there was much more meat left. They started loading the meat in the baskets and on the pole drags. Then Ayla and Torvon loaded what was left onto their backboards and started back to camp. Nobody had ever thought about using the animals to haul things before but this was an eye opening event. Not only had the riders driven the herd into the surround in very little time but they had hauled a major share of the meat back to camp. Later that afternoon Mamut had said they would have a festival thanking the mother for supplying their winter food. Ayla and Torvon sat talking and again he assured her that nobody would force her to do anything she didn't want to do. If she didn't want to go with someone all she had to do was say no. After the meal Talut started passing out his bouza a strong drink that made Ayla a little lightheaded. She noticed Tricie leaving with Torvon going to Fox hearth and Wymez had gone with Tulie and Barzac to Aurochs hearth. Then Ranec was at her side asking if she would share pleasures with him. She nodded and they headed toward the mammoth hearth. When they got there they could hear sounds of passion coming from Deegie and Branag's sleeping platform but Ayla remembered seeing Branag leave with Tronie going to her hearth. She and Ranec crawled onto her platform and pulled the drape closed. He started removing her clothing and kissing each part of her body as it came into view. When he removed her leggings he parted her legs and leaned into her kissing around her mound. Then opening her folds he leaned down and started suckling on her nodule and that brought her great pleasure. Once she recovered she started undressing him and kissing each area. When his manhood was exposed she leaned forward taking him in her mouth and storking him at the same time. It didn't take long and he was emptying himself into her mouth. Ranec sat up and pulling her to him and kissed her, then while still holding his member she felt it pulsing and pulling back smiled at him. Soon they were embracing and stroking each other's bodies. It was not the same as it was with Torvon but she still felt the pleasure and was enjoying it. When he entered her she knew that he was thicker than Torvon and also longer. She enjoyed her time with Ranec and when they opened the drape she saw Deegie, Tricie, Tronie, Tornec, Branag and Torvon sitting by the fire talking. They walked over and each was handed a cup of tea. And they joined in the conversation. They talked about the hunt and how the horses had been used before and after and all those around the fire agreed with Ayla and Torvon that the horses had made a great impact on the hunt and were a great tool to have. A short while later Tronie got up and asked Ranec to join her and Tricie asked Tornec. Deegie looked at Torvon and taking his hand led him to her furs. Branag asked Ayla and they walked to her sleeping platform and pulled the drape closed. Later she went with Tornec and shared pleasures with him. When she awoke the next morning Torvon was sleeping next to her. She placed her arms around him and went back to sleep with her head on his chest. When they both awoke later he asked if she had enjoyed herself last night. She replied, Yes, but it was not the same as when we do it. Something was missing.†He said, Maybe it's the way we feel for each other. Although I enjoyed Deegie, Tricie and Tronie they are not you.†When they got out of bed the other three couples were at the fire with Mamut talking. Deegie said, Good morning Ayla, Torvon we were talking to Mamut about what you and I were talking about not long ago, that the flatheads are people and should be treated as such. Both got cup of tea and joined the others at the fire. Then Talut, Nezzie, Rydag, Tulie, Brazac and Wymez joined them. As the conversation continued Ayla found out that all those at the fire felt the same. The only one they were sure that would disagree was Frebec. And he disagreed with everyone and everything. They talked again about the effect that the horses had had on the outcome of the hunt and they agreed that if they had the chance to get more horses they should try to get some young ones to train. This thrilled Latie and the children. Torvon, Wymez and Ranec had been making the spear throwers and spears during the coldest months of the winter. On good days they would go out to the practice field and everyone would practice with the weapon. Each adult in camp had a spear thrower and the children were being taught by Ayla to use the sling. Even some of the older men and women were using the sling; they found it was a lot easier to carry when gathering than the spear thrower. Fralie had been pregnant when Ayla and Torvon had arrived but Frebec had refused to let her check his mate. She was awakened one morning by a woman's scream. As she got out of bed she heard Crozie tell Frebec that Fralie was going to lose the baby and maybe die if they didn't do something. Frebec said, But she has already had two children, it should be easy by now. Nezzie and Tulie were close by and Nezzie told him, That shows how much you know about women and childbirth. No two births are ever the same.