“I will miss you, Amara,” Madenia said as she hugged her departing friend’s neck. “You too, Latie,” she added, giving Latie a kiss on the cheek. “Please tell Ayla that I said hello, and please let her know how much she meant to me.”

Amara nodded her promise through teary eyes, and then picked Aylia up and held her close. “Good-bye, Aylia,” she said. The small girl didn’t realize exactly what was happening, but she returned the hug and grinned at Amara.

“Can I see Bird?” she asked.

Amara nodded and gestured toward Danug, who was holding Bird cupped in one hand while he was hugging various members of the Losadunai. Aylia squirmed to get down and ran over to Danug.

“She is beautiful, Madenia,” Latie commented.

Madenia smiled and nodded, then hugged the two young women again. “Be careful, please. And if you ever do decide to Journey back to the Mamutoi, please come see us.”

Amara and Latie both nodded, then Latie turned to Amara and sighed. “I guess that’s everyone,” she commented.

Amara sighed as well and glanced around at various people saying their good-byes. “I guess so.” She chuckled softly to herself. “That doesn’t mean I’m ready to leave though.”

Madenia squeezed her hand and nodded. “I know, I agree.”

“Oh, Radec’s motioning; it looks like everyone’s ready,” Latie said, nodding towards Radec, who was helping Healie into the cart.

The young women exchanged hugs again, and then Madenia picked Aylia up and stepped back. “Wait!” Aylia called, finally realizing that something was going on. “Where are they going?” she asked her mother, demanding an answer.

“They’re leaving, honey,” Madenia replied, wiping a tear.

“But where are they going?” Aylia demanded again.

“They’re going to see some people, some very good people; friends of mine and Solandia’s and Laduni’s.”

Aylia frowned. “When are they coming back?”

Madenia sighed. “Aylia, they probably will never come back.”

Aylia’s face fell and she looked distraught. “Never?” she asked, a huge tear escaping her eye.

Madenia nodded. “They might, in a long time, when you’re grown up, but I doubt it. It’s too difficult to travel so far.”

“How far?” the little girl whimpered.

“Very far, a long, long, long ways away. You have no idea how far away.”

“Then I’ll never see Bird again?” Aylia asked.

Madenia shook her head sadly. “Probably not,” she replied. There was no need to get her daughter’s hopes up.

“But I don’t want them to go!” Aylia exclaimed. She squirmed down again and marched to Laduni. “You have to make them stay,” she commanded, pointing to the Mamutoi, who were finished packing and were watching the scene.

“I can’t, Aylia, they have to go,” he replied, apologetic.

“Why?” she asked, her little hands on her hips. It seemed perfectly reasonable to her that they should be able to stay.

Laduni sighed. “Aylia, sometimes people have to do things we don’t want them to do. I don’t want them to leave either, but they have to. It’s just one of those things in life that, unfortunately, you can’t do anything about.”

Aylia was not in the mood for a philosophical lecture, and Laduni knew that she was too young to understand anyway. She turned and looked at the Mamutoi travelers, her lower lip quivering. She then realized that everyone else was looking at her, which upset her further. Angrily, she stomped back to her mother and put her arm around Madenia’s leg and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Micheri was just as miserable, but he wasn’t in the mood to cause a scene by arguing with Aylia about who had been wronged more. He bit his lower lip and looked down at his hands clasped in front of him. He glanced at their Mamutoi friends, then back at Aylia, who had hidden her face behind Madenia’s leg; he could see Aylia peeking out with a pout on her face. He walked quietly over to where she was standing and took Aylia’s hand in his as he sniffled.

Startled at the gesture, Aylia stepped out from behind her mother and looked at Micheri. He was upset too. She realized that neither of them wanted the Mamutoi to go. “Mother, I’ll share Bird with Micheri if you ask them to stay,” she offered as a final plea. Micheri nodded his agreement.

Madenia knelt down and hugged them both. “I know you would, but they still have to go,” she said, brokenhearted.

Aylia looked straight at Radec. “Please don’t go,” she called softly.

“Aylia,” Madenia whispered in her ear. “They have to go. Please don’t ask them again; it’s not nice, and you’re making them feel bad.”

Aylia looked at her mother, and then in one huge sob, she broke down in the snow. Madenia picked her up and stroked her hair, as Solandia came over and picked up Micheri. “Don’t let them go, please, Mother, please,” Aylia pleaded through her tears. “I want Bird to stay! I want Latie and Amara!”

Amara and Latie looked at each other, and then they looked over at Radec, knowing that there was nothing they could do about the situation. He shrugged and glanced at Madenia. Madenia, still holding Aylia, who was heaving sobs, shook her head and waved them away with her free hand. Solandia made the same gesture.

Radec nodded and then looked back at his group. He sighed, and then started walking, the other Mamutoi and the horses with the cart following. He waved a final wave at Laduni and the Losadunai, and then he led his troop away.

“Perhaps we shouldn’t have left when we did,” Radec called to Danug as they set up the tents.

“What?” Danug yelled back. The whirling snow muffled every sound, making Radec’s voice near impossible to hear.

“I said, perhaps we shouldn’t have left when we did,” Radec called again.

“Yeah, maybe, but there’s no way we could have predicted this,” Danug yelled.

Radec shrugged and struggled with the tent pole. He felt awful. Their first several days of traveling were beautiful. The temperature had warmed enough to melt quite a bit of the snow that was on the ground, and they had made excellent time. Lareno had been the first to notice the dark clouds piling up in the distance, and they had hurried to find a good place to set up for the duration of the storm. Panec and Danug had run ahead to try to find someplace, and had decided on a wooded area of evergreens not too far from a stream. Radec pushed the group the best he could, but they could only move so fast. They had barely reached their destination and unloaded the tents when the blizzard hit.

The first and largest tent had been put up first, and it was now sheltering Healie, Callie, and Rulec from the storm. Panec and Amara were struggling to put up their own tent, while Lareno and Latie were doing the same. Radec and Danug had decided to only put up one of the two tents left, and Danug and Healie could share it. Danug hadn’t liked the idea of Healie sleeping in her own tent with an unexpected storm such as this, and Radec had quickly agreed.

“Hold it down!” Danug heard Radec yell. Danug shielded his eyes from the blowing snow and stood on the edge of the tent while Radec drove in the stakes. “There!” Radec said, satisfied. He could barely see the other tents where he was standing. They had assembled the tents in a rough circle, so close that each tent was literally touching the others, with the entrances facing towards the middle of the circle. There was a small separation between two of them where Latie was trying to secure the horses for the storm.

“Can you help me with the horses, Danug?” Latie called to him. Her voice was barely audible, but Danug nodded and, leaning into the blinding snow, he trudged over to where Latie was trying to set up the “tent” for the horses; basically just a hide draped over their backs and tied down on both sides, leaving them enough room to lie down, but providing them with a little shelter. They were sturdy steppe horses and were used to the harsh winters, but Latie’s motherly instincts made her worry, and she wanted them to stay safe and warm as well.

“You guys get in your tents and get warm. We’ll just sit this out as best we can. Does everyone have enough wood?” Radec yelled as he approached them.

Danug shook his head. “No, we didn’t think about wood too much.”

Radec nodded. “All right, this is what we’ll do. How many ropes do we have? Five? Six? Well, each of us take one, tie it to the tree, and spread out as much as you can while still holding onto the rope, and gather what wood you can. It’s getting awfully cold!”

Danug and Latie nodded, and they blindly returned to their tents to grab the ropes. Amara and Panec had finally finished putting up their tent, and they grabbed ropes as well.

“Tie them around your waists!” Amara commanded. “You don’t want a sudden gust of wind to blow the ropes out of your hands!” She had read books in her childhood, stories from the then-past, in which someone in a blizzard lost their guiding ropes and ended up freezing to death without being able to find their way back. She had only experienced a couple of blizzards herself, but in modern times, going out into the blizzards wasn’t as necessary as it had been in the past. Schools always shut down, electricity usually stayed on, and most businesses were closed as well. Here, she had to experience the extreme in order to survive.

Panec assisted her in tying the rope around her waist and knotted it tightly. She helped him with his in similar fashion. As a check, everyone checked everyone else’s ropes; one could never be too cautious. Radec nodded and within seconds, each person was thrust into his or her own world, full of blinding white snow.

Luckily Panec and Danug had chosen an area full of wood that could be easily gathered, and within each person’s third trip, piles of hardwood, evergreens, and driftwood from the small stream were piled in the middle of the tents. “Do you think that’s enough?” Amara called to Lareno. Her fingers were getting numb and she wasn’t looking forward to gathering more wood.

“Why don’t you women get inside and get fires started? I think we’re all okay to make a couple of more trips out,” Panec called.

Amara and Latie readily agreed and had themselves untied in no time. They left the other ends of the ropes tied to the trees, and they placed the untied ends just inside the entrances of the tents so that they could be easily reached. They first went into the tent that Healie and Danug would share, since Healie was in Callie’s tent at the time, and they set up a fire. The wood was slightly wet, but hadn’t been soaked yet, so within a few minutes they had a small fire going.

“I’ll stay here and make sure it stays lit if you want to let Healie know that it’s going,” Latie offered.

Amara nodded and ducked out of the tent, stepped one step into the snow, and then stepped into Radec’s tent. The warmth enveloped her, and she welcomed the heat. “Wow, it’s cold out there!” she commented.

“Where is Radec?” Callie asked, worried.

“He and the other men decided to make a few more trips to get wood. Don’t worry,” she added when she saw the alarmed look on Callie’s face, “they’re tied to guiding ropes.” Callie sighed and smiled slightly. Amara turned to Healie, “Your tent is ready. We got a fire started and Latie is in there making sure it gets warmed up just fine.”

Healie smiled thankfully to the young woman. “Thank you, Amara,” she said as she stood. Amara gripped her arm sturdily and helped her step through the drifting snow.

“It’s toasty in here!” Latie exclaimed when Healie and Amara stepped in.

“It is!” Healie replied. “Thank you girls so much for getting the fire started.”

Latie nodded. “Danug will be back in just a little while; they’re gathering some more wood.” Healie nodded her response and knelt by the fire as Latie and Amara left to get fires started in their own tents.

“If that’s not enough wood, at least for tonight…” Lareno commented with a laugh, letting his voice trail off. They had piled wood as high as Radec was tall. “As long as we don’t get covered with snow tonight, we should be okay.” He hoped that his statement wouldn’t be prophetic.

“All right, you guys get inside and get warm. Eat what you have with you; we can gather more food later,” Radec said.

Lareno nodded. “This happens every once in a while along the Great Mother…late winter/early spring storms will come up without warning, but they usually blow themselves out within a couple of days.”

“Let’s hope so,” Panec said. His fingers were very painful, and he wanted to get inside quickly and warm up. “Stay warm, everyone,” he said. The other three men nodded and within moments, each was in his respective tent, ready to settle down for the cold night.

“Oh, I’m glad you’re back, I was starting to worry,” Amara said as Panec fastened the flap for the tent. When he didn’t respond, she asked, “Are you okay?”

Panec nodded stiffly and flexed his fingers. “My fingertips hurt,” he admitted.

Amara was alarmed. “Hurt how?” she asked.

“They ache, but I can’t feel them,” he said.

She rushed to him and pulled off his hand coverings, cursing to herself about the lack of good old fashioned gloves in this prehistoric world. His fingertips were blue and he winced when she touched them. “Oh, Panec,” she said, shaking her head. “Sit down here, try to warm up, but not too quickly, okay?” He nodded his consent and sat down beside the fire, so very grateful for its warmth. She had started water boiling as soon as the fire had started and was thankful that the tea she had prepared was ready. She handed him a cup and clasped his hands around it. “Hold it like this, hopefully it will warm up your fingers,” she said.

He nodded and sipped a little of the tea, feeling the warmth sliding down his throat. It was hot, but it felt wonderful. He sighed after his first sip, then frowned as he saw Amara reach outside. “What do you need? Let me get it,” he said.

“No,” she replied. “I just grabbed some more wood and a little snow. Now give me your hand,” she said. He reluctantly held one out, and she gently rubbed his fingertips with the snow.

He laughed sarcastically to himself. “Even the snow feels hot, I’m so cold!”

Amara frowned and reached for his other hand, rubbing his fingertips. After a few minutes, color started returning, and she breathed easier. “That’s better,” she said. “How do they feel?”

Panec flexed his fingers again and nodded. “Much better. Still a little dull pain, but not nearly as bad as it was.”

She nodded. “And your toes?”

“My toes are fine.” He sipped another sip of his tea and winked at her. “I can think of other body parts that can use the warmth,” he teased.

She looked up at him in feigned shock, then smiled at him. All of a sudden, it didn’t sound like such a bad idea. She smiled a little deeper, slightly more enticingly. She held her hands briefly over the fire to warm them, and then she reached down under his tunic to lift it off.

He was slightly surprised, and even more surprised at his eager response. He removed her tunic, then cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lovingly. “I love you, Amara, so very much.”

“I love you, Panec,” she returned with a smile. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled her over onto her back, removing the rest of her clothing. Neither of them was worried about being too cold.

Bird chirped happily as he pecked small bits of grain from Healie’s hand. Danug laughed at Bird’s antics, and he could have sworn that Bird was laughing as well. Danug was also pleased to see Healie so amused; between Rulec and Bird, Healie was staying occupied, caring for others, as she had always done.

The two of them ate, laughing with each bite at Bird. He hopped happily around the fire, dancing his own little dance in time with the wind. Every other time around, Bird stopped and pecked again at the little pile of grain Healie had made.

“That’s so funny! Look at his little feet when he walks! It looks so strange!” Danug laughed, holding his stomach. Bird was obviously pleased at the reaction, and enhanced his antics. It wasn’t long before tears were rolling down Danug’s cheeks, and he kept falling over in his laughter. He finally decided to stay laying on his side, and Bird bounced up on his shoulder and sang a very happy song. If he didn’t know better, Danug would say that Bird had declared triumph over him.

“He is quite a character,” Healie commented when her laughter died down. “Oh, my, I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

Danug smiled in agreement, but he hated it when she said things like that. He knew that she missed having young ones of her own, and he wished there were something he could do to help ease her pain, both physical and emotional. He frowned to himself.

Healie noticed his frown. “Is anything wrong?” she asked, worried.

“Oh, no, I was just thinking of poor Aylia not getting to see Bird anymore,” he lied.

Healie nodded. “Children are like that; they don’t seem to understand why things can’t be perfect all the time.” Danug looked at her quizzically. He knew she didn’t believe what he said about what he had been thinking about, and he knew that there was more meaning in her words than he was catching. He chuckled silently to himself. Why was it that older people, who were obviously so much wiser than everyone else, were always elusive in their meanings? She squinted at him. “How did your training with Losaduna go?” she asked.

The question caught him off guard, and he wasn’t very interested in seeing where this conversation might lead. “Um…it went…well,” he said slowly. “Why do you ask?”

Healie grinned. “Because I want you to do it again.”

“Do what?” Danug asked. He was beginning to get uncomfortable.

“I want you to ‘see’ again,” she clarified.

“‘See’ what?” He felt like squirming in discomfort.

Healie looked at him. “I want you to ‘see’ again what you saw for the rest of the Journey that upset you, and I want to compare it to what I have ‘seen.’”

Danug’s eyes opened wide. “What you have seen? Do you mean…Healie, have you had training?”

She shrugged. “Some, but this is different.”

Danug frowned. “How so?”

Healie winked. “Well, you tell me what you know, and then I’ll tell you what I know.”

Danug wasn’t happy with the situation, and he didn’t want to be taken into that world of the unknown, where things he saw frightened him. But something in Healie’s tone of voice convinced him to try again. “All right,” he said with a sigh.

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” Lareno commented. He had pushed aside the hide, almost expecting the snow to be up to his chest, but instead it was only about knee-high.

Latie peered out, and then grinned. “We won’t be snowed-in after all, will we?” she asked.

Lareno shook his head, then dug some of the snow out from around the entrance. “Wow,” he commented, “it’s actually pretty warm out here. My guess is that this snow will be gone by this evening.”

Latie smiled at him. “And what do we do until then?” she asked with a grin.

Lareno returned the grin and closed the entrance to their tent. “I have an idea,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

Radec scooped up a bowl full of snow and set it beside the fire. Callie was still asleep, with Rulec to her breast, and he wanted to have tea ready for her when she awoke. He grinned, hearing the muffled sounds of Latie and Lareno, and he wondered about sharing Pleasures with Callie. He knew that for some time after a woman gave birth, sharing Pleasures wouldn’t exactly be comfortable, but he wasn’t sure how long. Sitting there, looking at his sleeping mate, he felt an upwelling of love inside of him. He couldn’t be happier; Rulec created a bond between the two of them that he hadn’t known was missing before, and he was looking forward to the joy of a hearth full of children. It saddened him somewhat that his kin back home would probably never meet this child of his heart.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a scratching at the hide. He moved it aside to see Danug, who looked like he hadn’t slept at all the night before. “Danug!” he exclaimed. “Is anything wrong?” he asked, alarmed.

Danug shook his head. “I just didn’t sleep well last night; worried about the storm and everyone.”

“Is there anything you need?” Radec asked.

“Do you have any willowbark? I just went to check on Healie and her bones are aching again, and she couldn’t find her supply.”

Radec nodded and reached for a basked of Callie’s. “Of course. I just need to figure out which one it is,” he commented, rummaging through the basket.

Callie sat up slowly, awakened by the conversation. “Is anything the matter?” she asked groggily.

“Where is your willowbark, Callie?” Radec asked. “Danug says that Healie can’t find hers, and her bones are aching again.”

Callie nodded and crawled over to the basket Radec had, ensuring that Rulec was comfortable first. She pulled out a pouch and opened it, then nodded and handed it to the young man. “Here,” she said, “and if you need me, just come get me.”

Danug nodded in appreciation, and then left to take the pouch to Healie’s tent. As he did, a pile of snow fell in the tent behind him.

“I thought there would be more snow than this,” Radec commented casually. “I guess that storm wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

“Have you seen Panec? His fingers and toes were extremely cold, weren’t they?”

Radec nodded, but shrugged. “No, I haven’t seen anyone else.” He chuckled, then added, “But Lareno and Latie both sound like they’re warm enough!”

Callie grinned and shook her head. “I can’t say I blame them.” She looked lovingly at her mate, then glanced over at her infant son, sleeping comfortably. “When do you want to leave?” she asked, changing the subject.

Radec frowned. “We should probably leave as soon as we can. I hope spring sets in soon; I hate to see Healie in pain.”

“How far do you suppose it is to the Zelandonii?”

“Talut told me what Jondalar had said, but I really am not sure, especially since we’re going around the northern side of the glacier. But let me think about it for a while.” He paused for a moment. “I hope we don’t have any problems with flathe…Clan, that is.”

Callie understood his misgivings. She didn’t want to run into any, either, and hoped that they wouldn’t have to. She just wanted to get to the Zelandonii, quickly. She glanced around the tent, then noticed the bowl of mostly melted snow. “What’s that for?” she asked, gesturing to the bowl.

“Oh, I was going to surprise you with some tea. I’m sorry that Danug and I woke you,” he said.

Callie smiled, “That’s fine, Radec. Thank you for thinking of it.”

Radec looked down, then ran his fingers through his hair. “Um, Callie…” he began, “I, um…I was up earlier, and I was looking at you…and, well, I just can’t help but remember how much I love you when I look at you and Rulec.”

Callie smiled when she saw his look soften when he glanced at Rulec. “I love you, Radec,” she replied.

Radec sighed slightly. “I was wondering…how long will it be before we can…honor Her.” He furrowed his brow. “I love you, and…but I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t know how these things work.”

Callie laughed softly. “I think the only problems we would have now would be if we woke Rulec.” She smiled lovingly at him. “I’m afraid he would probably distract me.” She glanced back at her son. “But he’s asleep now…” she hinted.

Healie held the cup of willowbark tea that Danug had made for her, sitting quietly. It had been a long night of searching, in a way, for both of them. But now they sat silently, sipping their tea. They both laughed, however, when the third set of sounds joined the other two. Bird had been sleeping, but their laughter woke him. He replied with an angry chirp.

“It seems everyone is honoring the Mother right now,” Danug commented, chuckling. It did bother him in a small way, that he didn’t have anyone to Pleasure, but it amused him to be able to hear everyone else.

“That’s what snowy days are best for,” Healie replied. She glanced at Bird, who was standing there, just watching them. She grinned at the animal. “You’d think he was upset.”

“So, until they all…finish what they’re doing, what do we do?”

“Drink tea, I guess,” Healie laughed. She looked closely at him and noticed a sadness about him, and then realized that even Bird’s antics weren’t getting his attention. “Danug, are you upset?”

“What about?” he asked.

“Anything. Does it bother you that we didn’t bring Madenia? That Caloa didn’t come?” She didn’t want to pry too deeply, but something was bothering the young man.

Danug shrugged. “In a way, but it’s not that big of a deal. I haven’t felt about any woman the way Panec feels for Amara, or Lareno for Latie, or Radec for Callie, for that matter. I honor the Mother every chance I can get; I feel it’s important for me to remain in Her favor.”

Healie nodded. “Okay, so that’s not what is bothering you. What is?”

Danug glanced at her and frowned. “Well, can you blame me for being a little upset about what you told me last night?”

Healie nodded in understanding. “Yes, but there’s nothing we can do about it. You might as well enjoy life. Just because you know more than what someone else might know doesn’t mean you should always be upset about it. There’s nothing we can do about it,” she repeated, almost to convince herself as much as Danug.

Danug sighed. “Why not? Why can’t we do anything about it?”

She smiled at him. “Because we don’t know how it will happen. We know it will happen, but we don’t know how, so there’s nothing that can be done. Why not enjoy what we can?”

Danug shuddered at the fatalistic view Healie had just conveyed to him. He remembered Ayla saying something along those lines, and right now, he completely understood how she felt when everyone claimed that she could control animals. She’s just a person, Danug thought, just as I am. She doesn’t think she did anything special, she was just Ayla. He was uncomfortable knowing what he had learned from that…place…there wasn’t another name he could give it. He didn’t know where he went last night, or with Losaduna, he just knew that he wanted to just be a normal person. He didn’t want to know anything else.

“I think we should try to get to the Zelandonii quickly. Maybe there’s something Ayla can do…” his voice trailed off.

Healie laughed softly. “Oh, Danug, even if Ayla is indeed the Mother incarnate, would you have Her change Her plan?”

Danug shrugged, almost squirming; he was so uncomfortable.

Healie shook her head. “We have places to go, and things to do. We might as well accept it.”

Danug didn’t answer. But now that he knew, he wanted to go back; he wanted to return to the blissful ignorance he had once held. He resolved himself to finding a way to prevent the inevitable.

“Can we leave tomorrow?” Radec asked his group. The sun was dipping low in the sky but even with sunset, the snow continued to melt. He was relieved that their Journey wouldn’t be long delayed, and he was looking forward to traveling again.

“I don’t mind,” Latie said, and murmurs of agreement followed.

Radec glanced at Danug, who seemed very quiet. “Danug?”

Danug shrugged. “Yes, we should get going again.”

Radec frowned at him, but decided to not ask anything. “Okay, then why don’t we prepare to leave in the morning. Each day we travel is another day closer to the Zelandoni.”

“And another day closer to Ayla!” Latie cried. She jumped up and left the small area enclosed by the tents to check on the horses. She picked up Bird, who was standing beside Danug, and took him with her.

“I’m looking forward to getting there,” Lareno said.

Amara nodded. “Yes, and I think it’s important to tell Ayla about Madenia, and Aylia.”

Panec noticed a fleeting look of longing cross her face, and his heart ached for her, and for the child she had lost. They had talked long into the night about hopes and dreams, and she had admitted to him how affected she still was about her miscarriage. If what she said was true, which from what he had heard was what Ayla had claimed, he was eager to share Pleasures with her, in hopes that she might become pregnant again. “How much longer do you think it will be?” he asked Radec as the thoughts ran through his head.

Radec furrowed his brow. “I’m really not sure. It depends on how many more delays we have. If everything goes smoothly…I would hope that we could be there within the next two moons.” Something in Danug’s demeanor made Radec glance in his direction. Danug’s look made him uncomfortable, although he couldn’t place why. He shrugged it off, blaming it on Danug’s obvious lack of sleep. He made a mental note to ask Callie to make some special tea to help Danug sleep tonight. “Okay,” he said. Taking it as their sign to start packing, the other members of his group began making preparations to leave the next morning.

The group of travelers quickly got back into the rhythm of the Journey. In the meantime, spring blossomed. They had had no further incidents of snowstorms, nothing along those lines, and the thoughts had been driven from their minds as trees budded and flowers bloomed. The women in the group especially enjoyed the season, stopping intermittently to pick flowers, not for medicinal use as Ayla had done, but because they were pretty. They all seemed to absorb the season more than usual.

Spring runoff also increased the volume of the rivers. The water was colder, and churning, and each river crossed was one more obstacle overcome. But in addition to the melting, the changing of seasons brought the inevitable storminess. Amara found herself enjoying the clouds, watching them as they built. However, the further they traveled, the more she found that the storms developed to their east. For some reason, low clouds hung to the west, but thunderstorms simply did not develop.

Her questions were answered one day when a strong westerly wind brought a chill to the warm air. The clues clicked in her mind, and she realized that they were nearing the glacier that everyone had been talking about. She’d never seen a glacier before; where she came from, they were almost in an interglacial period. The glaciers on the planet in her time were confined to mountains, Greenland, and Antarctica. She contemplated the changes in climate that had taken place in 35,000 years, wondering what it was that caused the shift. She made a note to herself to notice the position of the stars if the sky was clear that night; the placement of the North Star might tell her something.

Her thoughts wandered as they traveled. Thinking about the positions of the stars made her wonder about other things, like the position of the continents. Were they much different? She shook her head in frustration, unable to remember when the continents had split apart, and where they were in relation to each other at her present moment in time, as opposed to where she was used to them being. How much lower was sea level? It was the little things that made her wonder; were the Florida Keys not actually keys now, but part of the mainland? Did the islands of Hawaii exist yet? She wished she could remember, but she realized, almost in a panic, that every day she was here, memories of her schooling slipped further and further away. Perhaps she should take some time before long and go through her writings, and maybe add to them. She laughed out loud, wondering how the scientific community at home would respond to her writings.

“Ho!” Radec called to the group, startling Amara out of her thoughts. She had been so absorbed in them that she hadn’t realized that they had left the wooded area quite some time ago. She looked up and caught her breath. It was easily miles away from them, but it seemed so close that she could touch it. She had never seen a glacier before.

Radec was pleased with the reaction he saw from Lareno and Amara; the rest of them had seen the huge glacier to the north of where the Mamutoi lived, which was significantly larger than this one. Amara stared at the huge sheet of ice; even at this distance the deep blues and greens stood out. Something about the colors stirred in the back of her mind, and though she felt it was important, she couldn’t place it. She decided to enjoy the beauty now; she could think later.

Some time passed before Lareno and Amara had their fill of the glacier. Unbeknownst to them, as they were completely oblivious to the rest of the world, the others had set up camp. Radec had figured, from their reaction, that they would want to enjoy the sight. Healie was more tired than usual, and Rulec had been more disagreeable throughout the day. Stopping early would probably be the best decision, he thought. It wouldn’t be long before they rounded the northern tip of the glacier. The Lanzadonii lived not far beyond the glacier, he knew, but he didn’t know where. He had already made the decision to not try to find them. If they happened to run into the Lanzadonii, perhaps they could stay and visit for a while, but he decided not to actively search for them. Rather, he planned to continue traveling until they reached the Zelandonii. As Latie had said, each day was a day closer to the end of their Journey.

Danug, too, was constantly reminded of that comment Latie had made, but not in the joyful context in which she had meant it. Each day was a day closer to the inevitable. Although he didn’t know when exactly the inevitable was, something made him feel that it was closer than he had originally thought. Each time he saw the glacier he shuddered, unable to completely resign himself.

Amara bolted up in her furs, breathing heavily, a funny taste in her mouth. She blinked several times to clear her mind. She made a face in response to the taste and reached for the waterbag.

“Amara? Are you all right?” Panec asked worriedly, sitting up and putting his arm around her.

She nodded and took another drink. “Yes, I’m fine, I just had an odd dream.” She leaned into him for comfort, then laid back down. He slipped his arm underneath her neck, and she snuggled close to him, then soon drifted off again. She was almost asleep when she thought she heard crying. She dismissed it as the wind and gave in to her fatigue.

Latie opened her eyes, grinned, and stretched, having a wonderful feeling of being rested. She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair, and then, realizing that they had reached the glacier Jondalar had talked about, she smiled. She jumped up and quickly put on her clothes, then stepped outside her tent. The air was warm, but a breeze from the direction of the glacier was chilly. Looking at it, even from as far away as they were, she felt the butterflies in her stomach. She had fainted the first time she had seen the massive sheet of ice to the north of the Mamutoi while on a Mammoth hunt one summer; just its sheer size and height had made her head spin, and before she had realized it, Talut was trying to wake her up. She smiled now at the memory, and appreciated the faint butterflies she felt now.

