The clan of the cave bear_ a novel - Jean M. Auel [252]
Oga kept Durc at Broud’s hearth until late, returning the sleeping child long after the sun had set. Uba laid him on Ayla’s furs that she had spread out. The girl was frightened and lost. She had no one to turn to. She was afraid to interrupt Ayla in her efforts to save Iza, and afraid to disturb her mother. Creb had returned only long enough to paint symbols on Iza’s body with a paste of red ochre and bear fat, while he made his gestures over her. He returned to the small cave immediately afterward and didn’t return.
Uba had unpacked everything and set the hearth in order, made an evening meal that no one ate, and cleared it away. Then she sat quietly beside the sleeping baby, wishing she could think of something to do, anything to keep busy. Though it didn’t still the terror in her heart, activity at least kept her occupied. It was better than just sitting there watching her mother die. Finally she lay down on Ayla’s bed, curling herself around the baby, cuddling close to him in a forlorn attempt to draw warmth and security from someone.
Ayla worked constantly over Iza, trying every medicine and treatment she could think of. She hovered over her, afraid to leave her side, afraid the woman would slip away while she was gone. She was not the only one who maintained a vigil that night. Only the young children slept. At every hearth in the darkened cave, men and women stared at the red coals of banked fires, or lay on furs with open eyes.
The sky outside was overcast, blotting out the stars. The darkness inside the cave faded into a deeper black at the wide entrance, shrouding any hint of life beyond the dying embers of the cave fire. In the still of early morning, when the night was full into its somber depths, Ayla jerked her head up from a momentary doze.
“Ayla,” Iza said again in a hoarse whisper.
“What is it, Iza?” she motioned. The medicine woman’s eyes reflected the dim light of the ruddy charcoal in the fireplace.
“I want to say something before I go,” Iza gestured, then dropped her hands. It was an effort for her to move them.
“Don’t try to talk, mother. Just rest. You’ll be stronger in the morning.”
“No, child, I must say it now. I won’t last until morning.”
“Yes, you will. You have to. You can’t go,” Ayla signaled.
“Ayla, I’m going, you have to accept it. Let me finish, I don’t have much longer.” Iza rested again, while Ayla waited in mute hopelessness.
“Ayla, I always loved you best. I don’t know why, but it’s true. I wanted to keep you with me, wanted you to stay with the clan. But soon I’ll be gone. Creb will find his way to the spirit world before long, and Brun is getting old, too. Then Broud will be leader. Ayla, you cannot stay here when Broud is the leader. He will find a way to hurt you.” Iza rested again, closing her eyes and fighting for breath and strength to continue.
“Ayla, my daughter, my strange willful child who always tried so hard, I trained you to be a medicine woman so you would have enough status to stay with the clan, even if you never found a mate. But you are a woman, you need a mate, a man of your own. You are not Clan, Ayla. You were born to the Others, you belong with them. You must leave, child, find your own kind.”
“Leave?” she motioned, confused. “Where would I go, Iza? I don’t know any Others, I wouldn’t even know where to look for them.”
“There are many to the north of here, Ayla, on the mainland beyond the peninsula. My mother told me the man her mother healed came from the north.” Iza stopped again, then forced herself to go on. “You cannot stay here, Ayla. Go and find them, my child. Find your own people, find your own mate.”
Iza’s hands dropped suddenly and her eyes closed. Her breathing was shallow. She strained to take a deep breath and opened her eyes again.
“Tell Uba I love her, Ayla. But you were my first child, the daughter of my heart. Always loved you … loved you best …” Iza’s breath expired with a bubbling sigh. She did not take another.
“Iza! Iza!” Ayla screamed. “Mother, don’t go, don’t leave me! Oh, mother,