The Land of Painted Caves

Chapter 15

As the First continued into the cave, she held her lamp high. For the first time they began to see a ceiling. As they neared the end of the passage, they entered an area where the ceiling was so low, Jondalar's head almost brushed it. The surface was almost, but not quite, level and very light coloured, but more than that, it was covered with paintings of animals in black outline. There were mammoths, of course, some almost completely drawn, including their shaggy fur and tusks, and some showing just the distinctive shape of their backs. There were also several horses, one quite large that dominated its space; many bison, wild goats, and goat-antelopes; and a couple of rhinoceroses. There was no order to their placement or size. They faced all directions, and many were painted on top of others, as though they were falling out of the ceiling at random.

Ayla and Jondalar walked around, attempting to see it all and trying to make sense of it. Ayla reached up and brushed her fingertips across the painted ceiling. Her fingers tingled at the uniform roughness of the stone. She looked up and tried to take in the entire ceiling the way a woman of the Clan learned to see an entire scene with a quick glance. Then she closed her eyes. As she moved her hand across the rough ceiling, the stone seemed to disappear, and she felt nothing but empty space. In her mind a picture was forming of real animals in that space coming from a long distance, coming from the spirit world behind the stone ceiling and falling to the earth. The ones that were larger or more finished had almost reached the world she walked in; the ones that were smaller or barely suggested were still on their way.

Finally she opened her eyes, but looking up made her dizzy. She lowered her lamp and looked down at the damp floor of the cave.

'It's overwhelming,' Jondalar said.

'Yes, it is,' Zelandoni said.

'I didn't know this was here,' he said. 'No one talks about it.'

'The zelandonia are the only ones who come here, I think. There is a little concern that youngsters might try to look for this and lose their way,' the First said. 'You know how children love to explore caves. As you noticed, this cave would be very easy to get lost in, but some children have been here. In those passages we passed on the right near the entrance, there are some fingermarks made by children, and someone lifted at least one child up to mark the ceiling with fingers.'

'Are we going any farther?' Jondalar asked.

'No, from here, we'll head back,' Zelandoni said. 'But we can rest here for a while first, and while we're here, I think we should fill the lamps again. We have a long way to go.'

Ayla nursed her baby a little, while Jondalar and Zelandoni filled the lamps with more fuel. Then, after a last look, they turned around and began to retrace their steps. Ayla tried to look for the animals they had seen painted and engraved on the walls along the way, but Zelandoni was not constantly singing, and she wasn't making her bird calls, and she was sure she missed some. They reached the junction where the large passage they were in reached the main one, and continued south. It was quite a long walk, it seemed, before they reached the place where they had stopped to eat and then turned in to the place of the two mammoths facing each other.

'Do you want to stop here to rest and have a bite to eat, or go around the sharp bend first?' the First asked.

'I'd rather make the turn first,' Jondalar said. 'But if you are tired, we can stop here. How do you feel, Ayla?'

'I can stop or I can go on, whatever you want, Zelandoni,' she said.

'I am getting tired, but I think I'd like to get past that sinkhole at the turn before we stop,' she said. 'It will be harder for me to get going once I stop, until I get my legs used to moving again. I'd like to have that hard part past me,' the woman said.

Ayla had noticed that Wolf was staying closer to them on the way back, and he was panting a little. Even he was getting tired, and Jonayla was more restless. She had probably done her share of sleeping, but it was still dark and it confused her. Ayla shifted her from her back to her hip, then to the front to let her nurse a while, then back to her hip. Her haversack was getting heavy on her shoulder, and she wanted to shift it to the other, but it would mean changing everything else around, too, and that would be difficult while they were moving.

They worked their way carefully around the turn, especially after Ayla slipped a little on the wet clay, and then Zelandoni did, too. After they made it around the difficult corner, with little effort they reached the turnoff that had been on their right and was now on their left and Zelandoni stopped.

'If you recall,' she said, 'I told you there is an interesting sacred space down that tunnel. You can go in and see it, if you want. I'll wait here and rest, Ayla can use her bird whistle to find it, I'm sure.'

'I don't think I want to,' Ayla said. 'We've seen so much, I doubt that I could appreciate anything new. You said that you may not come back here again, but if you've been here several times before, I think it's likely I may come back again, especially since it's so close to the Ninth Cave. I'd rather see it with fresh eyes, when I'm not so tired.'

'I think that's a wise decision, Ayla,' the First said. 'I will tell you it's another ceiling, but on this one, the mammoths are painted in red. It will be better to see it with fresh eyes. But I do think we should have a bite to eat and I need to pass water.'

Jondalar breathed a sigh of relief, took off his backframe, and found a darkened corner for himself. He had been sipping on his small waterbag all day, and he felt a need to relieve himself, too. He would have gone in the new passage if the women had wanted to go, he thought as he stood hearing his stream on the stone, but he was tired of the marvellous sights of this cave for now, and tired of walking, and just wanted to get out. He didn't even care if they ate right now.