“Good morning,” Lareno said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

She turned and smiled at him, then kissed him on the cheek. “Good morning to you,” she replied.

“Are you hungry? Panec said that Amara was up early, and she made breakfast for everyone. It’s still pretty warm,” he offered, gesturing towards the fire.

Latie nodded agreement and hungrily served herself. She glanced up when Radec came out of their tent holding Rulec, who was smiling and cooing. She smiled at the infant, and reached out to put her finger in his little hand when Radec walked over and sat beside her. “Good morning, Rulec,” she said with a giggle.

Rulec’s laughter and sporadic movements of his hand, with Latie’s finger clasped within it, brought a tender smile to the face of his father. Rulec giggled again, blowing small bubbles, his little eyes shining brightly and happily.

“How long are we going to stay here?” Panec asked, returning from a short walk through the area. Latie scowled at him for ruining the mood with the baby, but she recovered quickly, knowing that he hadn’t meant to.

“Not long,” Radec replied. “It’s nice here and there’s a beautiful view, so a good rest would probably do us good, but I’d like to try to get moving again tomorrow.” Panec nodded. “Is anything wrong with Amara? I heard her up early this morning,” Radec mentioned.

Panec shook his head and shrugged. “I’m not sure; she said she had a strange dream last night.”

Radec frowned, but tried to hide it. Danug’s actions and demeanor lately had bothered him, and now with Amara, dream or no, anything out of the ordinary could be an omen of some sort, and it bothered him a little. He tried to shrug the feelings aside, and was aided by the giggling of the infant he held.

“Do you guys need some exercise?” Latie asked as she fed an apple to Jolie. Ranug nosed his way to her and snorted his disappointment about not getting an apple as well. “I have one for you, just be patient,” she chided the horse. She pulled another apple out of her pocket and handed it to him. He chomped it down happily, and she rubbed the velvet of his nose affectionately.

“Do you need any help?” Amara asked. She had seen Latie go to the horses, and realizing that they had been ignored lately, she felt they could use some more attention.

“Actually, do you want to ride? They could probably use a nice good run; I’m sure they’re tired of pulling that cart everywhere.” She was glad that Amara has asked; Callie had mentioned earlier that morning that she and Healie would like to continue working on Amara’s matrimonial tunic, but it was difficult to do it with Amara close by.

Amara nodded her agreement. “I’d love to help, let me go tell Panec and Radec first, though.”

Latie nodded and watched as Amara ran back to the tents. She then picked up two teasels and started rubbing the horses down, one with each teasel, much to their delight. They crowded in towards her, trying to coax her into scratching their itchy places. She laughed at their antics, then handed a teasel to Amara when she walked back up to them. “I believe they’re enjoying this,” Latie commented with a laugh.

“I’m not surprised, we haven’t brushed them down in quite a while,” Amara admitted.

Latie nodded, a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I know, and I feel bad. I should pay more attention to them.”

The two young women were quiet for a few more minutes as they rubbed the horses down. After the horses seemed satisfied, Latie jumped up on Ranug’s back and Amara climbed onto Jolie’s. She had ridden horses before, but usually they had saddles on them to help the rider climb on their backs. Granted, these horses were smaller than many of the ones she had been exposed to, but it was still difficult to mount without the aid of the saddle.

“Latie!” Danug called, running up to them. “Here, take Bird with you; I think he’s been a little bored lately.”

Latie nodded and took the little animal. Bird had taken to enjoying the horse rides, which had been a subject of much amusement for the Mamutoi travelers; the bird wanted to feel the exhilaration of flying without actually flying. “You’re being lazy again today,” Latie chided the little creature.

Bird chirped a happy melody at her, obviously pleased. Latie and Amara laughed, and then Latie secured the bird, and then they were off.

Amara was sure her hair was a mess of knots after the ride they just had. She, and Latie, loved to just let the horses run wherever they wanted to run. Their eyes were flashing as the horses slowed down, and they glanced at each other with the appreciation that they felt for the horses. They slowed the horses down to a walk, still allowing them to go wherever they wanted.

“Amara, do you still miss your family?” Latie asked after a while.

Amara cocked her head. “Of course I do. But now I have you, and Danug, and Radec and Callie and Healie. And Panec,” she added with a soft smile. “But I admit, I do miss them a lot, especially my brother.” She paused and glanced at the ground. “Why do you ask?”

Latie sighed. “Well, I miss my mother, and Talut, a lot, and I’ve been wondering if maybe…maybe that’s why Danug has been acting so strange lately. I’ve been wondering if maybe he just misses home.”

Amara frowned. “That could be it, but he’s told me before that he felt he needed to follow his destiny, wherever that might take him.”

“That’s true, but sometimes I just wonder if there isn’t another reason also.” Latie shook her head. “Danug has become as strange, sometimes, as One Who Serves. There were times I never could figure out Mamut and what he was trying to say or do.”

“Mamut is the one that adopted Ayla to his hearth?” Amara asked.

Latie nodded, “Yes, he adopted her as a daughter of the Mammoth Hearth. We were all a little confused at first, and I was a little hurt; I wanted Ayla to be my sister. But,” she added thoughtfully, “Mamut felt that she needed to follow her destiny as well, and he was convinced that he was allowed to live as long as he was because of her.”

“Is he dead now?” Amara asked quietly.

Latie nodded, sadly. “It wasn’t long after she left; he felt he had completed what he needed to do. It was almost as if he…gave up…although I know he’d be stronger than that.” They rode in silence for a while, then Latie continued, “He told Danug and I to keep Ayla’s things that she had left. When she and Jondalar left, they left from the Summer Meeting. We thought that they’d go back to Lion Camp to get the rest of their belongings, but they didn’t. It was always a sad, and constant, reminder…of them and of Rydag.” She sighed heavily. “I still miss him. But, anyway, yes, Mamut told Danug and I that we would make a Journey someday, and that we needed to take as many of her things as possible.” She grinned inwardly. “That’s when I decided I wanted to get Jolie and Ranug. We found a herd of horses and it seemed so easy to separate a few of them. Jolie and Ranug are mine, technically; there are still others at Lion Camp.”

“How long did it take you to train them?” Amara asked.

“Not long at all…Ayla had always made it sound easy, it just never occurred to anyone to try to catch a horse. We did, we trained them, and it was amazingly simple.” Latie smiled to herself again. “The first thing we did after the horses were trained was go to her valley, where she lived before she came to us. A fairly large group of us went, and although it was difficult, we finally found the valley she spoke of. We found more firestones, and got the things from her cave and brought them back with us. Do you know that big basket that’s always in the front corner of the cart?” Latie asked, motioning with her hands, trying to describe the shape of the basket. Amara nodded. “Those are Ayla’s…it was hard to find room before we had the cart, but the horses were very useful. For the most part, we were able to carry our own things, and the horses carried extra. But now we have the cart, and it’s so much easier now.”

They were quiet for a while longer, riding peacefully. After a while Amara decided to bring up something she’d only spoken to Danug about. “Latie, when I first got here…that cave I spoke of…I saw paintings in the cave.”

Latie looked up quickly. “Paintings? In a cave?” She furrowed her brow. “I’ve never heard of that before.”

“There are paintings in the cave that Jondalar is from,” Amara reminded her. Latie brightened, then smiled and nodded for Amara to continue, fleetingly wondering how it was that Amara could speak with such certainty about Jondalar’s home. “It was a painting of a man with yellow hair, a woman beside him, and two horses, and a wolf. It’s hard to tell…it’s not necessarily a very good painting, but I was able to see the people and animals fairly easily.”

Latie was quiet. “That’s odd,” she finally said. “I wonder how it got there, or what it was supposed to mean…”

Amara shrugged. “I don’t know, but after Danug described Ayla and Jondalar to me, I knew that it was them in the painting…and I’ve known since them that no matter what, I need to find them, somehow.”

Latie frowned again, and shivered quickly. She didn’t really understand destinies; she was more than happy knowing that she had Lareno and that the two of them would be joined, and would settle in a hearth, and she could start having children. She knew Amara, ultimately, wanted the same things, but there was more to Amara than that. “We’ll find them,” Latie said, a little uncomfortable. She suddenly wished Danug was there with them.

Amara could see Latie’s unease, and decided to drop that particular subject. She was frustrated, because she didn’t necessarily want to know more herself, but she was stuck with it, and she felt it was a little unfair that she was the only one faced with these…situations.

“I’ve never seen a glacier before,” Amara commented. She was about to continue by mentioning that she had seen ice while flying, but she decided not to bring that topic up; it was a mess trying to work out of the last time she had mentioned an airplane and she didn’t want to do it again.

“Really?” Latie asked. “The big ice to the north of my home is even bigger; I can’t describe its size, it’s so big.”

They rode along in silence again, enjoying the scenery. The grumbling of Amara’s stomach brought her back into reality and she slowed Jolie down. “I’m hungry, are you?”

Latie smiled and nodded. “You knew exactly what I was thinking. Did you grab something to eat before we left?”

Amara nodded and held up two small traveling cakes. It wasn’t much, but it would do until they returned. They dismounted and took the few things off the horses that they had brought with them, then they let the horses run around and roll on the grass. They laughed at the antics, and then Bird chirped angrily, wanting attention and food as well.

“You think you’re just the best, don’t you, Bird?” Amara asked, shaking her head. She crumbled up a bit of her food and put it on the ground in front of him to eat. “You’d better enjoy it while it lasts; there’s no more until we get back to camp,” she warned. Bird chirped again and went back to eating his food.

After the two young women finished their light lunch, they laid down in the grass, commenting about the weather and the scenery. It really was a beautiful day, and they absorbed it; springtime was always a favorite among most people, and they savored the feelings in appreciation that winter was finally over.

“I could almost go to sleep,” Latie said, putting her arm over her eyes to shield the sun. “It’s so peaceful here.”

Amara yawned and nodded agreement. “Yes,” she said, “but I know if I went to sleep, I’d stay asleep for a while, and everyone would get worried about where we are.”

Latie sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”

They were quiet for a while, resting peacefully, until they heard a rustle not too far in the distance. Amara sat up and smiled, then shook Latie. “Latie, look! It’s a doe, and a baby fawn!” she cried.

Latie sat up and smiled tenderly, watching the fawn suckle while the doe rummaged for grasses. “Oh, Amara, he’s beautiful,” she commented quietly. “Look at the dots all over him!”

Amara grinned and nodded. The wind shifted all of a sudden, and the doe perked her head up. Smelling the scent of the humans, the doe quickly urged her fawn into the trees, out of danger. “That’s too bad,” Amara said. “I would have liked to watch a little while longer.”

Latie nodded, then shaded her eyes with her hand as she looked around. Then she glanced up at the sky. “I guess we’d better be heading back,” she sighed. She glanced back to where the doe had been, then admitted, “Amara, I want a baby.”

Amara was quiet for a while, then nodded. “Yes, me too,” she admitted sadly.

“Maybe we could ask the Mother to bless us.” Latie looked at Amara in earnest. “Callie is so happy, and Radec is so happy as well; I want a baby to bring to the hearth that Lareno and I will share.”

Amara smiled. “Me too.” She frowned quickly, wondering why it was that neither of them had gotten pregnant. She knew how everything worked, and now that they were nearing the end of their Journey, it wouldn’t be nearly as dangerous. They had both unconsciously made the decision to stop taking the tea, now that they were closer to their destination. Perhaps it might be worth it to spend more time with Panec, although she was sure the amount of time they spend sharing Pleasures would be sufficient. She sighed, said a small prayer, then stood. “I agree, let’s ask the Mother. Radec said it would only be a couple of more moons until we reach the Zelandonii, so it wouldn’t be too dangerous. And if not, Ayla will be there. Maybe there’s something she can do.”

Latie nodded in agreement as she mounted Ranug. “It would be so nice, wouldn’t it? For both of us to be pregnant at the same time,” she smiled dreamily.

Amara grinned at her friend. “Yes, it would. Then our children could grow up together.”

Latie giggled at the thought, wondering how much trouble those potential children could get into. Amara could see what she was thinking, and they both laughed aloud. After they calmed down, Latie said, “We’d better get back now. The sun will set before long, and they’ll be worried about us.”

Amara nodded in agreement and they signaled the horses to start off again. She enjoyed the scenery just as much on the way back, but her mind was full of thoughts of babies.

“Maybe we shouldn’t leave right now,” Danug suggested. He opened his mouth to object again to their departure, but a look from Healie stopped him. He wanted to leave, wanted to get to Ayla so that maybe she could help…the situation, but deep inside he knew that that would not work out. He scowled, then sighed his consent, and donned his pack.

Healie, Callie and Rulec were situated comfortably in the cart while everyone else packed things around them. What was left over was carefully placed in the packs that they would carry on their backs. There was an air of expectation around the group; they had reached the last major landform in their Journey, and before long they would be with the Zelandonii. They all knew that they still had a long way to go, but reaching the glacier had been a milestone and they were psyched because of it.

The days of traveling again lulled by. They took in the landscape, enjoyed the serene weather, and individually planned for the future. Radec and Callie envisioned themselves settling down with Rulec, and having several more children to enjoy at their hearth. Radec knew he was getting older, and Callie as well, and he didn’t want to wait much longer, for her sake. He knew very well that it was dangerous for women to have children in their later years, and he wanted her to bring several children to his hearth. The major disadvantage with their plan was that he knew that if they wanted to settle down, that they would never return to the Mamutoi again.

Healie knew as well as they did that she would never see the Mamutoi again. Even if there was an opportunity to Journey, she knew she wouldn’t live long enough to actually return. She had known that when she left, and now looking back, she wouldn’t change a thing. Finding Amara and getting to know Latie almost replaced the daughters she had lost, and little Rulec was such a joy. She shook her head and smiled; no, this was where she was supposed to be.

Latie and Lareno had grand plans of family as well. Latie knew that she would miss her mother and Talut, and it saddened her that she might not ever see them again, just as it saddened Lareno that he would likely never see his family again. However, they knew that they could probably be happy with the Zelandonii, as long as they were together. Also, Latie made herself remember that Danug was with her. Although he had been acting extremely odd the past couple of moons, he was her brother, and one of her best friends. It warmed her to realize that they would always be near each other, unless, of course, he decided to go his own way. Latie frowned at that thought and sent a silent prayer for Danug to stay with them.

Danug didn’t really want to return to the Mamutoi. He did miss his mother, but along the same vein as Latie, he knew his sister was here. He felt an urgent sense of need to get to Ayla, and he had decided to let his destiny ride with her. Whatever Ayla said, he would do; getting to Ayla, or rather, getting Amara to Ayla, was what he felt his destiny was for the time being. The rest of his life could wait.

Amara and Panec had thoughts of children and hearths as well, though neither of them was longing to return to the Mamutoi. Panec didn’t have any major ties there any longer and Amara had nothing; it was just as simple for them to decide to stay with the Zelandonii as anything. She had already left her family for good, and there was no hope of returning for her; Ayla was her biggest concern now, and she felt that the Zelandonii would be her people. Latie had mentioned to her that Jondalar had said how large the Ninth Cave was, and Amara was looking forward to it. Unlike the people here, she was used to large crowds, even larger. No one here had experienced amusement parks, huge holiday celebrations, even malls.

It was at those thoughts that tears came to her eyes. It was spring. She had missed it. She had missed Christmas, and the celebrations surrounding it. She had missed her family’s large get-together, where hot apple cider and literally hundreds of presents were passed around. No baked ham this year; instead she was at a different place, in a completely different time. It was no use; every time she thought she had gotten over the longing for her family, something else would come up to remind her. She had been so absorbed in her new life that she had even forgotten the reason to celebrate Christmas, the love and the family. She frowned and dragged her feet as she walked, feeling shameful for having forgotten. She felt even worse afterwards, berating herself for feeling sorry for herself. It isn’t that bad, she thought. I have Panec, and I never would have found him at home. Her parents had always told her that the time would come when their constant supervision and parenting of her and her brother would come to an end; she and Jacob would both find the ones they were meant to be with. Her parents had always said that they would be there to love and protect, but that they didn’t have children so that those children would be completely dependent upon them; they had children to show everyone else how much they loved each other, that they loved each other so much that they wanted to bring forth new lives into the world to cement that love. Thinking of their philosophies warmed her somewhat; parents are not to control, but to teach. Parents guide and protect, but then let the children fly when they are ready. That was what she had done, although she had never expected it so soon. She had always thought that it would be after college, she’d find a career and find her soulmate. She shook her head and grinned slyly to herself at the events that had actually transpired as opposed to her imagined future.

“Why don’t we go ahead and set up camp?” Radec called out. It was a little earlier than usual, but rain clouds had gathered. They had skirted the northern tip of the glacier and were now on the northwest side of it. It was still early enough in the spring that although it was unlikely, a sudden snowstorm could still catch them by surprise, especially since they were further north than they had been before. Radec didn’t want to take the chance that the rain might turn to ice or snow, and he figured it would be best for their group to go ahead and make camp.

Almost as a ritual, the group unpacked their immediate belongings and set up their tents. They had taken to just covering everything else with a large old hide in the cart, to keep things from getting muddy from underneath. Latie unhitched the horses and let them loose to run and play; she was sure they would enjoy the mud after it started raining. She slapped them gently on the flanks and grinned at them, motioning that they could run. It puzzled her when they didn’t leave, but rather they followed her to her tent, seeming a little antsy.

“Danug, do you suppose it’s the rain?” Latie asked when she realized that her brother was watching with the same quizzical look that she had.

He shrugged. “I don’t know…they’ve experienced rain before. Maybe they smell snow, or something.”

“Should we take a look around the area, just in case?” Panec chimed in, a little worried himself.

“What’s the matter?” Radec asked, coming over after securing his tent.

“The horses are acting strange,” Latie said, gesturing. “Look, they’re not running off to play. They usually do.” She shrugged and conceded, “Maybe it’s just the weather.”

Radec frowned. He didn’t want a bad storm. But what else could be the problem? He went over to the horses and patted their necks. “Are you guys okay? Why don’t you want to run around?”

Jolie neighed a loud response and nosed her head under Radec’s arm. Ranug pranced around a bit, seemingly nervous and agitated. “Ranug, what’s the matter?” Latie asked, trying to soothe the horse.

Amara cocked her head. The horses kept nodding in a certain direction. Maybe there was something over there that bothered them. She turned around and scanned the area. To the north was a fairly large meadow area, rolling. A herd of some sort of deer grazed at the far end of the meadow-like area, undisturbed. “I don’t think it’s the weather,” Amara commented, pointing to the other animals. The others turned to look and nodded agreement. Amara frowned and then scanned the trees to their west and southwest. She could tell where a small glacier-fed river trailed off, but couldn’t see anything else. She turned back to the group, but then out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. She stared into the trees where the movement was, trying to decide if she was seeing things or if the movement had been real. She started to turn again, very slowly, but then saw it again. This time she stared herself into comprehension.

“I think that’s what’s bothering the horses,” she commented, pointing to the trees.

“What is it?” Danug asked, squinting in the direction she pointed.

“It’s a Clan woman, or women; I can’t tell if there are more than one,” Amara said matter-of-factly.

“Jondalar did say that north of the glacier was Clan territory,” Latie commented.

“Should we stay here, or should we keep moving?” Latie asked.

They all glanced to Radec, who shrugged. “I think if we just keep to ourselves, and keep the horses here, and don’t bother them, then they won’t bother us. But let’s all keep close to camp tonight, just in case. We’ll leave again first thing in the morning, and hopefully they won’t be angry with us for being in their territory.”

The others nodded and returned to what they were doing as the raindrops started to fall. Amara shivered, wondering if the woman, or women, were still there. It was still odd to see a Neanderthal in real life.

Amara tossed and turned throughout the night. Something was bothering her, but she wasn’t sure what; she just couldn’t get to sleep. Panec had fallen asleep right away, but she was afraid she would wake him. It was well after midnight when she finally sighed to herself, slipped out of her furs, put some clothes on, and went outside.

The system that had brought the rain was to their east now. She could easily make out the trailing edge of the clouds in the bright moonlight, and smiled at the clear skies above. It was a little chilly outside, but not unbearably cold, and most of the standing water had soaked into the ground. She reached for a stick and stirred the coals in the banked fire, and then added a few twigs to get it going again. She didn’t want one that was too large, since she didn’t want to wake anyone, but the intermittent breezes made her shiver and she was grateful for the warmth. She sat on a piece of log, her mind and eyes wandering.

The horses had recovered from their agitation from earlier in the day and were sleeping peacefully in the grass. She smiled to herself; they had found some mud to roll in, and they were caked in it. It would delay their departure in the morning, but that was survivable. At least they had enjoyed themselves. Her mind returned to the encounter they had had with the Clan today. She shook her head in frustration, trying to decide what it was that was bothering her so.

A rustling brought her out of her thoughts, and she frowned as she saw Healie ducking out of her tent. “Healie,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry, did I wake you?”

Healie shook her head. “Actually, no.” She chuckled softly. “This lovely weather, even with the rain…for the first time in months I didn’t go to sleep with my bones aching, and I’ve enjoyed it so much that I kept waking up.”

Amara smiled, glad that Healie was feeling so much better. “The warmer temperatures are nice,” she commented, without thinking.

Healie furrowed her brow and cocked her head. “What’s a ‘temperature?’” she asked.

Amara blushed. She hadn’t done that for quite a while; it had been a long time since she lapsed into her native language for certain words. Thinking a little harder to find a Mamutoi word to replace her English word with had become second nature to her. “I’m sorry, that’s a word in my language.”

“What does it mean?” Healie asked, curious.

“Well…” Amara began, and hesitated. How would she explain a concept, so simple to her, to someone like Healie? The difference between interval and ratio scales of measurement was difficult enough for some people, but to someone like this…it was hard. A ratio scale might be easy enough; two rocks are twice as many as one rock, and there is a meaningful zero. Temperature on the other hand was not a ratio scale; 50 degrees Fahrenheit is not twice as warm as 25 degrees, and 0 degrees meant nothing other than the temperature at which salt water froze. Celsius was a little easier, but only developed for the properties of water. Perhaps she could start someplace like that.

Healie could see the frustration in Amara’s face and couldn’t help but wonder what it was Amara was thinking about. She seemed so deep sometimes, so intense, as if she knew more, but knew that they wouldn’t be able to understand it. However, she was patient, and always willing to learn, and if Amara knew something she didn’t, she’d do her best to try to learn it.

“‘Temperature’ is a way of measuring how hot or cold it is. Just like the counting words; one is this many,” she explained, holding up one finger, “and two is this many, and so on. ‘Temperature’ is like that, counting words for how hot or cold it is.” She shrugged and scrunched her face, indicating that that was about the best she could do.

Something in the back of Healie’s mind tugged at her, and she had a very vague idea of what Amara was talking about. However, she understood Amara’s frustration; how can you put a number on something you can’t see, and if you could, how could you explain it to someone? She decided to let the subject drop; she didn’t want to frustrate the young woman any more.

“What’s going on out here?” Danug asked with a grin, peeking his head out of his tent.

“Oh, Danug, I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to talk so loudly,” Amara apologized in a weak whisper. She felt awful; this was the second person she had woken up.

Danug shook his head, “Don’t worry about it, I’m fine,” he commented. “Still a little restless from today.”

Healie cocked her head. “Today?” she asked.

“Seeing the Clan people,” Danug replied.

“Oh, yes…do you suppose we could talk with them?” Healie asked.

Danug shook his head. “I don’t know. Ayla said that all Clan people know the same language, but she said something about teaching us her Clan’s language. I’m not sure what she meant; maybe it’s like the difference between Mamutoi and Sungaea. But anyway, most Clan people don’t come near us, and even if they could, Latie and I don’t remember much, and we’ve developed our own signs for some of what Ayla wasn’t able to teach us. I doubt if we could communicate well, if at all.”

Amara nodded, a little disappointed. “That’s too bad. It’s odd seeing them, but I don’t understand why people wouldn’t want to call them humans. They are,” she said firmly.

Danug had no doubt that she knew more about the Clan’s humanity than anyone, even Ayla. He couldn’t have understood the concept of species very well, although he knew that certain animals had similar characteristics. Amara didn’t want to get into another discussion like the one she had just had; she found it difficult to wriggle around certain topics in ways to make them understand. It was easy for her; she had grown up with the knowledge, but they hadn’t. She knew that they were human, or at least a version of human, just like golden retrievers and collies were both dogs.

“Something did seem a little odd, though,” Amara commented, frowning. “There’s something that I saw…or something…that just didn’t seem right…but I can’t seem to place it.” She furrowed her brow and plopped her chin in her hands, trying to think.

“Something about the Clan today?” Danug asked, curious.

Amara nodded. “Um-hmm. I just can’t figure out what it was.”

The three sat in silence for a while, listening to the chorus of nocturnal insects, and shivering with the intermittent breezes.

“Well,” Healie said finally, “I think I am going to return to my furs and enjoy a good sleep tonight.”

“A good sleep?” Danug asked, brought out of his lull.

“Didn’t I tell you? Oh, no, you weren’t up then.” Healie smiled at him. “Tonight is the first night in a long time that my bones haven’t ached, even with the rain. It’s warmer out, and I think my body knows that it’s springtime.”

Danug patted her on the arm. “That’s wonderful, Healie!” He smiled to himself as she stood and went back to her tent. Similarly, this was the best he had felt in a long time. He looked at Amara and sighed. “I think I’ll go back to sleep as well,” he said.

She nodded and surprised herself with a yawn. “Wow, maybe I’ll be able to go to sleep now, too.” She smiled at him.

“Good night Amara,” Danug said, hugging her warmly.

“Good night,” she replied. She ducked back into her tent where Panec was sleeping soundly, snoring lightly. She smiled tenderly at him, removed her clothes, and crawled back into the furs. He mumbled something incoherent and turned over. She settled down with a sigh and closed her eyes. She knew it wouldn’t take long to go to sleep now. She still had something nagging at the back of her mind, but she put it aside to think about later.

She was almost asleep when the reason for the nagging came to her. It was the Clan woman; Neanderthals weren’t supposed to look like that. She opened her eyes and furrowed her brow, hoping that trying to figure out why Clan woman looked like she did wouldn’t keep her up all night.

The Neanderthal woman had blond hair.

“How could she have had yellow hair?” Latie asked. She was holding her tea cup in her hand, sitting on a log next to Amara, who was eating breakfast. “All Clan people have brown hair.”

Amara shook her head. “I don’t know, Latie, but I know that it was yellow. And it was a Clan woman,” she insisted. She knew that genetic variations, rather through reproductions or perhaps mutations, were the culprit, but naturally she couldn’t explain that to Latie. Perhaps this blond Clan woman had some Cro-Magnon in her, or maybe she received a recessive gene as a result of a mutation of some sort. But the fact remained that it was blond.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Latie asked, knowing that the wheels were spinning in her head.

Amara nodded. “A little. But I was up late thinking a lot, and that was after we talked.”

“‘We?’” Latie asked.

Amara nodded again as she took a sip of her tea. “Yes, I was up last night and made a little fire, and Healie woke up.” Amara chuckled to herself. “She said that I didn’t wake her; that she was awake because she wasn’t in any pain last night, and she was enjoying relaxing without pain.”

Latie smiled sweetly. “Oh, that’s wonderful; the winter was hard on her and I’m glad she was finally able to rest without pain. That’s a lot like what Mamut went through, he was in a lot of pain in the winter and thoroughly enjoyed himself when springtime came and the pain left.”

“Yes, so we were talking and I think we woke Danug, he came out and talked to us for a little while.”

“Wow, you guys had a regular Summer Meeting out there in the middle of the night,” Latie commented with a laugh. “Did you accomplish anything?”

“No,” Amara said. “Actually, I think I confused Healie; I said something in my language and tried to explain it to her, but it did no good.”

Latie grinned. “Did Danug understand?”

Amara shook her head. “No, he wasn’t awake then. But I think it was that conversation that actually woke him up.”

“Good morning,” Callie said as she sat down beside them. She had Rulec in a carrier so that he was firmly strapped to her front, able to nurse whenever he wanted, but allowing her hands to be free. “I am so hungry,” she commented.

“I can imagine, with that big boy nursing!” Latie laughed. “How has he been sleeping?”

“Perfectly,” Callie said, scooping some warmed-up leftovers from the previous evening’s meal onto a platter. “Lately he hasn’t been waking up much at night, and if so, it’s just because he’s hungry.” She laughed and shook her head, “I can feel how heavy he’s getting! He’s going to be as big as Radec some day, easily.” She beamed with pride as she spoke.

“Yes, he probably will be,” Amara said with a smile. She recalled the conversation she and Latie had had the other day and was wistful for just a moment, wanting an infant of her own.

“Radec said that we might stay here another day,” Callie remarked as she ate.

“Really?” Latie asked. “Even with the Clan so close?”

Callie nodded. “Yes. Danug was telling him this morning that Healie was feeling very well last night, and Radec wants her to be able to enjoy a good night’s sleep; she’s still sleeping, and so Radec decided to stay and let her get her rest. We could all use one,” she said.

