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“Those clouds look full of snow,” Thonolan said when his brother ca beside the litter “You can’t see the tops of theup north already I’ll say one thing, you get a different view of the world from this position”

Jondalar looked up at the clouds rolling over theover each other as they pushed and shoved in their hurry to fill the clear blue space above Jondalar’s frown looked al as the sky, and his brow clouded with concern, but he tried toaround?” he said, trying to smile

When they reached the log that was jutting out into the river, Jondalar fell back and watched the two riverthe unsteady fallen tree and plank-ladder He understood why Thonolan had been fir trouble keeping his own balance, and looked at the reater respect

A fehite flakes were beginning to sift down frohtly bound bundles of poles and hides—the large tent—to a couple of the Ra the the mood of the sky, roiled and swirled violently—the increasedits presence felt downstream

The log was bobbing to a different motion than the boat, and Jondalar leaned over the side and reached a hand toward the worateful look and took it, and was al and into the boat The Sha his assistance either, and the healer’s look of gratitude was as genuine as Roshario’s

One s, then raced up the log and claplank was hauled in quickly The heaving craft that was trying to pull away and join the current was restrained by only one line and long-handled paddles in the hands of the rowers The line was slipped with a sharp jerk, and the craft juhtly to the side as the craft bobbed and bounced into the mainstream of the Sister

The stor flakes reduced visibility Floating objects and refuse traveled with theled brush, bloated carcasses, and an occasional s Jondalar fear a collision He watched the shore slipping by, and his glance was held by the stand of alder on the high knoll So in the wind A sudden gust broke its hold and carried it toward the river As it dropped, Jondalar suddenly realized that the stiff, dark-stained leather was his su from that tree all this tied and sank

Thonolan had been released froainst the side of the boat, looking pale, in pain, and frightened, but he samely at Jeta as he remembered his fear and his panic Then he recalled his incredulous joy when he first saw the boat approaching, and he wondered again how they had known he was there A thought struck hi in the wind that told them where to look? But how had they known to come in the first place? And with the Shamud?

The boat jounced over the rough water, and, taking a good look at its construction, Jondalar becaued by the sturdy craft The bottom of the boat appeared to be made of a solid piece, a whole tree trunk hollowed out, wider at the er by rows of planks, overlapped and sewn together, extending up the sides and joined in front at the prow Supports were spaced at intervals along the sides, and planks extended between them for seats for the rowers The three of them were in front of the first seat

Jondalar’s eye followed the structure of the craft and skipped over a log that had been shoved against the prow Then he looked back and felt his heart pound Near the prow, caught in the tangled branches of the log in the bottom of the boat, was a leather summer tunic stained dark with blood

9

“Don’t be so greedy, Whinney,” Ayla cautioned, watching the hay-colored horse lapping up the last drops of water from the bottom of a wooden bowl “If you drink it all, I’ll have to melt more ice” The filly snorted, shook her head, and put her nose back in the bowl Ayla laughed “If you’re that thirsty, I’ll getwith me?”

Ayla’s steady flow of thought directed at the young horse had become a habit Sometimes it was no e of gestures, postures, and facial expressions hich she wasanied Ayla to vocalize more Unlike the rest of the Clan, a variety of sounds and tonal inflections had always been easy for her; only her son had been able to ame for both of them to miun to take on s In her streams of conversation to the horse, the tendency extended into more complex verbalizations She mimicked the sounds of animals, invented neords out of combinations of sounds she knew, even incorporated soaly at her forunnecessary sounds, her oral vocabulary expanded, but it was a language comprehensible only to her—and in a unique sense, to her horse

Ayla wrapped on fur leggings, a wrap of shaggy horsehair, and a wolverine hood, then tied on hand coverings She put a hand through the slit in the pal basket Then she picked up an icepick—the long bone froet out the ainst a stone—and started out

“Well, come on, Whinney,” she beckoned She held aside the heavy aurochs hide, once her tent, attached to poles sunk into the earth floor of the cave as a windbreak at the mouth The horse trotted out and behind her down the steep path Wind whipping around the bend buffeted her as she walked out on the frozen watercourse She found a place that looked as if the crumbled crystal of the ice-locked stream could be broken, and hacked off shards and blocks

“It’s much easier to scoop up a bowl of snow than chop ice for water, Whinney,” she said, loading the ice into her basket She stopped to add so how grateful she was for the wood, forthe ice as much as for warmth “The winters are dry here, colder, too I miss the snow, Whinney The little bit that blows around here doesn’t feel like snow, it just feels cold”

She piled the wood near the fireplace and dumped the ice into a bowl She in to melt the ice before she put it into her skin pot, which needed some liquid so it wouldn’t burn when she placed it over the fire Then she looked around her snug cave at several projects in various stages of co to decide which one to work on that day But she was restless Nothing appealed to her until she noticed several new spears co before

Maybe I’ll go hunting, she thought I haven’t been up on the steppes for a while I can’t take those, though She frowned It wouldn’t do any good, I’d never get close enough to use theo for a walk She filled a fold in her ith round stones froht up to the cave, just in case the hyenas returned Then she added wood to the fire and left the cave

Whinney tried to follohen Ayla hiked the steep slope up frohed after her nervously “Don’t worry, Whinney I won’t be gone long You’ll be all right”

When she reached the top, the wind grabbed her hood and threatened to htened the cord, then stepped back froe and paused to look around The parched a

nd withered summer landscape had bloomed with life compared to the sere frozen eusted a dissonant dirge, ululating a thin penetrating whine that swelled to a wailing shriek and diroan It whipped the dun earth bare, swirling the dry grainy snow out of whitened hollows and, captive of the wind’s laain

The driven snow felt like gritty sand that burned her face raith its absolute cold Ayla pulled her hood closer, bowed her head, and walked into the sharp northeast wind through dry brittle grass bent to the ground Her nose pinched together and her throat ached as moisture was snatched away by the bitter air A violent blast of wind caught her by surprise She lost her breath, gulped for air, coughing and wheezing, and brought up phlegm She spit it out and watched it freeze solid before it hit the rock-hard ground and bounced

What aht I didn’t know it could be so cold I’ back

She turned around and stopped still, for thethe intense cold Across the ravine a s hu tusks This stark, seerass burned crisp with cold was life-sustaining nourish to such an environment, they had forfeited their ability to live in any other Their days were nulacier