The Mammoth Hunters ec-3 Page 71

  Mamut walked up to the entrance of the tent, which was open, and scratched on the leather. Ayla looked into the dim interior over his shoulder, trying not to appear conspicuous to those lounging around outside, but they, too, were trying, without seeming too eager, to get a closer look at her. They were curious about the young woman, whom old Mamut had not just accepted into training but adopted as a daughter. She was a stranger, it was said, not even Mamutoi. No one even knew where she came from.

  Many of them had made a point of walking past Cattail Camp to see the horses and the wolf, and they were surprised and impressed to see the animals, though they did not want to show it. How could anyone control a stallion? Or make a mare stand quietly with so many people – and a wolf – around? Why was the wolf so docile with the people of Lion Camp? He behaved like a normal wolf around everyone else. No one else could get near him, or even within the boundaries of their Camp without an invitation and, it was said, he had attacked Chaleg.

  The old man motioned Ayla inside, and they both sat down near a large fireplace, though only a small flame burned within it, off to one side, near the woman who sat across. She was a heavy woman. Ayla had never seen anyone quite so fat and wondered how she could have walked any distance to get there.

  "I have brought my daughter to meet you, Lomie," the old Mamut said.

  "I wondered when you were coming," she replied.

  Then, before she said anything else, she moved a red-hot stone from the fire with sticks. She opened up a packet of leaves and dropped a few on the stone and leaned closer to breathe in the smoke that curled up. Ayla smelled sage, and less pronounced, mullein and lobelia. She watched the woman closely, noted a heaviness of breathing, which was soon relieved, and realized she suffered a chronic cough, probably asthma.

  "Do you make a cough syrup from the root of mullein, too?" Ayla asked her. "It can help." She had been reluctant to speak up at first, and wasn't sure why she did without having been introduced, but she wanted to help, and somehow it felt like the right thing to do.

  Lomie's head jerked up, startled, and she looked at the young blond woman with new interest. The hint of a smile glanced across Mamut's face.

  "She is a Healer, too?" Lomie said to Mamut.

  "I believe there is none better, not even you, Lomie."

  Lomie knew it was not said lightly. Old Mamut had great respect for her skill. "And here I thought you had only adopted a pretty young woman to ease your last years, Mamut."

  "Ah, but I did, Lomie. She has eased my winter arthritis, and other assorted aches and pains," he said.

  "I'm glad to know there is more to her than can be seen. She is young for it, though."

  "There is more to her than you know, Lomie, in spite of her youth."

  Lomie turned then. "You are Ayla."

  "Yes, I am Ayla of the Lion Camp of the Mamutoi, daughter of the Mammoth Hearth… and protected by the Cave Lion," Ayla finished, as Mamut had instructed her.

  "Ayla of the Mamutoi. Hmmm. It has an unusual sound, but then so does your voice. Not unpleasant, though. Stands out. Makes people notice you. I am Lomie, Mamut of the Wolf Camp and Healer of the Mamutoi."

  "First Healer," Mamut corrected.

  "How can I be First Healer, old Mamut, if she is my equal?"

  "I did not say Ayla was your equal, Lomie. I said there is none better. Her background is… unusual. She was trained by… someone with a great depth of knowledge in certain Healing ways. Could you have identified the subtle smell of mullein, masked by the heavy aroma of sage, so quickly if you hadn't known it was there? And then known what you were treating yourself for?"

  Lomie started to speak, then hesitated, and did not respond. Mamut continued, "I think she would have known just by looking at you. She has a rare gift for knowing, and an amazing knowledge of remedies and treatments, but she lacks skill in just those ways that you are most proficient, finding and relieving the problem that creates the illness, and helping someone want to get well. She could learn much from you, and I hope you will consent to train her, but I think there is much you could learn from her as well."

  Lomie turned to Ayla. "And is that what you want?"

  "It is what I want."

  "If you know so much already, what do you think you can learn from me?"

  "I am a medicine woman. It is… who I am… my life. I could not be otherwise. I was trained by one who was… First, but from the beginning she taught me there is always more to learn. I would be grateful to learn from you," Ayla said. Her sincerity was not feigned. She was hungry to talk to someone with whom she could share ideas and discuss treatments, and learn.