There was a small cup of cold soup waiting for him, and a bone with some meat on it. Wolf was working his way through a small pile of cut-up meat, too. 'I think we can chew on the meat as we walk,' Ayla said, 'but save the bones for Wolf. I'm sure he'd like to gnaw on them while he's resting by a fire.'

'We'd all like a fireplace about now,' Zelandoni said. 'I think we should also put the lamps away when they run out of fat, and use these torches for the rest of the way out.' She had a fresh torch ready for each of them.

Jondalar was the first to light his as they walked by the other passage opening out on their left, across from the first painted mammoth they had seen.

'This is the place where you turn in to see the children's fingermarks, and there are other kinds of interesting things on the walls and ceilings, deep in that passageway and it's several turnoffs.' Zelandoni commented, 'No one knows what they mean, though many have made guesses. Many are painted in red, but it's a bit of a walk from here.'

Not long afterward, both Ayla and Zelandoni lit their torches. Ahead, where the tunnel split, they took the right-hand path, and Ayla thought she could see the hint of light ahead. When it angled farther to the right, she was sure, but it wasn't bright light, and when they finally walked out of the cave, the sun was setting. They had spent the entire day walking in the great cavern.

Jondalar stacked wood in the pit to light with his torch. Ayla dropped her haversack on the ground near the firepit, and whistled for the horses. She heard a distant whinny, and started in that direction.

'Leave the baby with me,' Zelandoni said. 'You've been carrying her all day. You both need a rest.'

Ayla put the blanket down on the grass, and put Jonayla on it. She seemed glad to kick her feet in freedom, as her mother whistled again and ran toward the answering sounds of horses. She always worried when she was gone from them for some time.

They slept late the next morning, and didn't feel any particular rush to continue their travels, but by midmorning, they were getting restless and anxious to go. Jondalar and Zelandoni discussed what would be the best way to get to the Fifth Cave.

'It's east of here, maybe two days' travel, or three if we take our time. I think if we just headed in that direction, we'd get there,' Jondalar said.

'That's true, but I think we are also a little north, and if we just go east, we'll have to cross both North River and The River,' Zelandoni said. She picked up a stick and started drawing lines on the ground where it was bare. 'If we start out going east but somewhat south, we can reach Summer Camp of the Twenty-ninth Cave before nightfall and stay with them tonight. North River joins The River near South Face of the Twenty-Ninth Cave. We can cross The River at the ford between Summer Camp and South Face and have only one river to cross. The River is bigger there, but shallow, and then we can go on toward Reflection Rock and to the Fifth Cave the way we did last year.'

Jondalar studied her scratchings on the ground, and while he was looking at them, Zelandoni added another comment. 'The trail is fairly well blazed on the trees between here and Summer Camp, and there's a path on the ground the rest of the way.'

Jondalar realised that he had been thinking about travelling the way he and Ayla did on their Journey. On horseback, with the bowl boat attached to the end of the travois to float their things across streams, they didn't need to concern themselves much about crossing any but the biggest of rivers. But with the First sitting on the pole-drag Whinney was pulling, it wasn't likely to float, and neither was the one Racer was dragging with all their supplies. Besides, it would be easier to find their way with blazed trails.

'You are right, Zelandoni,' he said. 'It might not be quite as direct, but your way would make it easier, and likely get us there just as fast or faster.'

The trail blazes weren't quite as easy to follow as the First had remembered. It seemed that people hadn't been that way very often lately, but they renewed some of them as they went along so the trail would be easier for the next person to use. It was nearing sunset when they reached the home of Summer Camp, also known as the West Holding of the Twenty-ninth Cave, which was sometimes known as Three Rocks, meaning three separate locations.

The Twenty-ninth had a particularly interesting and complex social arrangement. They once had been three separate Caves that lived in three different shelters that looked out on the same rich expanse of grassland. Reflection Rock faced north, which would have been a major disadvantage except that what it had to offer more than compensated for its north face. It was a huge cliff, a half mile long, two hundred sixty feet high, with five levels of shelters and a vast potential for observing the surrounding landscape and the animals that migrated through it. And it was a spectacular sight that most people looked upon with awe.

The Cave called South Face was just that: a two-storey shelter facing south, situated to get the best of the sunlight in summer and winter, high enough up to get a good view of the open plain. The final Cave was Summer Camp, which was on the west end of the plain and offered among other things a wealth of hazelnuts, which many of the people from the other Caves went to pick in late summer. It was also the one with the closest proximity to a small sacred cave, which was called by the people who lived in the vicinity simply Forest Hollow.

