The Land of Painted Caves - Jean M. Auel [100]
“We should bring in some water, too,” she said. “There’s not much left in this. Let’s go find the horses. Then I’m going to have to feed Jonayla; she’s starting to fuss around.”
“I’d better get a new torch. This one will go out soon,” Jondalar said. “I should spend some time tomorrow making new ones.”
He lit a new torch off the old one, then put the remains of the first in the fireplace. When they left the shelter, Wolf followed them out. Ayla heard him make a low throaty growl as they approached the fence of the horse surround.
“Something’s wrong,” she said, hurrying.
Jondalar held the torch high to spread the light it gave off. There was a strange lump of something near the center of the enclosed space. As they neared it, Wolf’s growl grew louder. When they got closer they could see pale gray, spotted, rather fluffy fur with a long tail, and a lot of blood.
“It’s a leopard, a young snow leopard, I think. It’s been trampled to death. What’s a snow leopard doing here? They like the highlands,” Ayla said. She ran toward a roofed shelter they had constructed for the horses to get out of the rain, but it was empty.
“Whiiinnney,” she called, “Whiiiinnney!” making it a loud neigh that sounded to Jondalar exactly like a horse.
It was the name she had originally given the mare. The name she was called by most people, Whinney, was an accommodation Ayla had made to the language of people. She whinnied again, then blew her special call whistle very loudly. Finally, from a distance, they heard an answering neigh.
“Wolf, go find Whinney,” she said to the canine. The animal raced off in the direction of the neigh with Ayla and Jondalar following behind. They went through the fence where the horses had stomped it down to break through, and she understood how they got out.
They found all three horses near a creek at the back of the area the Ninth Cave was using for their camp. Wolf was sitting on his haunches guarding them, but, Ayla realized, he wasn’t too close. They had obviously had a bad scare, and somehow the wolf sensed that even the friendly carnivore felt threatening at the moment. Ayla rushed to Whinney, but slowed down when she noticed that Whinney was watching her intently, her mouth tight, her ears, nose, and eyes pointed toward her, focused on her, sometimes swinging her head slightly.
“You’re still afraid, aren’t you?” Ayla began talking to the mare softly in their special language. “I don’t blame you, Whinney.” Again she said her name the way a horse would, but more softly. “I’m sorry I left you alone to fight off that leopard by yourselves, and I’m sorry no one was here to hear you when you were screaming for help.”
She had been slowly walking toward the horse as she spoke until finally she reached her and put her arms around the sturdy neck. The horse relaxed, put her head over the woman’s shoulder and leaned into her as Ayla leaned back in the familiar comforting stance that had been their custom since the early days in the valley.
Jondalar followed her lead, whistling his call to Racer, who was also still feeling frightened. He stuck the torch in the ground, then approached the young stallion, and stroked and scratched him in his favorite places. The handling by their familiar friends comforted the animals, and soon Gray also joined in, nursing from her dam for a while, then going to Ayla for some affectionate touching and scratching. Jondalar also joined in stroking the little filly. But it was only after the five of them were all together—six including Jonayla, who was awake and squirming in her carrying blanket—that Wolf joined them.
Even though Whinney and Racer had known him from the time he was a four-week-old pup and had helped to raise him, his underlying scent was still of a carnivore, a meat-eater whose wild cousins often preyed on horses. Wolf had sensed their discomfort when they saw him, probably from their scent of fear, and knew to wait until they were comfortable again before approaching them. He was welcomed to the pack of people and horses that he had imprinted