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Part of every woetation, and like the rest, Iza experimented on herself Siories, but she knew the dangers of assu similar characteristicswas simple She took a small bite If the taste was unpleasant, she spit it out ireeable, she held the tiny portion in hersensations or any changes in taste If there were none, she sed it and waited to see if she could detect any effects The following day, she took a larger bite and went through the same procedure If no ill effects were noticed after a third trial, the new food was considered edible, in small portions at first

But Iza was often more interested when there were noticeable effects, for that indicated a possibility of aunusual to her when they applied the sa that had characteristics si with caution, she experi her own methods But such experimentation took time, and she stayed with plants she knehile they traveled

Near this campsite, Iza found several tall, wandlike, sliht flowers The roots of theplants could beand reduce swelling and inflammation An infusion of the floould both numb the child’s pain andwith her wood

After the evening e rock watching the activities of the people around her Food and a fresh dressing had refreshed her and she jabbered at Iza, though she could tell the wolanced disapprovingly in her direction, but the child was unaware of the ans made precise articulation impossible for people of the Clan The few sounds they used as eain attention, and the importance attached to verbalizations was a part of their traditions Their priestures, positions; and an intuition born of intimate contact, established customs, and perceptive discernment of expressions and postures—were expressive, but limited Specific objects seen by one were difficult to describe to others, and abstract concepts even more so The child’s volubility perplexed the clan and made them distrustful

They treasured children, reared therew rew older Babies were pa children rebuked nored When children becaher status of older children and adults, they e as fit only for babies Youngsters learned early to behave within the strict confines of established custom, and one custom was that superfluous sounds were inappropriate Because of her height, the girl seemed older than her years, and the clan considered her undisciplined, not well brought up

Iza, who had been in er than she seeirl’s true age and she responded to her helplessness s while she was delirious, that her kind verbalized more fluently and more frequently Iza was drawn to the child whose life depended on her and who had wrapped scrawny little arms around her neck in coht, to teach her betterto think of the child as hers

Creb wandered over while Iza was pouring boiling water over the flowers of the hollyhocks, and sat down near the child He was interested in the stranger, and since the preparations for the evening ceremony were not yet co They stared at each other, the young girl and the crippled, scarred oldeach other with equal intensity He had never been so close to one of her kind and had never seen a young one of the Others at all She didn’t even know of the existence of Clan people until she woke up to find herself a them, but more than their racial characteristics, she was curious about the puckered skin of his face In her limited experience, she had never seen a face so horribly scarred Impetuously, with the uninhibited reactions of a child, she reached out to touch his face, to see if the scar felt different

Creb was taken aback as she lightly stroked his face None of the children of the clan had ever reached out to him like that No adults reached out to hiht so hies of arthritis which attacked with greater severity every winter, seemed to have no compunction about it She was neither repulsed by his ly scars nor in awe of his power and position The little girl’s gentle touch struck an inner chord in his lonely old heart He wanted to coin

“Creb,” he said, pointing to hi for the flowers to steep She was glad Creb was taking an interest in the girl, and the use of his personal name was not lost on her

“Creb,” he repeated, tapping his chest

The child cocked her head, trying to understand There was so he wanted her to do Creb said his naht, and smiled

“Grub?” she responded, rolling the r to mimic his sound

The old man nodded approval; her pronunciation was close Then he pointed at her She frowned slightly, not quite sure what he wanted now He tapped his chest, repeated his na looked like a grimace to him, and the polysyllabic word that rolled out of her mouth was not only unpronounceable, it was alh the sa close to hear better She said her name

“Aay-rr” He hesitated, shook his head, tried again “Aay-lla, Ayla?” It was the best approximation he could make There were not many in the clan who could have coorously It was not exactly what she had said, but she accepted it, sensing even in her young mind that he could not say the word for her name any better

“Ayla,” Creb repeated, getting used to the sound

“Creb?” the girl said, tugging at his aret his attention, then pointed at the woman

“Iza,” Creb said, “Iza”

“Eeez-sa,” she repeated She was delighted with the word ga at the woman

Iza nodded solemnly; name sounds were very important She leaned forward and tapped the child’s chest the way Creb had, wanting her to say her nairl repeated her full nain to irlat Creb, said her name the way he had

“Eye-ghha?” the woain “Eye-ya?” Iza tried again

“Aay, Aay, not Eye,” Creb said “Aaay-llla,” he repeated very slowly so Iza could hear the unfamiliar combination of sounds

“Aay-lla,” the wo to make the word the way Creb had