Since all three Caves utilised essentially the same hunting and gathering areas, hard feelings were developing, leading to fights. It wasn't that the area couldn't support all three groups — it was not only rich in itself, it was a major migration route — but often two or more gathering groups or hunting parties from different Caves went after the same things at the same time. Two uncoordinated hunts trying for the same migrating small herd interfered with the plans of both, and had been known to chase away the animals, with neither group getting a kill. If all three groups went after them independently, it was worse. All the Zelandonii Caves in the region were being pulled into the disagreements, one way or another, and finally, at the urging of all their neighbours, and after difficult negotiations, the three separate Caves decided to join together and become one Cave in three locations, and to work together to mutually harvest the plenty of their rich plain. Though there were still occasional differences, the unusual arrangement seemed to be working.

Because the Summer Meeting was still going on, not many people were at the West Holding of the Twenty-ninth Cave. Most of those who stayed back were old, or sick, and unable to make the trip, plus the ones who stayed to care for them. In rare cases, someone who was working on something that couldn't be interrupted or could only be done in summer also stayed. Those who were at West Holding welcomed the travellers enthusiastically. They seldom had visitors this early in the summer and since they were coming from the Summer Meeting, they could bring news. In addition, the visitors themselves made news wherever they went: Jondalar, the returned traveller, and his foreign woman and her baby, and the wolf and horses, and the First Among Those Who Served The Great Earth Mother. But they were of especial interest to those who were ill or failing, because of who they were: healers, and at least one of them acknowledged as among the best of their people.

The Ninth Cave had always had a particularly good relationship with the people of Three Rocks who lived at the place called Summer Camp. Jondalar recalled going there when he was a boy to help harvest the nuts that grew so abundantly in their vicinity. Whoever was invited to help harvest always got a share of the nuts, and they didn't invite everyone, but they always invited the other two Caves of Three Rocks, and the Ninth Cave.

A young woman with light blond hair and pale skin stepped out of a dwelling that was under the abri and looked at them with surprise. 'What are you doing here?' she said, then caught herself. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude. It's just such a surprise to see you here. I wasn't expecting anyone.'

Ayla thought she looked sad and drawn, a darkness circled her eyes.

Zelandoni knew it was the Acolyte to the Zelandoni of the West Holding of the Twenty-ninth Cave. 'Don't be sorry,' said the First. 'I know we caught you by surprise. I am taking Ayla on her first Donier Tour. Let me introduce you.' The First went through an abbreviated version of a formal introduction, then said, 'I'm wondering why an acolyte would stay behind. Is someone especially sick here?'

'Perhaps no more than others here who are close to the Next World, but she's my mother,' the Acolyte said. Zelandoni nodded with understanding.

'If you like, we can take a look at her,' the One Who Was First said.

'I'd be grateful if you would, but I didn't want to ask. My Zelandoni seemed to help her when she was here, and she did give me some instructions, but mother seems to have got worse. She's much more uncomfortable, but I can't seem to help her,' the young acolyte said.

Ayla remembered meeting the Zelandoni of Summer Camp the year before. Since each one of the Caves of Three Rocks had a Zelandoni that lived with them, it had been concluded that if all three had a deciding voice at the meetings of the zelandonia, it would give the Twenty-ninth Cave too much influence. Therefore, a fourth Donier was chosen to represent the entire group, but she functioned more as a mediator, not only between the three other Zelandonii, but also between the three separate leaders, and it took much time and a great deal of skill with people. The other three Doniers were called colleagues. Ayla remembered the Zelandoni of Summer Camp as a middle-aged woman, nearly as fat as the One Who Was First, but rather than tall, she was quite short and seemed warm and motherly. Her title was Complementary Zelandoni of the West Holding of the Twenty-ninth Cave, although she was a full Zelandoni, and accorded the complete respect and status of her position.

The young Acolyte seemed relieved to have someone else look at her mother, especially someone of such prominence and knowledge, but seeing that Jondalar was just beginning to unpack the things from the pole-drag, and Ayla's baby, who was riding her back, seemed to be getting fussy, she said, 'You should get yourselves settled in first.'

They greeted everyone who was there, put down their sleeping rolls, settled the horses to a good open space of fresh grass, and got Wolf acquainted with the people, or rather, the people familiar with him. Then Zelandoni and Ayla approached the young acolyte.

'What is it that is troubling your mother?' Zelandoni asked.

'I'm not entirely sure. She complains about stomach aches or cramps, and lately she has no appetite,' the young woman said. 'I can see that she's getting thin, and now she doesn't want to get out of bed. I am very worried.'

'That's understandable,' Zelandoni said. 'Do you want to come with me to see her, Ayla?'

'Yes, but let me ask Jondalar to watch Jonayla first. I just nursed her, so she should be fine.'

She took the baby to Jondalar, who was talking to an older man who didn't seem weak or ill. Ayla supposed he was there on behalf of someone else, like the young acolyte. Jondalar was delighted to look after Jonayla, smiling as he reached for her. Jonayla smiled back; she liked being with him.

