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“I think Charoli’s gang has made some probleht bank so ouldn’t have to worry about crossing her later when she’s the Great Mother River”
Laduni se left as quickly as it had co rivers, Thonolan If you are going to follow her all the way to the end, you’re going to have to get used to crossing rivers Letwhirlpool She separates into channels as she goes across some flat land, and s river By then, it’ll be waro north after you cross”
“How far is it to the whirlpool?” Jondalar asked
“I’ll scratch out aout his flint knife “Lanalia, give me that piece of bark Maybe so for river crossings and hunting along the way, you should make it to the place where the river turns south by summer”
“Summer,” Jondalar mused “I’m so tired of ice and snow, I can hardly wait until su next to his again, and put his hand on her thigh
3
The first stars pierced the evening sky as Ayla carefully picked her way down the steep rocky side of the ravine As soon as she cleared the edge, the wind ceased abruptly, and she stopped for alight as well By the ti the s reflection of thepoints above
She took a deep refreshing drink from the river, then felt her way into the deeper black near the wall She didn’t bother with the tent, just spread out her fur and rolled up in it, feeling more secure with a wall at her back than she had on the open plains under her tent She watched a gibbous e of the ravine before she fell asleep
She woke up screa!
She bolted upright—stark terror charging through her, pounding in her teue shapes in the black-on-black void in front of her She juht blinded her Shuddering, she watched a tall pine, struck by the searing bolt, split and slowly, still clinging to its severed half, fall to the ground It was surreal, the flarotesque shadows on the wall behind
The fire sputtered and hissed as drenching rain doused it Ayla huddled closer to the wall, oblivious still to both her war her face The first distant thunder, re ru dreahtmare she never could quite remember when she awoke and that always left her with a nauseous sense of uneasiness and overwhelht shaft, followed by a loud roar, iving her a flashing glied tree trunk snapped like a twig by the powerful finger of light from the sky
Shivering ascold, she clutched her a that promised protection It was a reaction only partly caused by the thunder and lightning Ayla didn’t like thunderstorms much, but she was accustomed to them; they were oftenthe eht devastating loss and wrenching change into her life, and there was nothing she feared more
Finally she realized she et and took her hide tent out of her carrying basket She pulled it over her sleeping fur like a cover and buried her head beneath it She was still shaking long after she warht wore on the fearful storm abated, and she finally slept
Birds filled the early s, and raucous caws Ayla pulled back the cover and looked around her with delight A world of green, still wet fro sun She was on a broad rocky beach at a place where a senerally southward course
On the opposite bank, a row of dark green pines reached to the top of the wall behind thes above the lip of the river gorge were cut short by the slashing winds of the steppes above It gave the tallest trees a peculiar blunted look, their growth forced to branching fullness One soaring giant of near perfect syles to the trunk, grew beside another with a charred, jagged, high stu on a narrow strip on the other side of the river between the bank and the wall, some so close to the water that bare roots were exposed
On her side, upstrea, pale green leaf-tears into the stream The flattened steentle breeze White-barked birches grew in cluh shrubs Lianas climbed and twined around the trees, and bushes of many varieties in full leaf crowded close to the stream
Ayla had traveled the parched and withered steppes so long, she had forgotten how beautiful green could be The small river sparkled an invitation, and, her fears of the storotten, she juht; then, i of her wrap, took off her amulet, and splashed into the water The bank dropped off quickly and she dove under, then swam to the steep opposite side
The water was cool and refreshing, and washing off the dust and grime of the steppes was a welco stronger and the water chilling as the sheer walls closed in, narrowing the river She rolled over on her back and, cradled by the buoyant water, let the flow carry her downstrea the space between the high cliffs, then noticed a dark hole in the wall across froht with a surge of excitement I wonder if it would be hard to reach?
The young woman waded back to the beach and sat down on the warm stones to let the sun dry her Her eye was drawn by the quick perky gestures of birds hopping on the ground near the brush, pulling on worht’s rain, and flitting fro on bushes heavy with berries
Look at those raspberries! They’re so big, she thought A flurry of wings welcomed her approach, then settled nearby She stuffed handfuls of the sweet juicy berries in her mouth After she had her fill, she rinsed off her hands and put her arione back into the earthquake-littered cave just before she left, to get clothing, food, and shelter, survival had been her concern, not whether she would need a change of summer wraps
And she was thinking survival again Her hopeless thoughts on the dry and dreary steppes were dispelled by the fresh green valley The raspberries had sti it She wanted soet her sling She spread out her wet hide tent and damp fur on the sun-war for smooth round pebbles
Close inspection revealed the beach held ray driftwood and bleached white bones,wall Violent spring floods had uprooted trees and swept away unwary anih the narrow constriction of sheer rock upstreaainst a cul-de-sac in the near wall as the swirling water tore around the bend Ayla saw giant antlers, long bison horns, and several enorreat mammoth was immune to the force of the tide L
arge boulders were mixed in the deposit, too, but the woray stones
This is flint! she said to herself after a closer look I’m sure of it I need a hammerstone to break one open, but I’m just sure of it Excitedly, Ayla scanned the beach for a smooth oval stone she could hold comfortably in her hand When she found one, she struck the chalky outer covering of the nodule A piece of the whitish cortex broke off, exposing the dull sheen of the dark gray stone within
It is flint! I kneas! Her hts of the tools she could make I can even make so soed over a few more of the heavy stones, flushed out of the chalk deposits far upstrea current until they came to rest at the foot of the stone wall The discovery encouraged her to explore further