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The river was refreshing Afterward, she went up to her cave, spread her summer wraps out to dry, and wished she had re before she went into the water She was afraid it would dry stiff She didn’t have time to work it soft and flexible She put on her full wrap and got her sleeping fur from the cave Before she went down to the beach, she looked across the s and one from the valley

Suddenly she reround where she had left the the after them, almost talked herself out of it, then ado to the work ofand dropped her fur on the beach as she stopped for a pouchful of stones

Drawing near the pit trap, she saw the carnage as though for the first time The brush fence had fallen over in places The pit was a raound in the earth and the grass trampled Blood, scraps of meat, and bones were scattered around Tolves were snarling over the regy foreleg with a hoof still attached, and a hyena was eying her warily A flock of kites took wing as she approached, but a wolverine stood its ground beside the pit Only the cats were still conspicuously absent

I’d better hurry, she was thinking as she cast a stone toaroundcackle as it backed off, staying just out of range Get out of here, you ugly thing! she thought Ayla hated hyenas Every time she saw one, she rea’s baby She hadn’t stopped to think about the consequences; she had killed it She just couldn’t let the baby die that way

As she bent to pick up her spears, her attention was caught by ap in the brush barrier Several hyenas were stalking a spindly legged, hay-colored foal

I’ht I didn’t want to kill your daht Ayla had no feelings of guilt There were hunters, and there were the hunted, and sometimes the hunters were hunted She could as easily fall prey, in spite of her weapons and her fire Hunting was a way of life

But she knew the little horse was doomed without its mother, and she felt sorry for a small and helpless aniht to Iza to heal, she had brought a succession of small wounded animals to the cave, much to Brun’s dish

She watched the hyenas circle the little filly, as skittishly trying to stay out of their way, looking wild-eyed and scared With no one to take care of you, et it over with, Ayla reasoned But when one hyenaits flank, she didn’t think She tore through the brush, slinging stones One hyena dropped, the others dashed away She wasn’t trying to kill the spotted fur of hyenas; she wanted them to leave the little horse alone The foal ran away too, but not as far It was afraid of Ayla, but more fearful of hyenas

Ayla approached the baby slowly, holding out her hand and crooning softly in a way that had calhtened animals before She had a natural ith ani creatures, developed along with her medical skills Iza had fostered it, seen it as an extension of her own coirlchild because she was hurt and hungry

The little filly reached out to sniff Ayla’s outstretched fingers The young woman moved closer, then patted, and rubbed, and scratched the foal When the little horse noticed so on theer in Ayla

Poor baby, she thought, so hungry and no ive you h for Durc She felt tears threaten and shook her head Well, he grew strong anyway Maybe I can think of so, too Co filly toward the beach with her fingers

Just as she approached, she saw a lynx about to make off with a hunk of her hard-won meat A cat had finallyas the skittish foal backed away, and, as the lynx looked up, she hurled the stones with force

“You can kill a lynx with a sling,” Zoug had stoutly er, but you can kill a lynx”

It wasn’t the first tied the tufted-eared cat back, too Then she looked at the pile of meat, the mud-encrusted horsehide, the dead wolverine, and the dead lynx Suddenly she laughed out loud I needed meat I needed furs Now all I need is a few ht

The little filly had shied away froot a thong, approached the young horse carefully again, then tied the thong around her neck and led her to the beach She tied the other end to a bush, reet them, then went to soothe the little horse who had tried to follow her What aht when the baby tried to suck her fingers again It’s not as if I don’t have enough to do right now

She tried sorass, but the little horse didn’t seem to know quite what to do with it Then she noticed her cooking boith the cold cooked grain in the bottom Babies can eat the same kind of food as their mothers, she remembered, but it has to be softer She added water to the bowl, ht it to the foal, who only snorted and backed off when the woman put her muzzle in it But then she licked her face and seery and went after Ayla’s fingers again

Ayla thought for a , she lowered her hand into the bowl The horse sucked in a little gruel and tossed her head, but after a few et the idea When she was through, Ayla went up to the cave, brought downfor later

I think I’rain than I first planned But et all this dried She paused for a e the Clan would think she was, to kill a horse for food and then gather food for its baby I can be as strange as I want … here, she said to herself, as she jabbed a piece of horse-meat with a sharpened stick and skewered it to cook for herself Then she looked at the task ahead of her and set to work