†Frebec turned to Nezzie and said, You are a woman do something to help her. She replied, There is only one person in this camp with the knowledge that can help her and you have made sure that she could not. Now the baby is coming too early and they don't survive. He looked toward the Mammoth hearth and saw Ayla watching him. He ran to the hearth and asked, If there is anything you can do for Fralie please try. She grabbed her medicine bag and told Frebec to bring as much hot water as he could and ran to the Crain hearth. By the time she got there the baby was already coming. Nezzie and Crozie were doing what they could and when she arrived they let her take over. As soon as the baby was out Ayla started trying to get the child to take a breath. She turned it over by cradling it on her left arm and patted its back. When that failed she slapped the baby's bottom and got a weak cry. Laying it down she cleaned the child while watching its breathing. She told Nezzie to watch the child while she and Crozie cleaned Fralie up and got her propped up on the sleeping platform. She unwrapped the child and placed her inside Fralie's tunic and when the child found the nipple she started nursing. Ayla was not surprised when she didn't nurse long and called Frebec and Crozie over. She said. Frebec, Crozie the baby is weak, if she is to thrive she will need to nurse often. Anything that upsets or interferes with that could be bad for Fralie and the baby. Then looking at both she told them, That means that you two are not going to fight with each other, you will have to work together for the sake of Fralie and the baby. Do you understand that? Both said yes then Ayla said she would be back later to check on them. As she was leaving she looked at Frebec and said , Frebec, if anything happens come for me. He replied, “I will, and thank you Ayla. The next few days were rough on everyone, but the baby girl seemed to be doing fine and gaining weight. The lodge was the quietest that anyone could remember since Frebec and Crozie had moved in. And they did work together very well. About two weeks after the birth Ayla went by to check on the baby and found Frebec holding her. She was holding onto his little finger and smiling at him. Ayla said, She loves the man of her hearth. Frebec replied, And the man of the hearth loves her. Ayla, I want to thank you for what you did even after the way I treated you. I would not have this beautiful little girl in my arms now if you had not been here. If ever you need anything at all just ask. Ayla replied, Thank you Frebec. Winter was progressing and there were things that still needed to be done. Ayla, Deegie and Latie had gone out to run their trap lines and they came upon a black female wolf stealing from one of the snares. Ayla was trying to scare the animal off but she slipped as she cast the stone and struck the animal in the head. When she got to it she found it was a nursing mother and then back tracked to the wolf's den. She found one lone pup inside and brought it out. She handed it to Latie and got Deegie to help her up. She was showing more now with her pregnancy and the ground was slick. She took the pup and placed him inside her tunic and when they got back to Lion camp they took the pup to Mammoth hearth and Ayla placed it on her sleeping platform. She got some hot water and a piece of mammoth meat and scraped the pulp off and put it in the hot water. Once it had cooled she took the pup and dipped her fingers into the broth and put her fingers in the pup's mouth. He started sucking and then she sat him back on the platform and put the cup in front of him but he backed away. After placing some on his nose the pup went back to the bowl and started lapping up the broth. The children were captivated by the pup and wanted to hold him. Ayla told them that they would have to wait for a while until he was a little older before they could hold Wolf. The pup was about two weeks old when they found him and after about four weeks he was chasing the children around the lodge. Whenever he got tired Wolf would walk over and lay down in Rydag's lap. Ayla and Nezzie had noticed the interaction between the two and would sit and watch them for hours. Rydag was speaking the silent language of the clan and was even correcting mistakes made by other members of Lion camp. Even Frebec had become involved with it. One evening at mammoth hearth he made a comment that surprised everyone, You know, this would be great when we were out hunting and didn't want to make noise. Torvon said the flatheads to the west did just that when hunting. Although some made animal sounds to call an animal in to the hunters. Ayla showed them by making the sounds of an elk, a deer, a wolf which Wolf responded to and a number of other animals even a woolly mammoth. But when she gave out with the roar of a cave lion that sent chills down everyone's spines. When they ask how she learned to do that she told they about the four years she had spent alone in the valley with on one to talk to and she had listened to the animals. She had not talked much about her life in the valley before Torvon came along. She told about finding Whinny and then about finding and raising baby from a cub and learning to hunt with him when he was older, and about helping birth Brown later.. Latie said, “Then that is how you knew what to do when we found Wolf. But where is Baby now? Ayla said that she had been taught how to take care of babies when a woman's breast milk dried up so she thought it would work for animals too. Baby now has a pride with mates of his own, and I have not seen him for the last two years. She said with a tear. Winter was closing and it was getting near time for her baby to come. She had told Nezzie, Tulie, Tronie and Crozie what needed to be done if a problem developed and she was not able to help out. When the time came the three women plus Deegie and Latie were there. The birth was easy and she had a baby boy, she named him Thyron. Wolf jumped up on the platform and took one look at the baby and started whining and refused to leave the area. Ayla said, He