The Land of Painted Caves - Jean M. Auel [224]
“She’s outside,” Ayla said as she put the back of her hand on his forehead; it wasn’t abnormally hot, and his eyes didn’t have the glazed look of fever. “I think you are feeling better, aren’t you? Not so hot anymore?”
“I wan’ play wif’ Jonayla.”
“Not yet, maybe in a little while,” Ayla said.
She checked out Ginadela next. She also seemed well on the way to recovery, though her red spots were certainly colorful. “I want to play with Jonayla, too,” she said. The twins could count five years, and just as Kimeran and Jondalar resembled each other—both were tall and blond—though they were not related, Jonayla and Ginadela were also blond and fair with blue eyes, though Jonayla had the same vivid, startling blue color of Jondalar’s eyes.
Gioneran, Ginadela’s twin, had rather dark brown hair, and brownish-green hazel eyes, like his mother, but he seemed to have some of Kimeran’s height. When Ayla put the back of her hand to his head, there was still some heat, and his eyes had the shiny look of fever. His spots were coming on strong, but they seemed a little raw, not as distinctly developed.
“I’ll give you something to make you feel better in a little while,” she said to the boy. “Would you like a drink of water now? Then I think you should lie down.”
“All right,” he said, with a weak smile.
She reached for the waterbag, and poured some into a cup that was beside his sleeping roll, then helped him hold it while he drank. He did lie down afterward.
Finally she went to Beladora. “How are you feeling?” Ayla asked.
“I’ve felt better,” she said. Her eyes were still glazed, and she was sniffling. “I’m really glad you’re here, but how did you find us?”
“When you weren’t at Camora’s Cave, we thought something must have delayed you. It was Jondalar’s idea to take the horses and look for you. They can go faster than people, but it was Wolf who picked up your scent and brought us here,” Ayla said.
“I didn’t realize how useful your animals could be,” Beladora said. “But I hope you don’t get this sickness. It’s terrible, and now I’m feeling itchy. Will these red spots go away?”
“They should fade soon,” Ayla said, “though it may take a while before they are completely gone. I’ll fix something to help the itch and bring the fever down a little.”
Everyone had crowded into the tent by then. Jondalar and Kimeran were both standing by the taller pole, and the rest were crammed around them.
“I wonder why Beladora and the children got sick, but not the rest of us,” Levela said. “At least not yet.”
“If you haven’t by now, you probably won’t,” Ayla said.
“I was worried that someone might have set evil spirits on us because they were jealous that we were making a Journey,” Beladora said.
“I don’t know,” Ayla said. “Did you anger anyone?”
“If I did, I didn’t mean to. I was excited about seeing my family and my Cave again. When I left with Kimeran, I didn’t know if I ever would. It might have seemed like I was bragging,” Beladora said.
“Did anyone at the First Cave of South Land Zelandonii talk about anyone who had stayed there before you? Or was anyone sick when you were there?” Ayla asked Kimeran.
“Now that you mention it, some people did make a crossing before us, more than one group, and I think their Zelandoni was taking care of someone who was sick,” Kimeran said. “I didn’t ask, though.”
“If there were evil spirits present, they may not have been directed at you. It may be that they were left over from the people who were there before you, Beladora, but some sickness happens without anyone wishing it on you. It just seems to get passed around,” Ayla said. “This fever with red spots might be one like that. If you get it when you are young, you don’t usually get it after