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“It’s been done,” Dorv said “The only wo”
“It’s not prohibited, but it’s not looked upon with favor, either And most men don’t want to Besides, I’ve never had a ood enough I’m comfortable with her Men are expected to relieve their needs with theirtio I wouldn’t bewoman But it may be she won’t need one Iza says sheproblems, she may not keep it full term I know Ayla wants the baby, but it would be better for everyone if she lost it”
As reported to thewell Thewith the baby Many ht it was better to lose theive live birth and have to dispose of a defor sickness lasted well beyond the first trirown to a bulge, she had trouble keeping food down When she started spotting and passing clots, Iza asked Brun’s permission for Ayla to be excused fro woman to her bed
Iza’s fears about Ayla’s baby greith the difficulties of her pregnancy She felt strongly that Ayla should let the baby go She was sure it wouldn’t take e it, for all that her storowth She fearedtoo rew thinner in contrast to her expanding middle She had no appetite and forced herself to eat the special foods Iza prepared for her Dark circles formed around her eyes and her thick lustrous hair became limp She was always cold, just didn’t have the physical reserves to keep warm, and spent most of the time huddled close to the fire, bundled in furs But when Iza suggested that Ayla should take thewoman refused
“Iza, I want my baby Help me,” Ayla pleaded “You can help me, I know you can I’ll do whatever you say, just help me to have my baby”
Iza could not refuse For so her the plants she needed, seldo spas herself heavily dosed with reorse each winter But for Ayla she would go out to look for a certain root that helped prevent e
Theto search the upland forests and da in a clear sky when she started out Iza thought it was going to be one of those warm days in late fall and didn’t want to burden herself with extra clothes Besides, she planned to be back before the sun was high She followed a path into the forest near the cave, then turned off along a creek and began cliht, her breath was short, and she had to rest often or wait for a racking spas the weather turned Clouds blew in from the east on a chill wind and when they reached the foothills, dropped their heavy load ofsleet In the first few moments, Iza was soaked
The rain had slackened by the time she found the kind of pine forest, and plants, she was looking for Shivering in the cold drizzle, she dug the roots out of theher body every fewbloody foam to her lips She wasn’t as familiar with the terrain around this cave as she had been with the environment of the clan’s previous ho creek down the slope, and had to backtrack before she found the right one It was nearing dark when the thoroughly wet and chilled medicine woman found her way back to the cave
“Mother, where have you been?” Ayla gestured “You’re soaked and shivering Coet you some dry clothes”
“I found some rattlesnake root for you, Ayla Wash it and chew …” Iza had to stop as another spasm overwhelmed her Her eyes were feverish, her face flushed: “ … chew it raw It will help you keep the baby”
“You didn’t go out in that rain just to find a root for me, did you? Don’t you know I’d rather lose the baby than lose you? You’re too sick to go out like that, you know you are”
Ayla knew Iza had not been well for years, but until then she didn’t know just how sick the wonored it when she bled occasionally, forgot to eat half the time, and refused to leave Iza’s side When she slept, it was on a fur beside the woman’s bed Uba, too, kept a constant watch
It was the young girl’s first experience with grave illness in one she loved, and the effect was trau Ayla did, helped her, and it opened up an understanding of her own heritage and destiny Uba wasn’t the only one atched Ayla The whole clan was concerned for thewoman’s skill She was oblivious to their apprehension; her complete attention was focused on the woman she called mother
Ayla searched her brain for every reht her, she questioned Uba for the information she kneas stored in the child’s ic of her own The special talent Iza had noticed, an ability to discover and treat the real problenostician Froether a picture like pieces of a puzzle and fill in the blanks with reasoning and intuition It was an ability for which her brain alone, a all those who shared the cave, was uniquely suited The crisis of Iza’s illness was the stimulus that sharpened her talent
Ayla applied the remedies she had learned froested themselves from other uses, sometimes far re care, or the medicine woman’s oill to live—most likely it was all of theainst the wind barriers at the entrance, Iza was sufficiently recovered to take charge of Ayla’s pregnancy again It was none too soon
The strain of nursing Iza back to health had its effect Ayla spotted blood continuously the rest of the winter and lived with a constant backache She woke in the s and still vomited frequently Iza expected her to lose the baby anyti on to it, and she didn’t kno the baby could continue to develop with Ayla so weak But develop it did The young woman’s stomach swelled to unbelievable proportions, and the baby kicked so vigorously and continuously she could hardly sleep Iza had never seen a wonancy
Ayla never coive the baby up, though she wasfor the medicine wo only made her more convinced that if she lost this one, she would never have another baby
Fro rains wash away the snow, and the first crocus she saas one Uba brought her Iza wouldn’t let her out of the cave The pussy s had blown and turned green, and the first buds hinted at verdant foliage on the soggy spring day early in her eleventh year when Ayla’s labor began
The beginning contractions were easy Ayla sipped -bark tea, talking to Iza and Uba, excitedly pleased that the time had finally co her own baby in her arms Iza had reservations but tried not to show them The conversation turned, as it did so often lately with Iza and her two daughters, to medicine
“Mother, as that root you brought ot so sick?” Ayla motioned
“It’s called rattlesnake root It’s not commonly used because it should be chehen it’s fresh, and ite, but how many women threaten to miscarry only in late
fall? It loses its effectiveness when it’s dried”
“What does it look like?” Uba asked Iza’s illness had sharpened Uba’s interest in the healing herbs she would one day dispense, and both Iza and Ayla were training her But training Uba was different froain the full value of her brain, Uba only needed to be reminded of what she knew and see hoas applied
“It’s really two plants, aout of a cluster of leaves near the ground, and s close to the top, partway down the stalk The male flowers are white The root is froreen”
“Did you say it grows in pine forests?” Ayla motioned
“Only das, wet places in meadows, often in upland woods”
“You should never have gone out that day, Iza I was so worried… Oh, wait, another one is starting!”
Thethe pains were It would be a long time yet, she decided
“It wasn’t raining when I started out,” Iza said “I thought it was going to be war Fall weather is always unpredictable I’ve been wanting to ask you so, Ayla I was delirious with fever part of the tiht you made a chest plaster out of herbs used to relieve Creb’s rheumatism”
“I did”
“I didn’t teach you that”
“I know You were coughing so hard, spitting soto calm without so much effort, too That medicine for Creb’s rheumatism penetrates deep arht loosen the phleg it up, then I could still give you the decoction to calm the spasms It seemed to work”
“Yes, I think it did” After Ayla explained her reasoning, it seeical, but Iza wondered if she would have considered it I was right, Iza thought She is a good et better She deserves the status of er before I leave this world Ayla is a woman now, she should be medicine woman—if she survives this birth
After the a strolled over with Grev, her second son, and sat beside Ayla while she nursed Ovra joined the woh no h the e of labor, the women of the clan visited Creb’s hearth Some just stopped for a few moments to offer moral support with their presence, some sat with her almost continuously There were always a feomen seated around her bed, but Creb stayed away He paced nervously in and out of the cave, stopping to exchange a few gestures with the athered at Brun’s hearth, but not able to stay in one place too long The hunt planned for that day was postponed Brun’s excuse was that it was still too wet, but everyone knew the real reason