“That’s true,” Amara nodded, “and what’s one more day? It certainly won’t hurt us.”

“So,” Callie continued after swallowing another bite, “I was wondering if you girls wouldn’t mind going with me to do some gathering. The first few shoots of spring are up, and after the rain yesterday there will probably be some more. We could use some more herbs to store in case someone gets sick, and some fresh greens would probably taste good tonight. Radec was thinking about going hunting.”

“We wouldn’t go too far away from the camp, I hope...” Latie started, but was interrupted as Bird bounced up to her lap and chirped. “Good morning!” she told the little creature cheerfully. Bird chirped a response that they had come to recognize as his request for food. Latie reached into a pouch she usually carried with her and put a small pile of grain on the ground for him. He tweeted happily and greedily began his breakfast.

“No, we’d stay close by. We wouldn’t want Healie to wake up and wonder where we are, and we don’t want any problems with the Clan people around.” Callie glanced down. “I know Ayla said that they are human, but I still don’t want to provoke anything.”

“I can’t disagree with you,” Amara commented. “Any time there are other people around you would want to be a little wary…things can always happen, even if they are unexpected.”

“Are you done, or do you want more?” Latie asked Bird. He stared at her, blankly. She shook her head and piled some more grain for him, which he promptly began eating. Then she looked up. “I’m finished eating, if we want to go here pretty soon.”

Callie nodded as she put her plate down. She felt significantly better after eating; she had been starving all night long, it seemed. “Okay, let me go tell Radec.”

“Oh, no, just something big enough for tonight. We don’t want to have to dry any meat,” Radec said in response to Lareno’s question about how big of an animal they wanted to hunt. “But Callie said she’s been a lot hungrier lately with Rulec eating so much, and we could all use a large meal tonight. The women already left to go gather some of the early spring greens.”

“Has Healie gotten up yet?” Danug asked.

Radec shook his head and beamed. “No, but I’m glad. That woman doesn’t get enough rest as it is. Besides, it’s still pretty early, and you said that you were up last night. There’s no telling how much later she was up, anyway.” He shielded his eyes and glanced at the sun. “Actually, I wouldn’t mind going to back to the furs myself. The sun isn’t bright enough yet.” He chuckled.

“Well, yes, me neither, except the women are already gone. Going back to bed in the morning isn’t as much fun without a woman,” Panec commented with a sly grin.

“That’s very true,” Lareno added. “In that case, let’s go hunt something. Maybe we can get it done quickly and get back and put it in a ground oven before the women finish their stuff. It would be a nice treat for them.”

“That it would, wouldn’t it?” Danug said with a nod. The men grabbed their spear-throwers and donned packs with waterbags and baskets, which they might or might not need, but it was better to be prepared.

“I think we’ve almost restored what we used as far as medicinal herbs go,” Latie said, putting a few roots in a small basket.

“Yes, I’m surprised we’ve found as much as we have. We must be about as far north as the southern Mamutoi camps; some of the plants actually look very similar,” Callie commented.

Amara scrunched her face, thinking of the geography. If the Mamutoi were where Moscow now was…or…where Moscow then was…or something…then perhaps they were at a similar latitude. She knew that they were well north of the source of the Great Mother River, and she had a vague idea of where that was. But without a map, she couldn’t know anything for sure. She was also surprised at how much she had learned since she had been there; it hadn’t been a year yet, there were still several months to go. But yet she knew several plants, and was developing an eye for those that might be medicinal in nature. At home, she had just taken a pill if she was in pain or had a runny nose. It was significantly different here. “Did you gather enough greens?” she asked, shaking her head about the geography.

Callie glanced at the large shallow basket she had been using to put various greens in. There weren’t enough to be stored and taken with them, but it would be a nice supplement to a meal that evening. “Yes, I think so. I guess we’d better try to head back to camp.”

Latie nodded and patted Rulec’s head; they had let him lie down on an old skin next to them while they sorted the plants they had gathered. He had been exceptionally well-behaved while they were out, only wanting to be held a couple of times, and only messing once. He looked at her with his bright baby eyes and giggled. She reached out her finger and he grabbed it with a squeal. She glanced up and saw Amara watching them, with the same longing in her eyes as Latie knew was in her own.

It was not unnoticed. Callie felt for them, and sent a silent prayer to the Mother to bless the two young women. They were so close to their destination, it wouldn’t be as difficult as her pregnancy had been. She picked Rulec up and held him to her as she wrapped her leather carrying strap around him. Amara and Latie arranged their baskets, rolled up the hide Rulec had been on, and they headed back towards the camp.

“It wasn’t really what we expected, but it will do,” Panec said with a laugh, glancing at Lareno.

“Yeah, thanks,” Lareno retorted with a scowl.

“Oh, come on, you have to admit it was funny,” Danug chuckled.

They hadn’t been able to find many four-legged animals, but they did come across several birds flocking around a small pond, and their trials with the spearthrowers actually brought several down. When Lareno went to retrieve his fowl, he had discovered that the bird had fallen into a tree. Summoning the others to hold his belongings, he started to climb the tree. About halfway up to the bird he discovered a bee hive, chock full of bees. Determined, he had shimmied up past, retrieved the bird, and tossed it down to the others. Danug yelled up that Latie had a weakness for honey, and so it was only logical that Lareno gather some honeycombs. Several bee stings later, he had gathered a few, but as he climbed down, the trauma to the beehive took effect and the entire thing went crashing down, hitting the ground before Lareno had made it all the way down. The others were able to run from it in time to avoid any stings, but naturally Lareno suffered several more.

“That’s what a woman will do to you,” Radec laughed.

“Well,” Lareno grumbled, “it had better make her happy, and she had better find something to make these feel better.” He grinned slightly as Panec shook his head at him; they knew full well that Latie could probably help him forget the uncomfortable bee stings.

By the time they made it back to the camp, the sun had reached its zenith, and the women were still gone. Radec glanced in at Healie and she still seemed to be asleep; it was dark enough in the tent that the sun couldn’t penetrate much, and he felt it would be best to just let her continue to sleep.

“Do we actually want to try to cook these?” he asked the other men as they unloaded their packs.

Panec shrugged. “Why not?”

The others agreed and they spent a few minutes plucking the birds. Danug dug a shallow pit in the ground and lined it with hot coals from the fire he had started upon their return. On top of that he put a layer of dirt, and then a layer of grain stalks. They couldn’t find much to stuff the birds with, but they figured that when the women returned, one of them might want to add something. By the time they had finished preparing the birds, they saw the three women walking towards the camp.

“Did you find anything?” Callie called.

“Birds!” Radec shouted back, proudly holding up a dead fowl.

“And something for Latie,” Panec added with an evil laugh.

“Oh!” Callie said, “Don’t put the birds in there yet! We found some greens, let me stuff the birds with them, that will add some flavor.” She handed Rulec to Latie, who was curious about what was found for her, and then sat down to stuff the birds. Amara unloaded her things as well as Callie’s, and then sat down to help her. It hardly took any time to finish them and place them in the ground oven, which they were very thankful for the men for digging.

“What happened to you?” Callie asked with a smirk when she saw Lareno. Behind him, Latie was happily gnawing on a honeycomb.

“I found a beehive,” Lareno replied, rolling his eyes.

“I see that,” Callie returned with a laugh. “Did you get enough for everyone?” She grinned at him.

Lareno sighed and shot a look at Panec and Radec to not laugh. “Yes, there’s enough, after we eat we can all have some.”

“But I see Latie already has a piece,” Callie mentioned. She knew Latie’s weakness for honeycomb and was enjoying this.

“Yes, yes, she has a piece, I did it for her,” he said. He had to smile in spite of himself.

“Is Healie awake yet?” Callie asked, shaking her head at the young man.

“No,” Radec replied, bouncing Rulec on his knee. Latie had handed Rulec to him while she unpacked her baskets and rearranged the herbs they had gathered, before Lareno gave her the honeycomb.

Callie frowned. “She’s still asleep?”

“Yeah, I don’t know how long she was up last night,” Danug commented. “We were just going to let her sleep.”

Callie nodded. “Okay…but let me go check on her.” She kissed Rulec’s head as she passed, and then ducked into Healie’s tent. Healie was still asleep. But Callie was a little bothered by how long she had been asleep. “Healie?” she whispered, reluctant to wake her, but wanting to ensure that she wasn’t sick or anything.

There was no response.

“Healie?” Callie asked again, a little louder. The drape was pulled back behind her all of a sudden and she glanced back to see Danug standing there, letting in a little light.

“Is she still asleep?” Danug asked. He had a strange feeling.

Callie nodded, then crawled over beside Healie. She reached out and shook Healie’s shoulder slightly. “Healie?” she asked again in a normal tone.

There was no response.

Callie heard Danug gasp behind her. She knew what he knew, but she refused to believe it. “Healie!” she cried as she shook the motherly old woman again. Tears started streaming down her cheeks as she leaned closer and called out her name again.

There was no sound, no movement, not even a slight rise and fall of Healie’s chest for a breath. And there was no heartbeat.

Although it had been meant to be a feast of sort, every bite was tasteless. They all ate in silence, which was only occasionally interrupted by a sigh or a sniffle. Even Bird was quiet; he ate his pile of grain beside Latie without a chirp, without a warble of any sort. It was as if he knew what was going on.

The silence was unbearable for all of them, yet no one wanted to break it. It seemed appropriate.

Callie’s cries when she had discovered that Healie had indeed passed away had brought everyone to the tent. Radec had stood silently, holding Rulec, with tears running down his cheeks. Amara and Panec, and likewise Latie and Lareno, had just held each other. Danug stood motionless as well, still holding the drape as he had when he had first entered. In the emptiness of the surrounding areas, Callie’s cries had broken an eternal silence, and it had been as if the Mother herself mourned.

Radec had handed Rulec to Amara, who hugged the infant tightly. He then pulled Callie up and beckoned Lareno to assist him. Slowly, they pulled Healie’s furs over her body, and herded everyone out. Each of them grieving, they sat around the fire in silence. Bird had brought to their attention that it was time for their meal, with a solitary chirp which itself seemed mournful. Going through the motions, they had finished the preparations for dinner, and Callie had solemnly pulled the birds out of the pit in the ground. Their stomachs responded, but their hearts did not, and now they ate in silence.

A whimper from Rulec searching for his mother’s breast broke the silence. Callie adjusted him in her arms and his whimper was soon quieted. Jolie and Ranug whinnied just a few feet away, munching on the grass. Bird took it as his cue to finally chirp, and Latie quickly scooped him up and cuddled him.

Taking it as a sign to move on, Radec began, “We need to dig a burial pit for her.”

“Yes,” Danug responded.

“Amara, can you and Latie get Healie’s things together and organize them? She will need them in the next life,” Radec continued.

The two young women nodded silently.

“Panec, I need you and Lareno to help me make some shovels. I don’t think there will be much mammoth bone around here as there is at home, but we will surely find something.”

The young men nodded as well, and Latie and Amara glanced at each other. They stood and quietly walked to Healie’s tent.

Amara pushed the drape aside, wondering to herself how long Healie had been dead. She was concerned momentarily that scavengers might be able to smell the scent of death and come to investigate. It was best to bury her quickly, although she didn’t know what Radec had meant by needing something in the next life. She knelt down beside Healie’s lifeless body and reached for a basket as Latie tied the drape aside to let light in. They knew that this would be difficult, especially with Healie laying right there beside them.

“What do we need to do?” Amara asked, barely audible.

Latie sighed and fought back tears. She knew that Amara probably didn’t know their customs that dealt with death. “We need to get the things that she will need in the next world, and bury them with her. We have to organize them so that she will know what tools are what.”

Amara nodded and slowly emptied the contents of one basket. Clothes. The top outfit, like the one Healie had on, was for traveling, grimy and dirty. Another one below that had been the one she had worn while they were at the Losadunai and the Sharamudoi, much nicer than a traveling outfit. Below that was a leather package tied tightly with a thong. Amara frowned and untied it, then gasped. It was a beautiful white outfit, as beautiful as any she had ever seen here. She motioned to Latie, who glanced over and gasped as well.

“That looks like something Crozie could have made!” Latie exclaimed. Seeing Amara’s confused look, she continued, “Crozie was a member of the Lion Camp, the Hearth of the Crane. Only members of the Crane Hearth knew how to make leather white, and it was a rare thing. She very rarely made anything white, especially as she grew older. She did teach Ayla how to make it, though,” Latie added inwardly.

Amara nodded. They had bleach in her time. Here she wasn’t sure what they could have used, but it must have been a precious commodity to have something white. “What do you suppose she wore it for?”

Latie smiled. “Something very special. I would imagine that she would have worn it to our Matrimonials.”

Amara was about to comment that it would almost be a waste to bury this with her, but she stopped herself before she did so, and then was angry with herself. These people didn’t know that just because you are buried with something didn’t mean that those items went with that person, wherever the person went. She glanced around at the basket of utensils and tools that Latie was organizing and sighed. All these years of work would probably be buried with Healie. It was symbolic, nothing further. She wrapped the beautiful outfit in the leather hide and put the clothes in a pile. “Are there just these?” she asked, gesturing to the few baskets Healie had in her possession.

Latie looked around and nodded. She reached for another basket as she saw Amara reach for yet another, then she suddenly realized that Amara’s Matrimonial tunic was being stored in one of these baskets. “Amara, can I see what’s in that basket first?” she asked, not wanting to clue her in. Amara nodded and handed it to her. Latie opened the lid and peeked inside. She was glad she had asked to look at it; this was the basket. She handed the other basket to Amara and stood. “This is something of Callie’s that I need to give to her; Healie was just putting it with her things.”

Amara nodded as Latie left, then she opened the basket Latie had given her. There were several small pouches in it. She untied the thong of one and smiled; it was a small sewing kit. Another pouch held several ivory beads, porcupine quills, all sorts of small items that could be used for decoration. Yet another one held chunks of dirt and mud, that could be used in dyeing clothes. Several shades of red and brown, even a couple of yellow. There was a chunk that was almost black as well. Another pouch contained dried flowers, no doubt to be used for other shades of dye. At the bottom of the basket was a wooden bowl, shallow and heavy. Amara lifted the lid and furrowed her brow. Of course, it was fat, to be used in the dyeing process as well. She glanced around at the several pouches and sighed. How much had Healie planned to do?

The last basket held several hides, folded neatly. Most of them had come from different animals, and Amara assumed that these hides would be used to make clothes, dyed to a certain color, and decorated with the beads and other pretty things. She sighed again. Healie must have loved to make clothes. She wondered fleetingly how many outfits Healie had made throughout her lifetime, appreciating the difficulty with which they were made. She was used to going to the store and buying whatever she needed; here it was different, clothes had to be made. And not even just that…the animals that provided the hides had to be killed and skinned and cleaned. It was a long process.

A thought came to her that perhaps she might make some clothes of her own, but using a different technique. Hardly any clothes where she came from were made with animal skins any longer; they were all woven out of fibers. Perhaps she could try. Her thoughts were interrupted as Latie returned and sat beside her.

“Oh, my, that’s a lot of sewing materials,” Latie commented.

Amara nodded, glancing around. “Latie,” she began, clearing her throat, “how does this work? Does everything get buried with her?”

Latie shook her head. “Not necessarily. We will probably put all of her clothes in her grave, and several utensils and tools. We’ll probably add a bunch of this sewing stuff, to remind her in the next life of what she loved to do in this life, but a lot of this can be used again to make beautiful clothes, just as Healie would have, so Callie will probably want to keep some of it, anyway, in memory of Healie. I wouldn’t mind keeping some myself.”

Amara nodded, feeling a little better. All the time spent making those beads, choosing the flowers and hides, it was hard to imagine such dedication. But then again, this was Healie, the woman who had almost replaced her mother; even in the short time she had known her.

It was then that the feelings overcame her, and the tears started spilling down her cheeks. She put her head in her hands as her body shook with sobs. Latie looked at her, feeling the overwhelming sorrow as well, and did not try to stop her tears. She reached out and held the other young woman whom she had come to know and love.

Digging, even in the evening, made them all break into a sweat, and the sun had just set when they were finally done. They didn’t really feel like walking down to the stream, but they knew they had to clean themselves off. Tomorrow they would bury Healie’s body.

Radec, Panec, Lareno, and Danug made their way down to the stream and waded in, clothes and all. The water was clear and cold; far enough away from the glacier to no longer be the milky white color of glacial runoff. They washed off in silence, exhausted from digging all evening, and mentally and emotionally drained. It would be a difficult night for them all.

They returned to their camp in silence, cold from the stream. The women were sitting around the fire, staring, not saying anything, hardly moving. Bird stood in Latie’s lap, motionless as well.

“We had probably all better get to sleep,” Radec suggested. No one nodded, but Callie stood and quietly took Rulec to their tent. Radec followed her solemnly.

“Are you tired?” Lareno asked Latie quietly. She nodded and sighed. She and Amara had cried together for a while, grieving together at their loss. Lareno put his arms around Latie’s shoulders and led her into their tent.

Panec did likewise, knowing that Amara was upset, but extremely upset himself. Healie had been like his mother, the entire Journey. They had a bond between them that stemmed back years, before anyone in their traveling group had even known much about them. He, too, knew that he wouldn’t sleep well that night.

Bird bounced over to Danug, who sat with his chin in his hands, staring into the fire. Bird bounced onto his knee and chirped quietly, sensing the distress of his family. Danug absently petted the small creature, not knowing what to do. He and Healie had grown close during this Journey. When everyone had someone else, he had always felt that Healie shared his loneliness. He sat up quickly, all of a sudden grouping everything together in his mind.

He had known that something would happen. Healie had told him as much. Healie had told him, during their long talks, that she was ready to join her mate. But the inevitable thing that he knew would happen…he hadn’t really expected this, even though the signs had been there all along. He sighed, yelling at himself for not seeing this sooner. He cupped Bird in his hand and went to his tent. He undressed in the dying light of the fire outside and then snuggled into his furs. There had been something else at the back of his mind, and he knew that he should have seen it before. He felt awful, but he knew that there had been nothing he could have done to change anything. He suddenly knew who else, besides Ayla, had been talking to him in his visions. He laughed aloud, sarcastically, at his realization. He hadn’t known Healie’s mate, but he knew that their love had been strong. He laughed again, then smiled to himself and nodded. This was the way it was supposed to be…it was supposed to happen. His mind brought him back to the time he had spent with Losaduna. He finally knew exactly who had spoken to him, and exactly whom they had spoken about.

“What do you see, Danug?” Losaduna asked calmly. He was trying to get the young man to meditate, but for some reason, Danug kept pushing the visions away. He had finally resorted to making a soothing drink for him, so that he could relax and let the Mother show him what She wanted to reveal.

Danug’s face was twisted in a frown. “I’m not sure,” he replied, trying to concentrate, and then he opened his eyes. He sighed loudly and threw a handful of dust towards the fire in frustration. Bird chirped angrily at him, and Danug smiled apologetically to the small animal. “I just don’t understand, Losaduna! Why can’t I do it? What’s wrong with me?”

Losaduna smiled gently at the young man. “It just takes time and patience, my friend.” He paused and glanced into the fire. He kept receiving these images of…something…but he couldn’t figure out what it was. It was as if he was being told something, but that he couldn’t understand the language. He felt that whatever it was, it was urgent, and he had hoped that Danug could maybe see something that he himself couldn’t. “Would you like to try again?” he asked.

Danug looked into the fire as Losaduna had done. He, too, felt something gnawing at the back of his mind, but like Losaduna, he couldn’t quite reach it…although he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to reach it. What was it? Curiosity began to overcome his fear. He took a deep breath and stared into the fire as he began to concentrate on the vision that was just beyond his grasp. He could hear whispers deep inside himself, and as it had done countless times before, a vision started to form behind his eyes. He concentrated with all his might, but he could not bring the picture into focus. He could only hear an unfamiliar male voice calling out to someone.

“I miss you, my love. It’s been too long.”

Carefully, Healie’s body was lowered into the grave, with some of her belongings were scattered around her. They had dressed her in the beautiful white outfit that she had brought with her, and they painted parts of her body in the sacred symbols required for a proper Mamutoi burial. Dressing her had been difficult, and hard to bear, but it had to be done. They were all sad that none of her relatives could be present, but the Mother had called for Healie when She wanted her, and nothing could be done about it.

“Oh, Mut, Mother of All, please accept Healie into your care,” Radec said with a few motions. He had monologued most of the ceremony already, and he finished it as her body was placed in the grave. A tear fell out of his right eye and he added, “We will miss you, Healie. We hope that your Journey to your mate is a good one.” He then picked up a rock from the pile the younger members of their group had collected and placed it above Healie’s heart. The others followed in suite until her body was covered. Then carefully, ritually, they filled the grave with dirt. After the grave was level, rocks were piled above it to symbolize that it was a grave and that it was not to be disturbed.

After the last rock was placed on the pile, they stood around the grave silently. The clouds had gathered again into a dreary overcast sky, fitting the mood of the travelers. As they stood, the first few drops of rain began to fall, symbolizing their tears, but in a much larger sense. Healie had been their mother, filling in for the ones left behind. Now, a great emptiness was left in their hearts.

Amara wiped a tear from her eye as the drizzle continued. She glanced up at the stratiform clouds and sighed. Perhaps this was the way it was supposed to be. As she looked down, something caught her eye, and she glanced to the edge of the wooded area. Forgetting the sadness of the moment, she gasped and caught her breath. “Radec, there they are,” she whispered.

Radec glanced over at where she nodded. The others did likewise. Standing there were two Neanderthal men and a woman. The first thing he noticed was that the woman had blond hair. “Should we do anything?” he asked no one in particular.

Callie instinctively clutched Rulec close to her as the Neanderthal man in front started approaching them. They all observed him as he walked, slowly, carefully, not wanting to seem threatening. He stopped about twenty yards away from them and made a gesture. Then in a deep guttural voice he said, “Guban,” as he tapped his chest.

Radec immediately understood. The man had communicated his name to them. Radec repeated Guban’s name and then tapped his own chest and spoke his name clearly. Guban repeated Radec’s name. Radec then pointed to each of the members of the group, saying their names. Guban struggled to repeat them, but managed well enough. Then Guban gestured to the ground.

Radec looked at the grave and said sadly, “Healie.” Then he shook his head and made a gesture up to the sky. Guban nodded with comprehension.

Danug stepped forward tentatively. He was trying to remember the signs Ayla had taught them, and he hoped Guban would understand. “I greet you, Guban,” Danug gestured, saying his name aloud.

Guban nodded, surprised that they knew how to speak, just as Dyondar had. He understood well enough to know that he had been formally greeted. He also understood that these people were Others, but they knew a variation of the Clan language. He returned the greeting in his own dialect.

Danug shook his head; he couldn’t see the similarity in the languages, but he wanted to communicate. He was surprised that this man had approached them, especially if he had been watching their burial.

Guban nodded, understanding that this man of the Others did not understand what he had just spoken. It was just as well. They were still Others, and for the most part, it was difficult to trust them. It had taken a tremendous amount of will on his part to approach them, but when Yorga had returned to their camp and spoke of horses with these people, he immediately thought of the two who had saved him. He was curious and with his status he could justify his curiosity. He had had Yorga direct him and their Mogur to where the Others were, and they had observed the burial. He felt sorrow for their loss, as much as a Clan man could. He didn’t know if they would understand anything else, but he could try. He gestured again towards the grave and made a slow, thoughtful, purposeful gesture.

Danug furrowed his brow and looked back at Latie. Latie nodded and repeated their version of the symbol. Danug nodded and smiled in gratitude. This Clan man had just conveyed a thoughtfulness and understanding that until recently no one had believed they possessed. Danug nodded to Guban and repeated the signs Latie had just done.

Guban grunted, pleased. Although it was unbecoming of a Clan man, he felt he had to show respect. Slowly, he picked up a rock at his feet and gestured again towards the grave. Radec nodded solemnly and watched as Guban walked over and carefully placed the rock on the pile for Healie’s grave. He turned to Radec again, and used the version of the signal that Danug and Latie had used. “Walk with Ursus,” he signed. With that, he returned to the two other Clan members waiting for him, and they disappeared into the woods.

“What did he say?” Callie asked, breaking the silence.

“He said ‘walk with Ursus,’” Danug responded, still in awe of what just transpired.

“What is ‘Ursus?’” she asked hesitantly.

“Ursus is the Cave Bear, from what Ayla told us. For him to say that shows a great deal of respect, like us saying ‘go with the Mother’ or something like that,” Latie offered.

Callie nodded and was quiet.

They all watched the woods into which the two Clan men and woman had disappeared, all oddly hoping that they would return. When they did not, Radec finally turned to the group. “Can we leave in the morning?” he asked.

He was answered with nods of agreement. “All right. Let’s warm up some food and get to bed then.”

Without so much as a word, the rest of the group returned to where they were camped. Callie laid Rulec down on the hide she had been using for him, and then she half-filled a medium-sized basket with water. Into the basket she put the rest of the greens that had not been used the night before, and she and Amara and Latie cut the leftover fowl into bite-sized pieces and added it. There was still a little honey left over; it hadn’t been as enjoyable as they had hoped. They added that, some grains, and then herbs to spice it. Callie carefully dropped hot rocks into the soup mixture, and before too long they had it boiling. She added a few more items to it, tasting it intermittently, and then nodded to Latie and Amara when it tasted right. They helped her spoon it into bowls for their meal.

“This is very good, Callie,” Lareno commented as he took the first bite of his stew. It was nothing special, just stew, but he felt he had to say something.

“Thank you,” Callie replied.

The silence was unbearable. Even Bird could feel it. On an impulse, the little creature hopped up on the log that Latie and Amara were sharing, and he broke into a melancholy melody. They all stopped eating to listen, chills running up and down their spines. His song seemed appropriate, and without knowing it, the little bird mourned for them all.

“Does anything else need to be cleaned?” Amara asked as she and Latie returned from the river. None of them had slept well that night, and most of them were up before dawn. They all went down to the river to wash, as they felt it would do them good. After they washed, Latie and Amara had taken dishes and other items down to the river to wash them, and they had just returned from their second trip.

“No, I don’t think so,” Callie replied. “We can put the baskets and packs in the cart, and then spread out these wet hides over them as we travel. That will help them dry, unless it starts raining.” The drizzle had continued through the night and showed no signs of letting up.

Amara nodded and she and Latie spread the wet hides and clothes out over the baskets and other items that the men had loaded in the cart. There was significantly more room – although the reason was sad – so much that all but two packs could be stored in the cart as they traveled, which might increase their traveling speed. For now, Panec and Danug decided to carry their own packs, and the members of the group would switch off as they traveled.

“Is that everything?” Radec said as he checked to make sure the horses were secured.

“I think so,” Latie replied, looking around the camp.

Callie nodded her affirmation as she tied Rulec around her, settling him in the carrying hide that she had been using.

“I guess that’s it, then,” Lareno commented. He smiled tenderly at Latie.

“All right,” Radec replied.

They started off, but before they were out of sight of where they had camped, Radec stopped and turned around. He sighed as he looked at Healie’s grave. His heart wrenched as he realized that they were leaving her for good. “Good bye, Healie. We’ll miss you more than you will ever know.”

He turned around and they started on their way again. As they rounded the top of the hill, Danug smiled to himself. “Oh, yes, she knows,” he said under his breath. Perhaps Serving the Mother might not be so bad in the future.

Things were different without Healie. She had usually been so quiet, but it was amazing how much life she had brought to the Journey, and now they missed it. They traveled gloomily, with an aura of sadness around all of them. Bird even noticed it. He knew that there was something wrong. He had often gone to Healie for solace, and for some reason she was no longer there. He was aware of her absence, but didn’t understand why. The poor little bird seemed heartbroken, as did the rest of the camp.

Bird’s actions hit home for Amara. She missed her pets, and she wondered if they ever wondered where she was. She had always believed that they could think and feel just as she could, but in a different sense. Did they miss her? Or had they forgotten her by now? Her mind wondered often to that subject, which quickly made her think of the plight of animals in her world. This place was refreshing, she thought…no stray dogs or cats that no one wanted, no mistreated animals, no need for animal shelters or animal control. But she knew she’d never forget that those situations did indeed exist in her previous life.

Their own dog had been a stray. She and Jacob had found the retriever/collie mix as a puppy, cold and hungry in a ditch, after school one day when she was about 11. It had been raining that day, but for some reason, they had chosen to walk to the local elementary school, where their mom was volunteering for some odd job, rather than taking the bus home. The puppy’s whines had been barely audible, but loud enough for them to hear. They couldn’t leave him. Jacob put Amara’s books in his backpack, and Amara put the puppy in hers, wearing it in front of her, holding it to keep him warm and secure. Their parents hadn’t wanted a dog, but they got one nonetheless, and none of them could bear to take the dog into the local humane shelter and risk the possibility of euthanasia in the puppy’s near future. Taz, as they had called him, after the cartoon character that he seemed to so closely mimic as he grew older, was about five when she left. Unbidden tears came at the thought, as she realized that he would probably never understand why she was no longer there. She was afraid that he felt betrayed, and she cried at the thought of the forlorn look in his eyes that she could picture in her mind. She had always had a soft heart for animals, and it hurt her even more that she knew that Taz could never really understand why she wasn’t there.

