The Land of Painted Caves (12 page)

Ayla and Jondalar were among the last to leave the camp of the Ninth Cave. When they finally started toward the main Summer Camp they passed by eleven-year Lanoga and her thirteen-year brother, Bologan, struggling to make a small summer lodge at the edge of the camp. Since no one wanted to share a dwelling with Laramar, Tremeda, and their children, it only needed to house their family, but Ayla noticed that neither parent was there helping the children.

“Lanoga, where is your mother? Or Laramar?” Ayla asked.

“I don’t know. At the Summer Meeting, I suppose.”

“Do you mean they’ve left you to make your summer lodge by yourselves?”

6

A
yla was appalled. The four younger children were standing around staring with eyes wide open. She thought they looked frightened.

“How long has this been going on?” Jondalar asked. “Who built your lodge last year?”

“Mostly Laramar and me,” Bologan said, “with a couple of his friends, after he promised them some barma.”

“Why isn’t he building it now?” Jondalar asked.

Bologan shrugged. Ayla looked at Lanoga.

“Laramar got into a fight with mother and said he was going to stay in one of the fa’lodges with the men. He took his things and left. Mother chased after him, but she hasn’t come back,” Lanoga said.

Ayla and Jondalar looked at each other and without saying a word, they nodded. Ayla put Jonayla down on her carrying blanket, then they both started working with the children. Jondalar soon realized that they were using the poles from their traveling tent, which would not be enough to build a lodge. But they couldn’t put up the tent because the wet leather hide was disintegrating, and the damp floor mats were falling apart. They had to make everything—wall panels, floor mats, and thatch for the roof—with materials found locally.

Jondalar started by looking for poles. He found a couple near their lodge, then cut down some trees. Lanoga had never seen anyone weave mats and panels quite the way Ayla did, or as fast, but the girl learned quickly when Ayla showed her. The nine-year girl, Trelara, and seven-year boy, Lavogan, tried to help as well, after they were given some instruction, but they were more occupied with helping Lanoga with one-and-a-half-year Lorala, and her three-year brother, Ganamar. Though he didn’t say anything, Bologan noticed as they worked that Jondalar’s techniques created a dwelling of a much sturdier construction than he had made before.

Ayla stopped to nurse Jonayla, and nursed Lorala, too, then got some food for the children from their lodge since apparently the parents hadn’t brought any. They had to build a couple of fires to see what they were doing to finish the work. By the time they were nearly through, people were coming back from the Main Camp. Ayla had gone back to their dwelling for a covering for Jonayla since it was getting chilly. She had just put her baby down in their new summer lodge when she saw people approaching. Proleva, with Sethona on her hip, was walking with Marthona and Willamar, who was carrying a torch in one hand and guiding Jaradal with the other.

“Where did you go, Ayla? I didn’t see you at the Main Camp,” Proleva said.

“We never got there,” Ayla said. “We’ve been helping Bologan and Lanoga build their lodge.”

“Bologan and Lanoga?” Marthona said. “What happened to Laramar and Tremeda?”

“Lanoga said they got into a fight. Laramar decided to go to a fa’lodge, took his things and left, and Tremeda chased after him and didn’t come back,” Ayla said. It was obvious that she was having some trouble controlling her anger. “Those children were trying to build a lodge by themselves with nothing but tent posts and wet floor mats. They didn’t have any food either. I nursed Lorala a little, but if you have any milk, Proleva, she could probably use some more.”

“Where is their lodge?” Willamar said.

“At the edge of the camp, near the horses,” Ayla said.

“I’ll watch the children, Proleva,” Marthona said. “Why don’t you and Willamar see what you can do.” She turned to Ayla. “I’ll watch Jonayla, too, if you like.”

“She’s almost asleep,” Ayla said, indicating where she was to Marthona. “Tremeda’s children could use a few more floor mats, especially since they don’t have enough sleeping rolls. When I left, Jondalar and Bologan were finishing up the roof.”

The three of them hurried toward the nearly completed small dwelling. They could hear Lorala crying as they approached. To Proleva, it sounded like the fussiness of a baby who was overtired, and maybe hungry. Lanoga was holding her, trying to settle her down.

