page168 (1/2)

No one had lowered their voices, and Brukeval had excellent hearing He heard everything that was said He had another characteristic of the Others that the Clan lacked, he cried tears, and as he walked away, tears filled his eyes Even her, he said to hiht she was different I thought she meant it when she said she would consider one, but she thinks I’m a flat-head, too She didn’t mea

n it She would never consider ry he becae a person when she doesn’t mean it I am not a flathead, no matter what she says, no matter what any of them say I am not a flathead!

It was dark, but the sky had already changed fro the hills on the eastern horizon, when the group from the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii and the First Cave of the Lanzadonii started from their camp They used torches to make their way to the place where Jondalar had delad to see the bonfire burning in the round that had once been a field of grass Sohtened, the coolthe spaces between trees and brush on the periphery andaround the fire

The , twittering, and calling over the lowtheWhinney’s halter rope, Ayla knelt down and put an ar Racer to keep hiest hunting party she had ever seen There were far too many people for her to count She recalled that Zelandoni had offered to teach her how to use the words to count larger numbers, and she decided to ask her She would like to be able to say howaround

Women ere about to mate did not usually participate in the pre-Matrimonial hunt, there were usually certain restrictions and various other activities planned for theh with her so she could be excused This hunt was going to be a test of using horses, and trying out Jondalar’s spear-thrower, and they wanted her Ayla was glad that she had been allowed to join the hunt, in spite of her upco If she hadn’t learned to hunt when she lived alone in her valley, she iven her a certain sense of self-reliance

Though several of the women ere to bethe hunt Since an exception had been made for Ayla, she was also allowed to join the just like the boys After they reached puberty, many of them still hunted, mostly because that’s where the boys were Several enjoyed hunting for itself, but once young woan to have children, most were so busy, they were happy to let the an to develop other crafts and skills that added to their status and ability to trade and bargain for things they wanted and that wouldn’t take them so far away from their children But women who had hunted in their youth were looked upon as favorable es of the hunt, appreciate the successes and sympathize with the failures of their mates

Ayla had gone to the Search cere with most of the leaders and stone hunters, but she had only observed, not participated Through the Search, it was deterated in a nearby valley that was particularly good for hunting, and they planned to try there first, but nothing was guaranteed Even though a zelandoni ht not still be where they were seen the next day But the valley held a good meadow that attracted the wild cattle, and if the aurochs were gone, it was likely some other animals would be there The hunters hoped to find aurochs, however, because the cattle were er herds this ties

When the food he thrived on was in abundance, a full-grown bull aurochs grew to six feet six inches at the shoulder and weighed nearly three thousand pounds, two and a half feet taller and est domesticated descendant He looked like an ordinary bull but was so er, he approached the size of a reen grass, not es of forests, h they would eat acorns and nuts in the fall, as well as grass seeds, to build up a reserve of fat, and in winter’s hungry ti on leaves and buds

The bull’s coat was usually black and long, with a light stripe down his back He had a tight knot of curly hair on his forehead and two long, rather thin horns, whitish gray shading into black, forward-pointing tips Coere shter in color, often with a reddish tone Usually only the old or the very young fell to four-legged predators The bull in his pri hu the fall rutting season, but not lie in an uncontrolled rage, pick up a man or a ith his horns, and toss hiore and often diseile, and very dangerous

The horde of hunters started out as soon as it was light enough to see Walking fast, they sighted the herd of aurochs before the sun was very high; the valley was surprisingly close One end of it led into a fairly large canyon that funneled to a narrow defile, then opened out again into a natural corral It wasn’t completely blind, it had a few narrow oudets, but the place had been used before, though generally no more than once per season The smell of blood from a major hunt tended to keep aniain But in anticipation of future use, fencing had been constructed across the outlets, and several of the hunters circled around to check on thee point from which to throw their spears A wolf howl, not too bad an inal that all was ready She had been warned and kept her arm around Wolf to restrain him in case he was tenal

The rest of the hunters had been edging around the herd, trying not to disturb it too much, a difficult task with so many people Ayla and Jondalar had stayed quite a ways back, not wanting the scent of the wolf to precipitate anything They allop, Wolf running alongside As fast and powerful as a bull could be, aurochs were still herd ani theht of unknown things being flapped at the, others soon followed With two huly close with their flapping and shouting, and the scent of Wolf, the herd was soon sta blindly into the canyon

The narrow constriction slowed theh A herd, soo another way, any other way The people and the horses and the ere everywhere, turning theh He stood his ground, pawed the earth, lowered his horns, and was hit with tift spears cast from spear-throwers He dropped to his knees, then tuh, and the fence was closed Then the slaughter began

Spears of every description were flung at the trapped beasts, flint-tipped, sharpened bone or ivory-tipped, long and short The hunters had to rotate behind the narrow gates that protected them from massive horns and sharp hooves Some were hurled with spear-throwers, not just from Ayla’s and Jondalar’s spear-throwers A few adventurous souls had been practicing and tried them out here, where a fewanywhere except back to the breast of the Great Earth Mother in the world of the spirits

In one hfor soer was sent back to the cae party left to help, and by the tiin the butchering and preserving and storing

There were several laciers, and the permanently frozen layer that existed at variable depths below the surface, the underlying permafrost could be utilized as ice cellars to store fresh round Fresh meat could also be stored in deep ponds or lakes, or the quiet backwaters of strea poles so it could be found and recovered later, ly little deterioration Meat could also be dried to last several years The proble was that early summer was the season of blowflies, which could quickly spoil meat that was set out to dry in the sun and wind Very smoky fires would keep off the worst of the insects, but it required constant supervision andin an unpleasantly smoky environment It was necessary, however, to dry so food