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“Maybe Hollida would like to watch her, especially if Zelandoni will keep an eye on them,” Ayla said
Jondalar sat up “Where is Zelandoni? She’s not here”
“I heard her get up earlier I think she went to talk to the Fifth,” Ayla said “If we leave Jonayla, perhaps we should leave Wolf, too, though I’m not sure how the people of this Cave feel about him They seeht This is not the Ninth Cave… Let’s take Jonayla with us I can take her in her carrying blanket She likes to ride”
Jondalar pulled the top of their sleeping roll back and got up Ayla got up too, leaving the baby who had been sleeping at her side to wake up while she went to pass her water
“It rained last night,” Ayla said when she got back
“Now aren’t you glad you stayed inside, in the tent and under cover?” Jondalar said
Ayla didn’t answer She hadn’t slept well She just couldn’t get comfortable, but they did stay dry and the tent aired out
Jonayla had rolled over on her sto her head up She had also rolled out of her swaddling, and the soiled absorbent wadding it held in place Ayla collected the unpleasant ht basket, rolled up the da blanket, then picked up the baby and headed down to the small stream to clean the little one, herself, and the blanket She rinsed herself and the baby in the running water, a procedure to which the baby was now so accustoh it was cold Ayla hung the swaddling across soot dressed and found a comfortable place to sit outside of the stone shelter to nurse her infant
In the meantiht the blankets on the backs of both Whinney and Racer At Ayla’s suggestion, he tied equally balanced pack baskets across the mare’s ru her dao to what Ayla thought of as the main shelter in this place of one off to hunt earlier, but he appeared so suddenly, he spooked Whinney, which surprised the woman Whinney was normally a calm horse and the wolf didn’t usually alarm her; it was Racer as more excitable, but all the horses seeht as he pressed against her as though looking for attention She felt odd herself Soht She looked at the sky to see if any storh clouds made the sky white with telltale traces of blue They probably all needed a good run
Jondalar put the halters on Racer and Gray He had also made one for Whinney but Ayla used it only on special occasions Before she even knew she was training Whinney, she had taught theWhen she showed Whinney what to do, and repeated the instruction many times until she understood, then the mare did it because she wanted to It was similar to the way Iza had trained Ayla to remember the many different plants and herbs, and their uses, by repetition and rote memorization
When they were all packed, they walked to the shelter of the Zelandoni of the Fifth Cave, and again the procession of man, woman, baby, wolf, and horses caused the people to stop what they were doing and watch, hard pressed to avoid the discourtesy of outright staring Both the Fifth and the One Who Was First walked out from the shelter
“Co meal,” the man said
“The horses are agitated and we’ve decided to take them out for some exercise to run off their restlessness and settle them down,” Jondalar said
“We just arrived yesterday Don’t they get enough exercise traveling?” the First said
“When we’re traveling and they are pulling loads, they don’t run or gallop,” Ayla explained “Sos”