Bird was a comfort. It was difficult to try to explain her feelings to Panec or Danug. Danug did understand the concept of a pet, but not nearly in the sense that she was raised with. But hearing of Wolf made her feel better, and she was anxious to arrive at the Zelandonii caves.

They continued traveling southwest, away from the glacier. Finding the way to go would be significantly more difficult without the large river or glacier nearby, but they knew it was west of the glacier. Their only choice was to continue in that direction, and hope for the best.

They soon left the cold wind of the glacier to their east. They camped along a small river and while Callie, Latie, and Amara set up camp, the men decided to go hunting. They hadn’t had fresh meat for several days; rather, they had been sustaining on dried meat from their last hunt. They were all in need of a break in the traveling, and Radec figured it would do them good to hunt and see the countryside in a little more detail.

“Amara, can you get some water?” Callie asked as she struggled with the tent. Amara stepped over and helped her hold the leather hide as Callie pounded in the makeshift stake. “Thank you,” Callie added as Amara grabbed the waterbags.

Amara grinned at her, tickled Rulec who was lying on his hide in the grass, and skipped down to the river. The water was nice and clear and she was tempted to go for a swim, but she knew it was probably still cold, and didn’t want to risk it without someone else knowing that she was going to swim. She walked up and down the bank a few times, trying to decide what would be the best way down, and finally decided on a small path between two clusters of trees that was less steep.

She lowered herself down and made a note to herself that it was muddy closer to the river. She’d have to find a drier area. She walked along the river, stepping carefully, not really paying attention to anything. It was something small that caught her eye, but it made her drop all the bags and gasp. There were footprints in the mud!

She glanced around quickly to see if there was anyone nearby, and seeing no one, she quickly filled up the bags, then followed the steps to determine their origin. Downstream the river bed widened, and the banks weren’t nearly as steep. She scowled to herself, sarcastically thinking that they should have gone just a few hundred yards further. The footsteps led up the bank, and then disappeared as the ground dried. She wondered what she should do; the water bags were getting heavy, but finding people would be a welcome change; the last people they had socialized with were the Losadunai, and that was a couple of moons ago. How much had happened since then? She stopped to ponder for a second, then brought herself back to the situation at hand. She decided that it probably wouldn’t be a very smart move to try to find these people by herself. She hoped that they were friendly, but she knew that not everyone could be trusted, and she had nothing with which to defend herself…just the waterbags. She sighed, but she knew that once the men arrived back at their camp that they could easily come back and try to find these people.

She turned around and started walking back down to the river, then changed her mind, realizing that it would be easier to walk along the steep bank than along the river, as muddy as it was down there. She stopped suddenly, having a strange feeling that she was being watched, but a scan of her surroundings revealed nothing. She felt the gooseflesh rise on her arms and legs, and quickly made her way back to their camp.

“Amara, is everything all right?” Latie asked. “You were gone a long time!”

“I saw footprints!” she said breathlessly, but excitedly.

Callie stood up immediately. “Footprints? Human footprints?”

Amara nodded fervently. “Yes, not bare feet, but with some sort of foot covering on. But they were human!”

Callie frowned. It was obvious she was a little nervous; three women with an infant couldn’t do much if these people turned out to not be friendly, and she wished the men would return soon. “Did you see anyone?” she asked hesitantly.

Amara shook her head. “No, I didn’t see anyone…but…” she paused and glanced around, “but I wouldn’t be surprised if they saw me. I think someone was watching me.” As soon as she said it, she knew that that was the wrong thing to say to Callie. She worried easily, and especially with Rulec still so small, the news concerned her.

As if on cue, Latie pointed in the distance, where Radec, Panec, Danug, and Lareno were returning as they spoke. They had a deer tied to poles, carried between them, one man on each corner, obviously very pleased that their hunt was successful.

“Look what we brought!” Radec boomed as they neared. “How would we like some deer tonight?” he asked. They dropped the deer on the ground as they walking into their camp, and he hugged Callie tightly. Then he glanced around. “Is anything wrong?” he asked, slightly alarmed at her demeanor.

“I saw footprints, human footprints,” Amara said.

“Oh?” Radec asked, intrigued. He beamed with delight. “That’s wonderful! Did you see any of the people?”

Amara shook her head.

Radec nodded. “Okay, let’s get some fires built around this meat so that no predators are attracted. We might as well try to find these people...there’s still a lot of sunlight left in the day.”

Callie frowned; she was always hesitant about meeting new people, but at least Radec was back. They quickly gathered materials and started fires to protect the meat and their camp. Latie secured the horses, although she wasn’t worried about them wandering away.

“Where did you see the footprints, Amara?” Radec asked.

Amara led them all down to the riverside where the footprints were still visible. It was fairly obvious they were a man’s footprints, but that didn’t tell them anything about the friendliness of the man who left them. When the riverbed widened, Amara showed them how the footprints led up the shallow incline of the bank, and then disappeared into the grass.

“You didn’t see anything else on your way back to the camp, did you?” Radec asked. Amara shook her head. “Then let’s keep going in this direction; I can’t imagine that you walked by a cave and didn’t notice.”

“Oh, I would have noticed…I kept looking around. I had a feeling that someone was watching me,” she admitted again.

Radec nodded. They continued in silence for a while. The river curved up ahead, and just for safety’s sake he readied a spear in his spear-thrower. He made a motion for the other men to not follow his actions, but to be ready just in case; he didn’t want them to seem threatening to people who might actually live in the area.

They rounded the bend of the river. Radec stopped and his jaw dropped. He lowered his spear-thrower quickly, still surprised at what he saw.

Without thinking, Danug automatically burst out, in Zelandonii, “Jondalar?”

The tall blond man spun around and looked closely at them. Danug and Latie both studied him, confused for a minute, then disappointed. They looked similar, but unless Jondalar had aged significantly in the few short years since they had seen him, this was not Jondalar. Danug sighed in disappointment. “I’m sorry, I mistook you for someone I know,” Danug said in Zelandonii.

The blond man smiled at them, then approached them with his arms outstretched. “If you know Jondalar, then you are friends of mine,” he said, stopping in front of Radec. “I am Dalanar of the Lanzadonii,” he introduced himself.

Radec grinned and took Dalanar’s hands in his own. “I greet, Dalanar of the Lanzadonii. I am Radec of the Mamutoi,” he replied in slightly broken Zelandonii. “You know Jondalar”

“Mamutoi!” Dalanar broke in. “I don’t suppose you knew Ayla of the Mamutoi?” he asked enthusiastically.

All of the members of the traveling group smiled exuberantly at each other. “Yes, we know her!” Latie burst. “Do you know Jondalar?”

Dalanar smiled, and the man who looked so much like the son of his hearth replied, “Jondalar was born to my hearth when I was mated to Marthona. We severed the knot not long after, and I founded the Lanzadonii after I met Jerika.”

His simple explanation was all they needed. Radec pointed to each member of his group, introducing them to him. He introduced Amara as Mamutoi as well, although Dalanar could have sworn that was not. He decided to put the thought aside for later. “Will you come with me to the First Cave of the Lanzadonii? I know everyone would be happy to have visitors, especially if you knew Jondalar and Ayla,” he added.

Radec smiled, grateful for the offer. It would be good to stop traveling for a while. “We have set up came downstream,” he began.

“That’s all right; I was just out to get away from the cave while I worked some flint – the cave isn’t far away. I can go with you to your camp, and then you can just follow me back to our cave,” Dalanar offered.

“You look so much like Jondalar,” Latie said, almost a whisper.

Dalanar laughed heartily. “That’s not the first time I’ve heard that!” he said with a grin.

They quickly returned to their camp, and it was then that they remembered the kill from earlier that morning. Their fires were still burning well, but they would have to pack the meat up quickly.

“You have horses!” Dalanar exclaimed. He also noticed the cart, but unsure as to what it was, he decided to wait and ask about that later. They had seen all of Ayla’s discoveries and inventions; maybe the Mamutoi were inventive people in general.

Latie beamed widely. “Yes. Their names are Jolie and Ranug,” she said, pointing them out.

Dalanar shook his head. If he had not believed that they knew Ayla and Jondalar before, he certainly believed them now. Callie handed him a few baskets and he assisted Radec in gathering up the meat. It took them little time to pack everything away; they hadn’t been unpacked for long. They were all bursting with excitement, hardly able to believe that they were almost at their destination.

Dalanar led the group to his cave. Someone had obviously seen him coming with visitors, as almost every member of the cave was standing outside, watching and waiting for them all. Latie was grateful that they were already used to horses; she had always been worried about what might happen to them. Dalanar walked up to a short woman, kissed her quickly, and then ushered her over to the Mamutoi group. “Jerika of the Lanzadonii, I would like you to meet Radec of the Mamutoi,” he said with a grin.

They immediately noticed her facial features. Although the Mamutoi were further east, halfway across the continent almost, none of them had actually ever seen someone with slanting eyes, although others had. They were fascinated.

“Mamutoi!” she exclaimed, forgetting her position. She blushed, and then extended her arms. “I greet you, Radec of the Mamutoi,” she said. They passed around the formal introductions quickly, as it was obvious that the people of the cave were anxious to meet the visitors. “Please, come inside, get comfortable. Is there anything you need?”

“Would you happen to have anything for a baby? I’m afraid Rulec just soiled this piece of leather, and his others are dirty and I’ve yet to find the time to wash them out,” Callie commented.

A slight shadow passed over Jerika’s face, but she composed herself quickly. “Yes, we do. Please, come inside,” she said, gesturing for them to follow her.

Latie glanced at Danug, and he understood that she wanted him to take care of the horses. They quickly unloaded their belongings and took them inside. Danug spoke quickly to Dalanar, who in turn reminded everyone to not bother the horses. Danug pounded the two stakes into the ground that they used to tie the horses to, and they contented themselves with eating the grass; they didn’t mind people at all. He then followed the rest of them inside.

Jerika had shown them to a large hearth that was used for visitors. There were four bed platforms within the boundaries of the hearth, just enough for their group. They organized their belongings quickly, and then Jerika gestured to Callie. “Come with me, I will get you dressings for your baby,” she offered.

Callie picked up her son and followed Jerika out of the guest hearth and into another one. A young woman, a few years older than Latie and Amara, lay on a bed. She was about six months pregnant, a little pale, but beautiful. “How are you feeling today, Joplaya?” she asked, concerned about the young woman.

Joplaya shifted in the bed. “My back hurts a little, but other than that I’m fine.” She smiled at Callie – she had heard the commotion and knew that there was something going on. “Hello,” she said brightly, trying to adjust to greet the visitor.

“Oh, please don’t worry,” Callie said apologetically. “I am Callie of the Mamutoi,” she said, leaning over to greet the woman.

“Do you know Ayla?” Joplaya asked, her eyes widening.

Callie smiled. “I knew of her, but I didn’t know her very well. Danug and Latie, who are traveling with us, knew her very well,” she answered.

“Joplaya, do you have any leather that Callie can borrow? She doesn’t have any clean dressings for her baby,” Jerika asked.

Joplaya smiled, although Callie could see sadness in her eyes. “Yes, they’re over there,” she said, pointing to a basket in the corner.

“It was very nice to meet you,” Callie said with a warm smile.

Joplaya smiled and nodded in return, then lied back down. Jerika led Callie out of the hearth and sighed. “I’m sorry, Callie. Let me explain,” she said, patting a rock that served as a bench. “This is Joplaya’s third pregnancy,” she said with a frown, then sighed. “She’s got such high spirits about this one, but she had high spirits about the last two.”

Callie frowned, feeling awful for the woman. “I’m sorry, Jerika. Joplaya is your daughter?” she asked.

Jerika nodded. “She carried the second one almost all the way, and we thought that she would be fine. But it took her too long to deliver the baby – I think the head is too big for her. We almost lost her as well. We had to send a runner to Ayla when she started having the bad back pains, which was several days before her labor actually began, and Ayla got here in time for the delivery…but I’m just grateful that Ayla was able to save Joplaya’s life. I don’t think she can have children,” she confessed. She knew she was pouring her heart out to a stranger, but for some reason, it felt right.

“I am so sorry,” Callie said. “If there’s anything we can do…”

Jerika smiled and shook her head. “All we can do is be positive for Joplaya. I don’t know why she keeps asking Doni to bless her; the further the pregnancy progresses, the harder it is on her. I’m afraid that if she keeps trying, she will lose her own life doing so.” A solitary tear ran down her cheek.

Callie embraced the older woman with sympathy. “We will be positive for her. She’ll have all happy thoughts from us,” she promised.

Jerika stood and sighed. “We need to start preparations,” she said with a smile. “I think we need to have a feast tonight.”

“Our men had just returned from a small hunt before we came here, so we have fresh deer meat,” Callie offered.

Jerika grinned. “That would be a welcome change. In return we will give you all the traveling food you need. I assume you are going to the Zelandonii…” Callie nodded in reply. “Good, then we will provide you with anything you need for the rest of your Journey. But for now you can relax in the comfort of our cave,” she offered.

Rulec started squirming, uncomfortable in the soiled leather, and searching for a breast. He let out a loud cry of his frustration to let his mother know of his situation. Callie excused herself and returned to the hearth that they had been told they could stay in.

“Did you get what you need, Callie?” Latie asked.

Callie nodded, still feeling badly for Joplaya.

“What’s wrong?” Amara asked.

Callie frowned, and then told them what Jerika had told her about Joplaya’s predicament. Amara could almost relate, having suffered a miscarriage herself. “You said that Jerika thinks the baby’s head is too big?” Amara asked.

Callie nodded. “But Joplaya looks like a healthy woman, and I can’t believe that a baby’s head would be too big for her; she looks like her hips would allow most anything.” She was slightly confused, but Mut made the decisions.

There was a slight scratching of the hide, and Callie quickly pulled it aside. She had to stop herself from grimacing at what she saw. She had never seen anyone so ugly in her life, but she quickly remembered that they were visitors, and this man lived there.

The man smiled, and she wasn’t sure if he had seen her reaction or not. “I am Echozar of the Lanzadonii,” he said, reaching his arms out in greeting. “I have met your men, but I haven’t met any of you yet,” he continued.

Callie smiled, keeping herself in check. She extended her arms as well. “I greet you, Echozar of the Lanzadonii. I am Callie of the Mamutoi. And this is Amara and Latie,” she said, gesturing to the two young women. She was aghast, and a little miffed, at the look of amazement on Latie’s face. She didn’t want this man to think that they thought badly of him.

Echozar smiled, knowing what Callie was thinking. “It’s all right,” he said with a soft smile. “I’m sure you’ve never seen anyone like me,” he said.

Latie nodded emphatically. “But I have! You could be Rydag!” she exclaimed.

Callie looked closer, and now that Latie had mentioned the Clan boy, she remembered that she had indeed seen someone like Echozar before.

Echozar cocked his head. “Rydag?” he asked.

“Rydag was my brother…” she began, then stopped. “He wasn’t really my brother; my mother adopted him, but he couldn’t speak. His mother was Clan, and died giving birth to him. My mother couldn’t bear to let him die, so she kept him.”

Echozar couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Did Ayla mention something like that? He couldn’t remember. She had told him about her son, but he didn’t think she had mentioned this boy to her. “Rydag?” he asked again, feeling a warmth. “Someone else of the Others took a Clan person in?” Latie nodded. “Where is he?”

Latie bowed her head. “He died, just before Ayla left us.”

On an impulse, Echozar reached out and hugged the young woman. Callie and Amara both smiled, knowing that the two of them shared each other’s grief. “What happened to him?” he asked after they finished their embrace.

“He had a weak heart…that’s what Ayla said, anyway,” Latie replied.

Echozar frowned. He had been worried for a while about the overall health of children that were part Clan and part Others. He himself had never had a problem, and Ayla had said that Durc was strong, but with Joplaya’s history, he wondered.

“But he was happy after Ayla came. She taught him how to speak with hands,” Latie continued.

“He couldn’t talk?” Echozar asked.

Latie shook her head. Amara was listening to everything and thinking, and all of a sudden wondered if maybe he was the father of Joplaya’s child. “Are you mated to Joplaya?” she asked.

Echozar was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, have you met her?” he asked.

Amara shook her head. “No, but Callie has,” she replied. He beamed with pride for his beautiful mate, and Amara realized that she probably knew what the problem was. These people didn’t realize the concept of fathers. Echozar was the father of this child, and he himself was a mixture of different species. She sighed to herself, wondering if Joplaya would ever be able to have children.

“We should probably go help Jerika,” Callie commented, changing the subject. “If they’re going to have a feast tonight, we might as well make something to add to it.”

The Lanzadonii and their guests sat back comfortably after the huge meal. It was good for all of them, as spring had broken the back of winter. While Jerika and many of the women of the Lanzadonii had prepared the deer meat, Amara and Latie and Callie had made the version of bread that they had discovered at the Losadunai, using the yeast from the foam of a fermented beverage to leaven the bread. Callie and Latie were still learning the whole process, while Amara, having made bread before with her mother, was used to the concept. They used a variety of grains with some dried fruit and a little of the honey that the Lanzadonii had. After mixing the dough, they had prepared to place it on rocks to cook, but then Jerika had shown them the most interesting cooking utensil Amara had seen since she had been home. Dalanar had taken several large rocks and with determination and lots of time, he had carved out the center of the rocks so that they would become almost like a baking pot or pan. Jerika used them often for soups and the like, placing the rocks directly into the fire, and when she had shown them to Amara, Amara had jumped at the opportunity, and the cakes of bread turned out wonderfully, shaped like the deep depressions in the rock. Callie had liked the idea as well, and all three of the men promised to learn the technique and make some for their women when they arrived at the Zelandonii.

“Would our guests like to tell us of their travels?” Dalanar asked after giving everyone some time to digest.

The Mamutoi group all exchanged glances with grins. This was the fun part.

Radec started out, talking about how they first decided to go on the Journey. They had left almost exactly a year ago, taking their time through unfamiliar territory, reaching the mouth of the Great Mother as the seasons changed to summer. It was fairly miserable tracking along the river in the dead of summer, and the Lanzadonii understood it well. Then Radec told of when they found Amara. Dalanar nodded; he had known that she was not Mamutoi, even though she was introduced as one. Radec was honest in saying how traumatized Amara had been, and the Lanzadonii respectfully let the subject slide so as to not cause her any heartache. Radec then spoke of the Sharamudoi and how Lareno came to be with them.

As Amara listened, it was hard to believe that so much had happened to her in such a short time. She heard Radec recount their short visit with the S’Armunai, then their stay with the Losadunai. She wasn’t the only one who cried quietly as he told of Healie’s death. The sun had set and the moon risen to its place by the time Radec finished with their tale.

Had Jondalar not recounted his story years ago, it would have been difficult for the Lanzadonii to believe this one. It was hard enough to believe, simply because most people had only dreamed of traveling that far, but since Radec referred to many of the same peoples Jondalar spoke of, the two stories verified each other.

“How is Ayla?” Latie asked hesitantly after a moment of silence. Bird chirped by her side, distracting her momentarily.

Dalanar grinned to himself. “She and Jondalar are very well. Jerika, Echozar, and I did not attend the Summer Meeting this past year because we had our own First Meeting of the Lanzadonii, and also Joplaya had difficulties with her last pregnancy. After the Zelandonii Meeting, Jondalar and Ayla came out here so that Ayla could see Joplaya. It was a good thing she was here; Joplaya was five moons into that pregnancy and the miscarriage was difficult on her.” A look of sadness washed over his face. “We are hoping that since she has made it to six moons, that this baby will make it.”

The wheels were spinning in Amara’s head. She had a sudden inspiration, and she wondered if Ayla had ever had to perform anything like a Cesarean section, which were fairly common at home. They had to have anesthetics here; it seemed only logical that it might be a possibility, as long as she didn’t lose too much blood. She put the thought aside for later, and made a mental note to speak with Ayla about it when they reached the Lanzadonii.

“Has Ayla had any children?” Latie continued.

Dalanar beamed with pride as any grandfather might. “Yes, she has had two. She had one a few moons after arriving at the Zelandonii, a girl, and she was blessed with a boy not long after Jonayla was weaned. They named him Thonolan.” Latie and Danug both nodded, remembering how much Jondalar had grieved for his brother. “I believe she has been blessed again, just recently.”

Amara grinned to herself, knowing how ‘busy’ Ayla and Jondalar must have been since they had reached the Zelandonii. She was excited about meeting them.

“Dalanar,” Danug asked, hesitantly, “how did people like her? I mean, did the Zelandonii accept her?” He had been extremely concerned the past few years about that issue; he knew how difficult it was on her that some of the Mamutoi had not accepted her, and he hoped that everything had gone well with the Zelandonii.

Dalanar smiled slowly. “Yes, she has been accepted, and she is now Ayla of the Zelandonii. But it was a long and difficult Journey for them. But it’s their story, and I will leave it for now. You would probably be best hearing it from them.”

Danug nodded, not entirely satisfied with the answer, but relieved that she had, perhaps after some time, finally been accepted by the Zelandonii.

“How long will you be staying with us?” Dalanar asked.

Radec shrugged. “Not too long, but there’s not as much of a hurry any more. We are, what, within a couple of moons of regular travel from the Zelandonii?” he asked.

Dalanar nodded. “Yes, about that far. And with the horses it might not even take you that long, it just depends on how quickly you travel.”

The conversation paused, and a few people yawned. Dalanar figured it was time to end the evening’s festivities, knowing that they probably had several more days with their guests. “Why don’t we all head to bed now?” he suggested. “We will have more time to share stories.” He smiled at their guests.

Radec nodded and the congregation broke up, each heading to their respective hearths. Amara stood and her head spun for just a moment, and so she steadied herself on Panec’s shoulder. Glancing at Latie who had just stood, she realized that they both must have stood up too quickly. They exchanged grins and then headed back to the hearth they were staying at.

“Amara, can I talk to you for just a minute?” Latie asked.

Amara looked at Latie closely; she seemed nervous about something. She nodded and sat down on a log in a corner of the hearth. The men had gone out to get some more wood, and Callie was sitting quietly, nursing Rulec.

“Is anything wrong, Latie?” Callie asked, a little concerned.

Latie grinned nervously. “I don’t think so…I just wanted to ask…Amara, when was the last time you had your moon time?”

The question caught Amara off guard. She paused and thought, and mentally counted the days. A grin began to play across her face when she realized that it had been two full moons since her last moon time, but that she simply hadn’t noticed. Could it be? She looked at Latie, who was also grinning, almost nervously, and Amara’s grin widened when she realized that it had been about that long since Latie had used her straps.

Callie’s eyes opened wide and she smiled widely. “Latie…Amara…you don’t think?”

Amara grinned and reached out impulsively to hug Latie. “I can’t believe this!” she cried.

A few tears leaked out of Latie’s eyes. “I couldn’t either, and I didn’t want to ask until now. I was hoping I might be blessed, but I was afraid that you might not be. I didn’t want to be blessed and you not be. So I waited until I was sure you hadn’t used your straps for a while.”

“You’ve known for a while?” Amara asked. “Oh, Latie, you could have told me!”

Latie looked down. “I didn’t want you to be upset. But since we both haven’t had our moon times for at least two moons, I figured it was probably a sure thing by now.”

Amara reached down and patted her abdomen. “You know, I haven’t been getting sick at all,” she mused.

Latie grinned. “I know. Healie had first mentioned to me not long after we made it to the glacier that she thought we might both be blessed, if not then, then sometime soon. She told me what I needed to put into our teas to prevent the morning sickness, and I’ve been making your tea with it lately as well as mine.”

Amara grinned and shook her head. “I suppose I should be mad…sneaking stuff into my tea!” She shook her head at her friend.

Latie smiled. “I was a little afraid that you might be, but I figured it would be better in the long run.”

At that moment the men returned with armloads of wood. It was early spring, so the nights were still cold. They dumped the wood in the pile by the fireplace, and Radec put a few more logs on the fire. “I’m pretty tired,” he said with a yawn. He climbed into the bed that he and Callie would be using and settled down. Callie smiled at the two young women, then pulled the hide curtain across their bed. The young members of their group heard Callie settle down with Rulec, and then the unmistakable sounds of suckling as Rulec nursed. Latie and Amara grinned at each other, then they all said their good-nights.

Amara settled down beside Panec, with his arm under her neck, resting her head in the hollow of his shoulder. She heard the low, but excited, sounds of Latie telling Lareno the news, and she smiled softly to herself. “Panec?” she said, low.

“Hmmm?” he asked, yawning.

“I have something to tell you,” she said, looking up at him.

He glanced down at his chosen woman. “And what would that be, my love?” he asked. She opened her mouth to tell him, but as he looked in her eyes, he suddenly knew what her news was. He grinned, then kissed her forehead excitedly. “Oh, Amara, that’s wonderful!” he cried softly.

She grinned at him. “I haven’t even told you yet!” she said.

“You don’t need to tell me. I can see in your eyes that you have been blessed. I suppose I should have noticed it sooner.” He hugged her tightly, just as excited as she was.

“Blessed with our baby,” she commented. She frowned quickly. “I just hope I don’t lose it,” she said.

Panec hugged her. “Don’t worry; I’m sure everything will be fine.” He was quiet for a moment, and a tear of happiness fell down his cheek. He sent a thankful prayer to the Mother, grateful that She had blessed Amara again, and hoping that nothing would happen to this one. It was then that he heard Lareno’s voice, low but excited. “From the sounds of it,” he began, “I would think that Latie is blessed as well.” He grinned at Amara, who nodded. He wrapped his arms around her, then reached down to rest his hand on her stomach. He kissed her lightly. “I love you, Amara.”

“I love you, Panec,” she replied with a contented smile.

“How is he this morning?” Joplaya asked cheerfully as Callie came in, nursing Rulec.

Callie smiled down at her son. “He’s wonderful, as always. How are you feeling?”

Joplaya grinned. “I’m a little tired…the baby kicked all night long and I hardly got any sleep, but I would much rather lose sleep because of kicking than back pain,” she replied.

Callie nodded in agreement and smiled at the younger woman. In the few days since they had arrived, Joplaya’s color had returned, and she seemed happier now than she had been at first. Perhaps it just took her a while to get used to strangers.

They both turned when they heard a scratching at the hide. Amara peeped in quickly, then smiled at the two women who smiled at her, and entered the hearth.

“You were up early this morning,” Callie remarked.

Amara nodded and rolled her eyes slightly. “I was a little nauseus, and I was afraid to lie back down, so I sat up and mended a tunic of Panec’s. I might as well try to be useful.” She smiled at Joplaya. “How are you feeling?”

Joplaya grinned. “I’m fine; a little tired, but fine.” She wasn’t sure if she’d ever get used to Mamutoi openness and directness. “I’m also getting tired of staying in here; I would love to go outside and breathe the spring air again.”

Callie frowned, thinking. “Well, maybe we can talk to Lanzadoni. I wouldn’t think that it would cause you any harm.”

Amara turned when she heard her name called. She excused herself quickly, and left to find her caller.

Panec found her first, and hugged her tightly as he grinned. “Thank you for mending this,” he said, holding out his tunic. It was the most comfortable one he had and he had been quite sore with himself after he tore it on a tree branch the other day. He also liked thanking Amara for anything she did; he knew how good it felt for her to be appreciated, especially now.

She returned his smile and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “You’re very welcome,” she replied sweetly. Then she cocked her head and asked, “Do you know how much longer we’re going to stay here?”

“Why, do you want to leave already?” Panec asked.

“Actually, I really don’t mind either way. Part of me would like to get back out and get the Journey over with, but then part of me is grateful for the rest. However,” she added, “there are some things I’d like to talk to Ayla about, regarding Joplaya.”

Panec raised his eyebrows in question. “Oh?” he inquired.

Amara nodded. “I think there might be a way…” she began, then stopped. She frowned and made a face. “If only I had been a little older, then maybe I could have learned a little more,” she muttered.

“About what?” Panec asked.

“Medicine – I’ve always been interested in it, and within a year or so I would have been able to…” she stopped herself. She was talking about her old life again. Perhaps she might have been able to do a summer internship, but there was no use wondering now. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter,” she said.

Panec brushed it aside. “How is Joplaya?” he asked, knowing that Amara had just come from there.

“Oh, she’s fine for now. She said she was a little tired, but that’s better than being in pain. She looks better, too.”

“That’s good…” Panec began, then frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Amara asked.

“Didn’t you notice? It just got dark all of a sudden,” he said.

Amara had noticed, but it hadn’t registered yet. She glanced out towards the entrance of the cave. “Is it going to rain?” she asked. They walked toward the entrance and saw Radec and Dalanar looking at the sky. “Is it a storm?” she called. Just as she did so a cold breeze blasted her in the face. “Snow?” she asked.

Dalanar turned and walked briskly towards them. “I think it’s a snow storm,” he said. His forehead was knotted in concern. “Echozar took Lareno and Danug to show them one of the new flint mines.”

“Yeah, he has asked me if I wanted to go, but I was never that interested in knapping. Is it far?” Panec asked.