Ayla returned to the place where the other two women waited and followed them into a dwelling, similar to the ones made by the Ninth Cave, but this one was much smaller than most of those she had seen. It seemed made to house only the woman who occupied the sleeping place within. It wasn't much bigger than the bed, just a small space around it and a small storage and cooking area. Zelandoni alone seemed to fill it, with very little extra room for the two younger women.

'Mother. Mother!' the Acolyte said. 'There are some people here to see you.'

The woman moaned and opened her eyes, and then opened them wider when she saw the large figure of the First.

'Shevola?' she said with a raspy voice.

'I'm here, mother,' the Acolyte said.

'Why is the First here? Did you send for her?'

'No, mother. She just happened to stop by and said she'd look in on you. Ayla is here, too,' Shevola said.

'Ayla? Isn't she Jondalar's foreign woman with the animals?'

'Yes, mother. She brought them with her. If you feel up to it later, you can go out and see them.'

'What is your mother's name Acolyte of the West Holding of the Twenty-ninth Cave?' Zelandoni asked.

'Vashona of Summer Camp, the West Holding of the Twenty-ninth Cave. She was born at Reflection Rock before Three Rocks joined together,' the young woman explained, then felt slightly embarrassed, aware that she didn't need to go through so much explanation. This wasn't a formal introduction.

'Would you mind if Ayla examined you, Vashona?' the First asked. 'She is a skilled healer. We may not be able to help you, but we'd like to try.'

'No,' the woman said softly, and it seemed with some hesitation. 'I wouldn't mind.'

Ayla was a little surprised that the First wanted her to look at the woman. Then it occurred to her that the space inside the dwelling was so cramped, the large woman might have some difficulty getting down to the bedside. She knelt down and looked at the woman. 'Are you feeling pain now?' she asked.

Both Vashona and her daughter suddenly became aware of Ayla's unusual way of speaking, her exotic accent.

'Yes.'

'Will you show me where it is?'

'It's hard to say. Inside.'

'Higher up or lower down?'

'All over.'

'May I touch you?'

The woman looked at her daughter, who looked at Zelandoni. 'She does need to examine her,' the First said.

Vashona nodded agreement and Ayla pulled down the cover and opened her clothing, exposing her stomach. She noted immediately that the woman was bloated. She pressed down on her stomach, starting at the top and working her way down over the rounded bulge. Vashona winced, but didn't cry out. Ayla felt her forehead and around the back of her ears, then bent closer and smelled her breath. Then she sat back on her heels and looked thoughtful.

'Do you get a burning pain in your chest, especially after you eat?' Ayla asked.

'Yes,' the woman replied, with a questioning look.

'And does air come out of your mouth with a loud noise in the throat, like when you burp a baby?'

'Yes, but many people belch,' Vashona said.

'That's true, but have you spit up blood, too?' Ayla asked.

Vashona frowned. 'Sometimes,' she said.

'Have you noticed blood, or a dark sticky mass in your excrement?'

'Yes,' the woman said, almost in a whisper. 'More lately. How did you know?'

'She knows from her examination of you,' Zelandoni interjected.

'What did you do for your pain?' Ayla asked.

'I did what everybody does for pain. I drank willow-bark tea,' Vashona said.

'And do you also drink a lot of peppermint tea?' Ayla said.

Both Vashona and Shevona, her acolyte daughter, looked at the stranger with surprise.

'It's her favourite tea,' Shevona said.

'Liquorice root or anise tea would be better,' Ayla said, 'and no more willow bark, either, for now. Some people think that since everybody uses it, it can't hurt you. But too much can. It is a medicine, but it's not good for everything, and should not be used too frequently.'

'Can you help her?' the acolyte asked.

'I think so. I believe I know what is wrong. It's serious, but there are things that can help. I must tell you, though,' Ayla added, 'that it could be something even more serious that is much harder to treat, although we can at least relieve some of her pain.'

Ayla caught the eye of Zelandoni, who was nodding slightly with a knowing expression on her face.

'What would you suggest for treatment, Ayla?' she asked.

She looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, 'Anise or liquorice root to settle the stomach. I have some dried in my medicine bag. And I think I have dried sweet flag — although it is so sweet it's almost bitter — which can stop cramping spasms, and there are plenty of dandelions around to cleanse her blood and help her insides work better. I just picked some cleavers, which can purge her body of residues of wastes, and a decoction of the woodruff I just gathered is good for stomachs, can help her feel better all over, and tastes good. I may be able to find more of those wood avens rootlets I used for flavouring the other evening. They're especially good for stomach disorders. But what I'd really like to have is celandine; that would be most helpful. It's a good treatment for either one of her possible problems, especially the more serious one.'

The young woman looked at Ayla with awe. The First knew she wasn't the Summer Camp's Zelandoni's First Acolyte. She was still new to the zelandonia and had much to learn. And Ayla could still surprise even the First with the depth of her knowledge. She turned to the young Acolyte.

