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“Tell ain “Hoould you feel if she decided to one? It’s likely, you know”

Jondalar tied the belt on while he was thinking “I’d be hurt, or my pride would—I’m not sure which But I wouldn’t blame her I think she deserves soo off on a Journey at the last moment And if she’s happy, I’d be happy for her”

“That’s what I thought,” the younger brother said Then he broke into a grin “Well, Big Brother, if we’re going to keep ahead of that donii that’s co” Thonolan finished loading his backframe, then lifted his fur parka and slipped an ar over his shoulder underneath it

The parkas were cut froular pieces laced together at the sides and shoulders, with two sles folded and sewn into tubes and attached as sleeves Hoods, also attached, had a fringe of wolverine fur around the face since ice fro to it The parkas were richly decorated with beadwork of bone, ivory, shell, animal teeth, and black-tipped white er loosely like tunics to about h, and were cinched around the waist with a belt

Under the parkas were soft buckskin shirts made from a similar pattern, and trousers of fur, flapped over in front and held on with a drawstring around the waist Fur-lined h a loop at the back of the parka so they could be quickly re them Their boots had heavy soles that, like moccasins, went up around the foot, and were fastened to softer leather that confors Inside was a loose-fitting liner of felt, ether until it matted When it was especially aterproof animal intestines, made to fit, orn over the boot, but they were thin, wore out quickly, and were used only when necessary

“Thonolan, how far do you really plan to go? You didn’t mean it when you said all the way to the end of the Great Mother River, did you?” Jondalar asked, picking up a flint axe hafted to a short, sturdy, shaped handle and putting it through a loop on his belt next to the bone-handled flint knife

Thonolan stopped in the process of fitting on a snowshoe and stood up “Jondalar, I

“We !”

“Are you having second thoughts? You don’t have to cory if you turn back—it was a last-moment decision for you anyway You knoell as I do, we o, you’d better do it now or you’ll never lacier until next winter”

“No, it wasn’t a last- a Journey for a long tiht time for it,” Jondalar said with a tone of finality, and, Thonolan thought, a shade of unaccountable bitterness in his voice Then, as though he were trying to shrug it off, Jondalar shifted to a lighter tone “I never have made much of a Journey, and if I don’t now, I never will I made my choice, Little Brother, you’re stuck with me”

The sky was clear, and the sun reflecting the white expanse of virgin snow before the, but at their elevation the landscape showed no sign of it Jondalar reached into a pouch hanging froles They were made of wood, shaped to cover the eyes completely except for a thin horizontal slit, and tied around the head Then, with a quick twist of the foot to wrap the thong loop into a snowshoe hitch around toe and ankle, he stepped into his snowshoes and reached for his backframe

Thonolan hadwas his craft, and he carried with hihtener, an i tines removed and a hole at one end It was intricately carved with ani, partly to honor the Great Earth Mother and persuade Her to allow the spirits of the animals to be drawn to the spears made fro for its own sake It was inevitable that they would lose spears while hunting, and new ones would have to be htener was used particularly at the end of the shaft where a hand grip was not possible, and by inserting the shaft through the hole, additional leverage was obtained Thonolan kne to apply stress to wood, heated with hot stones or steahten a shaft or to bend one around to make a snowshoe They were different aspects of the same skill

Jondalar turned to see if his brother was ready With a nod, they both started out, and traradual slope toward the tiht, across forested lowland, they saw the snow-covered alpine foreland and, in the distance, the jagged icy peaks of the northerne Toward the southeast, one tall peak was shining high above its brethren

The highland they had crossed was hardly more than a hill by comparison, a massif that was the stu peaks to the south But it was just high enough and just close enough to the rugged range with its laciers—that not only crowned but mantled the mountains down to moderate elevations—to maintain a year-round ice cover on its relatively level top Solacier receded back to its polar hohland would be black with forest Now, it was a plateau glacier, aice sheets to the north

When the two brothers reached the treeline, they reles, which protected the eyes but limited visibility Somewhat farther down the slope, they found a sh fissures in the rock, flowed underground, then e It trickled between snowy banks like lacial runoffs

“What do you think?” Thonolan asked, gesturing toward the stream “It’s about where Dalanar said she would be”

“If that’s Donau, we should know soon enough We’ll knoe are following the Great Mother River e reach three sether and flow east; that’s what he said I’d guess almost any of these runoffs should lead us to her eventually”

“Well, let’s keep to the left now Later she won’t be so easy to cross”

“That’s true, but the Losadunai live on the right, and we can stop at one of their Caves The left side is supposed to be flathead country”

“Jondalar, let’s not stop at the Losadunai,” Thonolan said with an earnest smile “You know they’ll want us to stay, and we stayed too long already with the Lanzadonii If we’d left lacier at all We would have had to go around, and north of it is really flathead country I want to get , and there won’t be many flatheads this far south And so what if there are? You’re not afraid of a few flatheads, are you? You knohat they say, killing a flathead is like killing a bear”

“I don’t know,” the tall man said, his worry lines puckered “I’le with a bear I’ve heard flatheads are clever Some people say they are almost human”

“Clever, maybe, but they can’t talk They’re just animals”

“It’s not the flatheads I’m worried about, Thonolan The Losadunai know this country They can get us started right We don’t have to stay long, just long enough to get our bearings They can give us some landmarks, some idea of what to expect And we can talk to them Dalanar said soree to stop now, I’ll agree to pass the next Caves by until the way back”

“All right If you really want to”

The two men looked for a place to cross the ice-banked stream, alread

y too wide to ju a natural bridge, and headed for it Jondalar led the way, and, reaching for a handhold, he put a foot on one of the exposed roots Thonolan glanced around, waiting his turn

“Jondalar! Look out!” he cried suddenly

A stone whizzed past the tallcry, his hand reached for a spear Thonolan already had one in his hand and was crouching low, looking in the direction froled branches of a leafless bush and let fly He was reaching for another spear when six figures stepped out from the nearby brush They were surrounded

“Flatheads!” Thonolan cried, pulling back and taking aim

“Wait, Thonolan!” Jondalar shouted “They’ve got us outnumbered”

“The big one looks like the leader of the pack If I get hiain

“No! They ht now I think we’re holding theot to his feet, keeping his weapon ready “Don’t move, Thonolan Let the one He can see you’re ai for him”

Jondalar studied the big flathead and had the disconcerting feeling that the large brown eyes staring back were studying him He had never been so close to one before, and he was surprised These flatheads did not quite fit his preconceived ideas of thees that were accentuated by bushy eyebrows His nose was large, narrow, rather like a beak, and contributed tohis eyes see to curl, hid his face It was on a younger one, whose beard was just beginning, that he saw they had no chins, just protruding jaws Their hair was brown and bushy, like their beards, and they tended to have more body hair especially around the upper back