  Lomie paused. Medicine woman? Where had she heard that name for Healer before? She put the thought aside for the moment. It would come to her.

  "Ayla has a gift for you," Mamut said. "Call in anyone you want, but then, if you will, close the flap."

  Everyone who was outside had either come in while they were talking, or was standing at the entrance. They all crowded in. No one wanted to miss anything. When everyone was settled and the entrance flap closed and tied, Mamut picked up a handful of dirt from a drawing circle and put out the small flame, but the bright daylight could not be kept out entirely. It beamed in through the smoke hole, and dimly, through the hide walls. It would not be quite as dramatic a demonstration in the dimly lit tent as it had been within the dark earthlodge, but every one of the mamuti would recognize its possibilities.

  Ayla untied the small carrying container from her waistband, one she and Mamut had asked Barzec to make, and withdrew tinder, firestone, and flint. After everything was ready, Ayla paused, and for the first time in many moon cycles, sent a silent thought to her totem. It wasn't a specific request, but she thought about a big, impressive, fast lighting spark, so the effect would be what Mamut wanted. Then she picked up the flint and struck it sharply against the iron pyrite. It flashed brightly, even in the tent, then went out. She struck again, and this time it took, and soon the small fire in the fireplace was burning again.

  The mamuti were wise in the ways of artifice and accustomed to creating effects. They prided themselves on being able to recognize how they were accomplished. Little surprised them, but Ayla's fire trick left them without words.

  "The magic is in the firestone itself," old Mamut said, as Ayla put the materials back in the rawhide container, and gave it to Lomie. Then the tone and quality of his voice changed. "But the way to draw the fire out of it was shown to Ayla. I did not need to adopt her, Lomie. She was born to the Mammoth Hearth, chosen by the Mother. She can only follow her destiny, but now I know that I was chosen to be part of it, and why I was given so many years."

  His words sent a thrill of shivers and raised hairs through everyone in the tent of the Mammoth Hearth. He had touched upon the real mystery, the deeper calling that each one of them felt in some measure beyond the superficial trappings and casual cynicism. Old Mamut was a phenomenon. His very existence was magical. No one had ever lived so long. His name was even lost in the passage of years. They were each a Mamut, shaman of their Camps, but he was simply Mamut, his name and calling had become one. No one there doubted that there was some purpose for his many years. If he said Ayla was the reason, then she was touched by the deep and unexplainable mysteries of life and the world around them, which each of them felt called upon to struggle with.

  Ayla was preoccupied when she and Mamut left the tent. She, too, had felt tension, a stirring of gooseflesh when old Mamut spoke of her destiny, but she didn't want to be the object of such intense interest by powers beyond her control. It was frightening, all this talk of destiny. She wasn't any different from anyone else, and she didn't want to be. She didn't like it when her speech was commented upon, either. At Lion Camp no one noticed any more. She had forgotten that there were some words she just couldn't get right, no matter how hard she tried.

  "Ayla! There you are. I was looking for you."

  She looked up at the sparkling dark eyes and wide flashing
smile of the dark-skinned man to whom she was Promised. She smiled back. He was just the one she needed to take her mind off her troubling thoughts. She turned to Mamut to see if he still wanted her. He smiled and told her to go and have a look around the encampment with Ranec.

  "I want you to meet some carvers. Some of them are doing fine work." Ranec said, leading her with an arm around her waist. "We always have a Camp near the Mammoth Hearth. Not just carvers, other artists, too."

  He was excited, and Ayla sensed the same exhilaration she felt when she realized Lomie was a Healer. Even though there might be some competition in relation to ability and the status each was accorded, no one understood the nuances of a craft or skill like another person who practiced it. Only with another Healer could she discuss the relative merits of mullein versus wintergreen in the treatment of coughs, for example, and she had missed those kinds of discussions. She had seen how Jondalar, Wymez, and Danug could spend unbelievable amounts of time talking about flint and toolmaking, and she realized that Ranec also enjoyed the contact of others who worked with ivory.