'Perhaps you could assist Ayla with the preparation of your mother's medicine. It will be a way for you to learn how to make it after we leave,' Zelandoni said.

'Oh, yes. I'd like to help,' the young woman said, then looked at her mother with tenderness in her eyes. 'I think this medicine will make you feel much better, mother.'

Ayla watched the fire sending flickering sparks up into the night as though trying to reach their twinkling brethren far up in the sky above. It was dark; the moon was young and had already set. No clouds obscured the dazzling display of stars that were so thick, they seemed to be strung together on skeins of light.

Jonayla was asleep in her arms. She had finished nursing some time before, but Ayla was comfortable relaxing by the fire holding her. Jondalar was sitting beside her and a little behind, and she leaned into his chest and the arm that had found its way around her. It had been a busy day and she was tired. There were only nine people of the Cave who had not gone to the Summer Meeting, six who were too sick or weak to make the long walk — she and Zelandoni had looked at all six — and three who had stayed behind to care for them. Some of those who couldn't make the journey were nonetheless well enough to help with certain chores like cooking and gathering food. The older man Jondalar had been talking with earlier, who was staying for a while to help, had gone hunting and brought down a deer, so they put together a venison feast for their guests.

In the morning, Zelandoni took Ayla aside and told her that she had arranged for the young Acolyte to show their sacred cave to her. 'It isn't very big, but it is very difficult. You may have to crawl through parts of it, so wear something to climb through caves and cover your knees. When I was young, I went into it once, but I don't think I could do it now. I think the two of you will manage just fine, but it will be slow going. You are both strong young women, so it shouldn't take too long, but because it is difficult, you might want to consider leaving your baby here.' She paused, then added, 'I will watch her if you like.'

Ayla thought she detected a reluctance in Zelandoni's voice. Taking care of babies could be tiring, and the First might have other plans. 'Why don't I ask Jondalar if he will. He likes to spend time with Jonayla.'

The two young women started out together, with the young Acolyte showing the way. 'Should I call you by your full title, a short version of it, or by your name?' Ayla asked after they had walked a short distance. 'Different acolytes seem to have different preferences.'

'What do people call you?'

'I am Ayla. I know I'm the Acolyte of the First, but I still have trouble thinking of myself that way, and "Ayla" is what everyone calls me. I like it better. My name is the only thing I have left from my real mother, my original people. I don't even know who they were. I don't yet know what I'm going to do when I become a full Zelandoni. I know we're supposed to leave our personal names behind, and I hope when the time comes, I'll be ready to, but I'm not yet.'

'Some Acolytes are happy to change names, some would rather not, but it all seems to work out. I think I'd like you to call me Shevola. It seems more friendly than Acolyte.'

'So please call me Ayla.'

They walked further along a trail through a narrow canyon, dense with woods and brush, between two imposing cliffs, one of which held the stone shelter of the people. Wolf suddenly bounded up. He startled Shevola, who wasn't used to wolves appearing suddenly. Ayla grabbed his head between her hands, roughing up his mane, and laughed.

'So you didn't want to be left behind,' she said, actually glad to see him. She turned toward the Acolyte. 'He always used to follow me everywhere I went, unless I told him not to, until Jonayla was born. Now he's drawn between us when I am in one place and she is in another. He wants to protect both of us, and can't always make up his mind. I thought I'd let him choose this time. I think he must have decided that Jondalar could protect Jonayla well enough and come to find me.'

'Your control over animals is amazing, the way they go where you want and do what you want. You get used to watching you after a while, but it is still hard to believe,' Shevola said. 'Did you always have these animals?'

'No, Whinney was the first, unless you count the rabbit I found when I was a little girl,' Ayla said. 'He must have got away from some predator, but he was hurt, and didn't, or couldn't, run away when I picked him up. Iza was the healer and I took him back to the cave so she could help him. She was more than surprised, and told me that healers were supposed to help people, not animals, but she helped him anyway. Maybe to see if she could. I suppose the idea that people could help animals must have stayed with me when I saw the little foal. I didn't realise at first that the animal that fell into my pit trap was a nursing mare, and I don't know why I killed the hyenas that were after her, except I hate hyenas. But once I did, I felt that Whinney had become my responsibility, that I had to try to raise her. I'm glad I did. She has become my friend.'

Shevola was fascinated by the story Ayla told with such casualness, as though it were an ordinary thing. 'Still, you have control over those animals.'

'I don't know if I would call it that. With Whinney, I was like her mother. I took care of her and fed her and we came to understand each other. If you find an animal when it is very young and raise it like a child, you can teach it how to behave, the same way a mother teaches a child how to behave,' Ayla tried to explain. 'Racer and Grey are her son and daughter, so I was there when they were born.'

'What about the wolf?'

