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It was fortunate she was looking at her son Her action focused attention on Durc who had been overlooked at the first shock of her appearance Expressions and gestures, soht of her son He would not have had to look like one of their babies; if he researdless of what Brun and The Mog-ur said, Ayla was one of the Others; her baby could have fit into the sah Clan characteristics to rossly deformed baby that should not have been allowed to live Not only did Ayla’s worth drop, Brun lost round, too

Ayla turned her back on the suspicious stares and gaping mouths, and she and Uba went to look at the cave bear in his cage When he saw thee bruin lue for the expected treat They both backed off at the sight of the monstrous paith its thick, rather stubby claws,the roots and tubers thathis huge bulk up trees Unlike brown bears, only the cubs of cave bears were agile and sround just beyond the stout poles that had once been reasonably mature trees

The creature, raised like a well-loved child and never allowed the least bit of hunger, was entirely taent aniht additional choice tidbits He sat up and begged Ayla would have smiled at his clownish antics if she had not remembered to control it in time

“Now I knohy clans say their cave bears talk,” Aylafor more; do you have another apple?”

Uba gave her one of the se and gave it to him He put it in his gy head against a projection on one of the tree trunks

“I think you want to be scratched, you old honey-lover,” Ayla gestured She had been warned never to motion bear or cave bear or Ursus in his presence If he was called by his real names, he would remember who he was and knoas not just a member of the clan who raised hiain, void the Bear Ceremony, and ruin the whole reason for the festival She scratched behind his ear

“You like that, don’t you, winter sleeper,” Ayla motioned and reached to scratch behind the other ear he had turned in her direction “You could scratch your own ears if you wanted to—you’re just lazy; or do you want attention? You big furry baby”

Ayla rubbed and scratched the huge head, but when Durc reached for a handful of shaggy hair, she backed away She had petted and scratched the sh to sense that this was just a bigger, tae, she quickly lost her fear of the bear, but her baby was another matter When Durc reached his tiny hands for a fistful of hair, the huge erous

“How could you get so close to hiet that close to his cage”

“He’s really just a big baby, but I forgot about Durc That anie Hefor food or wants attention, but I’d hate to think what he could do if he ever got angry,” Ayla said as they walked away froe

Uba wasn’t the only one surprised at Ayla’s fearlessness, the whole Clan had been watching Most visitors shied away, especially at first Young boysthe bear to show off their bravery, and men were too proud to show fear whether they felt it or not But feomen, outside the host clan, ever went very close, and to reach through the bars to scratch him at first look was unexpected froe their opinion of Ayla, but it made them wonder

Now that they had all gotten a good look at Ayla, people were drifting away, but she was still conscious of surreptitious glances The outright stares from small children didn’t bother her nearly asfor anything unusual and didn’t carry connotations of suspicion or disapproval

Ayla and Uba headed for a shady spot under an overhanging rock on the outer fringes of the large, sloping, cleared area in front of the cave From that discreet distance, they could watch the activities without discourtesy

There had always been a closeness of a special quality between Ayla and Uba Ayla had been sister, irl, but since Uba had begun training in earnest, and especially after she followed Ayla to the small cave, their friendship shifted to a more equal relationship They were close friends Uba was al to show an interest in the opposite sex

They sat in the cool shade, Durc lying on his sto and waving his ar the trip, he had begun to babble andnoises, which no Clan baby ever did It worried Ayla, yet in some inexplicable way pleased her Uba co men, and Ayla teased her about it in a friendly way By unspoken agreeh she was of a farjourney was over and speculated about the Bear Cere before While they talked, a young woman approached, and in the fore, shyly asked if she could join them

They welcoesture they had received They could see she had a baby in her carrying cloak, but it was sleeping and the woman made no move to disturb it

“This woman is called Oda,” she esture that indicated she wanted to know their names

Uba responded “This girl is called Uba, the woman is Ayla”