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On their way back to their cae of the zelandonia The First was just co out and stopped to tell them that all the people ere involved with the First Matri to delay the ceremony until the arrival of Dalanar and the Lanzadonii They were introduced to several of the other zelandonia, and the people from the Ninth Cave observed with interest their various reactions to the wolf
By the time they started back to the ca over the horizon in a blaze of gold coruscating in resplendent beah red clouds When they reached the bank of The River, flowing smoothly with hardly a ripple at that point, they continued upstream until they crossed the small creek that joined it They stopped for asky transforold trans purple, then darkened to deep blue as the first glittering sky fires appeared Soon the sooty black night becahts that filled the su its way like a path across the vault above Ayla recalled the line froh the sky” Is that hoasfires of their nearby camp
When Ayla awoke the next one already and she was feeling uncharacteristically lazy Her eyes were accusto, and she lay in her sleeping roll, looking at the designs carved and painted on the sturdy wooden center pole and the ses of the smoke hole, until she had to pass water—she felt the need even more often lately She didn’t knohere the coht basket She wasn’t the only one who had used it, she noticed I’ll eht It was one of the unpleasant chores that were shared by those who felt it was a duty and those ere shamed into it if it was noticed that they hadn’t recently
When she walked back to her sleeping roll to shake it out, she looked more closely around the inside of the summer camp shelter She had been surprised at the structures that had beenthe day before Though she had noticed the lodges of the people who had set up their ca to see the traveling tents, but most people did not use the tents they had traveled with at the Su tents would be used by various people for teather produce, or visit as they ranged over their territory The suht-sided, rather substantial dwelling Though made differently, Ayla understood they were si their Sus
Though it was dark inside—the only light caht that found its way through cracks in the here pieces joined—Ayla saw that, besides the center pole of pine, the dwelling had an interior wall of panels woven out of flattened bullrush stens and animals They were attached to the inside of poles that encircled the center pole and provided a fairly large enclosed space that could be left open or divided into smaller areas with m
ovable interior panels The ground was covered withrolls were spread out around a slightly off-center fireplace The sh a hole above it, near the center pole A smoke hole cover could be adjusted from the inside with short poles that were attached to it
She was curious about how the rest of the structure was lanced around the caes surrounding a central fireplace, and then she walked around the outside of the dwelling Poles were lashed together in a way that was similar to the fence of the surround that was erected to capture ani flexible construction that could yield when an ani was attached to widely spaced anchoring poles of alder that were sunk into the ground
A wall of sturdy vertical panels made of overlapped cattail leaves, which shed rain, was attached to the outside of the poles, leaving an air space between the outer and inner walls for extra insulation to make it cooler on hot days and, with a fire inside, warhts It also avoided accumulation of moisture condensation on the inside when it was cold out The roof was a fairly thick thatch of overlapping reeds that sloped down from the center pole The thatch was not particularly well made, but it kept the rain out and was required only for a season
Parts of the lodge were brought with them, in particular the woven mats, panels, interior walls, and so a dwelling carried soathered fresh fro area each year When they returned home in the fall, the structures were partially dis They seldoh the heavy snows and winds of winter, and by the following surated back into the environain for a Su
Ayla remembered that the Mamutoi had different names for their sus The Lion Ca, but the same people who lived at Lion Camp lived there She asked Jondalar if the Ninth Cave had a different summer name He explained that their location was just called the caes were not quite the same as they were in winter in the shelters of stone
Each su accommodated more people than usually shared the roo of the Ninth Cave As a rule, fas in winter, shared a lodge, but some people didn’t even stay at the same camp Instead, it was not uncommon for some to spend the su matrons who had moved to their mates’ Caves often liked to take their children and spend the sus, or childhood friends, and their mates usually accompanied them
In addition, young woether in a separate dwelling near the large central dwelling of the zelandonia, at least for the first part of the su nearby was set up for the women who chose to be donii-wopuberty
Most young —often chose to band together separately away froes of their own They were required to be on the periphery of the ca wo prepared for First Rites For the le the wo off by themselves, so no one could complain if they were a little loud or rowdy As a consequence, the es,” usually shortened to fa’lodges The e were usually unmated or between mates—or wished they were
Since he didn’t rush to greet her when she went out, Ayla assumed that Wolf ith Jondalar There were not many people outside, most were probably somewhere around the central area, the , but she found some leftover tea near the camp’s fireplace She noticed that the fireplace was not shaped like a big round bonfire, butbefore that et closer to a fire if it was extended and longer logs and branches, cut down or deadfall, could be used without having to hack the the tea, Salova, Rushehter
“Greetings, Ayla,” she said, putting her baby down on a mat