Their route, which was worked out by Zelandoni and Willamar, took them south through open woods and grasslands, along the west side of a massif, a highland that was the leftover stump of ancient mountains, ground down by the passage of time, with volcanoes forming new mountains on top of the old. Eventually they turned east, swinging around the bottom of the central highland, and then continued traveling east between the southern end of the highland and the north shore of the Southern Sea. As they traveled they often saw game, birds and animals of many kinds, but except when they stopped to visit settlements, no people crossed their path.
Ayla found herself truly enjoying the company of Levela, Beladora, and Amelana when they weren’t visiting another Cave or Summer Meeting. They did things together with their children. Amelana’s pregnancy was beginning to show, but she was no longer troubled by morning sickness and the walking was beneficial for her. She felt well and her vibrant good health along with her obvious show of maternity made her even more attractive to Tivonan and Palidar, Willamar’s assistants. But as they continued the Donier Tour, stopping to visit various Caves, Summer Meetings, and Sacred Sites, there were many young men who found her equally attractive. And she enjoyed the attention.
Since Ayla was often with Zelandoni, the young women were learning some of the knowledge that Zelandoni was teaching her acolyte. They listened and sometimes joined in on their discussions about various things—medicinal practices, identifying plants, ways of counting, meanings of colors and numbers, stories and songs of the Histories and Elder Legends—and the Donier seemed to have no objection to passing her wisdom on to them. She knew that in times of emergency it wouldn’t hurt to have some additional people around who knew something about what to do if they needed to act as assistants.
Traveling east, they found their way often blocked by rivers that came down from the massif and into the Southern Sea. Since none of the rivers were huge, they became adept at crossing them until they came to one that carved a large valley running from north to south. They turned and followed it north until they came to a tributary that joined it from the northeast and followed it.
A little beyond that, the traveling group came to a pleasant area of open woodland on the edge of an oxbow lake. Though it was early afternoon, they stopped and set up camp amid some brush and grass near a copse of trees. The children discovered a large patch of bilberries before the evening meal, and picked some to share with their elders, but they ate more as they picked. The women saw huge stands of cattails and phragmite reeds at the edge of the water, and the hunters found fresh signs of cloven hooves.
“We’re getting close to the home of those that live the closest to the most important Sacred Cave of all the Zelandonii,” Willamar said, after they built a fire and were relaxing with a drink of tea. “We’re a large group to be visiting and asking for hospitality without bringing something to share equivalent to our size.”
“It looks like a herd of aurochs or bison stopped here not too long ago, judging from those prints,” Kimeran said.
“They may return to the water to drink here regularly. If we stay awhile, we could hunt them,” Jonokol said.
“Or I could go look for them on Racer,” Jondalar said.
“Most of us are running out of spears to hunt with,” Jondecam said. “I broke another one the last time we went hunting, both the shaft and the point.”
“This looks like a region that should have good flint,” Jondalar said. “If I can find some, I’ll make new points.”
“I saw a stand of straight trees on our way here, younger than those in that copse, that would make good shafts,” Palidar said. “It’s not far away.”
“Some of those bigger ones would make good shafts for a couple of new pole-drags to bring some fresh meat to the Cave we want to visit,” Jondalar said.
“A few young bulls at this time of year would give us fresh meat and some for drying, and fat for traveling cakes and fuel for lamps, and a hide or two,” Ayla said. “We can make new footwear from the skins. I don’t mind walking barefoot most of the time, but sometimes I want protection for my feet and my footwear is wearing out.”
“And look at all those cattails and reeds,” Beladora said. “You can weave footwear from those, too, and we can make new sleeping rolls, and baskets and pads and many other things we need.”
“Even gifts for the Cave we want to visit,” Levela said.
“I hope we don’t take too long. I’m awfully close to home, and I’m getting anxious,” Amelana said. “I can’t wait to see my mother.”
“But you don’t want to return empty handed, do you?” the First said. “Wouldn’t you like to bring a gift or two for your mother, and maybe some meat for your Cave?”
“You’re right! I should do that, so it doesn’t look like I’m just coming home begging,” Amelana said.
“You know that you wouldn’t be begging even if you didn’t bring anything, but wouldn’t it be nice to give them something?” Levela said.
24
They all decided it was time to take a few days to hunt and gather food to resupply their traveling larder, and restock equipment that was showing signs of hard use. They were excited about finding a place with such abundance.
“I want to get some of those berries. They look perfect for picking,” Levela said.
“Yes, but first I want to make a picking basket, something to wear around my neck so I can use two hands to pick,” Ayla said. “I want enough to dry some for traveling cakes, but then I need to weave a mat or two to dry them on.”
“Will you make a basket for me?” Zelandoni said. “Picking is something I can do.”
“I’d like to pick, too. Will you make a basket for me?” Amelana said.
“Show me how you make yours,” Beladora said. “Picking with both hands is a good idea, but I always carried the basket on my arm.”
“I’ll show you all, including the children. They can help, too,” Ayla said. “Let’s go get some of those reeds and cattails.”
“And collect the roots to eat with the evening meal,” Beladora said.
Wolf was watching Ayla and Jonayla, and finally yipped to get the woman’s attention. He was running toward the open field, then running back. “You want to do some exploring and hunting, too, Wolf? Well, go ahead,” she said, giving him a hand signal that he knew meant he was free to go his own way.