  As they walked across part of the cleared area, Ayla noticed Danug and Druwez with several other young men, smiling and shuffling nervously while talking to a red-footed woman. Danug looked up and saw her and smiled, then made a quick excuse and loped across a few yards of trampled and dried grass to join them. They waited for him to catch up.

  "I saw you talking to Latie, and was going to bring some friends to meet you, Ayla, but we can't go too close to Giggle-Girl Camp… uh, I mean, uh" – Danug blushed, realizing he had given away the nickname the young men had for the place where they were not allowed.

  "It's all right, Danug. They do giggle a lot."

  The tall young man relaxed. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. Are you in a hurry? Can you come over and meet them now?"

  Ayla gave Ranec a questioning glance.

  "I was just going to take her to meet some people, too," Ranec said. "But there is no hurry. We can come over and meet your friends first."

  As they started back toward the group of young men, Ayla noticed the red-footed woman was still there.

  "I wanted to meet you, Ayla," the woman said after Danug made the introductions. "Everyone is talking about you, wondering where you came from, and why those animals answer to you. You have given us all a mystery that I'm sure we'll be talking about for years." She smiled, and gave Ayla a sly wink. "Take my advice. Don't tell anyone where you come from. Keep them guessing. It's more fun."

  Ranec laughed. "She may be right, Ayla," he said. "Tell me, Mygie, why are you wearing red feet this year?"

  "After Zacanen and I scattered the hearth, I didn't want to stay with his Camp, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back to my mother's Camp, either. This just seemed like the right thing to do. It gives me a place to stay for a while, and if the Mother chooses to give me a child for it, I wouldn't be sorry. Oh, that reminds me, did you know the Mother gave another woman a baby of your spirit, Ranec? You remember Tricie? Marlie's daughter? The one who lives here, at Wolf Camp? She chose red feet last year. This year she has a boy. Toralie's little girl was dark, like you, but not this one. I saw him. He's very light, with red hair even brighter than hers, but he looks just like you. Same nose and everything. She calls him Ralev."

  Ayla looked at Ranec with a peculiar smile on her face, and noticed his color deepen. He's blushing, she thought, but you have to know him well to notice. I'm sure he remembers Tricie.

  "I think we'd better go, Ayla," Ranec said, putting his arm around her waist as though to urge her back across the clearing. But she resisted a moment.

  "It's been very interesting to talk to you, Mygie. I hope we talk again," Ayla said, then turned to Nezzie's son. "I'm pleased you asked me to come and meet your friends, Danug." She smiled one of her beautiful, breathtaking smiles at him and Druwez. "And I am happy to have met all of you," she added, looking at each one of the young men in turn; Then she left with Ranec.

  Danug watched her walking away, then heaved a big sigh. "I wish Ayla was wearing red feet," he said. He heard several comments of agreement.

  When Ranec and Ayla passed the large lodge, which was surrounded by the clearing on three sides, she heard the sound of drums coming from it, and some other interesting sounds which she had not heard before. She glanced toward the entrance, but it was closed. Just as they were turning into another Camp on the edge of the clearing, someone stepped in their path.

  "Ranec," a woman said. She was shorter than average, with creamy white skin spattered with freckles. Her eyes, brown flecked with gold and green, sparked with anger. "So you did arrive with the Lion Camp. When you didn't stop by our lodge to say hello, I thought maybe you had fallen in the river, or got caught in a stampede." Her tone was venomous.

  "Tricie! I… uh… I was going to… um… we had to set up Camp," Ranec said. Ayla had never seen the glib, smooth-talking man so tongue-tied, and his face would have been as red as Mygie's feet, if his brown skin hadn't hidden it.

  "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Ranec?" Tricie said sarcastically. It was obvious she was upset.

  "Yes," Ranec said, "I'd like you to meet her. Ayla, this is Tricie, a… a… friend of mine."

  "I had something to show you, Ranec," Tricie said, rudely ignoring the introduction, "but I don't suppose it matters now. Hinted Promises don't mean much. I suppose this is the woman you will be joined with in the Matrimonial this season." There was hurt as well as anger in her voice.

  Ayla guessed what the problem was, and sympathized, but was not quite sure how to handle this difficult situation. Then, she stepped forward, and held out both her hands.

