The Shelters of Stone (119 page)

Ayla had been fascinated with the process of weaving. She watched and listened carefully when Marthona talked about it. The fibers from animals that shed in spring had been collected from thorny bushes or barren ground and saved until winter, when there was time to make things. A great many kinds of fibers were available, such as wool from mouflon, the great-horned wild sheep, and ibex, the mountain-climbing wild goat, which could be matted into felt. The warm downy underhair grown each fall close to the skin beneath the shaggy outer hair of several animals, including mammoths, rhinos, and musk oxen, were favorites because of their softness. The long, coarser hair from animals was a more permanent growth and collected only after they were killed, the outer hair of the woolly animals, for example, and the long
horse tails. Fibers from plants of many varieties were also utilized. The fibers were made into cords, ropes, and fine threads, which could be left natural or dyed, then woven and made into clothing or mats, rugs, and wall hangings to keep out drafts and cover cold, rocky walls.

Bowls were gouged out of wood, then shaped, polished, painted, and carved with designs. Baskets of all shapes and sizes were woven. Jewelry was made from shaped ivory beads, animal teeth, shells, and unique stones. Ivory, bone, antler, and horn were shaped and carved, and made into plates and platters, handles for knives, points for spears, needles for sewing, and many other tools, implements, and decorative objects. Animal figures were carved with loving attention to detail by themselves or to decorate other things that were made of anything carvable, wood or bone, ivory or stone. Female figurines, donii, were also carved. Even the walls of the abri were carved and painted.

Winter was also the time to practice talents and to play. Musical instruments, especially interesting-sounding percussion instruments and melodic flutes, were crafted and played. Dances were practiced, songs sung, stories told. Certain more sedentary sports such as wrestling and target practice of various kinds were enjoyed by some, and gambling and wagering of all kinds were indulged by many.

The young were taught certain necessary basic skills, and for those who had an inclination or showed an aptitude for some specialized activity, someone was always willing to show them. There was a well-worn path between the Ninth Cave and Down River, and many of the craftspeople who made the trek from their own homes to spend some time there often spent a few nights at the Ninth Cave.

Zelandoni taught counting words to those who wished to know them, and the Histories and Legends of the people, but she was seldom with free time on her hands. People caught colds, had headaches, earaches, bellyaches, and toothaches; the aches and pains of arthritis and rheumatism were always more difficult during the cold season; and there were other serious diseases. Some people died, and their bodies were
placed in cold front passages of certain caves in the winter, where they would keep until spring, since snow and frozen ground prevented burial in the outdoor graveyards. Sometimes, though rarely, they were left there.

And some were born. The winter solstice had passed. Zelandoni had explained to Ayla the position where the sun set over the horizon was at its farthest left and stayed there for several days before the position of its setting moved imperceptibly back to the right. It had been the occasion for a feast, ceremony, and festival to mark the turning point and to add some excitement to the quiet days.

The sun’s setting from that time on would continue to the right with each passing day until the summer solstice, when it reached its farthest right position and seemed to stay there for some days. The place midway between the two marked the equinoxes, the beginning of spring, and, on its way back, the beginning of autumn. Zelandoni pointed to a dip in the hills on the horizon that marked the midpoints. She had used countings words and marked a gouge on a flat piece of ander, and Ayla found the information fascinating. She liked to learn those kinds of things.

In the deep of winter, the coldest, bitterest, harshest time of year, the snow no longer attracted playful excursions. Even short trips outside to get frozen meat or to bring in wood could be an ordeal. The cairn of rocks on top of caches and ice cellars often froze together, making it necessary to break them apart. The vegetables and fruits in root cellars had long since been transferred to stone-lined pits at the back of the abri, but it took a watchful eye and many snares and traps to keep the small animals from taking too large a share. Small rodents in particular survived quite well from the hard work of humans and always managed to share their cave.