“No,” Dalanar replied, “but if the snow is heavy it doesn’t matter how far it is. Especially this late; they wouldn’t have taken anything warm to wear.” He looked again at the sky. “I wonder if we should go get them.”

Radec shook his head. “No, I don’t think it’s necessary to take that risk. No doubt they see the storm and are on their way back now.”

Dalanar nodded. “You’re probably right. Let’s get a good amount of wood in before the storm hits,” he said.

Amara ran inside the relay the message, and several men joined the three outside to gather wood. Amara helped Jerika pile wood on Joplaya’s fire, and then she started a fire in a central hearth. After Jerika had made sure Joplaya was comfortable, she came out to help Amara.

“They will want something warm to eat when they come in,” Jerika said, nodding toward the entrance.

The temperature was dropping quickly and Amara shivered in her spring clothes. Latie had been sorting her belongings and minding Bird, and she had just come out to help Amara and Jerika with the meal.

“Where’s Lareno?” she asked, concerned.

Amara frowned as she put another hot rock into a basket full of soup. “He and Danug went with Echozar to see one of the flint mines.” Latie paled. “But they’re probably almost back by now,” she assured her friend.

Latie nodded and set Bird down. “You’re right; I just hope they wore warm clothing.”

“It’s just raining right now,” Radec commented as he came inside. “But it’s getting colder out there.”

“This will be finished in a while,” Jerika said, motioning towards the baskets of thick soup they were preparing. “Why don’t you tell Dalanar to come on in?”

Radec nodded and headed back outside. Almost immediately after he left, they heard a yell outside. The yell was followed by three cold, wet men heading inside, with two older men behind them.

“It’s cold out there!” Danug cried as he set his pack down. “But we got a load of good flint!”

Latie and Amara smiled. “I’m glad you got back before it got worse,” Latie commented.

“Oh, we saw the dark clouds a while ago,” Lareno said. “Once the first cold wind reached us, we packed up and headed back. We don’t want to get caught in a spring snowstorm.”

“And we don’t want you to,” Latie replied, kissing his cold cheek. “Go change into something dry; we’ll have a meal ready before long.”

“There’s the snow!” Dalanar called from his perch just inside the entrance. They all looked outside, where large, white flakes were falling calmly. He walked towards the fire and rubbed his hands together briskly. “We’ll be warm tonight, though.”

Several other members of the First Cave of the Lanzadonii came in from various tasks, and others left their hearths to join everyone sitting around the large fire. After much hesitation and discussion, Echozar and Dalanar gently helped Joplaya from her bed out into the larger area so that she could sit with them. They ate the warm soup and watched the snow falling outside, more furiously with time. It had been so warm outside for so long that even with heavy snowfall, nothing was accumulating, but the temperatures were dropping so quickly that the small rivers of melted snow were beginning to ice.

After they ate, Dalanar told them of what had happened since Ayla and Jondalar arrived. He started with Echozar’s adoption into the Lanzadonii, and then about Ayla and Jondalar’s short visit with them. He continued with that summer’s Meeting: Ayla and Jondalar’s and Joplaya and Echozar’s Matrimonial, as well as the controversy about Echozar’s past and the discussions of trade with the Clan. Danug took a particular interest in Ayla’s cave and made a mental note to inquire about it when they arrived. Dalanar did not speak of Joplaya’s childbearing troubles, and only spoke briefly about Jonayla and little Thonolan, knowing that it would upset the daughter of his hearth. He would probably never realize that although Joplaya was happy with Echozar, that Ayla had everything Joplaya had ever wanted, including a hearth with children.

“So, have you been able to trade with the Clan yet?” Radec asked, intrigued.

Dalanar nodded. “Not much, though. We weren’t planning to go to the Zelandonii Summer Meeting the second summer Ayla and Jondalar were here, but we ended up going anyway. During the Meeting, we put together a delegation to find them.” He chuckled at the memory. “Ayla is certainly independent; Marthona tried to convince her to leave Jonayla with her, but Ayla wanted Jonayla to go. Marthona was quite upset and was convinced something bad was going to happen; Jonayla was only a few moons old at the time. But, she’s Ayla’s daughter.” He grinned to himself, then continued, “It turns out, we had luck. We ran into the Clan leader that Ayla and Jondalar had encountered on their Journey. I believe his name was Guban or Gubar or something like that. They were on a hunting party, but were willing to listen to us. Jondalar offered to help them on their hunt, but they refused; we’re probably bad luck to them – Ayla said something along those lines. But I think we did well. Because of that, a few of us returned to the Zelandonii meeting that third summer, and we went to find the Clan again. We did some basic trading – Jondalar traded a knife for some furs that were cured amazingly well.” He stopped, remembering the softness of those furs. “He kept them, since Ayla was blessed with Thonolan at the time; she ended up giving birth that summer to him. None of us went to the Summer Meeting this past summer; we had our own first Lanzadonii meeting, since we have a second cave that has grown quite large. But we did send a runner to the Zelandonii this winter to get some medicine from Ayla for Joplaya; the runner came back with word that Ayla was blessed again.”

“What about this summer, will you be having your own Lanzadonii Meeting again?” Radec asked, making a mental note to tell Dalanar that they had run into a Clan man named Guban themselves not to long ago.

Dalanar cocked his head. “I don’t know, since you all have arrived, we might make another trip out to the Zelandonii Summer Meeting, just to see the Matrimonials between these young people. Joplaya’s baby will have arrived by then,” he added with a silent prayer. He yawned and stretched, then got up and walked toward the entrance of the cave. “The snow is not melting any longer,” he commented. “I wonder how much we’ll have by morning.”

His comment reminded everyone that it was late. Jerika stood and started gathering dirty bowls and knives, to have them ready to clean in the morning. Amara and Latie helped her while Callie retired with Rulec. Dalanar and Echozar carried Joplaya back to her bed, and Jerika went in quickly to help make her comfortable. Within minutes, everyone was in their furs, cozy for the night.

“That storm sure blew itself out quickly,” Panec commented as he fastened his pack. It had snowed hard for about a day after the storm struck, but warmth had returned and most of the snow was already melted, even though only two days had passed.

“Yes, it did,” Radec returned. “I just hope we don’t have any more like that anytime soon. I was hoping we could leave in the next few days.”

Danug nodded. “Yes, I agree…we should get headed to the Zelandonii before long.”

“I’m glad, though, that we can go on this last hunt before we go,” Lareno chimed in. “A successful hunt would speak well for the rest of our Journey.”

“Mmm hmmm,” Danug hummed in agreement. “Although I think we’d be fine in any case, but better safe than sorry.”

Panec frowned. He thought it was kind of odd that Lareno should be worried about luck instead of Danug. But he reminded himself that Lareno was now in the situation that he himself was in; his chosen was blessed, and the last thing either of them wanted was something to bespeak bad luck. He sighed…Amara had had enough of that. He had mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand, he wanted to get to the Zelandonii, so that Amara could be comfortable and settled as her pregnancy progressed. On the other hand, he was concerned about her traveling right now; it might be better for her to stay still for a while. But, he reminded himself, she wasn’t blessed just yesterday. Neither Amara nor Latie had had their moon time for over two moons now; he would hope that the worst of it would be over, and Callie hadn’t had a problem traveling while pregnant. But Amara had already lost one; was the Journey the culprit? Panec tried to shrug off his worries, but realized that no matter what happened, he was going to worry about his future mate.

The men soon were all ready and they headed out, spears and spear-throwers in hand, as the sun rose. The women were happy to be left alone for a while. They gathered around the large fire, each with her own project, just to converse. Lanzadoni had agreed that since Joplaya was feeling much better, she could leave her bed for short periods of time, but only if watched carefully. Joplaya was thrilled. She wasn’t convinced that bedrest was the best thing for her or her child; she felt that activity would be good for them both, but there was always a fear deep in her chest that in the next moment, something might go wrong. But she knew that she couldn’t live like that, and she rejoiced in being allowed out of her little prison to join the other women. She was also fascinated by the little bird, and indulged him often with choice grains. She had even had Echozar find a good worm for him as a special treat.

“How are you doing this morning, Joplaya?” Callie asked as Jerika and Lanzadoni helped Joplaya to a comfortable seat.

“Very well, thank you,” Joplaya replied. “Echozar was ecstatic last night; he felt the baby kick!”

“Oh, that must have been wonderful for him!” Latie cried. She couldn’t wait for the day when Lareno could say the same thing.

“It was, you should have seen his eyes! I’ve never seen them so soft, nor so proud; you’d think he was the one that was pregnant!”

Jerika smiled at her daughter’s enthusiasm, but her smile was guarded. Until Joplaya gave birth to a healthy child, and stayed healthy herself, she would never be as enthusiastic as a potential grandmother might. She and Joplaya had argued fiercely after Joplaya lost her first and Jerika wanted her to drink Ayla’s tea, but Joplaya refused. But Jerika had not succumbed to her own feelings; it was Joplaya’s body and if she insisted, the least she could do as her mother was to be there for her. Being prideful and not speaking to her daughter would be a huge mistake at this delicate point in her daughter’s life. She could only pray to Doni to allow Joplaya to bear this child, and live.

The conversation waned and everyone grew silent, each busy with her own tasks. Amara and Latie were both starting with their own baby clothes. Amara had discovered it was difficult enough to sew for herself; she had no clue how to sew for a baby. She could mend easily enough, which had sufficed through the Journey for Panec, but she knew that it would likely be her responsibility to clothe her family, and she wasn’t sure how happy she was about it. She would have been much happier driving to the mall to get clothes. Thankfully, Latie was there to help her; Latie had helped her mother countless times with clothes for Rugie and Rydag and was fairly used to the process. Amara felt very dubious about her abilities, and wryly wondered if she and Panec would ever look as nice as everyone else, and if that might lower their status. She wasn’t exactly sure about status here, but she knew what it was like to be in high school; she had always felt that she had very high status at home, but she wasn’t so confident here. But, Callie and Healie had made plenty of clothing for little Rulec; perhaps she could borrow some of his for her child.

“Latie,” she asked, quietly. Latie looked up inquiringly. “We do name our own children, right? No one else names them for us?”

Latie nodded. “That’s the way we’ve always done it in the Mamutoi. I don’t think the Zelandonii are any different. Why?”

“Well, I’ve been trying to think of names. Do you think it would be a problem to give my child a name that’s from my home?” She had always adored her brother and had always promised him that her first child would have his namesake.

Latie frowned. “I don’t see why not. But why are you worrying about it now? You don’t know yet if it’s a boy or a girl.”

Amara smiled at her friend. “Where I’m from, women spend months naming their children. Some have names picked out before they even get pregnant. Usually they pick out a boy’s name and a girl’s name, and decide when the child is born, unless they found out earlier.”

Latie’s brow furrowed and she grimaced. “Found out earlier? How in Mut’s name could you do that?”

Amara blushed and scolded herself. Once again, she had opened her mouth, and once again she would have to get herself out of it. Ultrasounds were certainly not something she could discuss. “Oh, no, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I meant about the name; sometimes you have to have a certain name for a child. Sometime the child’s fa… um, the man of the child’s hearth wants the child named after him. Or, like with me, I had promised my brother to name my first son after him.”

Latie was intrigued, and dismissed Amara’s slip of her tongue. “What’s your brother’s name?” She was sure Amara had told her at some point, but she couldn’t remember.

“Jacob,” Amara replied. “Lots of times we called him Jake; I’ve always liked that name.”

“It’s odd, but your people are different. I don’t see any reason why you would have to use the Mamutoi style if you didn’t want to,” Latie commented. “And people name their kids after siblings lots of times, like Ayla’s son, Thonolan. What about a girl’s name?”

Amara frowned. “I hadn’t thought that far.” She smiled, remembering Tholie. “I like Tholie’s baby’s name, Amarie, but I would feel uncomfortable naming my child after myself.”

“Why?” Latie asked. “Ayla did it…Jonayla is from both of them.”

Amara thought of how she might combine her own name with Panec’s, and suddenly she collapsed in a stream of giggles. She knew she couldn’t explain why she was laughing to the people with her now, but her own family would have understood the humor. The first thing that had come to mind was Pan-Am. Thinking of the name again, she laughed harder.

“What in the world…?” Callie asked, seeing Amara almost rolling on the floor.

Latie shrugged and grinned at her friend. Laughter is always contagious, she thought. “Amara, what’s gotten into you?” she asked.

Amara wiped her eyes and shook her head. “Nothing,” she said as she calmed down. “Nothing, I’m sorry Latie, I just thought of something funny from home. Don’t worry about it,” she said, stifling the last of her giggles.

“Tell us about your home, Amara,” Joplaya requested. “If you don’t mind, that is.”

Amara tipped her head, thinking. It had been so much easier just to let Radec tell what needed to be told of her story. She wasn’t sure how to begin.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Joplaya said, feeling guilty for asking. She was sure Amara had gone through a good amount of trauma from what Radec had said, and she chided herself for not being more thoughtful.

Amara shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine, I don’t mind talking about it…I’m just trying to figure out what would be the best way to word it all.” She thought for a moment, and then started with the hike she had decided to do on that fateful day, over half a year ago.

“By yourself?” Jerika asked. Young women normally would not do such things.

Amara nodded, emphasizing that she’d been doing the like for years. For some reason, she didn’t want to give the story about everyone in her family falling sick; she wanted to tell a version closer to the truth. She talked about finding the cave, and the drawings within. Her listeners were quite excited when she described the drawings; obviously someone had drawn Ayla and Jondalar! She then told about the snow and how she wasn’t in the least prepared for it on a late summer day. Then about her desperation of being alone in the cold and how, miraculously, Danug had found her. She would never know how, but he did. She heard someone murmur about Danug being a Searcher. She talked about having to learn the Mamutoi language, and their customs. She didn’t dare get into the First Rites and how her own family would never hear of such a thing; she didn’t want to cause a commotion, and obviously First Rites were absolute musts in this society. She left it at her unofficial adoption into the Mamutoi; Radec had summarized the rest of the Journey, excluding her miscarriage of course, well the other night.

“Oh, Amara, that must be horrible, not being able to get back to your family!” a young Lanzadonii woman exclaimed.

Amara shook her head. “No…I miss them, but I knew this was where I was supposed to be.” No one questioned her certainty.

Joplaya thought to herself; Echozar would probably have liked to have been here for this. It was likely he would have felt a bond…he and Amara shared the same loss of their family. She made a note to mention all of this to him later when the hunters returned.

As if Joplaya’s thoughts spoke the present, all of a sudden the hunting party returned, with two aurochs hanging from poles carried between the men. “You had luck!” she cried. All of the women turned to see.

“That we did!” Dalanar returned, smiling that the daughter of his hearth looked happy and healthy. “And what luck! Doni provided for us quickly!” He motioned towards the two animals. “They’re not young and tender, they’re a little older, but we couldn’t justify killing a young buck or a female at this time of the year.”

“I’m glad,” Jerika commented as she set her project aside to help them with the butchering. The other women followed suit and they had both deer butchered quickly. The younger Lanzadonii men and older boys made several smoky fires outside and took the meat that Jerika had kept aside for drying outside. They watched carefully for scavengers, the boys grateful that they could help. Jerika and Lanzadoni seasoned some of the meat and buried it in a ground oven they had started earlier that morning; it would be ready for the evening meal that night.

“You take one of the hides,” Dalanar was arguing. “You helped us.”

“Yes, but without your hospitality…” Radec began.

“Nonsense! Take a hide! Two of your women are pregnant; take it and let them make things for their babies,” Dalanar insisted.

“Well…” Radec said, thinking. He was sure Amara and Latie would appreciate it, but he didn’t want to take too much from the Lanzadonii.

“Go ahead,” Dalanar said. “They can surely use it. I know you’re leaving in a couple of days, and it will keep them busy on the rest of your trip.”

Radec sighed and accepted the gift. “But what can we give you in return?” he asked.

Dalanar shook his head. “You already have. You’ve helped us on the hunt, you’ve entertained us with your Journey, and you can take a message to the son of my heart and his mate for me about Joplaya.”

Radec nodded and accepted the hide, although he still felt somewhat uncomfortable about doing so. He then left to tell his troop that they would be leaving in the next couple of days.

“Please send our love to Ayla and Jondalar,” Joplaya said as she hugged Callie good-bye. “And take care of the little one on the trip.”

Callie smiled and nodded as she secured her son in the little carrier that had been made during their stay with the Losadunai. “We will, I promise.” She patted Joplaya’s stomach. “Would you like for us to have Ayla come out here as you near your time?” she asked.

Joplaya nodded, a little fear behind her eyes. “Yes, please. Lanzadonii is very good, but not the caliber that Ayla is. If Ayla is feeling up to it, since I know she’s been blessed again, please ask her to come.”

Callie nodded. “We’ll make a little mini-Journey out of it, and we’ll all come visit you.” She smiled at the younger woman. “At least, if I can’t, I know Amara and Latie will, even though they will be five or so moons into their pregnancies.”

Joplaya nodded. “And then we can all travel to the Zelandonii Summer Meeting; I’m sure Dalanar will want to attend this year, especially since he hasn’t seen Jonayla and Thonolan in a while.” She frowned. “It’ll make a late arrival for us at the Meeting, but I don’t mind.”

Callie smiled again and squeezed Joplaya’s hand. “You’ll be fine,” she assured her.

Joplaya nodded and embraced Callie again. As she did so, Amara and Latie came into the hearth. Joplaya smiled at them. “It was wonderful to meet you and to get to know you,” she said cheerfully.

Amara and Latie both grinned, then hugged their new friend. “We’ll miss you,” Latie said.

Joplaya smiled again. “Yes, but I’ll see you in a few moons; at least at the Summer Meeting.”

“I’m glad that you will all be coming,” Amara said. “It will be so nice to see familiar faces with so many new people around.

Joplaya grinned. “That’s exactly how Ayla felt at her first Summer Meeting; she was thrilled when we arrived. I guess she wasn’t used to so many people.”

Callie nodded. “Yes, Dalanar said that the Ninth Cave has over 200 people in it; that’s almost as many as are at the Mamutoi Summer Meetings.”

Amara smiled. “Good, I like a lot of people, even if I don’t know them. That’s what I’ve been used to most of my life.”

Latie raised her eyebrows. “Yes, but 200 people in one Cave is a lot,” she said, not quite believing her friend.

Amara nodded. “Oh, yes, but I’ve been in much larger crowds…” she began, and was interrupted as Bird chirped angrily behind the hide curtain. “Oh, I’m sorry Bird,” she said as she held it aside, allowing the little creature in.

Bird hopped up beside Joplaya on her bed and sang sweetly to her, as if he knew they were leaving. “I’ll miss you, too, Bird,” Joplaya said, kissing his little head.

“Is everyone finished?” Jerika asked, poking her head into Joplaya’s hearth. “I think Radec is anxious to go.”

The women all nodded and embraced one last time. Then the Mamutoi travelers, with Bird, left and grabbed the last of their belongings to take them to Radec, who was packing the cart. “Is this everything?” he asked. The other members of his group all nodded. He was pleased with how the packing had gone; they had plenty of travel food from the Lanzadonii, but he was still able to fit just about everything in the cart. A couple of packs could be carried, or could be piled on top. Or, if one of the women needed a break, the men could take their packs and carry them while one or two of the women rode. He had even been able to fit a small basket of Lanzadonii flint nodules for Jondalar into the cart.

Dalanar had been quite impressed with the contraption, and he had gotten all the information to make one for his cave from Amara. The idea of a ‘wheel’ had fascinated him to no end, but yet it seemed so simple. He was surprised that no one had thought of it, but then chuckled to himself, knowing that all new ideas couldn’t come from Ayla and Jondalar. He wondered in the very back of his mind if perhaps Amara and Ayla had the same backgrounds, perhaps even the same family. He had mentioned it briefly to Danug who had been intrigued by the idea, but had strayed Dalanar from that conclusion.

“We’ll see you all again soon, at least at the Summer Meeting,” Dalanar said. He embraced Radec quickly, then he and the other Lanzadonii said their good-byes to the Mamutoi travelers. Within minutes everyone had finished, and after one more wave good-bye, the Mamutoi travelers were off.

They traveled quickly for the first several days, getting back into the routine. They hadn’t stayed long enough at the Lanzadonii to warrant taking it slowly for the first few days, and thus they made excellent time. Rulec was growing, and naturally a living, squirming being was slightly more difficult to carry than a pack basket, so Callie rode in the cart often. After little Rulec became used to it, they made a little nest for him in the cart to give Callie a break. Amara and Latie had surprisingly very few problems with morning sickness, but Amara kept reminding herself they there were almost done with their first trimesters already. Since Latie had been slipping herbs into her tea for the last couple of moons to help prevent it, they had gotten through the worst of their pregnancies with almost no trouble. Their breasts were still a little tender, but that was to be expected, and after a long day of traveling their lower backs ached, but Panec and Lareno did excellent jobs of alleviating their pain. Swollen feet hadn’t become a problem, but foot massages were given at least once a day; both men were doing their best to keep their blessed women as healthy, happy, and comfortable as possible. Radec laughed often at their antics, but Callie sweetly reminded him that he had done the same things not too long ago.

They all welcomed the mid-spring greens back into their diets, and Amara was happy that she was eating better. She knew that she should take Folic Acid, but she had no clue what kinds of food it was found it, so all she could do was hope that she was treating her body well. After all, she was sure parts of her body were still in the 21^st Century. But, she mused, there wasn’t much she could do about it now. All she could do was hope that “modern” birth defects wouldn’t be a problem.

“Radec,” Latie began as they sat down to enjoy their evening meal, “can we stay here for a couple of days?”

Radec glanced at her. “Well, sure, I guess, if you’d like…why? Is anything wrong?”

Latie shook her head. “No, not really, but I’d just like to rest.

Radec glanced at Callie in inquiry. “I don’t mind,” he said.

Callie shrugged. “That would be fine. I suppose we could all use another break. We’ve been traveling for over a moon now since leaving the Lanzadonii…surely we’re close, but I don’t see what harm a couple of days would make.”

“Yes, I think we’re close,” Danug agreed. “I climbed to the top of that hill earlier while gathering wood,” he gestured towards a large hill to their north, “just to see if I could see anything. It looked like there were a few wisps of smoke, way off in the distance.”

“Really?” Lareno asked. “Do you suppose it could be from the Zelandonii caves?”

Danug shrugged. “I don’t doubt it, but I couldn’t tell you for sure.” He grinned and his eyes twinkled. “But guess what else I found!” he said excitedly.

“What?” Amara asked.

“Well, apparently there are hot springs around here; I found one!” he said, his enthusiasm growing. Undoubtedly where there were hot springs, there were people.

“Really?” Latie was thrilled; their last experience with a hot spring had been quite enjoyable all around.

Danug nodded. “Really! And there’s still a little light left in the day…after we finish eating I could go show you all.”

“Why don’t you just show Radec and Callie tonight?” Panec said. He knew that they needed a break; an infant can take a lot of time away from couples. “We’ll watch Rulec while you’re gone,” he offered.

Amara was a little disheartened, but if they were going to stay for a couple of days, it wouldn’t matter; might as well let Radec and Callie enjoy a night alone. “Of course,” she agreed.

Callie smiled lovingly at Radec. “Well…” she began.

“Of course!” Radec interrupted. “But we’ll help you clean up first.”

They finished eating quickly and cleaned the dishes and utensils. Callie made sure that Amara and Latie had everything they needed for Rulec, and then she and Radec left with Danug to find the hot spring. There was still plenty of light left in the day, so there was no need to worry.

Amara laid Rulec down on his stomach on a soft hide, and he rocked himself back and forth, almost as if he was trying to crawl. He kicked his little feel in the air and let out a wail in protest for the lack of attention he was getting. Amara picked him back up and rocked him gently. Latie sat beside her and stroked his little head.

As they played with him, Panec and Lareno aired out everyone’s belongings. Since they were going to stay for a couple of days, it would do all the leather good to be set out for a while. They stopped abruptly and watched when they heard Amara start to sing to the infant.

Amara knew many songs, but only in her own language. She didn’t think Rulec would mind if she sang in English; he probably didn’t undertand much anyway. Perhaps someday she could try to translate the songs, but it wouldn’t matter to a baby. She sang softly what she could remember of her favorite songs as a child, both lullabies and hymns, even with a couple of soft tunes that she heard on the radio. It upset her that she couldn’t remember some of the words, as she knew she could never hear them again.

Latie dared not make a sound, and Panec and Lareno quietly sat to listen. They had all heard some music; the Mamutoi had a variety of instruments and could make beautiful sounds, and although the Sharmudoi didn’t have quite as many, everyone had heard a song or two. Panec’s eyes flooded with tears at the incredibly beautiful songs she was singing. He remembered the time she had let him listen to her music-maker, and he had been astonished. He was no less astonished now. She had a beautiful voice, very calm and soothing, and Rulec was having a hart time keeping his eyes open as she sang. Panec watched over Amara’s shoulder as Rulec stared at her, watching her mouth move and hearing the sounds she made. His eyes began to droop, and quickly he opened them again. Panec smiled softly at the baby’s antics, completely agreeing with him; he wouldn’t want to go to sleep and miss Amara’s sweet voice, either.

Amara couldn’t be happier. She was swept away with her music and her own voice. She was holding a baby, but she was holding her own baby, singing softly to a child she herself had given birth to. She would teach her children her language and her music; they would grow up with the same ideals that she had grown up with. She watched as Rulec’s eyes finally closed for good, his little arms making slight movements in his sleep. She finished the song she was on and just to make sure, she sang another short one. She then stood, careful not to awaken the child, and she put him in the tent that Radec and Callie used. She made sure he was comfortable and had plenty of furs to keep him warm. She patted his little bottom and then backed out of the tent. When she turned around, she saw the thunderstruck faces of her new family, still absorbing her sounds. She grinned at them and said sweetly, “I’ll continue if you want.”

Latie grinned at her friend. “That was absolutely beautiful, Amara. Will you teach me?”

Amara smiled. “Yes, of course, if you want. I don’t know the words in Mamutoi, though.”

Latie shook her head. “I don’t think I’d want to learn it in Mamutoi. It sounds so beautiful and exotic the way you sang it; I want to learn it in your language.”

Amara tipped her head in thought. Yes, she had done that before; she knew a couple of songs in French and Spanish, but didn’t know the translations. Some songs sounded better in their original language. She nodded, satisfied. “Yes, I’ll teach you in my language, and I’ll try to tell you what it means in Mamutoi, so that you at least know what you’re singing about. But, things are different where I come from, and some of the words might not make any sense here.”

“That’s all right,” Latie said. “I don’t care if they make sense or not – they’re beautiful, and it certainly put Rulec to sleep. It’s calming for adults as well…you could probably have put all of us to sleep if you had continued!”

No one had noticed, but Danug had returned while she had been singing. He chimed in, finally, in agreement with his sister. “I was almost asleep myself, then you stopped.”

“Oh! Danug, I hadn’t noticed that you had returned,” Latie said after she had jumped, startled.

Danug smiled at his sister. “I would have announced it, but Amara was singing, and I didn’t want to interrupt her.”

“Are the hot springs far from here? Amara asked.

Danug shook his head. “No, not at all.” He grinned and added, softly, “They’re close enough that we could probably hear Radec and Callie sharing Pleasures if we’re quiet.”

“I’d rather share Pleasures myself than hear other people doing so,” Lareno commented with a twinkle towards Latie.

Amara winced; she was sure that Danug felt that way, too. “Danug, why don’t you and Latie tell us some stories about the Lion Camp?” she asked, changing the subject. She had always been intrigued by their home and loved to hear stories. Besides, if they all went to bed, someone would have to get Rulec and perhaps wake him up in the process; she wasn’t about to let the baby be by himself while everyone slept. They might as well tell stories until Radec and Callie returned.

“Sure,” Danug said. They all sat down around the fire and listened as Danug started telling stories.

“Amara,” Panec said as they undressed, “your singing is beautiful.”

Amara smiled at her future mate. “Thank you…I enjoy singing. I always have…it’s been a big part of my life. The trouble now is trying to remember all the words.”

Panec nodded; lyrics were easy to forget if they weren’t sung often. He smiled lovingly at his chosen and reached down to pat her abdomen. “I can’t wait until you sing like that for your children…our children,” he corrected himself. It was still difficult to adjust to that kind of thinking, but she would certainly know better than he.

Amara returned his smile. “Look,” she said, lying down and rubbing his hand over her stomach. “You can feel a little something…it’s not much, but there’s a little bulge there. Before too long, you’ll really be able to see it; not when I have my clothes on, of course, but like this you’ll be able to.” She knew that women had a nice-sized bulge by 4 months or so, but still for the most part undetectable underneath their clothes. She hadn’t seen many births but she had certainly been around plenty of pregnant women, and especially since Callie had so recently been through it. She knew that by now she already had a perfectly-formed human being inside of her, just a very very tiny version of one. Fingernails might not be there yet, but he or she would certainly already have fingers and toes. She stared off into space, dreamily thinking of the little person growing in her womb.

