page70 (1/2)

you keep colt?”

“So that’s it,” he said “You wantwith the e Usually, after she has a child or two, a woman stays to mind them It’s a man’s responsibility to hunt for them Yes, I’ll stay with the colt Soet hurt”

Her smile was one of relief He didn’t mind, he really didn’t seem to mind

“You ate that fire to the east before you plan your hunt, though One that big can do your hunting for you”

“Fire hunt?” she said

“Whole herds have been known to die from the smoke alone Sometimes you’ll find your meat cooked! Storytellers have a funny fable about acookedto convince the rest of his Cave to try meat he burned on purpose It’s an old story”

A s fire could overco a pit after all

When Ayla got out the basket-harness-travois arrangeued, not able to understand the purpose of the complicated equipment

“Whinney takehi the straps on the mare “Whinney take you to cave,” she added

“So that’s how I got here! I’ve been wondering for a long tiht perhaps some other people found me and left me here with you”

“No … other people I find … you … other man”

Jondalar’s expression becaht hiripped hiht hi at her

“Man dead, Jondalar You hurt Much hurt,” she said, feeling frustration well up inside her She wanted to tell him she had buried the man, that she sorrowed for hie information, but she could not explore ideas She wanted to speak to hihts she wasn’t even sure could be expressed in words, but she felt stifled He had spent his grief on her the first day, and now she couldn’t even share his sorrow

She longed for his ease ords, his ability to marshal them spontaneously into the proper order, his freedoue barrier she couldn’t cross, a lack that she often felt on the verge of breaching, which eluded her Intuition told her she ought to know—that the knowledge was locked inside her, if only she could find the key

“I’m sorry, Ayla I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that, but Thonolan was my brother…” The as almost a cry

“Brother You and other man … have same mother?”

“Yes, we had the same mother”

She nodded and turned back to the horse, wishing she could tell his and the special tie that could exist between two men born of the same mother Creb and Brun had been brothers

She finished loading the pack baskets, then picked up her spears to carry the As he watched her an to see that the horse was ave her a decided advantage He hadn’t realized how useful a horse could be But he was puzzled by another set of contradictions she posed: she used a horse to help her hunt and to carry back the meat—an advancement he’d never heard of before—yet she used a spear more primitive than any he’d seen

He had hunted withspear, but none was as radically different as hers Yet there was so familiar about it Its point was sharp and fire-hardened, and the shaft was straight and smooth, but it was so clumsy There was no question that it was not er than the one he used to hunt rhino How did she hunt with it? How could she get close enough to wield it? When she came back, he’d have to ask her It would take too e, but it was still difficult