page32 (2/2)

Jetamio blushed, then sood catch”

“You good fisher,” Jondalar returned “He always before get away”

Everyone laughed Though his coe wasn’t perfect, they were pleased he had joined in the banter And he did understand better than he spoke

“What would it take to catch a big one like you, Jondalar?” Barono asked

“The right bait!” Thonolan quipped, with a smile at Jetamio

The boat was pulled onto the narrow beach of gravelly sand, and, after the occupants clie cleared area in the midst of a dense forest of durs, chunks, and scraps of wood littered the ground—the fireplace in front of a large lean-to on one side had no dearth of fuel—yet so Activity was focused in several areas, each of thee of completion

The boat they had coround, and the new arrivals hurried toward the beckoning warmth of the fire Several others stopped work to join theh that had been hollowed out of a log It was quickly e stones froy luuishable as to variety, sat in the

The trough ell used and about to be refilled again Two people rolled over the large log to dus of the previous batch of tea, while a third put the heating rocks in the fire Tea was kept in the trough, available whenever anyone wanted a cup, and cooking stones were kept in the fire to waribes aie put down their cups of wood or tightly woven fibers and drifted back to their various tasks Thonolan was led off to begin his initiation in the building of boats with so of a tree

Jondalar had been having a conversation with Carlono about the Raed hiood boats?” Jondalar had asked

Carlono, enjoying hi man, launched into an animated explanation

“Green oak is best It’s tough, but supple; strong, but not too heavy It loses flexibility if it dries out, but you can cut it in winter and store logs in a pool or bog for a year, even two More than that, it becoed and hard to work, and the boat has trouble finding the right balance in the water But ht tree” Carlono was heading into the woods as he talked

“A big one?” Jondalar asked

“Not only size For the base and the planks, you want tall trees with straight trunks” Carlono led the tall Zelandonii to a grove of close-packed trees “In dense woods, trees grow up looking for the sun …”

“Jondalar!” The older brother looked up with surprise at Thonolan’s voice He was standing with several others around a huge oak, surrounded by other tall straight trees whose branches started far up the stelad to see you! Your little brother could use your help Do you know I can’t get mated until a new boat is built, and this,” he nodded expressively at the tall tree, “has to be cut down for the ‘strakes,’ whatever they are Look at the size of that —it will take forever to cut it down Big Brother, I’ll be an old man before I’m a mated one”

Jondalar smiled and shook his head “Strakes are the planks thatto be Sharaht to know about them”

“I’ to be Sha cha I understand I’ve hunted ibex andto help? We need all the et”

“If I don’t want poor Jetauess I’ll have to And besides, it will be interesting to see how it’s done,” Jondalar said, then turned to Carlono and added in the Sharae, “Help Jondalar chop tree Talk more later?”

Carlono sreement, then stood back to watch the first chips of bark cut away But he didn’t stay long It would take iant fell, and before it did, everyone would gather around

Starting high up and working down at a steep angle that was met by lower horizontal cuts, small chips were detached The stone axes did not bite deep The blade end needed a certain thickness for strength and couldn’t penetrate very far into the wood As they worked their way toward the center of the huge tree, it appeareddeeper into the heart of the ancient giant

The day was drawing to a close when Thonolan was given an axe With everyone who had been working gathered nearby, he s, then jumped back when he heard a crack and saw the ained iants and taking s and cracking its resistance, thundered to the ground It bounced, then shivered and lay still

Silence pervaded the forest; as though in profound reverence, even the birds were still The majestic old oak had been struck down, sundered fro roots, its stump a raw scar in the nity, Dolando knelt beside the ragged stu a small hole with his bare hand He dropped an acorn in it

“May the Blessed Mudo accept our offering and bring to life another tree,” he said, then covered the seed and poured a cup of water over it

The sun was settling into a hazy horizon and olden strea trail to the high shelf Before they reached the ancient eolds and bronzes, then reds to a deepwall, Jondalar was stopped by the untouchable beauty of the panorae, too preoccupied with the view to notice the precipitous drop for once The Great Mother River, calm and full, mirrored the vibrant sky and darkened shadows of the rounded mountains across, her oily smooth surface alive with the movement of her deep current

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Jondalar turned at the voice and smiled at a woman who had

moved up beside him “Yes Beautiful, Serenio”

“Big feast tonight to celebrate For Jeta—you should come”

She turned to go, but he took her hand, held her there, and watched the last glimmers of the sunset reflected in her eyes

There was a yielding gentleness about her, an ageless acceptance that had nothing to do with age—she was only a few years older than he Neither was it giving in Rather that she made no demands, had no expectations The death of her first mate, of a second love before there was tie of a second child that would have blessed theto live with hers, she had developed an ability to absorb the pain of others Whatever their sorrow or disappointment, people turned to her and always caation on them for her compassion

Because of her calht loved ones or fearful patients, she often assisted the Shamud and had learned some medical skills from the association That was how Jondalar had co the healer nurse Thonolan back to health When his brother was up and recovered enough to move to the hearth of Dolando and Roshario, and most especially, Jetamio, Jondalar had moved in with Serenio and her son, Darvo He hadn’t asked She hadn’t expected him to

Her eyes always seehtly in greeting before they started toward the glowing fire He never saw into their depths He pushed away an unbidden thought that he was grateful for it It was as though she knew hiive of himself completely, to fall in love as Thonolan had done She even see up for the lack of emotional depth was to asping She accepted it, as she accepted his occasional black uilt on him for it