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“How do you know? I can’t see anything”

“I can hear the male”

“I can’t hear anything,” Jondalar said

“It’s a deep, deep ruain “Look, Jondalar! Over there!” she called out, full of excite in their direction Ayla was detecting the long-distance bellow of a e normally heard by humans, but could be heard by a female mammoth in heat for up to Ave miles because such low-level sounds did not attenuate as easily over distance Though Ayla couldn’t exactly hear it, she could sense the deep call

The herd was essentially fe fees, always hopeful, though the doion was already in consort with her She had refused the persistent advances of the lesser males until he arrived Now he kept the others away, since none of thee hi calf in betweensessions

The thick coat of the woolly e ani nose, including the small ears As they came closer, the various shades of their fur becahtest-colored hair, the feer ones to the dark brown of the old ed The coat had a very dense underfur out of which grew fairly long, straight hairs that kept them very warm even in the coldest of the winters, especially after consu snow or ice That’s when their bodies tended to become chilled

“It’s early in the season for mammoths,” he said “We never used to see them until fall, late fall Mammoths, rhinos, musk oxen, and reindeer, those are the winter animals”

On the last day of their isolation, Ayla and Jondalar rose early They had spent the previous few days exploring the region to the west of The River near a second river that ran nearly parallel to it They packed all their belongings but wanted toride before they went back to the Su with all its people and social interactions, which put deht rewards, satisfaction, and pleasure as well They had enjoyed the respite, but they were ready to return and looking forward to seeing the people they cared about They had spent nearly a year with only each other and the animals for company and were familiar with both the joys and the sorrows of solitude

They took food and water with them, but they were in no hurry and had no particular destination in mind Wolf had left theer to stay with them on their Journey, but he was little h it seeer, they could count only one year and about two seasons since the winter they lived with the Maht back a fuzzy little ho had been born no reat size, he was still a juvenile

Ayla didn’t kno long wolves lived, but she suspected that the length of their lives was far less than that of ht of Wolf as an adolescent—considered byyears Those were the years of exuberant energy and little experience when youngsters, full of life and convinced it would last forever, took chances that endangered their lives If they lived, they usually gained soe that would help theht it was probably not

It had been a cool summer, and drier than Jondalar recalled On the open plains mini-inds of dust blew up, spun around for a while, then died, and they were happy to see a small lake ahead They stopped beside it and shared Pleasures in the shade of a weeping , extravagantly full of shs that bent to the water’s surface, then rested and talked before going for a swim

After splashing into the water, Ayla shouted, “I’ll race you across,” and i, sure strokes Jondalar followed quickly, slowly gaining on her with his longer arms and powerful muscles, but it was an effort She looked back, saw hi near, and renewed her efforts in a fresh burst of speed They reached the other side in a dead heat

“You had a head start, so I won,” Jondalar said as they reached the opposite shore of the s hard

“You should have challenged“We both won”

They swam at a more leisurely pace back to the other side as the sun passed its zenith and was starting its descent, signaling the last half of the day They were a little sad as they repacked their things, knowing their idyllic respite was nearly over They mounted the horses and headed in the direction of the Su camp, but Ayla missed Wolf and wished he ith them