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He liked the way she spoke, though Her voice was low-pitched and pleasing, and her strange accent made her sound exotic He decided not to bother yet about correcting the way she put the words together Proper speech could cole becaressed beyond words that nas and actions Even the simplest abstract concepts were a problem—she wanted a separate word for every shade of color and found it hard to understand that the deep green of pine and the pale green of ere both described by the general word green When she did grasp an abstraction, it seeotten

He commented favorably on her phenomenal memory once, but she found it difficult to understand—or believe—him

“No, Don-da-lah Ayla not good reood Try, try, all time try”

Jondalar shook his head, wishing hisand relentless He could see ih she was never satisfied But as their ability to communicate expanded, the mystery of her deepened Theto have answered She was incredibly skilled and knowledgeable in sonorant in others—and he was never sure which would be which So fire—were far more advanced than any he had seen anywhere, and some were primitive beyond belief

Of one thing he had no doubt, though: whether or not any of her people were nearby, she was entirely capable of taking care of herself And of hiht, as she

Ayla had an antiseptic solution ready, but she was nervous as she prepared to take out the knots that held his flesh together She didn’t think the wound would fall apart—it see well—but she had not used the technique before and she wasn’t sure She had been considering re the knots for several days, but it had taken Jondalar’s complaint to make the decision

The young wo closely at the knots Carefully, she pulled up one of the knotted pieces of deer sinew Skin had grown attached to it and pulled up with it She wondered if she should have waited so long, but it was too late to worry now She held the knot with her fingers, and, with her sharpest knife, one that had not been used, she cut one side as close to the knot as possible A few experi to pull out easily Finally, she took the knot in her teeth and, with a quick jerk, pulled it out

Jondalar winced She was sorry to cause hiap had opened A little trickle of blood shohere the skin had torn slightly, but the ether Disco stitches as quickly as she could, to get it over with, while Jondalar gritted his teeth and clenched his fists to keep fro every time she pulled one out They both leaned closer to see the result

Ayla decided that, if there was no deterioration, she would let hio outside the cave She picked up the knife, and the boith the solution, and started to get up Jondalar stopped her “Let ave it to him and looked on while he examined it

“This is made on a flake! It’s not even a blade It’s been worked with some skill, but the technique is so primitive It doesn’t even have a handle—just retouched on the back so it won’t cut you Where did you get this, Ayla? Who made it?”

“Ayla make”

She kneas co on the quality and workmanship, and she wanted to explain that she was not as skilled as Droog, but that she had learned from the Clan’s best toolmaker Jondalar studied the knife in depth, and it seemed with some surprise She wanted to discuss the merits of the tool, the quality of the flint, but she could not She did not have the vocabulary of the proper ter of how to express the concepts It was frustrating

She yearned to talk to hi since she had anyone to communicate with, but she didn’t kno much she h a feast had been set down before her, and she was starving and wanted to devour it, but she could only taste

Jondalar gave the knife back to her, shaking his head in wonder It was sharp, certainly adequate, but it heightened his curiosity She was as well trained as any zelandoni, and used advanced techniques—like the stitches—but such a primitive knife If only he could ask her and make her understand; if only she could tell hi rapidly now Why hadn’t she learned before? Ayla’s learning to speak had beco ambition for both of them

Jondalar woke early The cave was still dark, but the entrance and the hole above it showed the deep blue of predawn It grew perceptibly lighter as he watched, bringing out the shape of every bump and hollow of the rock walls He could see them as clearly when he closed his eyes; they were etched on his brain He had to get outside and look at so excitement, sure this would be the day He could hardly wait and was going to shake the wo beside hied his mind

She slept on her side, curled up with her furs piled around her He was in her usual sleeping place, he knew Her furs were on a mat drawn up beside him, not in a shallow trench covered with a hay-stuffed pad She slept in her wrap, ready to jump up at a moment’s notice She rolled over on her back, and he studied her carefully, trying to see if there were any distinguishing characteristics that would give soins

Her bone structure, the shape of her face and her cheekbones had a foreign quality co out of the ordinary about her, except that she was extraordinarily pretty It wasa good look at her There was a quality to her features that would be recognized as beauty by anyone’s standards

The style of her hair, bound into a regular pattern of braids, left long at the sides and back and tucked under themselves in front, was not faed in waysstrands had worked their way loose and were pushed back behind her ears or hanging in disarray, and she had a se of charcoal on one cheek It occurred to him that she had not left his side for ained consciousness, and probably not before No one could fault her care…

His train of thought was interrupted when Ayla opened her eyes and squealed with surprise

She wasn’t used to opening her eyes to a face, especially one with brilliant blue eyes and a scraggly blond beard She sat up so quickly that she was dizzy for a ot up to stir the fire It was out; she had forgotten to bank it again She gathered the materials to start a new one

“Would you show me how to start a fire, Ayla?” Jondalar asked when she picked up the stones This time she understood

“Not hard,” she said, and brought the fire- materials closer to the bed “Ayla show” She dey bark fiber and fireweed fuzz together and gave him the flint and iron pyrite

He recognized the flint iht he had seen stones like the other one, but he would never have atte, particularly not for ether the way she had It was only a glancing blow, but he thought he saw a tiny spark He struck again, still not quite believing he could draw fire froe flash jumped from the cold stones He was stunned and then excited After a few more tries and a little assistance fro beside the bed He looked at the two stones again

“Who taught you to make fire this way?”

She knehat he was asking, but she didn’t kno to tel

l him “Ayla do,” she said

“Yes, I know you do, but who showed you?”

“Ayla … show” How could she tell him about that day when her fire went out, and her hand-axe broke, and she had discovered the firestone? She put her head in her hands for ato find a way to explain, then looked at hiood”

He could see her sense of defeat “You will, Ayla You can tellwoht?”

“Ayla see …” She pulled back his covers and checked the leg The places where the knots had been had s It was ti and try to assess the io out”