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Creb gestured inquiringly toward the bowls It was not a direct query—not even Mog-ur would question a ic—it only indicated interest Iza didn’t ’s interest; he e He used some of the same herbs she did for different purposes Except for Clan Gatherings where there were otherto Creb was the closest she could coue

“This destroys the evil spirits thatto the antiseptic iris-root solution “A poultice of the root draws out poisons and helps the wound heal” She picked up the bone bowl and dipped in a finger to check the teht evil spirits—stimulates it” Iza used a few spoken words when she talked, but primarily for emphasis The people of the Clan could not articulate well enough for a coestures and e was fully comprehensive and rich with nuance

“Clover is food We had it last night,” Creb signed

“Yes,” Iza nodded, “and ill tonight The e bunch boiled in little water extracts what is needed, the leaves are thrown out” Creb nodded with understanding and she went on “Alder bark cleans the blood, purifies it, drives out the spirits that poison it”

“You used so, too”

“Powdered hops, the mature cones with the fine hairs, to calm her and make her sleep restfully While the spirits battle, she needs rest”

Creb nodded again; he was familiar with the soporific qualities of hops that induced a h he was always interested in Iza’s treatments, he seldoic Such esoteric knowledge was for -urs and their acolytes, not women, not even medicine women Iza knew more about the properties of plants than he did, and he was afraid she would deduce too uessed ic

“And the other bowl?” he asked

“That’s just broth The poor thing is half starved What do you suppose happened to her? Where did she co alone for days”

“Only the spirits know,” Mog-ur replied “Are you sure your healing ic ork on her? She’s not Clan”

“It should; the Others are hu about the ic worked on hier to wake up fro medicine than expected”

“It’s a shaood medicine woman, people came from other clans to see her It’s too bad she left to walk the spirit world so soon after you were born, Iza She told -ur-before-me He stayed for a while after he recovered and hunted with the clan Hecere-ur stopped Iza was too astute, he couldn’t afford to say too in to draw some conclusions about the men’s secret rituals

Iza checked her bowls again, then cradling the child’s head on her lap, she fed her the contents of the bone bowl in sirlbody craved food Iza held her until she lapsed into a quiet sleep, then checked her heartbeat and breathing She had done what she could If the girl wasn’t too far gone, she had a chance It was up to the spirits now, and the inner strength of the child

Iza saw Brun walking toward her, eyeing her with displeasure She got up quickly and ran to help serve the e child from hissecond thoughts Though it was custo other people in conversation, he couldn’t help noticing what his clan was saying Their wondering at his allowing the girl to coan to fear the spirits’ anger er in their midst He veered to intercept the medicine woman, but Creb saw him and headed him off

“What’s wrong, Brun? You look worried”

“Iza -ur She is not Clan; the spirits won’t like it if she is with us while we’re looking for a new cave I never should have let Iza take her”

“No, Brun,” Mog-ur countered “Protective spirits are not angered by kindness You know Iza, she can’t bear to see anything hurting without trying to help Don’t you think the spirits know her too? If they didn’t want Iza to help her, the child would not have been put in her path There irl may die anyway, Brun, but if Ursus wants to call her to the spirit world, let the decision be his Don’t interfere now She will surely die if she is left behind”

Brun didn’t like it—so-ur’s greater knowledge of the spirit world, he acquiesced

Creb sat in conte for everyone to finish eating so he could begin the nightly cere place and -ur had put a ban on ether until a new cave was found so the ies on the rituals and so everyone would feel they werethem closer to a new home

It didn’t matter to Iza; her mate had been one of those killed in the cave-in She had rief at his burial—it would have been unlucky to do otherwise—but she was not unhappy he was gone It was no secret he had been cruel and de There had never been any warmth between them She didn’t knohat Brun would decide to do with her now that she was alone Someone would have to provide for her and the child she carried; she only hoped she could still cook for Creb

He had shared their fire fro Iza sensed he hadn’t liked her h he never interfered with the internal problems of her relationship She had always felt it was an honor to cook for Mog-ur, butlike rew to feel for their mates

Iza felt sorry for Creb sometimes; he could have had a reat ic and exalted position, no woman ever looked at his deformed body and scarred face without revulsion, and she was sure he knew it He never took a mate, maintained a reserve It added to his stature Everyone, -ur or regarded hientleness and sensitivity since her birth It was a side of his nature he seldom showed openly

And it was that side of his nature that was occupying theon that evening’s cereirl He had often been curious about her kind, but people of the Clan avoided the Others asbefore He suspected the earthquake had soh it surprised him that any of her people were so close They usually stayed much farther north

He noticed a few men start to leave the campsite and hauled himself up with his staff so he could supervise the preparations The ritual was a ative and duty Only rarely oious life of the clan, and they were banned froreat as that of a wo bad luck, it would drive the protective spirits away The whole clan would die

But there was little danger of that It would never occur to a woman to venture anywhere near such an important ritual They looked forward to it as a time to relax, rel

ieved of the constant demands of the men and the need to behave with proper decoru the men around all the time, especially when the men were so nervous and took it out on theirThe women were just as anxious to find a new home, but there was little they could do Brun chose the direction they traveled and no advice was solicited froiven it