Panec lied down beside her and rubbed his hand over her stomach. She was right; he could feel a little change. Not much, but enough. The whole process intrigued him; a baby grew inside a woman…just the thought made his eyes sparkle in wonder. But if a man made a woman pregnant, then that meant he had a part in the process too. That would mean that he made that baby that was in Amara’s stomach. It meant a lot to him; rather than just being there to provide for Amara’s children, he helped to create their children. He smiled, then sighed and drifted off to sleep with his hand on her stomach.

This is almost like a hot tub, Amara thought to herself as she settled into the hot spring Danug had found. She had a moment of concern regarding how long she should stay in, wondering if the prolonged heat might harm her child. But, she recalled, women showered, sat in saunas, and relaxed in hot tubs at home while pregnant, so she couldn’t imagine why this might be a problem. She pushed the thought from her mind and let the heat penetrate her body, helping to relieve the ache of muscles sore from traveling.

“How are you feeling?” Panec asked as he sat beside her.

Amara smiled at her future mate. “I’m feeling wonderful,” she replied. “This is so relaxing.”

Panec hummed his agreement and closed his eyes, leaning back against the earthen wall of the spring. Amara watched him for a few seconds, smiling. He really was wonderful. He had been so patient with everything that had happened to her, yet he had gone through it himself. True, he didn’t understand the physical pain she had gone through with the miscarriage, but he knew the emotional turmoil. Healie’s death had had a significant impact on all of them, yet he had been the closest to her for the longest, although Danug had begun to take his place there near the end. She looked closely at him, then frowned as she realized he had laugh lines around his eyes. She thought for a moment; he had been twenty three when she joined them. He may be twenty four now; she wasn’t sure. She then brightened and realized she had missed her own birthday; she was seventeen now! But seventeen here was a far cry from what it was at home. Extrapolating in her mind, she figured that seventeen here was probably mid twenties at home. Panec’s age was probably early thirties in comparison. She frowned, wondering again about mortality; Panec would surely die before she would. By how long would she outlive him? Would she outlive her own children, or would they have some of the traits she had from her old life? She put the thoughts aside for the time being; perhaps she could speak with Danug about this later.

She opened her eyes at the sound of a twig snapping. She smiled as two squirrels stared each other down, then one of them turned and ran. The other followed in pursuit, and she laughed to herself as they spiraled up a tree. They jumped from one branch to another, then they spiraled down a different tree. They stopped abruptly and stared at each other again, then started the scene all over. Just for laughs, Amara picked up a little stick and tossed it towards the two little creatures. They stopped and looked in her direction; she wasn’t sure if they were angry or just perplexed. She tossed another little stick, which sent the squirrels retreated up a tree. She watched as they stared down at her, waiting to see if she was going to toss another one. They quickly disappeared into a hole as a large bird swooped down, obviously on the lookout for a meal. As soon as he was gone, the squirrels carefully left their little shelter, and continued with their antics.

Amara had always enjoyed watching them. At home, several little squirrels gathered around the benches during her lunch hour at school, and she and her friends often fed them little pinches of bread from their sandwiches. She smiled at her sudden craving for a hamburger. Juicy red tomatoes, a nice fresh piece of lettuce, plenty of ketchup, mayonnaise, and a squirt of mustard, plus a slice of cheese; her mouth watered at the thought. Or, even just a peanut butter and jelly sandwich would suffice; anything to satisfy her cravings. Chocolate would be good, too. She sighed; she might be able to find something similar to beef, but certainly not ground beef, and she was most definitely out of luck with the trimmings. Cheese was probably millennia away. A glass of milk with some chocolate chip cookies would be good too, but the milk was in the same category as the cheese. But perhaps…perhaps she might be able to work something out. An aurochs was similar to a cow, but she wasn’t certain. How far away was domestication of animals? She sighed, frustrated that she knew what the future held, but that it was so far out of her reach. She drifted off to sleep, relaxing in the soothing heat, aware somewhere in the back of her mind that Panec had dozed off already.

“You’re all wrinkled!” Latie exclaimed as Panec and Amara returned from the hot spring.

“Yes – we both fell asleep and didn’t realize how long we’d been in,” Panec explained.

Callie nodded in agreement. “It is very relaxing…it makes you forget where you are.”

“Well, if it’s that relaxing, then we’re going to go claim our turn,” Lareno chimed in. He put his arm around Latie and led her off in the direction Panec and Amara had just come from.

“Hey, Amara, do you have a moment or two?” Danug asked.

Amara shrugged. “Sure…I’ve nothing else pressing to do today. I could do a little mending, but…”

“Well, bring it along, I just had a couple of ideas I wanted to share,” Danug interrupted.

Amara glanced at Panec, who nodded and smiled at her. “I have some things I could get done,” he said. “Go ahead. I can stay and help Radec or Callie, or I might even play with the baby.” Bird tweeted at him. "Or I could play with Bird, of course." He smiled at the small creature.

Amara nodded and gathered the things that needed mending, then followed Danug a little ways. They were far enough away to not be overheard, but still easily within earshot, and they could still see their camp as well. They settled down beside a large tree and Amara spread out the articles of clothing. She dug out her needle of choice and picked up a pair of leggings that had a rip in the seam. She threaded her needle with sinew, wished for regular thread that she could easily knot, and started her task. “What did you want to talk about?” she asked her friend.

Danug cocked his head and watched her for a minute. “Dalanar brought up something interesting while we were with the Lanzadonii,” he began.

“Oh?” Amara questioned, repositioning her bone thimble. “What?”

Danug looked off into the trees. “Something about Ayla. I wasn’t sure what to think, so I said something to stray him from his idea, and then changed the subject.”

“Was it bad?” Amara asked. This was an interesting discussion, or it would be soon she was sure, but she wasn’t sure why they had to leave the camp to talk about it.

“No, but interesting.”

“How so?”

“Well, obviously Dalanar doesn’t really know where you come from,” Danug continued.

Amara shook her head. “I don’t know how he could. I told everyone the same story we’ve been telling…although I did talk to the women more while you men were out hunting, but I still didn’t even touch the truth.”

Danug nodded. “Yes, and you had come up with the idea of a cart, and you know things and are inventive. Just like Ayla.”

Amara set down her mending and looked at him. “Danug, what are you getting at?”

“Well, Dalanar had suggested that maybe you two are from the same place. You lost your family just east of the Beran Sea, and she doesn’t remember where she came from…she just remembers her childhood on the peninsula on the north end of the Beran Sea.”

The Black Sea, Amara thought to herself. “He thinks we’re from the same place?”

“Well, it might be an obvious conclusion if you don’t know where you are from,” Danug reasoned.

“That’s true,” Amara agreed.

“And actually,” Danug paused, hesitating, “it might not be a bad conclusion knowing where you’re from.”

Amara’s mouth dropped open. “Danug,” she began, “you don’t mean to tell me…”

“I don’t know…but since Dalanar mentioned it, it made me think. You’re so familiar with all these things that everyone has assumed Ayla invented. The needle…horses…you weren’t surprised at the spear-thrower…you knew that Clan are human, even without talking to anyone…the firestone you understood right away and it didn’t surprise you at all…and…” he paused again, “your ideas about children.”

Amara squinted her eyes. “How did you know about that?” she asked.

Danug grinned at her. “Never question the knowledge of One training to Serve,” he teased. She rolled her eyes. “Actually, truthfully, I overheard you say something.” He paused again. “I also overheard Healie talking to you and Latie about a special tea that Ayla made. Latie was completely shocked the first time she heard…but it didn’t bother you in the slightest.”

“No,” Amara agreed. “But I know things where I came from…of course I won’t be surprised.”

“Yes, but how does Ayla know?” Danug continued.

Amara stopped and considered. Could it be? “How old was Ayla when she was found by the Clan?” she asked.

“I think she was around five, from what she told us. But you’d have to ask her to be sure.”

“Well…” Amara began, thinking, “I suppose it could be a possibility. Something could have happened to block the memories from her past life out.”

Danug nodded. “Yes, there was an earthquake, and I think she thinks her family died in it. But she doesn’t remember anything…just the feeling of the earth moving. Her next memory was being found by the Clan…although there was something about a cave lion in there too.”

Amara cocked her head. “Wow, I don’t know, Danug. I suppose it could be true. She may have “invented” these things, but then again she may have come up with them from some repressed memory. At five…well, five-year-olds don’t understand a lot of things, so she may have seen them and not understood how they worked, but then “remembered” them, so to speak, as she grew up. How old is she now?”

“I think…well, I seem to remember that she was Deegie’s age…eighteen or so…when she was with us. That would put her nineteen arriving at the Zelandonii. She must be about Callie’s age now…twenty five, twenty six or so…since Dalanar said Jonayla is a little over five years now,” Danug replied, counting the years to himself.

“Humph,” Amara grumbled. “I don’t know, Danug, but it’s an interesting possibility. Did you ever hear her speak any other language?”

Danug frowned in thought. “She and Mamut went Searching once…I heard her say something in a language I didn’t understand. But, at the time, I didn’t know Zelandonii…she could have said something in that language…and I don’t remember what it was that she said, so I couldn’t tell you for sure.”

Amara sighed and closed her eyes. It would be neat if the same thing that happened to her had happened to Ayla; she wouldn’t be completely alone in her past. But if so, when did Ayla come from? She had been young enough at the time to easily adjust to this way of life, unlike the trauma Amara had been through. “What do you really think, Danug?” she asked.

Danug sighed. “I don’t think the same thing happened to her. I think she’s been in our world all along, but I just can’t be sure. It would explain so many things…her exotic features which, by the way, you do seem to share. You two don’t look anything alike, but you both look foreign and exotic. It would certainly explain that, as well as many other things.”

Amara frowned. She had never thought of herself as exotic; she was just normal. Well, obviously not any more, but she always considered herself normal. She had darker hair than most people she knew, except those who colored their hair, but it certainly wasn’t exceptional. She had always liked her blue-green eyes, but without a mirror she hardly ever saw them anymore, so she hadn’t thought about them much. She didn’t really have any other spectacular traits, just that she came from a different time and place. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. We’ll be to them within a few more days, right?”

Danug nodded. “I think so…I feel we’re very close. I don’t know if some of that smoke I saw was from the Ninth Cave or not; I do know that Jondalar said there were many, many people in the Zelandonii, so it could be any cave.”

Amara knotted off her thread; she had finished the seam she had been working on. Now, she was even more anxious to get to the Zelandonii. Did she and Ayla have similar pasts? Was that why it was so important that they find Ayla? Something was nagging at the back of her mind, but she couldn’t put her finger on it just yet.

A cool breeze blew across them and they both shivered. “Why don’t we head back to the camp now?” Danug suggested. “Then you could do your mending by the fire and stay warm.”

Amara nodded absently and gathered up her project once again. They returned to the camp where she sat down beside the fire and resumed her responsibilities. She was quiet, as was Danug, prompting the other members of their traveling group to wonder what had transpired.

Latie and Lareno returned by the time an afternoon meal was done, and everyone talked cheerfully about the near end of their Journey. Amara ate silently, still engrossed in her thoughts. She couldn’t help but wonder what the truth might be.

“You were certainly quiet today,” Panec said as they undressed. “Is anything wrong?” It wasn’t like her to be that quiet, and anything out of the ordinary worried him.

“No, there’s nothing wrong,” Amara assured him, “I was just thinking a lot.” She wasn’t sure if she should talk to him about what Danug had said, of if she should leave it alone for the time being.

Panec smiled. “I’ve been thinking a lot, too,” he said as he lied down. He slipped his arm underneath her neck and snuggled next to her. “I’ve been thinking about how wonderful it will be when our baby is born!”

Amara smiled at his enthusiasm. At least for now, she wouldn’t have to worry about explaining her silence. “It will be wonderful,” she agreed. After a minute or two, she confessed, “I want a boy.”

Panec sat up on his elbow and smiled down at her. “You do?”

“Yes,” she affirmed, then continued, “and I want to name him after my brother, Jacob.”

Panec frowned in thought, then shrugged. “You can name your…our child whatever you want. But I know that your brother meant a lot to you, and I know you miss him. If you have a boy, we’ll name him Jacob, just as you wish.”

Amara smiled. “I’ll want more children, but for now I want a boy to be my first. I think every little girl needs a big brother. My brother was my best friend.”

“But what if you have a girl?” Panec asked.

She thought briefly about teasing him that the sex of the child would be entirely his fault, but she stopped herself with just a smile. There was no way he’d understand chromosomes and DNA. “Then we’ll come up with a name for her.” She smiled at her future mate. “Do you have any suggestions?” she asked.

Panec lied back down and thought. “A girl’s name?” he asked. “But men don’t name children – women name their children.”

“But, Panec,” she reminded him, “this is your baby, too, not just mine. I don’t see why you can’t name a child of ours.”

Panec nodded in agreement. If what she said was true, then he didn’t see why he couldn’t help name the child, either. “Let me think about it,” he said. He thought back to all the women he had ever known. His mother had been a large part of his life as a child, but after her first mate died and she took her second, Healie had become more of a mother to him. He smiled when he thought of it. “If it’s a girl, I’d like to name her after Healie. Maybe not ‘Healie’ but something close to it.” He thought again for a minute, then added, “Maybe with some of my mother’s name in there, too.”

“What’s your mother’s name?” Amara asked.

Panec smiled. “My mother was actually born at a summer meeting. Latie’s grandmother was blessed at the time and she liked my mother’s name so much that she used part of it when her daughter was born. My grandmother and Latie’s grandmother didn’t know each other very well; Latie’s grandmother just liked the name my grandmother used. My mother used to tell me that her mother always held a small grudge against Latie’s grandmother because if it. Latie’s mother’s name is Nezzie; my mother’s name is Trezzie. It always amused me how something like a name could upset my grandmother so.”

Amara grinned in response. “You’d be surprised what women can hold grudges over.” She remembered an incident between two great-aunts and a crock-pot; one great-aunt had bought one that looked like the other’s, and so the great-aunt who had bought hers first was always angry with the other great-aunt. “Anyway, those are easy names to combine. If we have a little girl, we’ll name her Elizabeth.”

“Elizabeth?” Panec asked, repeating the foreign name to himself. “That doesn’t sound like either of them.”

“Yes it does,” Amara said. “We’d give them more Mamutoi-sounding names of course for people to call them by. It’s a combination of the two…the ‘luh’ sound from Healie’s name put together with your mother’s would be Lizzie…I think that would be beautiful.”

Panec smiled. “Lizzie; I like that!”

“I figured you would; I’ve always liked that name myself,” Amara replied.

He grinned mischievously at her. “Well, if sharing Pleasures is what makes a baby, then I can’t wait for you to give birth to this one, and then we can have our little girl, too, and several more babies after that.”

Amara just rolled her eyes at him. “I love you, Panec.”

“Do you think we’ll find them tonight?” Latie asked as they walked. They had rested for a couple of days near the hot spring, and as soon as everyone was ready, they headed out again. This was late in their second day traveling again, and she was already disgusted that they hadn’t run into anyone the day before.

Danug squinted at the sun and then glanced at Radec. “I don’t know. I hope so,” he admitted. “It would be nice to find an end to all of this finally.” When they reached rises in the land or small hills, they could still see the smoke that he had spotted before, growing larger as they neared its source. They were doing their best to follow the small ridges in the land, but it was difficult to do.

Just as he finished his thought, Radec shouted and then made a motion for the group to stop. They all gathered around him to see what he had found.

“Look,” he said, gesturing to the ground, “this looks like some sort of trail. I don’t know where it goes, but we might as well follow it.”

“But which way?” Callie asked. The path was in front of them, going in either direction perpendicular to their own trajectory.

“I would think downhill,” Panec chimed in. “I don’t know why people would come from uphill.” He gestured as the path heading to their right led up the hill.

Radec nodded with a smile. “Downhill, then,” he agreed.

They were all upbeat as they followed the footpath down the hill. Before long, they reached a small stream, still following the path. With the trees around them, plus with them being in a valley, they could no longer see any smoke, but they were all excited about where the path might lead.

They were all discouraged when the sun began its descent but that they hadn’t seemed to gain any ground. They followed the footpath as long as they could and finally, disappointed, they stopped to camp for the night.

“We should get there tomorrow,” Lareno said cheerfully as they sat down for their evening meal.

Latie laughed at him. “Just where, exactly, is ‘there’?” she asked with a grin.

Lareno’s face soured at her. “The people whose fires made that smoke,” he said, gesturing in the direction they were headed.

“Maybe if we all get to sleep early, then we can get an earlier start tomorrow,” Callie suggested as she picked Rulec up and put him to her breast. “I for one am very excited, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to sleep for a while, but it’s worth a try.”

They all agreed and quickly finished their meals. Afterwards, they cleaned the dishes with water, sand, and some soaproot they had found by the creek. Callie had put calming herbs into their teas in hopes it would help them get to sleep. Bird protested the early bedtime, but he was quickly overruled. They secured everything for the night, and everyone retired before the sun was even set all the way.

Callie’s tea had worked. They were all up, excited, early the next morning, even before the sun rose. It took little time to pack everything up. Callie secured Rulec in a corner of the cart, and they were off again, following the footpath downstream.

Before the sun was even halfway up to its zenith, they reached a very calm area in the stream, good for swimming, and they noticed that the footpath changed characteristics. It looked like it was more worn; obviously people came to this part of the stream more often. The stream itself was growing larger as other streams contributed to its volume, and they knew that before long it would be a full-fledged river.

They continued following the path, as fast as they could, for they knew they were nearing someplace. They rounded a bend in the river and stopped abruptly when they saw an elderly woman and a young man talking over a fire. The woman was facing them, and the young man has his back to them. Radec watched as the woman motioned in their direction, and the young man turned in surprise and looked at them. He smiled and stood and approached them.

“Greetings,” he said, in Zelandonii. “I am Jonokol, First Acolyte of the Nineteenth Cave of the Zelandonii.” He stretched his arms out in greeting.

Radec glanced at Danug, who stepped forward. Radec still wasn’t completely confident in his Zelandonii, and he didn’t want to mess anything up by misspeaking right now; he felt it was best to let Danug greet the Zelandonii first. “Greetings, Jonokol, First Acolyte. I am Danug of the Mamutoi, and these are my friends with whom I am traveling.” One by one, Danug introduced his group to Jonokol.

Jonokol smiled at them. “Mamutoi?” he asked, remembering that Ayla had been a Mamutoi before his own former Cave adopted her. “Do you know Ayla?” he asked. It was uncharacteristic, but he was curious, and as close as he was to being One Who Served, he didn’t feel awkward about asking.

Latie squealed, as she so often did at the mention of her heroine’s name. “Yes, we do! Danug and I are from the Lion Camp; we adopted her into the Mamutoi some years ago!” she replied excitedly.

Jonokol glanced at the old woman, who had stood beside him. “Zelandoni of the Nineteenth, these are Mamutoi travelers.” The old woman greeted the visitors properly, and then allowed Jonokol to continue. “Was this the destination of your Journey?” he asked.

“The Ninth Cave is actually our destination; we have traveled for over a year now to find the Zelandonii,” Danug replied.

Jonokol smiled. He wasn’t surprised; he knew that someday someone would want to visit, and he felt justified. He was glad that they were here; perhaps now the few among the Zelandonii who still didn’t believe Ayla, or believe in Ayla, might be silenced with visitors from her past. Because she had arrived, he had found his calling in the cave she had found, and Zelandonii of the Nineteenth was soon to pass on her legacy to him. “Would you accompany us back to the Nineteenth Cave?”

“Most certainly,” Radec replied in his heavily Mamutoi-accented Zelandonii. “We appreciate your hospitality.”

Jonokol put out the fire that the and the Nineteenth had been using. The purpose for their afternoon trip could wait. Or, perhaps this was their purpose, to guide these Journeyers back to their Cave. “Can we help you with anything?” he asked.

Radec shook his head. “No, we have everything. We are just happy that we are nearing the end of our Journey.”

Jonokol smiled at them and headed off. He walked beside Radec, with the Nineteenth on his other side. She was getting older and was not so steady any more, and he always preferred to be beside her in case she stumbled. “Are you from the Lion Camp, too?” he asked, making conversation on their trek back to the Nineteenth Cave.

Radec shook his head. “No, but the man of Latie and Danug’s hearth, Talut, headman of Lion Camp, is my older brother. Callie is my mate,” he said, gesturing towards his beloved, “and just this winter she gave birth to the first child of my hearth, Rulec.”

Jonokol smiled at him. “The first child of one’s hearth is always a blessing,” he commented.

Radec nodded in agreement. “Do you know Ayla well?” he asked.

Jonokol smiled again. “Yes, I do. I used to be First Acolyte of the Ninth Cave, until Ayla arrived. Then I discovered that the Nineteenth Cave was where I belonged, so I moved, and now Ayla is First Acolyte of the Ninth Cave.”

Latie choked, overhearing. “Ayla is One Who Serves?” she asked. She knew that that was Ayla’s destiny, but she had never really thought about Ayla Serving. Ayla had always said that she never wanted to; she just wanted to mate Jondalar and have children, so hearing this was slightly surprising, although not completely shocking.

“Yes,” Jonokol replied. “And she is very happy. She and Jondalar have a wonderful hearth with two children and another on the way, and she is training well. She loves being a Healer.”

Latie nodded. “I believe that; she was arguably the best in all the Mamutoi.”

Jonokol nodded at her. “The same here; except for the First Among Those Who Serve, Ayla is most definitely the best. And the First isn’t necessarily better, but Ayla is at least her equal.”

Latie was a little surprised that he was discussing all of this with them, but she remembered that she and Danug were Ayla’s family in the eyes of the Zelandonii. She was happy, and she smiled smugly; naturally being from Ayla’s past would warrant special attention.

“We’re almost there,” Jonokol said.

They were still walking along the path beside the river, and now they saw more people. Boys and girls were swimming in the river, still very cold from winter’s runoff, and they and adults alike stopped and watched as Jonokol and the Nineteenth walked by with visitors. Several of the children clambered out of the river and ran ahead to tell people that they had guests, and the Mamutoi travelers chuckled at their antics. Everyone wanted to be the first to tell.

Before long several adults were coming down the path to greet them. One man stood out in front, and he approached them with a smile on his face.

“Greetings,” he said, holding his arms out to Radec. “I am Tormaden, leader of the Nineteenth Cave.” He rattled off a list of ties that were appropriate for first meetings.

Radec took Tormaden’s arms and smiled widely at the man. “Tormaden, leader of the Nineteenth Cave, I am Radec of the Mamutoi.” He repeated only the most important title that Tormaden had given. He felt more comfortable with his Zelandonii after talking with Jonokol on the way over, and didn’t feel that he needed Danug to speak for him now.

“Welcome, Radec of the Mamutoi,” Tormaden replied. “We are pleased to have you here, and we offer our home for you for as long as you need.”

Radec flushed with feeling; it wasn’t often that someone offered that, without first hearing that they were headed to visit Ayla. “Thank you, Tormaden,” Radec replied. “Let me introduce you to my friends,” he continued. He listed all the ties and titles of everyone in his group, thinking quickly to list something for Amara. He introduced her as Mamutoi, but formerly of the America, as she had said. The foreign name was enough to give her status; no one had ever heard of those people.

Tormaden turned to the people who were waiting all around them anxiously. “I am sure we will have a night of Story-Telling,” he said loudly, “but let us first make our guests comfortable.” He smiled at the Mamutoi and gestured for them to follow him. “How long will you be staying?” he asked Radec.

Radec was again surprised. “Not long,” he admitted. “We are on our way to the Ninth Cave, so if it is agreeable, we will just set up our tents outside.”

Tormaden smiled at the other man. “I should have known that was where you were going. You said you are Mamutoi, right?” Radec nodded. Tormaden smiled again and shook his head. “No doubt to see Ayla…are you her kin?”

Radec half-nodded. “I suppose you could say that. My older brother, Talut, is the man of Latie and Danug’s hearth, and headman of the Lion Camp, the Camp that adopted Ayla. Talut’s mate, Nezzie, had wanted to adopt Ayla into their hearth, but she was adopted into the Mammoth Hearth instead.”

Tormaden nodded in understanding. “It is a pleasure to meet Ayla’s kin, finally,” he said. From what he understood, Mamutoi Camps were small, with maybe twenty or so people, much unlike the Zelandonii caves. He showed them to an area where they could set up their tents and still have a little privacy. Then he left them to go tell everyone that they would have an impromptu feast that night, and to send runners to the nearest caves to invite anyone else to join them.

Amara could hardly believe it; they were almost at the end of the Journey. And there were so many people here; aside from the different language, it was just like home! People wandering everywhere, nosy as most normal people were, everyone talking – she couldn’t have been happier. And soon, they would be “home.”

Latie was excited as well. She was jumping around very giddily as she and Lareno set up their tent. She couldn’t wait to meet these people, and to see Ayla again. To top it off, both she and Amara were just starting to show their blessings, which would be an added bonus, something she was very proud of.

“Danug, do you have a moment?” Jonokol asked after Danug had finished setting up his tent.

Danug looked at the other young man. “Yes,” he replied, albeit hesitantly. He leaned down and picked Bird up, who had been quickly introduced not long before, and then handed him to Panec, who had been near enough to overhear. Panec nodded at him and took the little creature and put him in his tent.

“I want to show you something,” Jonokol said. “Ayla actually found it, but because she found it, I was able to come here as Acolyte.”

Danug cocked his head. “Why do you want to show me?” he asked. He was intrigued, but wondered why Jonokol would ask him. Better yet – how did Jonokol know to ask him?

Jonokol smiled. “You look like One who has had training,” he said.

Danug sighed. He couldn’t keep it a secret forever. “I have had some training, but I’ve always resisted the Calling. I guess I should just give in to it – you can’t resist the Mother forever,” he admitted.

Jonokol shook his head. “I think that’s how Ayla was feeling before she became an Acolyte. You should talk to her when you reach the Ninth Cave.”

“What are we talking about?” Latie asked, interrupting. She realized too late that she shouldn’t have interrupted them, but she consoled herself with the realization that they were guests, and everyone would be a little more understanding.

Jonokol smiled at her. “Would you like to come see, too?” he asked.

“What?”

“What Ayla found her first summer here. The Summer Meeting was here at the Nineteenth Cave after she and Jondalar arrived, and she found this,” he replied.

“Can Amara come?” Latie asked.

Danug looked at her, surprised. Perhaps she just wanted to include her friend, but he wondered if there wasn’t something more that Latie didn’t realize.

Jonokol nodded, “I don’t see why not. Go get her and I’ll show you all.”

Latie grinned and ducked into Amara’s tent, where she was arranging bedding for the night. After a quick word with Panec, who promised to watch Bird, she returned promptly with her friend, who greeted Jonokol warmly.

Jonokol had wondered when Radec had first introduced her where she was really from. He looked closely at her now; she had the same foreign qualities that Ayla seemed to have. He stored the information in the back of his mind, then gestured for them to follow him. He led them down another path that led away from the cave, and after a short while they came upon another cave, with a very small opening in the ground. Jonokol lit a torch and led them through the opening. The floor sloped downward, then leveled out. He then lifted his torch and heard his guests gasp in astonishment at the light reflecting off the crystallized calcite that seemed to dance in the reflected light. He let them look for a while before saying anything.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

They could only just nod. Danug found his tongue and commented, “This must be a very sacred place.”

Jonokol nodded. “Yes, but this main room is not as sacred as the inner rooms. Would you like to see?” Naturally he couldn’t take them to the inner-most rooms, but he could lead them a short distance into the chambers.

Amara felt a chill crawl up her spine as she looked into the passageways. A breeze blew through and her vision blurred. She felt dizzy and very light-headed. Something was not right. For an instant she worried about the child she carried, but that fear left and was replaced by another one when she realized what she was feeling.

“Danug!” she cried. She reached out and grabbed hold of him.

“Amara?” he said, concerned. He glanced at Jonokol, who reacted quickly and helped to support her as she grew more limp.

“It could be the stale air…let’s get her out of here,” Jonokol said. He was worried; he didn’t want one of their guests to fall ill from the air in this cave. But that had never happened before, he thought as they helped her out of the cave.

Danug sat her down on the ground and patted her face lightly. “Amara?” he asked. She didn’t respond. “Latie, go get Panec!” he commanded. His sister turned quickly and ran off. “Amara?” he asked again, a little louder.

“Do you need me to go get our Zelandoni?” Jonokol asked.

Danug shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think she’s sick…I think she’s gone into a trance of some sort.”

Jonokol nodded and knelt beside Danug. “That happens often in the cave. Is she trained?” he asked.

Danug shook his head again. “No, not at all, and she’s blessed too…I don’t know if it’s safe for her right now.”

Just then, Latie came running back, literally dragging Panec behind her. “Amara!” he cried as he saw his woman sitting motionless. His stomach wrenched; he had seen her like this before, and it scared him more than anything. He knelt in front her of and looked into her half-opened eyes. “Amara,” he said, gently, in Mamutoi, “it’s me. Come back!” Her eyelids fluttered slightly, and he repeated himself. She let out a little moan and he put his arm around her to support her. “Amara,” he said, stroking her face, “I’m here, you’re fine, come back.”