will protect Thyron as he would any other pack member. The entire pack takes care of the young, just as a family here would. It was now the last few weeks of winter and she and Torvon had been talking about going back to the valley. They had as much if not more than was found here. Bison, horses, aurochs and deer came through the valley all the time. Nezzie and Deegie had heard them talking and told Mamut, Tulie and Talut about it and what they should do. While they were out riding Tulie and Talut called a meeting. They talked about the reasons they wanted her to stay and the reasons she wanted to go back to her valley. Frebec got up and said, A few months ago I would have disagreed with everything that has been discussed here today. But living in the same lodge and watching the things she has done, even saving the lives of my mate and her daughter have shown me the type person Ayla is and how wrong I was. This camp needs a good healer and we also need Ayla just for herself. Mamut was the next to speak. He stated, If she will agree I would like to adopt her to the Mammoth hearth. I feel like she was born to it. Later when Ayla and Torvon returned Talut called them over to the mammoth hearth and told them. We had a meeting while you were gone and everyone here wants both of you to stay with us. We also agree that the Mother created all living things and that the flatheads are a people and should be treated as such. We also agreed that if you stay a new hearth will be created next to the mammoth hearth and will be called the Horse hearth since you brought the horses to camp. And Mamut wants to adopt you to the Mammoth hearth. Ayla had an arm around Torvon's waist and was crying when Talut had finished. She had never felt so loved by so many people before in her life. Talut said that they had all the time they needed to think about the offer. But he did tell them that they could not guarantee that the other camps would believe the same way. She and Torvon talked about it and thought that they could live here with these people and be happy. Two days later they told the camp and were accepted by everyone. Ayla said, When I came here I was Ayla of No People and now you want me to join you and become Ayla of Lion camp of the Mamutoi. She also said that she had things that she would like to go back to the valley and bring back to their new Horse hearth. Deegie, Latie, Branag and Danug agreed to go with them and help bring their things back, Wolf would also go along. The group left camp headed southwest and traveled for six days. When they reached the valley rim they took a game trail down into the valley. Ayla showed them the signs left by the different animals. When they arrived at the cave they found the beach littered with, many firestones, flint nodules, Ivory, wood and bones of every type. Danug said, There is everything that we would need to build a new and bigger earth lodge just on this beach alone. They walked up to the cave and lit a torch and walked inside. The men removed the large stones that had been used to block the back of the cave. They found all the plates, bowls, cups and the extra furs and skins that had been left behind. While the women were loading the pole drags with the items from the cave Torvon, Danug and Branag went to check out the rest of the valley. When they returned they told the women that this would be a great place to live, there was plenty of everything. There was even a herd of horses at the other end of the valley. Latie said, Oh I want to see them. Danug replied, When we leave you should be able to see them from the rim. Once they had the pole drags and their backboards loaded they started back up the beach to the game trail. As they rounded a corner of the rock wall they came face to face with a pride of lions led by the biggest male they had ever seen. Danug and Torvon both got ready to throw a spear when Ayla shouted NO! and stepped in front of them she told Danug to keep Wolf with him and Torvon to take Thyron then dropping her backboard she started walking toward the lions. Using clan signs and some words they didn't understand she walked toward the male. When they met the lion jumped up placing his forelegs around her waist and slowly lowered her to the ground. When he started licking her face she said, Baby, stop that or I won't have any skin left on my face. She sat up and started rubbing and scratching all his favorite areas. The rest watched as she visited with the big cat and then she just jumped on the big cats back and rode him around the valley. When they returned she hugged him and then gave him the sign to go. As she walked away everyone could see she was crying. When the big male reached the rim he turned and gave a loud roar that shook the valley. When Ayla rejoined them she said, That was Baby. Torvon said, I'd hate to meet that baby alone anytime, he is the biggest cave lion I've ever seen. Danug asked, So this was your first time to see him? Ayla replied, Yes, Baby left before Torvon came to the valley. This is the first time I had seen him in almost two years. He does not visit much anymore with his pride, they take most of his time. As they reached the rim Ayla noticed the horses grazing in the meadow south of them and pointed then out to Latie. The girl replied, I want to catch some of them now. Ayla said, We will have to wait until later because we cannot handle the horses and all the things we are taking back to Lion camp. Maybe we can come back in the fall when the new foals are ready to leave their mothers sides. They will be eating grasses by that time. Then they started walking back toward Lion camp.