One of the games children played was to throw stones at the swift little creatures. It was encouraged by the adults. A hard-flung stone could kill one. Not only did it provide one more element in the continuing battle against the voracious pests, but it gave the children some experience in developing the accuracy they would need to become proficient hunters,
and some of the youngsters developed quite an aim. Ayla began using her sling to that purpose and before long was teaching the children how to use her favorite weapon. Wolf also proved to be a valuable asset in keeping down the rodent population.

The outside root cellars seemed to be freer of such vermin, and the food was stored in them as long as possible. But when the deep freeze of winter threatened to destroy the fresh quality, they were brought in. Once frozen, most vegetable foods were used only in cooking, as were most dried foods.

Ayla had experienced a sudden surge of energy the past few days. She had become increasingly uncomfortable as she grew larger and was occasionally given to fits of crying and other emotional outbursts that dismayed Jondalar. The active baby sometimes woke her at night, and she found it difficult to get up gracefully from her normal cross-legged sitting position, and she had always been able to get up from the floor gracefully. As she neared her time, her fears of delivery had grown, but recently she was getting so anxious to have the baby, she was even willing to face the delivery.

Zelandoni felt sure her time would be soon. She had told Ayla, “The Great Earth Mother, in Her wisdom, made the final days of pregnancy uncomfortable on purpose, so that women would be able to face their fear of delivery just to get it over with.”

Ayla had finished straightening and rearranging everything for the baby, and then everything else in her home once again, and had decided to cook a special dinner for Jondalar when he came looking for her. She told him all the vegetables she wanted from her storage place at the back of the abrí, and what meat she wanted. When he came back with everything, she hadn’t moved, and she had a strange expression on her face: a combination of joy and dread.

“What is it, Ayla?” he said, dropping his basket of vegetables.

“I think the baby is getting ready to be born,” she said.

“Right now? Ayla, you better lie down. I’ll get Zelandoni. Maybe I better get mother, too. Don’t do anything until I get Zelandoni,” Jondalar said, suddenly nervous.

“Not right now. Relax, Jondalar. It will be a while yet. Let’s wait before you get Zelandoni, to be sure,” she said, picking up the basket of vegetables. She went to her cooking area and started to take them out of the basket.

“Let me do that. Shouldn’t you be resting? Are you sure you don’t want me to get Zelandoni?”

“Jondalar, you’ve seen babies born before, haven’t you? You don’t have to be so worried.”

“Who says I’m worried?” he said, trying to appear calm. She stood still and held her hand to her stomach. “Ayla, don’t you think I’d better go tell Zelandoni?” His forehead was pinched together with anxious worry.

“All right, Jondalar. You can go tell her, but only if you promise to say it is just beginning. There’s no hurry,” she said.

Jondalar dashed out. He came back almost dragging Zelandoni behind him.

“I told you to tell her there was no hurry, Jondalar,” Ayla said, then looked at the donier. “I’m sorry he dragged you over here so soon. It’s barely started.”

“I think it may be better if Jondalar went to visit Joharran for a while, and tell Proleva I may need her later. I’m not busy. I’ll stay and keep you company, Ayla. Do you have a little tea?” Zelandoni asked.

“I can have some ready soon,” Ayla said. “I think Zelandoni’s right, Jondalar. Why don’t you go visit Joharran?”

“On your way, you can stop off and tell Marthona, but don’t go dragging her back here,” Zelandoni said. Jondalar rushed out. “He stood there the whole time when Folara was born, as calm as you please. But it’s always different when it’s a man’s own mate.”

Ayla stopped again, waiting for the contraction to pass, then she started to prepare some tea. Zelandoni watched her, noting how long she waited. Then she sat on a large stool that
Ayla had made especially for Zelandoni’s visits, knowing she did not like to sit on the ground or on cushions if she could help it. Ayla had been using it herself recently.

After they drank some tea and made some inconsequential conversation while Ayla had a few more contractions, Zelandoni suggested that she lie down so the donier could examine her. Ayla complied. Zelandoni waited for the next contraction and felt Ayla’s stomach.

“It may not be too long after all,” the healer said.

Ayla got up, thought about sitting down on a floor cushion, changed her mind and walked to her cooking area, had a sip of tea, and felt another contraction. She wondered if she should lie down again. This seemed to be happening faster than she expected.