Amara opened her eyes and blinked. Panec was looking at her, and she focused on him. She relaxed when she became fully aware of her surroundings. Jonokol stood and shooed away a few people who had stopped what they were doing to watch in interest.

“What happened, Amara?” Danug asked, concerned.

“Danug,” she whispered. She looked at Panec, and then at Latie. Latie nodded and stood and backed away a little to give them some more privacy. Amara looked at Danug with wide eyes. “Danug…I felt it…I felt the same feeling…I think…I think I could go back through that cave.”

Panec’s face went white. He had always dreaded that this was a possibility; if there is a way in, there must be a way out. He had always hoped that the possibility was left behind at that cave through which she had come into this world, but now everything was turned upside down. Never more than now had he ever been afraid of what she might choose to do if given the opportunity. “Amara,” he choked, looking at her intently. A million scenarios ran through his head as she turned to look at him, and he feared the worst. He knew that she missed her family and as the thought of losing her coursed through his body, so did the thought of losing the child she carried. Would she go back? He felt again the helpless, hopeless desperation he had felt when she had had her miscarriage – the fear of losing her. He didn’t know what he would do without her; he didn’t think he could go on living.

Amara saw his fear and smiled lovingly and, most importantly, reassuringly at him. “No, Panec, I wouldn’t even think of it,” she answered his unspoken question. “I’m happy here with you – this is where I belong, and this is your child in here,” she patted her stomach, “so I wouldn’t dream of such a thing. I made that decision long ago.”

Panec sighed in relief, smiled and hugged her. She had been given a choice; she had the chance, and she had turned it down. She had chosen this life, with all its uncertainties, over her previous life, safe with what she knew. She had chosen him and their love, and to raise her child…their child…with him. He wondered if he could ever be happier than he was at that moment. “I love you, Amara,” he choked as he held her.

She smiled in understanding. “I love you too, Panec, and I will never ever leave you.” She kissed him, and then looked squarely at Danug. “But I can never go in that cave again,” she said. “I’m afraid of what might happen if I did.” She shivered and looked back at the opening to the cave. “I don’t want to go back in there, even with a group of people, just in case it pulls me through.”

Danug nodded. “That’s okay, Amara, don’t worry. We’ll tell Jonokol that it was just the air and that you don’t want to go back.” He glanced down at where her hand was still on her stomach. He reached down and touched her fingers. “Is everything okay? I don’t know how going into trances like that might affect a baby…”

Amara frowned. “I don’t know, but I feel fine.”

Danug nodded, then stood. Panec reached down and helped Amara stand up, then he put his arm around her protectively. “Amara, we’ll leave tomorrow. We’ll keep everyone happy tonight and we’ll tell our stories, but we’ll leave tomorrow. We’ll get you to Ayla as soon as we can,” he said, determined.

“Is everything okay?” Jonokol said, returning from shooing the on-lookers away. “Do you feel all right?” he asked. Latie had returned as well and was listening anxiously.

Amara nodded. “Yes, I feel fine,” she replied in Zelandonii. “Do you have a Healer, though? I just want to make sure…” she patted her stomach again.

“Yes, of course,” Jonokol nodded. “Let’s get you back to the cave and we’ll have Zelandoni look at you.”

Panec and Danug helped her stand, and then they headed toward the cave. Jonokol ran ahead to let Zelandoni know what had happened, and Latie opted to return to their small camp to look after Bird, whom Panec had left alone when she had come for him. After a few steps, Amara was sure of herself, and didn’t need the two young men to help support her any more. She still felt a little lightheaded, though, and she was grateful to sit down once they reached Zelandoni’s hearth.

“Have you had any formal training?” the Nineteenth asked her.

Amara shook her head. “No,” she replied.

“Well, you look fine,” she said, opening Amara’s eyes wide and looking into them carefully. “Why don’t you lay down and let me look at your progress?” she suggested.

Amara nodded, and the men turned to go. “Can Panec stay?” she asked.

Panec flushed. He had never imagined ever being allowed to stay while a woman was examined.

Zelandoni of the Nineteenth frowned, then shrugged. “I suppose, although men usually aren’t allowed.” But she realized that they were not Zelandonii, and so she didn’t want to offend the customs of their guests.

With Amara’s background, a woman would always prefer to have her husband with her, and this was no different. She stretched out as Zelandoni felt her stomach. Zelandoni nodded and smiled to herself, then reached between Amara’s legs. Amara had always hated this part; she was always uncomfortable and these examinations were always a little painful. Zelandoni was gentle as she felt the progress of Amara’s uterus, then felt her ovaries. No one knew exactly what the organs were, but it was known they were important, and how they were supposed to feel. She smiled and nodded again, satisfied. “Everything seems fine,” she said. Then Zelandoni leaned down and put her head to Amara’s stomach. She listened intently for a moment, then smiled again. “I hear two heartbeats, Amara…yours and your child’s.” Amara smiled and looked at Panec. Panec returned her smile lovingly. Zelandoni stood and backed away. “If your friend would like for me to look at her, just let me know,” she offered.

Amara nodded as she stood. “Thank you, Zelandoni,” she said.

“Now,” the Nineteenth continued, “what was it in the cave that made you go into a trance, without being trained?” she asked.

Amara shrugged and looked down. “I don’t know; I suppose it was just the air.” She recalled that Jonokol had said that the cave had power, and although she was usually skeptical of the supernatural, her own experiences made her think otherwise. “Jonokol said something about the cave being a way to the Mother. Perhaps it was because of that…I have never been in a cave like that before.”

The Nineteenth nodded, satisfied. It was lucky for this woman that the young men were there to bring her out of it, before any real harm was done, she thought. But all was well. “If it affected you that much, I would not attempt to return just yet, unless someone who is trained is with you,” she cautioned.

Amara nodded. “Yes, I agree. Don’t worry, I won’t try to return.”

“You can come back in now,” Zelandoni called to the young men waiting outside. They promptly returned, relieved that everyone within was smiling. “I think everything is fine.”

Danug and Jonokol smiled in response. “Well, then, is there anything we can do to help prepare for this feast?” Danug asked.

The Nineteenth smiled and shook her head. “No, you are our guests, nearing an end to a very long Journey. Please, enjoy our hospitality, and a change from traveling food.”

Danug smiled at her. “Any change in diet would be very much appreciated! Living on traveling food and having to rely on the success of a few short hunts wears on you quite quickly.”

“I can imagine,” Jonokol commented. “I don’t think I’d be very good on a Journey, always having to hunt and gather, never being able to rely on an entire cave for sustenance.” He shook his head.

“It’s not that bad, but we’re glad it’s almost over,” Panec said. “You appreciate staying put and having a hearth of your own much more after a Journey like this.”

“Are you all planning to stay with the Ninth Cave?” Zelandoni asked.

Danug nodded. “I am, and I’m sure all the others are. Latie might someday want to go back, if only to see our mother and her mate, but I think most of us would be thrilled if we are welcome to stay.”

Jonokol nodded. “I’m sure you will be. You’d be an asset to the Ninth Cave. And if the First can train you, that would allow Ayla more time to herself,” he teased.

“I suppose if that’s my destiny, then so be it,” Danug said with a sigh and a grin.

“Why don’t you all go ahead and finish settling your belongings?” the Nineteenth suggested. “I’m sure it will be a very long night for everyone.”

Jonokol nodded. “Yes, people from other caves are already starting to arrive.”

“How far away is the Ninth Cave?” Danug asked as they stood. He hoped that someone might actually come from their destination.

Jonokol shook his head. “It’s a few days away on foot…I doubt anyone from there will be able to come.”

“On foot?” Panec asked.

“Well, Ayla has her horses,” Jonokol reminded him. “On the horses the trip can be made in just a couple of days.”

Amara was discouraged; she had hoped they were a little closer to the Ninth Cave. But what was another week or so, after this many months? They reached the area where their tents were set up, and Jonokol left to help in the preparations. Amara and Panec went inside their tent and she sat down, glad that she was away from that little cave. He embraced her fiercely, not wanting to let her go.

“Panec,” she said, “Panec, you can let go. I’m not going anywhere.” She smiled at him as he released her.

“I know,” he admitted, “I just worry. When Latie said that something had happened to you, my heart stopped, and when you said what you said, I thought my life would be over. But you said you won’t go back,” he added, almost as if to reassure himself.

Amara frowned at him. “Of course I won’t go back. I belong here.”

He smiled at her. “Yes, you do.”

She returned his smile, then leaned against him. “What I was most afraid of was that it would send me back, whether I wanted to go or not. I was scared when I felt that feeling…I thought it was going to grab me. That’s why I yelled and grabbed hold of Danug…I didn’t think it would drag him with me. I wanted out of there so badly, because I want to stay here.” She shivered in his arms. “I will never go back in that cave again! I’m afraid if I do, it will catch me and send me back, and I don’t want to go.”

Panec understood what she was saying now. He held her and kissed her hair. “Don’t worry, you’re safe here. If going in that cave means we take the risk of you going back, then we won’t go in the cave.” He paused and thought for a minute. “Although, I wonder if it’s happened to anyone else. Do you suppose?” he asked hypothetically.

She shrugged and lied down on the furs. “I don’t know. I hope not…it would be very, very traumatic for anyone here to go forward. It was bad enough for me to come here, but at least I knew something about this world.” She closed her eyes and sighed. It had been a long day, and she felt a short nap would probably do her good.

Panec was interested in other things at the moment, but he knew she had had a rough experience. He stretched out beside her, thinking he would just rest for a moment, but within no time he was fast asleep.

“Wake up!” Latie cried as she shook Panec. “It’s time to eat!”

Panec sat up and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t realize that he had gone to sleep. “Oh, they’re done preparing the meal?” he asked, still not quite awake.

“Yep,” Latie replied. “How is Amara feeling?”

Panec looked at his blessed woman. “She’s fine, I think. Zelandoni examined her and didn’t see any problems. She said to tell you that she’d be happy to check your progress if you wanted her to.”

Latie nodded and smiled. “I would, but Radec said he wanted to leave tomorrow if we can, so I’ll probably just wait till we get to the Ninth Cave.”

Panec nodded, then leaned down and gently shook Amara. “Amara,” he whispered.

She turned and opened her eyes. She saw Latie and guessed that the evening meal was ready. Her stomach growled, communicating her wishes before she could say anything. They all laughed and Panec helped her up. “Hungry?” he asked.

She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. As they left their tent, they met the rest of their Mamutoi friends, and they headed to the large fire that Tormaden had had built. They greeted him, and he made a quick announcement.

“Friends,” he said as the crowd quieted, “we want to welcome our Mamutoi guests to this feast.” He looked at them and smiled. “May the rest of your Journey, short though it may be, be pleasant.”

“And may it be over soon!” Danug laughed.

Everyone joined him in laughter, and then Tormaden ushered them to where all the food was displayed. He was proud that his Cave had been able to produce such a feast in such short notice, and he could see that the Mamutoi were impressed. Since they were going to the Ninth Cave, he figured that anything that spoke well of his Cave would be advantageous.

The Mamutoi were very picky and chose the choicest cuts of meat, as was expected of guests. After they had their dinners, the Zelandonii lined up and served themselves. Everyone was looking forward to the night of story-telling that would follow.

“That’s everything,” Amara said as she put her pack and the last of her baskets into the cart. They had been up pretty late the night before telling the long and involved story of their Journey, but it had been a wonderful evening. They had awoken as early as was possible, in hopes that they could get an early start.

Latie came up behind her and put her pack into the cart beside Amara’s. She yawned, still tired, but was wide-eyed, ready to finish their Journey.

“Well,” Tormaden was saying to Radec, “you can go over the ridge, but I would suggest that you just follow the river.”

“Is the ridge much faster?” Radec asked.

Tormaden frowned. “A little, but if you’re not familiar with it, it may be more hassle than it’s worth. Plus with Latie and Amara in their conditions, I don’t know how difficult it might be.”

Radec’s brow furrowed in surprise. He was sure that Latie and Amara could both handle any climbs just fine; they had been fine so far, and Callie had weathered everything well during her entire pregnancy. Amara knew that it could be difficult, but he wasn’t concerned, and he was a little surprised that Tormaden was. But, he took it in stride, knowing that this Zelandonii leader just wanted them to have an easy Journey. He nodded at the man, then continued, “What are some of the landmarks that we’ll need to know?”

Tormaden thought for a while. “You’ll follow The River to the southwest,” he began, gesturing towards the running water below them. “You’ll pass several small tributaries, and the first Cave you’ll reach will be the Fifth Cave, or Old Valley, as we call it. The River will meander, and you’ll reach the Twenty-Ninth Cave, which is actually three caves overlooking the same valley. There will be a rather large loop in The River not long after that, which will dip to the southeast; you don’t have to follow it at that point, just continue southwest and you’ll save time. You’ll meet up with The River again after a while. Keep heading southwest, and the Ninth Cave will be after that. The entire trip may take a few days, but you’ll be there before you know it,” Tormaden reassured him.

It was difficult for anyone at that time to think in terms of any distance. For most people, they thought in terms of time, since there weren’t any universal measures on which to base length. ‘A few days’ gave Radec a good idea of what still lay ahead of them, but it didn’t worry him; they had come so far already, another couple of days would be easy. He nodded, then looked at Tormaden. “Thank you, my friend, for everything you’ve done,” he said.

Tormaden embraced the man. “Thank you for staying with us – we now have the prestige of meeting you first,” he replied with a tease.

Radec knew just how true that was, and how important that might be in terms of status, even though they were just guests, and Mamutoi at that. They brought exciting tales and news of foreign peoples, which was a prized commodity at that time. He looked toward his troop inquiringly. “Is everyone ready?” he asked.

The other members of his traveling group all nodded, and Bird replied with a chirp, as if he knew that they were leaving. They made their rounds of good-byes and within a few minutes, they were off, with blessings for the Ninth Cave.

Danug couldn’t wait to get there. He felt that the time dragged, but he knew that every step they took was a step closer to their destination. They had all discussed what to do when they encountered the next Cave – they agreed that they might stop to share a meal, but they would leave as soon as they could. Now that they were this close, it seemed a waste to not move as quickly as they could. They were all usually very quiet when they traveled, and it gave him plenty of time to think. He wondered about that cave that Jonokol had shown them. It was beautiful, majestic, and obviously very powerful. It troubled him to think that they came so close to losing Amara. He had gotten the chance to talk with Jonokol privately for a while, during which time he had asked the Zelandoni Acolyte if anyone had disappeared in the cave. Jonokol had been surprised at the inquiry, but he had nodded; not long after the cave had been discovered, a young man had gone into the cave and had never come out. Just recently on an expedition deeper into the cave, they had found remains of a young person, but there really wasn’t any way to tell if it was that of the young man. The person had obviously fallen in the dark, and a leg had been badly broken. It had saddened Jonokol to realize how lonely of a death that person had had, in pain for so long but with no food or drink; it would be enough to make a person go mad. Danug shrugged at the memory of what Jonokol said. Perhaps, though, Amara was the only one it could affect. He had felt the cave’s power, but nothing akin to what Amara had described to him. He was glad she had recognized it; he didn’t want to lose her, either.

“Is anyone hungry?” Callie called, interrupting Danug from his melancholy thoughts.

“I’m starving,” Latie replied. Callie smiled at her; she had been in that situation not so long ago, and knew how hungry pregnancy could make a young woman.

Danug was momentarily annoyed – he wanted to continue on, but he stopped the scowl that was forming on his face when he remembered Latie’s situation. Naturally she would need to eat more. He sighed and then smiled at his younger sister, who was starting to show her blessing. He wondered again, would he ever find her happiness?

“If we just do traveling food, then we can get going right away,” Amara suggested. She, too, was eager to reach their destination. She knew that, walking at a normal pace, she could probably do a mile in twenty to thirty minutes. If she walked faster, it could be done in fifteen, but she didn’t want to push it. She wondered how long it would take them. At the rate they were going, they could cover several miles in one day, especially with the horses pulling most of the load. She smiled wryly to herself; had anyone in her time walked as far as she had in the past several months? And now they had a matter of tens to go.

What she didn’t realize was how close they actually were. Following the path that Tormaden had given them, it was at most thirty miles to the Ninth Cave – a thirty minute drive at home for her, but two to three days at their pace. They weren’t traveling with an entire cave, as the Zelandonii usually did when traveling, which allowed them to move much faster. The only thing that slowed them down, if it could be considered a hindrance, was little Rulec, but he was such a good baby that he didn’t delay them much at all. When Callie wasn’t carrying him in the hide around her breast, he was happy being bounced in the cart. They made a very soft nest for him to absorb most of the shock of running over rocks or roots, and he was happy there, most of the time. When he tired of the bouncing, Callie simply returned him to his little carrier that she wore around her.

“I wonder how far this goes,” Radec commented as they ate. They had crossed a small tributary, turned along a bend in the river and were now headed almost due south. They hadn’t reached the first cave yet that Tormaden had mentioned, so he knew that this wasn’t the little loop Tormaden had mentioned, but he wondered if perhaps they couldn’t make their trip a little faster. “I wonder if we could just cut across to the southwest rather than following the river south, and then meet up with the river as it loops back to the northwest.”

They all considered for a moment, then Lareno chimed in, “Yes, we could, but this isn’t the small loop Tormaden mentioned, and we don’t know how long it will take for the river to turn back. I would rather stay on the river until we know for sure where we’re headed.”

“That’s a good point,” Radec conceded. He sighed, “I guess we’ll continue to follow it as it winds around.”

Panec smiled at his disappointment. “We’ll still get there, Radec,” he reassured the older man.

Radec rolled his eyes at Panec. “I know that, I’m just ready to be done. We’re so close…” he trailed off as he thought about settling down with his mate and her son, the son of his heart, and establishing a hearth with her.

“I agree,” Callie said. She had similar thoughts and was anxious as well. “But a day or so won’t make much difference, and I doubt if this bend in the river will add much time.” She smiled lovingly at her mate, then looked down at her son, who was sleeping happily in the sunshine.

Amara absent-mindedly patted her stomach. She could easily feel the protrusion and smiled. She was a full four moons into it, and she could tell that some of her clothes that had fit well before were becoming quite tight on her. She wondered if her jeans or any of her other clothes from home would still fit.

“Are we all done?” Latie asked as she drank the last of the water that was in her cup. The others nodded and they quickly packed up the few things they had gotten out for their lunch break.

They headed out again, going south along The River. After a while, they saw where a small tributary joined on the other side, and then The River shifted direction and headed again on a southwesterly course. It was Lareno who noticed the smoke in the distance, obviously from the fires of a nearby cave.

“It must be the Fifth Cave,” Radec said, recalling what Tormaden had told him. He glanced at the sky; there was still a lot of daylight left, as the sun had reached its zenith just after they had stopped for their meal. “I don’t think we need to stop,” he commented slowly.

Latie grinned. “Do you suppose we can avoid them? I wouldn’t mind meeting them, but we’ll meet them all soon enough, and they might want us to stay. Maybe we could shift our course some and try to stay out of their way,” she suggested.

Amara shook her head at her friend, but grinned. “You certainly are impatient,” she teased.

Danug grinned as well. “She is impatient, but so am I,” he confessed. “Can we try it, Radec?”

Radec shrugged. “I don’t mind, but we have to remember that we can’t always avoid these people – it’s their valley we’re traveling through.”

With his acquiescence, they abruptly turned northwest. It was a little more difficult to maneuver through the trees than along the river valley, but it was nothing they hadn’t already done. As soon as they decided that they were camouflaged enough, they continued paralleling The River. It wasn’t long before it flowed to the northeast, and as the sun started to set, the river changed its heading to almost due west. They traveled along it for a while longer, until the course shifted abruptly south, and there they decided to stop and make camp for the night. It would have been more convenient to reach the Twenty-Ninth Cave before nightfall, since from what Tormaden said there would be no way to avoid the Zelandonii that lived there, but they accepted their inevitable delay for the next day. They set up their tents and ate a quick dinner of more traveling food; they didn’t want to spend the time hunting. They all wanted to get off to an early start the next morning, and so just as the sun dipped below the horizon, they all said their good-nights and headed to their furs.

It was still dark out. Amara wondered what had woken her up. She sat up, then leaned over and pushed the tent flap aside. The first glimmers of sunlight would streak soon, she realized. The faintest blue infringed upon the black of the night, predicting the dawn. She knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep, so she quietly dressed, then went outside. She figured her friends would all appreciate a hot tea this morning, just to relax them but to give them plenty of energy. She gathered some kindling, then started a small fire with the firestone. Lareno and Panec had gathered some wood the previous evening, and before long she had a nice fire. She put a few cooking stones into the fire, then filled two baskets with the clean, cold water from the river. She dropped the sizzling cooking stones into the baskets, then put more into the fire. Into one of the baskets she put some of the dried traveling meat, along with some grain. Jolie and Ranug were munching happily on the spring grass, so she didn’t mind using a good amount of what they had left. The mornings were still cool, especially here in the river bottoms, and a warm grainy breakfast would do them good. She measured out some herbs into the tea packets and then put them into their respective cups. She jumped, startled, as Callie came out of her tent, holding Rulec.

“Thank you, Amara,” she said. “I was thinking of doing the same thing.”

“How is he this morning?” Amara asked.

Callie smiled at her son, who was suckling happily. “He’s perfect. When I woke up, he was just lying there, looking around. He smiled when he saw me looking at him, but he didn’t cry or anything. He just grinned and stuck his little fist into his mouth.” She shook her head at the infant’s antics. “He is such a joy.”

Amara smiled at the woman. “That he is,” she agreed. “I can’t wait to have mine,” she added.

Callie smiled at her. “You will…the time will fly. Especially if you travel back to the Lanzadonii for Joplaya’s delivery.”

Amara nodded. “Yes, I’d like to, but I don’t know if Panec would be very happy with me going so far away.”

“He could always go with you,” Callie suggested. “I’m sure several people will go.”

“What are we talking about?” Latie whispered as she crawled through her tent flap.

“Joplaya’s delivery,” Callie answered.

Latie frowned as she sat down beside the other two women. “I wonder how it will go.”

Amara shook her head. “I don’t know. If the child is Echozar’s…um, of Echozar’s spirit,” she corrected herself quickly, “I can understand why she would have so much trouble. The head would probably be too big for her.”

Callie nodded, her concern showing in her frown. “Probably. I hope everything goes well for her…she’s suffered so much.”

The women were quiet for a minute, but were brought out of their thoughts as the water for the tea started boiling. Amara filled each of their cups and swished the water around a little, to help it steep. It wasn’t long before the grain thickened in the hot water. Callie added a little bit of salt to it, then added a few more herbs to help sweeten it. A little honey would have been nice, but they had used everything that the men had collected that fateful day on the north side of the glacier. Callie frowned at the memory. They had enjoyed that honey so much, not knowing that Healie was sleeping in eternity all the while. As she stirred, Bird hopped out of Danug’s tent, and tweeted a sweet song to let them know that he was awake.

Amara frowned at the creature. “You are spoiled,” she said. “But here you go,” she added, putting a small pile of grain beside her. He chirped at her thankfully and bobbed his little head up and down, pecking at the grain. She chuckled at his antics, and he stopped, knowing that he had attention. He loudly bellowed another song, almost trumpeting the dawn’s arrival. The women laughed as they heard moans from inside the tents; obviously their feathered friend had sounded a wake-up call to the men. It wasn’t long before they were all up and dressed. They ate their breakfast quickly and cleaned up their dishes. Radec poured copious amounts of water on the fire to put it out, and it steamed loudly in reply.

By the time the sun had risen fully, they were packed and ready to head out again. They started out headed south, then they shifted a little to the southeast with The River’s course. A slight southwest turn followed. When the sun had climbed almost halfway to its zenith, The River turned sharply to the west. They followed a quick curve to the northwest. As they rounded the bend, they knew that they had reached the Twenty-Ninth Cave. Before them lay a large valley with three caves forming a triangular area known as the Twenty-Ninth Cave. They certainly wouldn’t be able to slink by unnoticed, as several people had spotted them already and were headed their way.

“I knew we were close last night,” Radec said. “If I had known we were this close I might have been tempted to keep going. We would have traveled in the dark some, but it wouldn’t have been so bad.”

“Well, we’ll stop early here and have a meal with them, perhaps,” Callie said. “We’ll just let them know that we want to get going as soon as we can.” They had said as much before.

Their conversation was cut short as the several people who had headed their way reached them.

Denanna wasn’t happy that her meeting had been interrupted, but they said that there were visitors. She figured she could postpone an administrative meeting of all the leaders of Three Rocks for visitors, and if it was as important as to interrupt her meeting, she knew that they must not be Zelandonii visitors. She and the others who had been with her left their circle and walked down and over to The River where the strangers were. She was frustrated; they had horses, too! And the strangest contraption she had ever seen. She had never become completely comfortable with the idea of Ayla’s animals, and now here were more people with them, and this strange contraption being pulled by the horses. She hoped they wouldn’t stay long.

“Greetings,” she said, extending her arms. “I am Denanna, leader of Reflection Rock.” She cut her introduction short, just in case they didn’t speak much Zelandonii.

“Greetings, Denanna,” Radec replied. “I am Radec of the Mamutoi, and these are my friends,” he continued. As had been customary lately, he introduced everyone in his group, and Denanna introduced the other leaders of Three Rocks. It was obvious from her introductions that although there were three laders, Denanna was the primary leader.

“You are welcome at Three Rocks,” Denanna said, albeit hesitantly.

Radec smiled at her and explained their situation. “We are headed to the Ninth Cave. Latie and Danug are distant kin of Ayla’s,” he knew it was a little bit of an embellishment, but he didn’t mind at the time, “and we have traveled a great distance. We appreciate your hospitality, but we are so close, and we would like to continue soon.”

Denanna smiled. “Well, will you at least join us for a meal?” she offered. It wouldn’t be proper to offer any less.

“We would be privileged to do so,” Radec acquiesced.

It was still early, and the sun hadn’t reached its zenith yet, so it took very little time to prepare a light meal in the valley as few people were hungry. Bird was the subject of much attention, and he absorbed it like he always had. He tweeted happily at all the food he received, and sang an especially sweet song for a little boy who brought him a big fat worm. After they ate, Radec told a very abbreviated version of their Journey and some of the things they had encountered. As had been the case everywhere thus far, their audience was intrigued. The Mamutoi helped their hosts with cleaning the few dishes that had been used, and then they packed away the few things they had gotten out.

“Do you know where to go?” Denanna asked. Radec nodded, and repeated what Tormaden had told them about the Journey. Denanna frowned when he mentioned the small loop in the river. “You could skip it,” she said, “but there is a small ridge there; the ridge is the reason why The River loops around. It might be difficult to stay on a southwesterly course…you may have to just follow the river around, depending on how difficult it might be.”

Radec furrowed his brow; he wondered what kind of delay this might cause. “Thank you for the information, Denanna,” he said.

Denanna glanced around. “Do you need anyone to go with you? It is a short trip, and I’m sure several people would be willing to help show you the way.”

Radec looked at his traveling group and shook his head. “No, I think we will be fine, but if anyone needs to go, we will be happy to travel with them.”

Denanna shook her head in response. “If you are sure, then I won’t mention it to anyone…I’m sure several people would offer to go, and you might end up with more people than you need.” She extended her arms to the man. “Please send our blessings to everyone at the Ninth Cave.”

Radec smiled at her and took her arms in his. “Thank you for your hospitality, Denanna,” he replied. Everyone else said their quick good-byes, and they set off again, amid a crowd of Zelandonii.

They were accompanied by those who lived at Three Rocks for a distance, but then the latter turned and headed back to their home, leaving the Mamutoi to continue their Journey. They had ended up spending more time at Three Rocks than they had planned, and Radec was sure that they would have to stop for the night before they reached the Ninth Cave, who Denanna had said was a matter of a day’s trip, two depending on the pace, from Three Rocks. They followed a well-traveled path along the river as it flowed to the west. The River then shifted quickly to the south, and Radec was sure this was the loop that Tormaden had mentioned. He understood what Denanna had said about a ridge; the land rose quickly above them, and it would be difficult to cross. He gestured to the rise in front of them. “I don’t think we can just head southwest here like Tormaden had suggested,” he said, disappointed.

The others shook their heads. “No, I don’t think so,” Panec replied. “I guess we’ll just have to follow the river.”

“Well, then, let’s go!” Latie said, impatient. Every time they stopped, it added that much more time to their Journey. She was ecstatic that they would be able to reach the Ninth Cave the next day, if everything went well.

Danug rolled his eyes at her. “Have a little patience, little sister,” he said. She scowled at him. “One more day isn’t very long.”

They continued following the waterway as it bent to the southeast. It then looped quickly to the northwest. The sun was halfway down in the sky as the river bent again to the southwest. It was there that the cliff rose quickly and after a brief survey of the land, Radec was concerned that they wouldn’t be able to stay in the valley on this side of the river. They traveled a little further, and found that the cliff was inching closer to The River with every step. He stopped his group.

“We will need to either cross the river here, or turn back and climb the cliff and go behind it,” he said.

Danug pointed downstream a ways. “What is that?” he asked.