“Why don’t you let me see if she’ll nurse a little,” Proleva said to the girl.

“I just changed her padding, stuffed it with her nighttime sheep’s wool,” Lanoga said, handing the toddler to Proleva.

When she offered her breast, the baby went for it eagerly. Since her own mother’s milk had dried up more than a year before, many other women had taken turns feeding her and she was used to taking milk from any woman who offered. She also ate different kinds of solid food that Ayla had taught Lanoga to make for her. Considering her difficult beginning, Lorala was a remarkably healthy, happy, gregarious, though somewhat undersized child. The women who fed her took a certain pride in her good health and good nature, knowing that they had contributed to it. Ayla knew that they had kept the baby alive, but Proleva knew it was Ayla’s idea originally, after she discovered that Tremeda’s milk had dried up.

Ayla, Proleva, and Marthona found some additional skins and furs that they didn’t mind giving up for the children to use as sleep coverings, and more food. Willamar, Jondalar, and Bologan collected some wood.

The structure was nearly finished when Jondalar noticed Laramar coming. He stopped some ways back, and stared at the small summer lodge, frowning.

“Where did this thing come from?” he asked Bolagan.

“We built it,” the boy said.

“You didn’t build it by yourselves,” Laramar said.

“No, we helped him,” Jondalar interjected, “since you weren’t here to do it, Laramar.”

“No one asked you to butt in,” Laramar sneered.

“Those children had no place to sleep!” Ayla said.

“Where’s Tremeda? They’re her children; she’s supposed to see to them,” Laramar said.

“She left after you did, chasing after you,” Jondalar said.

“Then she’s the one who left them, not me,” Laramar said.

“They are the children of your hearth; they are your responsibility,” Jondalar said with disgust, struggling to contain his anger, “and you left them without shelter.”

“They had the traveling tent,” Laramar said.

“The leather of your traveling tent was rotten. After it got soaked, it fell apart,” Ayla said. “They had no food either, and several of them are hardly more than babies!”

“I assumed Tremeda would get some food for them,” Laramar said.

“And you wonder why you are the lowest ranked,” Jondalar said with scorn and a look of disgust.

Wolf was aware that something seriously distressing was going on between the people of his pack and the man he didn’t like. He wrinkled his nose and started growling at Laramar, who jumped back to stay out of his way.

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” Laramar said. He was now getting defensive. “I shouldn’t be the lowest ranked. It’s your fault, Jondalar. You’re the one who suddenly came back from a Journey with a foreign woman and you and your mother connive to put her ahead of me. I was born here; she wasn’t. She should be the lowest ranked. Some people may think she’s special, but anybody who lived with Flatheads is not special. She’s an abomination, and I’m not the only one who thinks so. I don’t have to put up with you, Jondalar, or your insults,” Laramar said, then turned and stomped off.

Ayla and Jondalar looked at each other after Laramar left. “Is there truth in what he says?” Ayla asked. “Should I be ranked lowest because I am a foreigner?”

“No,” Willamar said. “You brought your own bride price with you. Your Matrimonial outfit alone would put you among those with the highest status in any Cave you might choose, but you have also shown yourself to be a worthwhile and valuable person in your own right. Even if you had started out as a low-ranked foreigner, you wouldn’t have stayed there for long. Don’t let Laramar concern you about your place with us; everyone knows what his status is. Leaving these children alone to fend for themselves with no food or shelter bears it out.”

As the builders of the small summer dwelling prepared to return to their own lodge, Bologan touched Jondalar’s arm. When he turned back, Bologan looked down, and his face became a deep shade of red, noticeable even in the firelight.

“I … ah … just want to say, this place is nice, the best summer lodge we ever had,” Bologan said, then quickly went in.

As they were walking back, Willamar said, under his breath, “I think Bologan was trying to thank you, Jondalar. I’m not sure if he has ever thanked anyone before. I’m not sure he knows how.”

“I think you are right, Willamar. But he did just fine.”

   The morning dawned clear and bright and after the morning meal, and checking to see that the horses were comfortable, Ayla and Jondalar were eager to go to the Main Camp to see who was there. Ayla wrapped Jonayla in her carrying cloak and settled her on a hip, then signaled Wolf to come with her, and set out. It was a bit of a walk, but not bad, Ayla decided. And she did like having a place that was somewhat out of the way, when she wanted it.