Zelandoni checked her again, giving her a closer examination, then she looked at the young woman keenly. “This is not your first baby, is it?”

Ayla waited until a spasm passed before she answered. “No, it’s not my first. I had a son,” she said quietly.

Zelandoni wondered why he wasn’t with her. Had he died? If he was stillborn, or if he died shortly after birth, that would be important to know. “What happened to him?” she asked.

“I had to leave him behind. I gave him to my sister, Uba. He still lives with the Clan, at least I hope he does.”

“The delivery was very difficult, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. I almost died giving birth to him,” Ayla said in a flat, controlled tone, trying not to show any emotion about it, but the donier detected fear in her eyes.

“How old is he, Ayla? Or rather, how old were you when you had him?” Zelandoni wanted to know.

“I could not yet count my twelfth year,” Ayla said, going into another labor pain. They were coming faster now.

“And now?” Zelandoni asked when it was over.

“Now I can count nineteen, twenty after this winter. I’m old to be having babies.”

“No, you’re not, but you were very young when you had your first. Too young. No wonder you had such a difficult
time of it. You say you left him with your clan.” She paused, dunking about how to ask the next question. “Your son, is he one of ‘mixed spirits’?” the woman finally inquired.

Ayla didn’t answer at first. She looked at Zelandoni and received as direct a look back, then suddenly she almost doubled up with a contraction. “Yes,” she said when it was over, looking scared.

“I think that also contributed to your difficulty From what I understand, children of mixed spirits can be very difficult for women to deliver. It’s something about their heads, I’m told. They are shaped differently, and too big. They don’t give as much,” Zelandoni said. “This baby may not be as hard for you, Ayla. You’re doing fine, you know.”

The donier had seen her tense up with the last pain. Tensing up like that will only make it worse, she thought, but I’m afraid she’s remembering a terrible delivery with her first. I wish she’d told me. I might have been able to help her. I wish Marthona would come. I think she needs someone paying close attention to her right now, but I would like to make something to help her relax. Maybe talking would take her mind off her fear. “Would you tell me about your son?”

“At first they thought he was deformed, and would be a burden to the clan,” Ayla began. “He couldn’t even hold his own head up in the beginning, but he grew strong. Everyone came to love him, Grod even made him a spear of his own, just his size. And he could run so fast, even as young as he was.”

Ayla was smiling with tears in her eyes at the memory, and it gave the donier a surprising insight. She suddenly understood how much Ayla had loved the child, how proud she was of him, mixed spirits or not. When she said she had given him away to her “sister,” Zelandoni thought it might have been a relief to find someone who would take him.

Some of the zelandonia still talked about Brukeval’s grandmother. Though it was never mentioned in public, most of them felt certain that the daughter to whom she gave birth was a child of mixed spirits. No one really wanted to take her after her mother died, and Brukeval suffered the same fate.
He had the look of his mother, perhaps not as strong, but he was mixed, too, Zelandoni was convinced, though she would never admit to it aloud, especially not to him.

Was it possible that Ayla would be prone to attracting their spirits since she was raised by them? Could this one be mixed, too? And if it was, what then? The wisest course might be to quietly end its life before it began. It would be easy enough, and no one would know it wasn’t stillborn. It would probably save everyone heartache, even the baby. It would be a shame to have another child in the Cave who was unwanted and unloved, like Brukeval and his mother.

But, the donier thought, if Ayla loved her first child, wouldn’t she love this one, too? It’s amazing to see her around Echozar, I think she genuinely likes him, and he’s very comfortable around her. Maybe it would work out, it would depend on Jondalar.

“Jondalar told me your labor had begun, Ayla,” Marthona said, coming into the dwelling. “He took pains to say that it was just beginning and I shouldn’t hurry, but he almost pushed me out, he was so eager for me to come.”

“It’s just as well that you did, Marthona. I’d like to make something for her,” Zelandoni said.

“To hasten delivery?” Marthona asked. “First ones can be so long in coming.” She smiled at Ayla.,