  "Tricie, I am Ayla, of the Mamutoi, daughter of the Mammoth Hearth of the Lion Camp, protected by the Cave Lion."

  The formality of the greeting reminded Tricie that she was the daughter of a headwoman, and Wolf Camp was hosting the Summer Meeting. She did have a responsibility. "In the name of Mut, the Great Mother, Wolf Camp welcomes you, Ayla of the Mamutoi," she said. "I was told your mother is Marlie." "Yes, I am Marlie's daughter." "I met her earlier. She is a remarkable woman. I am pleased to meet you."

  Ayla heard Ranec breathe a sigh of relief. She glanced at him, and over his shoulder, noticed Deegie heading toward the lodge from which she had heard the drumming. On impulse, she decided Ranec should work out his relationship with Tricie alone.

  "Ranec, I see Deegie over there, and there are some things I want to talk to her about. I will come and meet the carvers later," Ayla said, and quickly left.

  Ranec was stunned by her hurried departure, and suddenly realized he was going to have to face Tricie and make some explanations, whether he wanted to or not. He looked at the pretty young woman standing there waiting, angry and vulnerable. Her red hair, a particularly vibrant shade like none he had ever seen, along with her red feet, had made her doubly appealing last season, and she was an artist, too. He was impressed with the quality of her work. Her baskets were exquisite, and the exceptional mat on his floor came from her hands. But she took her offering to the Mother so seriously she would not even consider an experienced man at first. Her resistance only inflamed his desire for her.

  He hadn't actually Promised, though. True, he had seriously considered it, and would have if she hadn't been dedicated. She was the one who had refused a formal Promise, fearing it would anger Mut and cause Her to withdraw Her blessing. Well, Ranec thought, the Mother could not have been too angry if She had drawn from his essence to make Tricie's baby. He guessed that was what she wanted to show him, that she already had a child to bring to his hearth, and one of his spirit, besides. It would have made her irresistible under other circumstances, but he loved Ayla. If he'd had enough to offer, he might have considered asking for them both, but since a choice had to be made, there was no question. Just the thought of living without Ayla put a knot of panic in the pit of his stomach. He wanted her more than any woman he'd ever wanted in his life.

  Ay
la called out to Deegie, and when she caught up with her, they walked together.

  "I see you've met Tricie," Deegie said.

  "Yes, but she seemed to need to talk to Ranec, so I was glad I saw you. It gave me the chance to get away and let them be alone," Ayla said.

  "I don't doubt she wanted to talk to him. It was all over the Camp last season that they were planning to Promise."

  "She has a child, you know. A son."

  "No, I didn't! I've hardly had the chance to say more than hello to people, and no one told me. That's going to make her worth more and raise her Bride Price. Who told you?"

  "Mygie did, one of the red-foots. She says the boy is of Ranec's spirit."

  "That spirit moves around! There are a couple of young ones with his essence. You can't always tell for sure with the other men whose spirit it is, but you can with him. His coloring comes through," Deegie said.

  "Mygie said this boy is very light, and red-haired, but looks like Ranec, in the face."

  "That would be interesting! I think I may have to go to see Tricie later," Deegie said with a smile. "The daughter of one headwoman ought to pay a visit to the daughter of another headwoman, especially of the host Camp. Do you want to come with me when I go?"

  "I'm not sure… yes, I think I would," Ayla said.

  They had reached the curved arch entrance of the lodge from which the unusual sounds were coming. "I was going to stop here, at the Music Lodge. I think you might enjoy it," Deegie said, then scratched on the leather door covering. While they waited for someone to untie it from inside, Ayla glanced around.

  Southeast of the entrance was a fence made of seven skulls of mammoths plus other bones, filled in with hard-packed clay to make it solid. Probably a windbreak, Ayla thought. In the hollow where the settlement was located, the only wind would come from the river valley. On the northeast she counted four huge outdoor hearths and two distinct work areas. One appeared to be for making tools and implements out of ivory and bone, the others must have been primarily concerned with working the flint which was found nearby. Ayla saw Jondalar and Wymez, and several other men and women who were also flint workers, she guessed. She should have known that would be where to find him.