Radec turned and squinted. It looked like a shelter of some sort, but there was no one there. “Maybe it is just a cave for a camp when people travel,” he suggested. It was easy to see that the front of the shelter was almost over the river, and passing between the cliff and the river there would be next to impossible. He looked at the water beside them. It wasn’t extremely fast, so crossing shouldn’t be a major problem, but he knew that the Ninth Cave was on this side of The River, and they would have to cross again before long.

“Why don’t we just cross the river?” Latie suggested, ever impatient. To climb out of the valley, they would have to backtrack, and then spend the time and energy in the climb. It would be easier just to pile their stuff in the cart as they had done so many times before and just ride across.

Amara nodded. “I don’t see a problem with it,” she agreed.

Radec looked at everyone. They all seemed to be in agreement, so he nodded as well. He, Danug, Lareno, and Panec quickly adjusted the things in the cart, and one by one they helped the women climb in. Latie made sure that Bird was comfortable, and Callie did the same with Rulec. The men then removed most of their clothes to keep them dry, and stepped gingerly into the river. It was still cool, but it wasn’t cold, so the only concern might be the depth, but they had crossed the Sister, and nothing could compare to that. The horses handled themselves well and soon they were halfway across. There was a moment of concern as a large branch floated downstream in front of them, but they made it across the watercourse without incident. The current had carried them downstream a little way, which aided in gaining distance. Latie was particularly happy.

The horses climbed up the bank, and the watertight cart with their belongings and the women in it rolled up afterwards. A little water had splashed in, but hadn’t hurt anything. Callie pulled out some absorbent hides for the men to dry off with, and then they donned their clothes. There was more room on this side of the river, and there was still light left in the day, so they continued down the river. The sun had reached the horizon when The River bent again from southeast to west.

“We’ll set up camp here,” Radec said. He hated traveling in the dark, and although he was sure they would reach the Ninth Cave the next day, he wasn’t sure when during the day that would happen.

The others agreed and they quickly unpacked their tents and set up. They ate a short meal of the dried traveling food, leaving just a little for their breakfast, the last one, the next day. Callie again made a calming tea to help them all get to sleep, hoping it would work despite the rising excitement that everyone was feeling. The last of the light faded away when everyone retired to their furs, joyous that the Journey was almost over.

It was Bird who made sure everyone was awake well before the sun. Having been spoiled from all the attention from the children of Three Rocks the day before, he retained the feeling into the morning hours, and expected his breakfast as soon as he was awake. He chirped angrily when he left Danug’s tent and realized that no one was awake yet. Knowing that Latie had a soft spot for him, he nosed his way into her tent and announced the morning.

Normally most people would have been annoyed at his early-morning antics, but this morning he was showered with love. Amara hummed joyfully as she folded up the furs that she and Panec shared…they would be home today!

Callie used the last of the grain and the traveling food and made them a hearty breakfast. She was happy that they had timed everything just right. They chatted happily over their morning meal, and then packed up the cart quickly. Once again, they started out just as the sun rose.

They walked a distance along the southeast bank of The River, until Radec was content with the amount of room on the opposite bank. They repeated their motions from the day before; the women, with Bird and Rulec, piled into the cart, the men removed their clothes, and they traversed the river.

The horses climbed up the bank and the cart rolled behind it. Radec exited the water first, and took the hide that Callie had given him to dry off with. As Lareno followed, he suddenly let out a yell.

“Lareno!” Latie cried, turning at his shout.

“I’m fine,” he said, clutching his right food and grimacing. “I just stepped on a sharp rock, that’s all,” he said.

Latie jumped out of the cart as Danug helped Lareno onto the bank. He sat down, naked, on the rocks and looked at his foot. Whatever rock he had stepped on, it had gouged the sole of his foot fairly well. It wasn’t a deep cut, but he knew it would be one of those that was difficult to heal. He was angry at himself; he had managed this entire Journey without injury and now on their last day, he had to go and cut his foot.

Latie looked at it but wasn’t overly concerned. It would likely hurt for a couple of days, but they would get to a Zelandonii today, or tomorrow at the worst, and he could get better attention there. She took a scrap of hide and helped him to wrap it up, then gave him his clothes. She supported him as he hobbled back into his tunic and leggings, then he gingerly put on his footwear. He tried taking a couple of steps, but he knew it would be too painful to walk very far. He sighed angrily to himself. “Radec,” he said, frustrated, “I think I’ll have to ride in the cart.”

“Is it that bad?” Radec asked.

“No, I don’t think it’s bad, it’s just painful,” Lareno admitted.

As Radec helped the embarrassed young man into the cart, Amara was struck with an epiphany. Until the horses and the cart, someone who had cut their foot would have to just make do with the pain; either that or give up – there was no alternative. She frowned to herself. Had she altered nature’s course by introducing the wheel? She shook her head and remembered that she hadn’t introduced tame horses, and she felt a little better. Lareno could always have just ridden the horse. But the thought haunted her as they started on their way again. What else had she done that might have altered the way things were supposed to be? For the first time, she worried if her background might influence more people than just Panec and Danug, who knew the truth. She wondered to herself if something else she might do in the future would break the natural process.

“What are you thinking about, Amara?” Danug asked, noticing her frown.

Amara looked up quickly, startled out of her thoughts. “Oh, nothing,” she replied.

Danug cocked his head at her, then chuckled. “I don’t believe that,” he said, “but I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”

She watched her feet walk for a while, then asked her friend, “What would Lareno had done if the cart weren’t here?”

Danug thought for a minute, and glanced at the wheeled contraption ahead of them. “He would have ridden the horses,” he said, finally, confirming what Amara had just been thinking.

“What if the horses were carrying a load?” Amara countered.

“Well, he would have had to either live with the pain, or everyone would have had to take part of the horse’s load,” Danug replied. “Why?”

“Well, I was just a little concerned,” she admitted. “What if I hadn’t thought of the cart? I mean, think about it…did I mess something up by bringing something of my world into this one?”

Danug smiled and put his arm around her shoulders. “I wouldn’t worry about it, Amara,” he reassured her. “He would have gotten along just fine, especially with the horses here.”

She didn’t feel much better, but she let the subject drop. It would be difficult for him to see her point; no one in this world really knew about natural selection. Well, no one she had met thus far, anyway.

The River bent around again and flowed to the northwest. The sun was still climbing in the sky, and once again they could see smoke nearby. They knew that they must be close. They all felt the excitement grow with each step, and they seemed to go faster and faster. The river widened and gurgled; Radec knew that a large tributary would meet up with The River soon, hence why it was so turbulent at this point. But, turbulent was relative; it was still a gentle river, from what they could tell.

A thicket of trees reached to the river, and it would be impossible to go around; if they wanted to try, they would have to cross the river once again. Radec figured that there would be enough room between the trees to maneuver the cart through the thicket; they had done similar things before already. As the thicket thinned, they heard voices, and then Latie heard the sweetest sound of all – the yip of a canine. She couldn’t believe that they might be this lucky. Could it be? She tried to curb her racing thoughts, but couldn’t. She jumped and practically ran through the woods, and everyone behind her did their best to keep up. As Latie ran out of the thicket, she saw a wolf with two blond children, an older girl and a boy, still a toddler. Not far away from where the two children played, a familiar couple sat in the grass, watching the antics. Latie knew immediately who they were and tears squeezed out of her eyes as she ran.

“Ayla! Ayla!”

Not once did it cross Latie’s mind to be concerned about Wolf. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the large canine jump and head in their direction. Luckily for her, the wolf’s incredible memory overcame his concern for his human mother, and when he reached where Latie had almost attacked his people, he sat down, wagged his tail, and whined for attention.

“Wolf!” Latie cried. She reached down and rubbed the hair on his neck, then scratched behind his ears. She leaned down and hugged him. “I missed you!” He wagged his tail in response, delighted at the attention.

The blond woman regained her composure and stood. “Latie?” she asked.

Latie turned and looked at the older woman, then reached out and embraced her. “Ayla!” she cried again.

“Latie!” the man cried, and joined in the embrace. Latie felt a flush of excitement; this man had almost been the one to perform his First Rites, and she would probably always hold a secret crush.

“All this exchanging of names, you’d think we all knew each other by now,” Danug teased in Zelandonii as he petted Wolf.

“Danug!” Ayla reached out and embraced him. He, too, felt the flush of a former crush rising to his cheeks, and he returned her embrace warmly. “I can’t believe this…oh, my goodness, it’s so wonderful to see you!” Ayla exclaimed.

“We brought some friends,” Latie said, turning. She gestured for the other members of the Mamutoi group to head towards her.

“And horses!” Ayla exclaimed.

“You were my inspiration,” Latie confessed. “Their names are Jolie and Ranug.”

“They are beautiful!” Ayla commented. “How did you do it?”

“We were all out hunting one day and we watched a wolf pack attack of herd of horses,” Latie said. Ayla shivered at the thought. “They got two of them, and it turned out that each of the horses killed had a foal. We saved them, and kept them, as you had done.”

“It looks like you have done a wonderful job with them,” Ayla praised. Latie beamed her pleasure.

“Ayla, Jondalar,” Danug said, holding his arm out, “you may or may not remember Callie, Radec, or Panec of the Mamutoi.”

“I remember meeting Radec. You look just like Talut!” Jondalar said with a laugh. For an instant, he was reminded of those awful months that came between him and Ayla, but he pushed the memory from his mind. “I don’t think we know this little guy,” he said, touching Rulec’s arm as Callie held him.

“This is Rulec,” Callie said in Mamutoi, holding up her son. She gave the infant to Ayla when the latter inquisitively reached out her arms. “I discovered that I was blessed with him during our Journey here, and I gave birth not long after we found the Losadunai.”

Questions filled Ayla’s thoughts, but she thought better to wait until she had met everyone. “He is beautiful!” she said with a smile. “And you are not Mamutoi?” she asked, directing her question at Amara and Lareno.

“You probably don’t remember me,” Lareno said, “although I met you briefly a few years ago. I am Ramudoi,” he said.

“Ramudoi! How is Tholie?” Ayla asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Lareno smiled, knowing that of course Ayla would want to know. “She is well. She has Shamio, of course, and a baby now, Amarie,” he replied.

Ayla frowned; Tholie was blessed when they stayed with them on their Journey to the Zelandonii years ago. That child would no longer be a baby. She felt guilty for a moment, wondering if what Tholie had said about needing cross-mates had come to pass. “Amarie,” she mused, “that sounds Mamutoi.”

“It is,” Danug said. He reached out for Amara. “Tholie named her after Amara.”

Ayla stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment. She looked the young woman up and down, then smiled. “Amara,” she said softly. She caught the young woman’s eye, then looked at Danug and nodded. They would talk later. She looked at her mate and smiled. “We have some people we would like to introduce you to, as well,” she said. Her two young children had stopped playing and had rushed to their mother’s side when the strange people arrived. When Ayla had stepped away, they had hugged Jondalar’s legs. Ayla reached down and picked up a girl with blond hair and vividly blue eyes like her father’s. “Jonayla, these are friends of mine…they are Mamutoi,” she said in Zelandonii.

Jonayla smiled. Ayla’s smile, Danug noticed. “It is a pleasure to meet you,” she said sweetly, as she had so often been instructed to do. She held her arms out in the formal gesture of welcome, which brought chuckles from the Mamutoi. Danug took her arms in his, doing his best to remain serious.

“And what is your name?” Latie asked the little boy that Jondalar had picked up.

“Tonowan,” he replied softly.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Thonolan,” she replied. She could see the pride and joy in Jondalar’s eyes, but she also saw a hint of pain. He would likely never get over the loss of his younger brother. She smiled at the man, then at the child in his arms. “Would you like to meet someone?”

Thonolan leaned his head against Jondalar’s shoulder and nodded, albeit slowly. Latie turned towards the cart, and brought Bird out of his little nest. Thonolan’s eyes lit up. “A bird!” he cried.

Latie nodded and held out her hand, which Bird was sitting in. “His name is ‘Bird.’ That’s the Mamutoi word for bird.”

“‘Bird,’” Thonolan repeated.

“May I see?” Jonayla asked politely.

Latie held Bird down so that the little girl could pet him. “He loves to play,” she said. The children’s eyes lit up. “If you are gentle with him, you may play with him,” she offered.

“Can we, Mama?” Jonayla asked her mother.

Ayla smiled. Ever since she had Durc, the word ‘Mama’ had very special meaning to her. She had been thrilled when Jonayla had picked it up, and Thonolan took after his sister in that regard. “You may,” she agreed.

Jondalar put Thonolan down and they ran to where they were playing with rocks and stones. Bird sang his happiness and fluttered around the two delighted children.

“We will do formal introductions at the Cave,” Jondalar said. His eyes sparkled brightly. “But let’s sit down first, just us,” he suggested.

The Mamutoi travelers readily agreed. It had been a long trip, and they were pleased to have reached the end. As they sat down, Wolf whined again.

“Yes, Wolf,” Ayla acknowledged. “You may meet them all.”

The canine wagged his tail and walked to each person, sniffing to his content, and receiving a good amount of attention from all. He saw the horses, too, and assumed that they were playmates, much like the horses he was used to. He bounded towards them, and they reared back in fear. Unfortunately, they were still attached to the cart, and couldn’t run away, which added to their fear and agitation.

“Wolf!” Ayla called, standing quickly, seeing the horses’ understandable fear. He turned and looked at her with his ears laid back. “Those are not your horses,” she said. He whined at her, and she shook her head. She beckoned him away, and he reluctantly obeyed. He quickly forgot about them, however, when Latie reached out to him. He licked her hand and settled himself comfortably in front of her, with his head in her lap. He nosed his head underneath her hand, wanting to be petted.

“I think he remembers me,” Latie said, as Danug walked over to the horses to try to soothe them. As soon as he was sure they were settled down, though still somewhat on edge due to the lingering smell of a natural predator, he returned to the group.

“I’m not surprised,” Jondalar commented. “He has an excellent memory, especially when it comes to smell.”

“How long have you been traveling?” Ayla asked as she sat down again.

“Over a year now,” Callie replied.

Jondalar nodded in understanding, but remarked, “I’m surprised it only took you a year, with so many people.”

“Well, the horses did help,” Danug commented. “We left the Mamutoi at the end of the winter.”

“How is everyone?” Ayla asked, inquiring about her kin.

Latie smiled. She had been rehearsing this for a while. “Deegie had a son with her first blessing, which was good luck for her mating and the new lodge she and Tarneg made. Just before we left, she had a little girl, too. She named her Ayla.” Ayla’s smile softened and tears threatened as she thought of her friend. “Mamut died not long after you left,” Latie said with a frown. Noticing Ayla’s expression, she added, quickly, “He said that he had fulfilled his purpose. He said his purpose was to be there when you were there, and the Mother called him back to Her not long after that.”

Ayla smiled and nodded, but a tear rolled down her cheek. Jondalar put his arm around her to comfort her; the old man had been a great comfort to her, he knew, during those long winter months.

“You may or may not be happy to hear this,” Danug said with a grin, trying to change the subject to something a little happier, “Ranec finally decided to mate with Tricie…but it took him two years to do so.”

Ayla smiled. “I’m glad that he’s found happiness…I’ve always wanted that for him.” She paused for a minute, then asked, “How are Nezzie and Talut?”

“Mother is fine,” Latie responded, “and Talut is Talut!” She laughed at the memory. “They didn’t want us to come, especially since Deegie and Tarneg made a new lodge instead of staying at Lion Camp. Talut and Radec don’t have any sisters, so there was talk about Danug and I being co-leaders, but neither of us was interested.”

“I’m sure you miss them,” Jondalar commented.

Latie smiled. “I do…we do, but they’ve always told us to live our own lives. We knew that we wanted to come out here, so we made inquiries at the last Summer Meeting to invite anyone else. Radec and Callie both wanted the adventure, and I think Panec was restless. Healie’s mate had just died and she felt that there was nothing left for her there.”

Ayla frowned. “Who is Healie, and where is she?” she asked, glancing around. It was obvious that there was no one else with them.

“Healie died, just after the turning of the seasons,” Callie said sadly. “We were going around the north side of the glacier, since it would be nearly impossible to cross with Rulec as little as he was, so we took the chance.”

“Oh, I am so sorry for your loss,” Ayla responded with empathy. “Were there any…problems…going that route?” she asked cautiously. North of the glacier was Clan territory. She didn’t want any problems between the Clan and Others, especially if there was a death involved.

Radec shook his head. “Oh, no, we had no problems. I think she was just ready to go. She saw us almost all the way to the end, but I think she missed her mate.” He stopped for a minute, then remembered the strange occurrence at her burial. “We buried her, and as we were placing the stones on top of her grave, Amara noticed some Clan people.”

Ayla sat up straighter. “Really?”

“Yes,” Panec continued. “There was a group of them…men and women.”

“One of them had yellow hair,” Amara added.

“Yorga!” Jondalar exclaimed.

Radec shrugged. “I don’t know her name, but one of the men came up to us. He made a few signs like Latie and Danug had showed us, then he put a stone on Healie’s grave. He said his name was Guban.”

Ayla was pleased at this news. She was thrilled that she and Jondalar had given the Clan man enough of a reason to not be afraid of the Others. She wanted to ask more, but she was afraid she would get confused; they were jumping around a lot, rather than advancing through time with their story. “I’m so sorry to hear about your friend,” she said, hoping that she was somewhat of a comfort.

“She’s much happier now,” Danug said confidently.

Something in his tone made Ayla realize that he was probably right. She made a note to speak with Zelandoni about Danug when they returned; he had displayed that he had a Gift of some sort already. “What did you encounter first on the Journey?” she prodded them to continue.

“It was fairly easy for a while,” Latie said, and quickly described the first couple of moons of their Journey, which had been very uneventful for the most part. “We traveled all the way through the spring, taking our time, and by early summer we had reached the Great Mother River. We traveled upstream for quite a distance, then near the middle of summer, we encountered an out-of-season snowstorm.”

“A snowstorm?” Jondalar asked, a little suspicious. He had traveled a great distance and had never experienced anything of the sort.

Danug nodded. “Yes. We found a cave that we used for shelter, and…” he stopped, wondering how much he should tell. He glanced at Amara, who had been pretty quiet, and she nodded at him. “We found a cave, and I started feeling funny, like something was calling to me. I decided to take a walk.”

“In the snow?” Ayla asked.

Danug nodded again. “In the snow,” he confirmed. “And that’s when we found Amara.”

Ayla looked at the young woman again. Where had she come from, she wondered. She knew she would probably have to wait and talk to this young woman later. Before she looked back at Danug, she realized that Amara had her hand resting nonchalantly on her stomach. Ayla looked a little closer, then smiled. She glanced over at Latie, and saw the same thickening of the waist. She looked back at Amara, and then realized something. She had seen this young woman before!

“She was sick with cold,” Callie continued the story, interrupting Ayla’s thoughts. “But Healie saved her.” She decided not to get into some of the odd things that came with Amara…such as not knowing how to tan a large hide, not knowing how to sew properly, and several other peculiarities that obviously came from her home. "It was while we were there, I think, that I realized I was blessed.”

“That must have been very difficult, to travel while pregnant,” Ayla commented. She had worried immensely during their year-long trip about the complications that might have arisen if she became pregnant. But, she remembered, Callie had others to help.

“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Callie replied. “But it was difficult, just to travel, especially as I got bigger.”

“Once Amara was well enough to travel, we kept going,” Latie continued. “We just accepted her as one of us, and now she’s like a sister to me.” She smiled at her friend. “She saved my life.”

Ayla’s curiosity was again piqued. Was Amara a Healer? “What happened?” she asked.

“They were struck by lightning,” Panec said. “Amara was knocked unconscious, and Latie stopped breathing.”

“Do you remember what you did when little Nuvie…I think it was Nuvie…choked on a bone?” Danug asked. Ayla nodded. “Amara did the same thing, but she also pushed on Latie’s chest. She saved her life.”

Ayla looked at the young woman with respect. “Thank you,” she said. “You pushed on her chest to make her heart start pumping the blood again?”

Amara nodded and blushed. “Yes, but it was nothing…people have to do it a lot where I come from."

Ayla raised her eyebrows, wondering where this [i]where[/i] was. But it was obvious Amara didn’t like the attention, and Ayla understood; she had felt that way many times before. “And when did Lareno join you?” she asked.

“Before the lightning,” Lareno replied with a shiver. He hated remembering what those few moments were like after Amara had screamed. “They were only there for a couple of days, and it was a big decision to make, but I think I made the right one,” he said and smiled at Latie.

They quieted for a moment, and Panec picked up the story. He outlined the next leg of their Journey for Ayla and Jondalar, and the few little incidents along the way, including crossing the Sister.

“Did you ever run into a group of people called the Hadumai?” Jondalar asked. One of the burning questions that had never been answered for him was the fate of the young woman, Noria: had she had a child, Jondal, with blue eyes?

“Yes, we did,” Latie said. “Actually, we ran into them and the S’Armunai at the same time. A young S’Armunai woman was going to mate a Hadumai man. I think her name was Cavoa.”

“Did she have twins?” Ayla asked. Latie nodded, and Ayla smiled. “Then it was Cavoa. I hope she is happy with her new mate.”

“She seemed happy,” Radec said. “And we have a message for you, Jondalar.” Jondalar raised an eyebrow. “Something about a boy, Jondal, with blue eyes.”

Jondalar smiled, and noticed Ayla’s grin. He no longer needed to know about Jondal to confirm for himself that his spirit was strong enough – Jonayla and little Thonolan both confirmed that. But he had always been curious, and had confessed his curiosity to his mate a few seasons ago. She had understood completely, and was now grinning at him as an ‘I told you so!’ He had believed her theory about children for years now, and this was just one more factor with which to convince him.

Radec continued. “S’Armuna told us the story about their past. I must say,” he chuckled, “it makes you two sound like the Mother and Her Mate to hear what you did with them.”

Jondalar frowned. “We did what anyone should have done…although it sickened me to know that no one else had attempted it.”

They all paused for a moment, thinking of the tragic situation. Then Callie cleared her throat and continued, “We left to find the Losadunai. I was nearing my birthing time, and we wanted to get there as soon as we can. It was growing very cold very quickly, and we found them just before the hard winter set in.” She explained how the late fall and early winter progressed, and how it had become difficult for them to find food. There were several times when they had gone to bed without eating anything all day long, and although no one preferred to remember those awful days, the hunger had made them stronger. “Just before the major snows started, we found them.”

“Did you meet a young woman named Madenia?” Ayla asked.

“Yes, we did,” Amara replied. “And she has a little girl, Aylia.”

Ayla blushed with feeling. She was so honored that Madenia would name a daughter after her. It was obvious then that she had gone through her First Rites. “Is she mated?”

Amara shook her head. “No, she’s happy staying busy with Aylia.”

Ayla nodded in agreement. “I’m not surprised…a little girl will do that to a mother.” She glanced over at her own daughter, who was teaching Thonolan how to best pile stones, with Bird standing patiently on Thonolan’s leg. A faint memory sparked in the very back of her mind; something about a pile of rocks. Her stomach churned as the vague memory of earth moving under her feet surfaced. She swallowed hard and pushed the memory away.

Radec explained about the hot springs, which Jondalar and Ayla both quickly related to, and about how wonderful Solandia had been with Callie and little Rulec’s birth. Callie elaborated on some of the finer details, but let Radec explain most of it. It was obvious that he had felt extremely honored that the Losadunai had taken them in so quickly. “We felt that we owed them something, but Laduni said that what you agreed to for your future claim against him was so little, Jondalar, that he wanted to help us to feel that he had paid back his debt to you.”

Jondalar shook his head. “That Laduni is a generous man; he leads his people well.” He received several murmurs of agreement.

“It was after we left and rounded the northern side of the glacier that we encountered the Clan, and Healie died,” Latie continued.

“But Healie knew…she was ready to go,” Danug added. He smiled at his sister and Amara. “She also knew something else.”

Amara smiled and looked down at her stomach. “She did, didn’t she?”

Ayla smiled at the two young women. “Congratulations,” she said happily. “I know you must be very excited.”

“We are,” the young women replied in unison. They looked at each other and laughed.

“I’ve been recently blessed again myself,” Ayla admitted. “It’s the most wonderful feeling, to know that you are carrying a child.” She looked lovingly at Jondalar.

“It is,” Amara replied. She made a mental note to herself to talk to Ayla regarding the truth about conception; somehow she knew Ayla would understand. Then she added, “Panec and I, and Latie and Lareno, are wanting to be mated at the Matrimonial this summer.”

Ayla smiled. “That’s wonderful! And your matings will be blessed!”

“Like yours was?” Latie asked with a tease.

Ayla smiled lovingly at her mate. “I wish every woman the happiness I have found.” She looked over at her two children, who were making little stepping stones for Bird.

“Hopefully I can guarantee my mate that happiness,” Panec said, smiling at Amara.

“Me too,” Lareno added. Then he continued with the story. “We made our way down the western side of the glacier, and then, completely by luck, we found the Lanzadonii. Danug thought that Dalanar was you, Jondalar,” Lareno laughed.

Jondalar smiled. “That’s not the first time that’s happened. But I think his nose is bigger than mine,” he said with a tease.

“That brings us to something we wanted to talk to you about, Ayla,” Callie continued.

“Oh?” Ayla asked.

“Yes…Joplaya is about six moons along in her pregnancy.”

“How is she doing?” Ayla inquired, the Healer in her standing out. She knew that Joplaya had had difficult pregnancies, and had almost lost her life in one. She had always felt so awful for Joplaya’s situation, that she hadn't truly loved the man she mated, which could have easily been Ayla's own had she stayed with the Mamutoi. She hated it that now Joplaya had to continually miscarry her pregnancies, which risked Joplaya’s life as well. She could only imagine what Echozar was going through, watching his beautiful mate suffer so.

“She was doing much better when we left. She’s made it to six moons, but they’re still worried about this baby. Dalanar wanted us to send you a message, to ask you to go out there before the Summer Meeting and help with the birth…if she makes it that far,” Callie explained.

Ayla frowned. “She has had a lot of trouble,” she agreed. It would be difficult for her to go; Jonayla and Thonolan were still very young and needed their mother, plus with a third one on the way – matters were further complicated. But, she was a Healer, a Medicine Woman, and she knew that Joplaya needed help. She would have to discuss it with Zelandoni, and Jondalar of course, later. But deep inside her heart, she knew that she could not refuse the request.

“We promised them we would bring the message to you,” Callie resumed the story. “We left and traveled here.” She told them about finding more hot springs along the way, and of how wonderful it felt to be so much closer to their destination. She explained how Danug had seen the smoke, which had provided them with a direction in which to head. Then she described the footpath that they had found along the river.

“Did you run into any of the other Caves?” Jondalar asked.

“Yes, we stayed a night with the Nineteenth Cave. Tormaden was very gracious,” Callie replied.

“And Jonokol showed us the cave you discovered,” Danug said, looking intently at Ayla.

Ayla caught her breath. She knew from the tone of his voice that something had happened there. She glanced at Amara, who all of a sudden looked very uncomfortable. It had to do with her, Ayla realized. She nodded at Danug, who tipped his head quickly in a returned nod. “Isn’t it a beautiful cave?” Ayla asked.

“It is,” Danug agreed, “and very powerful.”

Ayla nodded again in understanding. “And I assume you followed The River from there?” Jondalar asked.

Radec nodded. “Yes. We missed the Fifth Cave, and spent a mid-day meal with the people of Three Rocks. That was just yesterday,” he commented. He told them about finding the cave shelter, which Jondalar confirmed was just that: a shelter, not a cave where anyone lived. Jondalar nodded at Radec’s description of The River’s behavior, and confirmed some of what Radec had been thinking.

When he finished, Ayla smiled in delight. “And now you’re here!”

“We are!” Latie squealed. She still couldn’t believe that after all these years, here she was with her heroine, the woman she had adored and tried to mimic for so long.

“I’m sure we’ll talk more soon,” Ayla said, standing up and looking at the sky. It surprised her when she realized how long they had been sitting. “But the daylight will be gone soon, and we need to get back to the Cave.” The Mamutoi all stood up as well, and Ayla embraced them, one at a time. “I have been wanting to see someone for so long…my family before the Zelandonii, and I can’t believe someone actually Journeyed this far.” Her eyes glistened with feeling. She hugged Latie again and then blinked the tears back.

“Jonayla, Thonolan,” Jondalar called. “It’s time to go back home,” he said.

“Can we keep Bird?” Jonayla asked.

“I think he needs to stay with his family, but I’m sure you can play with him later,” Jondalar assured her.

Jonayla frowned as she handed Bird back to Latie, but Latie smiled and reassured the young girl, “You will have many opportunities to play with him, I promise.”

Jonayla brightened and smiled happily. “Thank you!” she exclaimed. She slid her little hand into Jondalar’s for the short walk back to the Ninth Cave.

She looks just like her father, and has her mother’s smile, Amara thought in English. She almost startled herself with it; she hadn’t thought in English in a long time. She looked at Ayla and caught her eyes. Yes, they would most definitely talk more. Until then, they needed to meet their new family.