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That was the serendipity Ayla supplied the recognition and the other necessary ele fire, she needed fire, and she wasn’t afraid to try sonize, and appreciate, what she had observed First the smoke puzzled her She had to think about it before she made the connection between the wisp of smoke and the spark, but then the spark puzzled her more Where had it come from? That hen she looked at the stone in her hand

It was the wrong stone! It wasn’t her retoucher, it was one of those shiny stones that were scattered all over the beach But it was still a stone, and stone didn’t burn Yet so had made a spark that had made the tinder smoke The tinder had smoked, hadn’t it?

She picked up the ball of shaggy bark fiber, ready to believe she had iined the sers She picked up the iron pyrite again, and looked at it closely How had the spark been drawn from the stone? What had she done? The flint flake, she had strack the flint Feeling a little silly, she banged the two stones together Nothing happened

What did I expect? she thought Then she banged the sharply, and watched a spark fly Suddenly, an idea that had been tenuously for idea, and a little frightening, too

She put the two stones down carefully on the leather lap cover, on top of the ether the materials to build a fire When she was ready, she picked up the stones, held theether A spark flew and then died on the cold stones She changed the angle, tried again, but the force was less She struck harder and watched a spark land squarely in the ed a few strands and died, but the wisp of s The next ti tinder flared before it went out

Of course! I have to blow on it She changed her position so she could blow on the incipient fla, bright, long-burning spark, and it landed right She was close enough to feel the heat as she blew the ss, and slivers, and, almost before she knew it, she had a fire

It was ridiculously easy She couldn’t believe how easy She had to prove it to herself again She gathered together , and then she had a second fire, and then a third, and a fourth She felt an excitement that was part fear, part awe, part joy of discovery, and a large dose of sheer wonder, as she stood back and gazed at four separate fires, each made from the firestone

Whinney trotted back around the wall, drawn by the smell of smoke Fire, once so fearful, smelled of safety now

“Whinney!” Ayla called, running to the little horse She had to tell someone, to share her discovery, even if just with a horse “Look!” she motioned “Look at those fires! They were h the clouds, and suddenly the whole beach seelitter

I rong when I thought there was nothing special about those stones I should have known; ave one to me Look at them Now that I know, I can see the fire that lives inside She grew thoughtful then But why ave one tome now?

She ree pre in the ain Then, suddenly, she felt an overwhelh she didn’t even know she had been worried

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“Hello! Hello!” Jondalar waved as he called out, running to the river’s edge

He felt an overwheliven up, but the sound of another hue of hope It didn’t occur to hi could be worse than the utter helplessness he had felt And they didn’t seem unfriendly

The man who had called to hie enor creature, but some kind of craft The man threw the rope at him Jondalar dropped it and splashed in after it A couple of other people, hauling on another rope, scrahs One of theed to combine hope, relief, and perplexity over what to do with the wet rope in his hands—took the hawser from him He hauled the craft in closer, then tied the rope to a tree and went to check on the other line snubbed to a jutting end of a broken branch of a large tree that lay half subed in the river

Another occupant of the watercraft hoisted hi to test its stability He said a feords in an unfaplank was lifted up and stretched across to the log He cliplank and along the log to the shore, though it seemed the assistance was allowed rather than needed

The person, obviously greatly respected, had a co, but there was an elusive quality Jondalar couldn’t define, an aht at wisps of long white hair tied at the nape of the neck, pulled back froloith a soft luth in the line of the jaw, the jut of the chin; was it character?

Jondalar realized he was standing in cold water when he was beckoned out, but the enigma did not resolve itself on closer inspection, and he felt he wasimportant Then he stopped and looked into a face with a co eyes of soray or hazel With a flush of wonder, Jondalar suddenly realized the i patiently in front of hiender

Height was no help; a little tall for a wo hid physical details; even the walk left Jondalar wondering The more he looked and found no answer, the more relieved he felt He knew of people like that; born into the body of one sex but with the inclinations of the other They were neither, or both, and usually joined the ranks of Those Who Served the Mother With powers derived from both female and male elements centered within them, they were reputed to have extraordinary skill as healers

Jondalar was far from home and did not know the customs of these people, yet he had no doubt that the person standing in front of him was a healer Maybe One Who Served the Mother, maybe not; it didn’t matter Thonolan needed a healer, and a healer had come

But how had they known a healer was needed? How had they known to come at all?

Jondalar threw another log on the fire and watched a burst of sparks chase sht sky He slid his bare backside farther down into his sleeping roll and leaned back on a boulder to stare at the undying sparks flung across the heavens A shape floated into his field of vision, blocking out a portion of the star-splashed sky It took a moment for his unfocused eyes to shift fro a cup of stea tea out to him