'I set some traps for ermines, and when Deegie — she was my friend — and I went to check them, I discovered that something was stealing them from my snares. When I caught sight of a wolf eating one, it made me angry. I killed her with my sling; then I saw that she was a nursing mother. I didn't expect it. It was out of season for a wolf to have cubs young enough to still be nursing, so I backtracked her trail to her den. She was a lone wolf, didn't have a pack to help her, and something must have happened to her mate, too. That's why she was stealing from my snares. There was only one puppy left alive, so I took him back with me. We were living with the Mamutoi then, and Wolf was raised with the children of the Lion Camp. He never knew what it was like to live with wolves; that's why he thinks people are his pack,' Ayla said.

'All people?' Shevola asked.

'No, not all people, although he has got used to large crowds. Jondalar and I, and now Jonayla, of course — wolves love their young — are his primary pack, but he also counts Marthona and Willamar and Folara among his family, Joharran and Proleva and her children, too. He accepts people I bring to him to sniff, that I introduce to him, as friends, sort of temporary pack members. He ignores everyone else, so long as they offer no harm to those he feels close to, those he considers his pack,' Ayla explained to the avidly interested young woman.

'What if someone did try to harm someone that he felt close to?'

'On the Journey Jondalar and I made to get here, we met a woman who was evil, who took pleasure in hurting people. She tried to kill me, but Wolf killed her first.'

Shevola felt a chill, a rather delicious thrill, like she did when a good Storyteller recounted a scary tale. Although she didn't doubt Ayla — she didn't think the Acolyte of the First would make up something like that — nothing like that had ever happened in her life and it just didn't seem quite real. But there was the wolf, and she knew what wolves could do.

As they continued along the trail between the cliffs, they came to an offshoot toward the right that led up to a split in the stone face, an entrance into the cliff. It was a rather steep climb, and when they reached it they found that a large block of stone partially closed off the way in, but there was an opening on both sides of it. The left side was narrow but passable; the right side was much larger, and it was obvious that people had stayed there before. She saw an old pad on the ground with grass stuffing sticking out where the leather was split on one side. Scattered around it was the familiar debitage of chips and pieces left from someone knapping flint to make tools and implements. Bones that someone had chewed on had been thrown at the wall nearby and fallen to the ground at the foot of it. They went inside and walked a ways into the cave. Wolf followed them. Shevola led them to some stones, then slipped off her backframe and propped it up on one.

'It will soon be too dark to see,' Shevola said, 'It's time to light our torches. We can leave our packs here, but drink some water first.'

She started looking into her pack for fire-making material, but Ayla already had her fire-starting kit out, and a small unwoven basketlike shape made of dried shreds of bark pushed together. She stuffed it with some of the quick burning fireweed fluff that she liked to use for tinder. Then she withdrew a piece of iron pyrite, her firestone, with a groove already worn into it from the many times it had been used, and a fragment of flint that Jondalar had shaped to fit the groove. Ayla struck the firestone with the flint and drew off a spark that landed in the flammable fluff. It sent up a faint curl of smoke. Ayla picked up the bark basket and began to blow on the tiny ember, which caused it to flare up in small licks of flame. She blew again, then set the little basket of fire down on the stone. Shevola had two torches ready and lit them from the small fire. Once the torches were burning, Ayla squeezed the bark shreds together and tamped them down to put out the fire so the bark that was left could be used again.

'We have a couple of firestones, but I haven't learned to use them yet,' the young Acolyte said. 'Would you show me how you do that so fast?'

'Of course. It just takes some practice,' Ayla said. 'But now, I think you should show me this cave.' As the young woman headed deeper in, Ayla wondered what this sacred place would be like.

Some light was coming from the opening that led outside, but without the light from the torches, they would not have been able to see their way, and the floor of the cave was very uneven. Pieces of the ceiling had fallen down and sections of walls had collapsed in. They had to walk very carefully, climbing up and over the stones. Shevola headed for the left wall and then stayed close to it. She stopped where the cave narrowed and seemed to divide into two tunnels. The right side was wide and easy to enter; the other passage on the left side was quite narrow and got smaller. As one looked into it, it appeared to be a dead end.

'This cave is misleading,' Shevola said. 'The larger opening is on the right, and you might think that would be the way to go, but it leads nowhere. A little farther along, it divides again and both ways get smaller and smaller, then just end. Here on the left, the cave gets very narrow and small, but once you get past that, it opens out again.' Shevola held up her torch, pointing out a few faint tracings on the left wall. 'Those were put there to let someone who isn't familiar with this cave know that this is the way to go, if they understand what the markings mean.'

'That would be someone in the zelandonia, I suppose,' Ayla said.

'Usually,' Shevola said, 'but youngsters sometimes like to explore caves, and they often work out what the markings mean.' After a short distance, the young woman stopped. 'This is a good place to sound your sacred voice,' she said. 'Do you have one yet?'

