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“Are you still worried about that rhino? He’s well behind us now We need to get started so we can find a place to cross”

“I’ to cut a shaft, at least”

“You ”

Jondalar picked up his axe and exae, then nodded to hirove He looked over the trees carefully and selected a tall straight sapling He had chopped it down, stripped the branches, and was looking for one for Thonolan when he heard a co He heard his brother shout, and then a soundhe had ever heard: a scream of pain in his brother’s voice The silence as his scream was cut short was even worse

“Thonolan! Thonolan!”

Jondalar raced back down the hill, still clutching the alder shaft and clutched by cold fear His heart pounded in his ears when he saw a huge woolly rhinoceros, as tall at the shoulders as he, pushing the liround The animal didn’t seem to knohat to do with his victier, Jondalar didn’t think, he reacted

Swinging the alder staff like a club, the older brother rushed the beast, careless of his own safety One hard blow landed on the rhino’s snout, just below the large curving horn, and then another The rhino backed off, undecided in the face of a berserkhi shaft—but the animal turned The powerful whack on his rued hi after him

When a swing of the alder shaft whistled through the air as the anio, catching his breath Then he dropped the shaft and ran back to Thonolan His brother was lying face dohere the rhino had left him

“Thonolan? Thonolan!” Jondalar rolled him over There was a rip in Thonolan’s leather trousers near the groin, and a bloodstain growing larger

“Thonolan! Oh, Doni!” He put his ear to his brother’s chest, listening for a heartbeat, and was afraid he only i

“Oh, Doni, he’s alive! But what arunt of effort, Jondalar picked up the unconscioushim in his arms

“Doni, O Great Earth Mother! Don’t take hie sob welled up in his breast, “Mother … please … let him live …”

Jondalar bowed his head, sobbed into his brother’s limp shoulder a ently on his sleeping roll, and, with his bone-handled knife, cut away the clothing The only obvious wound was a raw, jagged rip of skin and ry red, the left side swelling and discoloring A close examination by touch convinced Jondalar that several ribs were broken; probably there were internal injuries

Blood was pu on the sleeping roll Jondalar ru to sop it up with He grabbed his sleeveless summer tunic, wadded it up, and tried to wipe up the blood on the fur, but only succeeded in s it around Then he laid the soft leather on the wound

“Doni, Doni! I don’t knohat to do I’m not a zelandoni” Jondalar sat back on his heels, pulled his hand through his hair, and left bloodstains on his face “Willowbark! I’d better make bark tea”

He went out to heat some water He didn’t have to be a zelandoni to know about the painkilling properties of bark; everyone made bark if they had a headache, or some other minor pain He didn’t know if it was used for serious wounds, but he didn’t knohat else to do He paced nervously around the fire, looking inside the tent with each circuit, waiting for the cold water to boil He piled e of the wooden fra hide full of water

Why is it taking so long! Wait, I don’t have the bark I’d better get it before the water boils He put his head inside the tent and stared at his brother for a longbark fro thin branches trailed the water, he raced back

He looked first to see if Thonolan had roused, and saw that his summer tunic was soaked with blood Then he noticed the overfull cooking skin boiling over and putting out the fire He didn’t knohat to do first—tend to the tea, or to his brother—and he looked back and forth frorabbed a drinking cup and scooped out so his hand, then dropped the bark in the hide pot He put a fewthey would catch He searched through Thonolan’s backframe, dumped it out in frustration, and picked up his brother’s summer tunic to replace his bloody one

As he started into the tent, Thonolan moaned It was the first sound he had heard from his brother He scrambled out to scoop up a bowl of the tea, noticed there was hardly any liquid left, and wondered if it was too strong He ducked back into the tent with a cup of the hot liquid, looked frantically for a place to set it, and saw that more was soaked with blood than his su the sleeping roll

He’s losing tooto do? He was becoitated and fearful for his brother He felt so helpless I need to go for help Where? Where can I find a zelandoni? I can’t even get across the Sister, and I can’t leave him Some wolf or hyena will smell the blood and come after him