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“Jondalar caught one of the biggest sturgeon I’ve ever seen I think it was longer than two of hi to smile at the tall ave him quite a ride”

“Unless you are planning to stay here, I think Jondalar will have to tell that story later,” Joharran interjected

“Yes, later,” Jondalar said The story was a little eer to tell it, anyway

They continued talking about fishing as they walked together back toward The River “When people like to fish by thee You knoorks, don’t you?” Brameval asked “You take a small piece of wood, sharpen it at both ends, and tie a fine cord in thehis hands as he talked “I usually attach a float and tie the other end to a pole Fasten an earthworle it in the water, then watch it When you see a nibble, with luck, a quick jerk will pull the gorge so that it’s horizontal across the throat or sters can get quite good”

Jondalar was s,” he said, then looked at Ayla “Don’t get Brahtly embarrassed “Ayla fishes, too, Brameval” The man smiled at the woman “She can catch fish with her bare hands”

“Yes, she told me,” Brameval said “It must be difficult”

“It takes a lot of patience, but it?

??s not hard,” Ayla said “I’ll show you sometime”

After leaving the narrow gorge of Little Valley, Ayla noticed that the hugeRock, which formed the north side of the Fourteenth Cave’s sh Rock, it did not crowd close to The River After several yards the path widened out as the tall liht bank pulled back froe field separated the stone walls fro river

“This is called the Gather Field,” Jondalar said “It’s another place that’s used by all the Caves around here When we all want to get together for a gathering, like a feast or aenough to hold us We so hunt to dry the meat for winter I suppose if there was a stone shelter here or a usable cave, it would have been claimed, but anyone can use it now Mostly in suh shelter to stay in for a few days”

Ayla looked across at the lih there were no usable abris or deep caves, the face of the cliff was split by ledges and crevices where birds nested

“I used to cli,” Jondalar said “There are all kinds of lookout perches and a spectacular view of The River Valley”

“The youngsters still do,” Willamar said

Beyond the Gather Field and just downstreae of limestone cliffs crowded close to The River Here, the forces that had eroded the stone of the cliff had created a rounded bulging appearance that rose to the top, and like all the lis, the warm yellowish natural color of the stone was streaked with shades of dark gray

The trail climbed up a rather steep slope from The River to a sizable level terrace that extended beyond a row of substantial rock shelters, separated in places by sheer rock walls that had no protective overhangs From the south, several si overhang of rock shelters They were constructed in the pattern of a longhouse, with a row of hearths down thethe cliff wall