'I haven't decided,' Ayla said. 'I've whistled like birds, but I also roared like a lion. Zelandoni sings and it is always beautiful, but when she sang in the mammoth cave, it was unbelievable. What do you do?'

'I sing, too, but not like the First. I'll show you.' Shevola made a very high-pitched sound, then dropped to a low pitch, then continuously increased her pitch until she reached the first sound. The cave sang back a muted echo.

'That is remarkable,' Ayla said, then whistled her medley of birdsong.

'Now that is remarkable,' Shevola said. 'It really sounded like birds. How did you learn to do that?'

'After I left the Clan and before I met Jondalar, I lived in a valley far to the east. I used to feed the birds to entice them to come back, and then started to mimic their calls. Sometimes they would come when I whistled, so I practised more.'

'Did you say you could roar like a lion, too?'

Ayla smiled. 'Yes, and whinny like a horse and howl like a wolf, and even laugh like a hyena. I started trying to make the sounds of many animals, because it was fun, and challenging.' And something to do when you are alone, and birds and animals are your only company, she thought, but didn't say out loud. Sometimes she avoided mentioning things just because it would have required too much explanation.

'I know some hunters that can make pretty good animal sounds, especially to entice them closer, like the call of a male red deer and the bawl of an aurochs calf, but I've never heard anyone make a lion roar,' Shevola said, looking at her with a hopeful expression.

Ayla smiled, took a deep breath, then faced the cave opening and started with a few preliminary grunts, the way a lion did. Then she let out a roar, like one Baby used to make after he reached maturity. It may not have been as loud as the roar of a real lion, but it had all the nuances and intonations and sounded so much like a real lion roar that most people who heard it believed it was real, and therefore believed it was louder than it actually was. Shevola paled for a moment at the sound, and then when the cave echoed it back, she laughed.

'If I had just heard that, I don't think I'd go into that cave. It sounds like there is a cave lion inside.'

Just then Wolf decided to respond to Ayla's lion roar with his own sound, and howled his wolfsong. The cave resounded that back as well.

'Is that wolf a Zelandoni?' the young Acolyte asked with surprise. 'It sounded like he was using a sacred voice, too.'

'I don't know if he is. To me he's just a wolf, but the First has made similar comments when he does something like that,' Ayla said.

They started into the narrowed space, Shevola first, followed by Ayla, and then Wolf. It wasn't long before Ayla was thinking how glad she was that Zelandoni had told her to dress for clambering around in a cave. Not only did the walls of the cave narrow, but the level of the floor rose and the ceiling lowered. It left such a small, cramped space to work their way through, they couldn't even stand upright in it, and in some places they had to get on their knees to go forward. Ayla dropped her torch going through the narrow section, but managed to pick it up before it went out.

Progress became easier after the cave passage opened out, especially when they could walk upright again. Wolf, too, seemed happy to be beyond the tight space, even though he could go through it much more easily, but they still had some narrow sections to squeeze through. In one area the wall on the right had crumbled into a scree slope of loose dirt and small stones, leaving barely a level path on which to put their feet. As they carefully picked their way through, more stones and pebbles rolled down the rather steep grade. They both crowded closer to the opposite wall.

Finally, after another narrowing of the passage, Shevola stopped, held up her torch, and faced the right. Wet, shiny clay partially covered a small section of the wall, but it became part of the medium of expression. A sign was engraved on it, five vertical lines and two horizontal lines, one of which crossed all five of the upright lines, while the second only went about halfway across. Next to the sign was an engraving on stone of a reindeer.

By now Ayla had seen enough paintings, drawings, and engravings to have developed her own sense of those she considered good and those she thought were less well done. In her opinion, this reindeer was not as well made as some others she had seen, but she would never say anything like that to Shevola or the rest of the Cave, or anyone else. It was a private thought. Not so long ago, just the idea of drawing anything resembling an animal on a cave wall was unbelievable. She'd never seen anything like it. Even a partial drawing of a shape that suggested an animal was astonishing and powerful. This one, particularly by the shape of its antlers, she knew was a reindeer.

'Do you know who made this?' Ayla asked.

'There's nothing in the Elder Legends or Histories, except general references that could be alluding to almost any cave markings, but there are a few hints in some of the stories that are told about our Cave that suggest it could have been an ancient one of West Holding, perhaps one of the founders,' Shevola said. 'I like to think it was an ancestor who made them.'

As they continued farther into the cave, the difficulties lessened only slightly. The floor was still very rough and the walls had projections that they had to watch out for, but finally at about fifty feet into the long, narrow space, Shevola stopped again. On the left side of the passage they came to a narrow room, and on the right wall of it was a projection near the ceiling where there was a panel of several engraved figures at an inclination of about forty-five degrees from the horizontal. It was the principal composition of the cave, consisting of nine engraved animals on a limited surface area, perhaps thirty inches by forty-five inches. Again, clay on the wall became part of the medium.

