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Ayla had a snowball hidden from view, and as Jondalar approached, she threw it at him It landed on his chest and snow exploded into his face

“So you want to play ga to put it inside the back of her parka She struggled to get away, and soon both were rolling around in the snow, laughing and trying to get snow into each other’s necks When they finally sat up, they were both covered from head to foot with the hite stuff

They went to the edge of the frozen river, crossed over, and cli on the way to their own, and she had heard the

“Do you really think you should have taken Ayla out there and gotten her ith snow in her condition, Jondalar?” his mother said “What if she had fallen down and it started the baby co early?”

Jondalar looked stricken He hadn’t thought about that

“It’s all right, Marthona,” Ayla said “The snoas soft, and I didn’t hurt myself or overdo And I never kne could be sowith exciteain I feel fine”

“But she’s right, Ayla,” Jondalar said, full of contrition “You could have hurt yourself I wasn’t thinking I should have beento be a mother soon”

Jondalar was so solicitous after that, Ayla almost felt confined He didn’t want her to leave the area of the abri or go down the path She occasionally stood at the top and looked down rather wistfully, but after she grew so big that she could not see her own feet when she looked down, and found herself leaning back when she walked to compensate for the load in front, she had little desire to leave the security of the Ninth Cave’s shelter of stone for the cold ice and snow outside

She was happy to stay near a fire, often with friends, in her dwelling or theirs, or in the busy central work space under the protective roof of thebaby She was acutely conscious of the life groithin her Her attention was turned inward, not exactly self-centered, but her area of interest had contracted to a smaller sphere

She visited with the horses every day, groomed and pampered them, and made sure they had adequate provisions and water They were o down to The River, frozen solid, and across to the h snow to find fodder, though not as efficiently as reindeer, and their digestive systerass stes of brush But under the insulating snow near the dead-seeinning buds of neth just waiting to start The horses rains and grass Ayla provided kept them healthy

Wolf was out more than the horses The season that was so hard on those that ate vegetation was often a boon to the one all day, but he always returned at night to sleep in the pile of Ayla’s old clothes Sheplatfor until he returned, which soo at all, but stayed close to Ayla, resting or, to his great delight, playing with the children

The Cave’s leisure ti the relatively inactive winter months was filled with the pursuit of each person’s individual crafts Though they so pa

rticularly for reindeer for their rich sources of fat stored even within the bones of the cold-adapted animal, there was sufficient food stored to sustain theive thehout the year various materials they needed for their ere collected and saved for this time It was the time to cure hides, work them soft, dye them for color, and burnish them for a shine or a waterproof finish, the time to fabricate clothes, then bead and es were s It was also the time to learn a new craft or perfect a skill

Ayla had been fascinated with the process of weaving She watched and listened carefully when Marthona talked about it The fibers fro had been collected froround and saved until winter, when there was tireat many kinds of fibers were available, such as wool froreat-horned wild sheep, and ibex, the oat, which could be rown each fall close to the skin beneath the shaggy outer hair of several ani mammoths, rhinos, and , coarser hair frorowth and collected only after they were killed, the outer hair of the woolly ani horse tails Fibers from plants of many varieties were also utilized The fibers were made into cords, ropes, and fine threads, which could be left natural or dyed, then woven and s to keep out drafts and cover cold, rocky walls

Boere gouged out of wood, then shaped, polished, painted, and carved with designs Baskets of all shapes and sizes oven Jewelry was made from shaped ivory beads, animal teeth, shells, and unique stones Ivory, bone, antler, and horn were shaped and carved, and made into plates and platters, handles for knives, points for spears, needles for sewing, and many other tools, iures were carved with loving attention to detail by the carvable, wood or bone, ivory or stone Feurines, donii, were also carved Even the walls of the abri were carved and painted