People started hailing them as soon as they appeared, and it pleased Ayla that she recognized so many, unlike the summer before when she hardly knew anyone, and even those she had met, she didn’t know well. Though most Caves looked forward to seeing certain friends and relatives every year, because they regularly changed locations for the Summer Meetings, and other groups of Zelandonii did the same, there usually was some difference in the mix of Caves from year to year that gathered at any particular place.

Ayla saw some people whom she was sure she had not seen before; they tended to be the ones who stared at Wolf, but the animal was welcomed with a smile or a greeting by many, especially children. He stayed close to Ayla, however, who was carrying the baby for whom he had a special affection. Large groups that included strangers were difficult for him. His instinct to protect his pack had grown more compelling as he matured, and various incidents in his life had reinforced it. In a sense, the Ninth Cave became his pack, and the territory they inhabited became the area he watched, but he couldn’t protect the entire large group, much less the many additional people whom Ayla had “introduced” to him. He had learned not to treat them with hostility, but they were too many to fit into his instinctive conception of a pack. Instead, he decided that the people he knew were close to Ayla were his pack, the ones he was required to protect, especially the new young one he adored.

Though she had visited with them shortly before they left, Ayla was especially glad to see Janida with her baby and Levela. They were talking with Tishona. Marthona had told her that people often formed especially close friendships with the couples with whom they shared their Matrimonial, and it was true. She was glad to see all three women, and they all greeted Ayla and Jondalar, embracing each other and touching cheeks. Tishona had become so used to seeing the wolf, she hardly noticed him, but the other two, who still felt a little fear around him, took special pains to greet him, even if they didn’t try to touch him.

Janida and Ayla fussed over each other’s babies, talking about how much they had grown, and how wonderful they looked. Ayla noticed that Levela had also grown.

“Levela, you look like your baby will come any time,” Ayla said.

“I hope so. I’m ready,” Levela said.

“Since we’re all here, I can come and be with you when you have your baby, if you would like. And your sister Proleva can be with you, too,” Ayla said.

“And our mother is here. I was so glad to see her. You’ve met Velima, haven’t you?” Levela said.

“Yes,” Ayla said. “But I don’t know her well.”

“Where are Jondecam, Peridal, and Marsheval?” Jondalar asked.

“Marsheval went with Solaban to look for an old woman who knows a lot about carving ivory,” Tishona said.

“Jondecam and Peridal were looking for you,” Levela said. “They couldn’t find you last night.”

“That’s not surprising, since we weren’t here last night,” Jondalar said.

“You weren’t? But I saw many people from the Ninth Cave,” Levela said.

“We stayed at our camp,” Jondalar said.

“Yes,” Ayla said. “We were helping Bologan and Lanoga build a summer lodge.”

Jondalar felt a twinge of indiscretion on her part when Ayla so openly revealed what he thought of as the confidential problems of their Cave. Not that there was anything expressly wrong with talking about them. It was just that he had been raised by a leader and knew how personally most leaders took unresolved situations within their Cave that they hadn’t been able to settle. Laramar and Tremeda had been an embarrassment to the Ninth Cave for some time. Neither Marthona nor Joharran had been able to do much about them. They had lived there many years, and had the right to stay. As he suspected, Ayla’s statement brought curious queries.

“Bologan and Lanoga? Aren’t they Tremeda’s children?” Levela said. “Why were you building their summer lodge?”

“Where were Laramar and Tremeda?” Tishona asked.

“They got in a fight, Laramar decided to move to a fa’lodge, Tremeda went after him, and didn’t return,” Ayla explained.

“I think I saw her,” Janida said.

“Where?” Ayla asked.

“I think she was with some men who were drinking barma and gaming at the edge of the camp, near some of the men’s far lodges,” Janida said. She spoke softly, and seemed shy about speaking out. She shifted her baby and looked at him for a moment before she continued. “There were a couple of other women there, too. I remember being surprised to see Tremeda because I knew she had some little ones. I don’t think those other women had young children.”