The first image on the left was partly carved in the clay; the rest were incised into the stone, probably with a flint burin. Ayla noticed that there was a fine transparent covering of calcite on the frieze, an indication that it was already old. The projection was coloured in part with a natural pigment of black manganese dioxide. The fragility of the surface was extreme; a small section of the carbonate material had flaked off, and another looked as though it would soon detach from the rest of the rock.

The central subject that dominated the frieze was a magnificent reindeer, with the head raised and antlers extended back, and carefully drawn details like the single eye, the line of the mouth, and the nostril. The flank was marked with nine cuplike holes parallel to the line of its back. Behind it, facing in the opposite direction, was another partial animal, probably a deer, or perhaps a horse, with another line of engraved holes running across the body. On the far right of the panel was a lion, and between them a series of animals, including horses and a mountain goat. Under the chin of the central figure, and utilising the same line as the neck of the reindeer, was the head of a horse. In the lower part of the panel, below the main figures was an engraving of another horse. In all, Ayla used the counting words to tally nine fully or partially drawn animals.

'This is as far as we need to go,' Shevola said. 'If we go straight, it just ends. There is another very tight passage to the left, but once you get through it there's nothing except another little room that also just ends. We should go back.'

'Do you ever do ceremonies or rituals when you come here?' Ayla asked, as she turned around and stroked the wolf, who was patiently waiting.

'The ritual was the making of these images,' the young Acolyte said. 'The person who came here, perhaps once, or maybe more times, was making a ritual Journey. I don't know, it may have been a Zelandoni, or an Acolyte becoming a Zelandoni, but I can imagine that it was someone who felt a need to reach for the Spirit World, for the Great Earth Mother. There are some sacred caves that are meant for people to visit and conduct rituals, but I think this was done as a personal Journey. In my mind I try to acknowledge that person when I come here, in my own private way.'

'I think you are going to be a very good Zelandoni,' Ayla said. 'You are already so wise. I was feeling the need to recognise this place and the one who created this work. I think I will follow your advice and reflect on it and the one who made it, and offer a personal thought to Doni, but I would like to do more, perhaps reach for the spirit world, too. Have you ever touched the walls?'

'No, but you can if you want.'

'Will you hold my torch?' Ayla asked.

Shevola took the torch and held both of them high to shed more light in the tiny cramped cave. Ayla reached up with both hands outstretched and put them palm down on the wall, not on any of the engravings or paintings, but near them. One hand felt the wet clay, the other the rough surface of the limestone. Then she closed her eyes. It was the clay surface that first gave her a tingling feeling; then a sense of intensity seemed to flow out of the rock wall. She wasn't sure if it was real or if she was imagining it.

For an instant, her thoughts flashed back to when she was living with the Clan and her trip to the Clan Gathering. She had been the one who was required to make the special drink for the mog-urs. Iza had explained the process to her. She had to chew the hard, dry roots, and spit the mash into the water in the special bowl, then stir it with her finger. She wasn't supposed to swallow any, but she couldn't help it, and she felt the effects. After Creb tasted it, he must have thought it was too strong, and gave each mog-ur less to drink.

After she consumed the women's special drink and danced with them, she went back and found the bowl with some of the white milky liquid still in the bottom. Iza had told her it should never be wasted, and Ayla wasn't sure what to do, so she drank it, then found herself following the lights of lamps and torches into a sinuous cave to the special meeting of the mog-urs. The rest didn't know she was there, but the Mog-ur, her Creb, did. She never did understand the thoughts and visions that filled her head that night, but afterwards they came back to her sometimes. That's how she was feeling now, not as strongly, but the same sensation. She lifted her hands from the cave wall, and felt a shiver of apprehension.

Both young women were quiet as they retraced their steps, stopping for a moment to look again at the first reindeer and its accompanying signs. Ayla noticed some curved lines that she hadn't seen the first time. They continued past the unstable scree slope, which made Ayla shudder, and the narrowed places until they reached the very difficult passage. This time Wolf went first. When they reached the place that required them to proceed ahead on hands and knees, one hand since the other was holding the light, she saw that her torch was burning low, and hoped it would last until they were through.

When they reached the other side, Ayla could see light coming in from the opening, and her breasts felt full. She hadn't thought they were gone that long, but she knew Jonayla needed feeding or would soon. They hurried to the stones where they had left their backframes, and both young women reached for their waterbags. They were thirsty. Ayla dug down in the bottom of her pack for a small bowl she kept for Wolf. She poured some into the bowl for the animal, then took a drink from the bag herself. When they were through, and she had repacked Wolf's bowl, they hoisted their packs to their backs and started out of the cave to return to the place called Summer Camp of Three Rocks, the West Holding of the Twenty-ninth Cave of the Zelandonii.