page83 (1/2)
“You are … you are a good hunter, especially considering your weapon, but I think I can show you a way toweapon, if you’ll let me”
Her annoyance evaporated “You want to showweapon?”
“And an easier way to hunt—unless you’d rather not It will take some practice …”
She shook her head with disbelief “Clan women do not hunt, and noBrun and Creb only allowed it to appease my totem The Cave Lion is a powerful male totem, and he made them knoas his choice that I should hunt They dared not defy him” Suddenly she recalled a vivid scene “They made a special ceremony” She reached for the small scar in the hollow of her throat “Creb drew my blood as sacrifice to the Ancient Ones so I could become the Woman Who Hunts
“When I found this valley, the only weapon I kneas h, so I made spears like the ones the men used, and I learned to hunt with theht any man would want to show me a better way” She stopped and looked down at her lap, suddenly overcorateful, Jondalar I cannot tell you how much”
The wrinkles of tension on the listening Could it ht take it wrong Would he ever understand her? The more he learned about her, the less he seeht herself?
“I will need to bones I found ork fine, but I’ll need to soak them Do you have a container I can use to soak bones?”
“How big does it need to be? I haveup
“It can wait until you finish eating, Ayla”
She didn’t feel like eating now; she was too excited But he wasn’t through She sat back down and picked at her food until he noticed she wasn’t eating
“Do you want to go look at containers now?” he asked
She leaped up and headed for the storage area, then went back for the stone laave the lamp to Jondalar while she uncovered baskets, bowls, and birchbark containers that were stacked and nested within each other He held the laht and looked around There was so much, far more than she could use
“Did you make all this?”
“Yes,” she replied, sorting through the stacks
“Itdid it take?”
Ayla tried to think of a way to tell hi the cold seasons I had nothing else to do Are any of these the right size?”
He looked over the containers she had spread out and picked up several, more to examine the workmanship than to select one It was hard to believe No matter how skilled she was, or how fast she worked, the finely woven baskets and s had she been here? Alone
“This one will be fine,” he said, selecting a large trough-shaped wooden boith high sides Ayla piled everything back neatly while he held the lairl when she arrived, he thought She’s not very old—or is she? It was hard to judge She had an ageless quality, a certain ingenuousness, that was at odds with her full, ripe woiven birth; she was every bit a woman I wonder how old she is?
They walked down the path Jondalar filled the boater and inspected the legbones he had found in her midden “This one has a crack I didn’t notice before,” heher the bone before he discarded it He placed the rest in the water As they went back up to the cave, he tried to esti—she’s too skilled a healer Yet can she be as old as I am?
“Ayla, how long have you been here?” he asked as they started into the cave, unable to contain his curiosity
She halted, not sure how to respond, or if she couldsticks cah Creb had shown her how to ht disapprove But he’s leaving, she thought
She got out a bundle of the sticks she had marked every day, untied it and laid them out
“What are these?” he asked
“You want to kno long I’ve been here I don’t kno to tell you, but since I found this valley I have cut a hts as there are marks on my sticks”
“Do you kno many marks there are?”