The Land of Painted Caves - Jean M. Auel [352]
Then almost hidden in the shadows, she caught sight of Brukeval sitting somewhat off by himself with his back to a tall, roughly pointed stump, taking a drink from one of the bags. His temper still bothered her, but he was a cousin of Jondalar’s and had always been kind to her. She hated to see him with such an unsavory lot.
She was about to turn away when she heard Wolf growl low in his throat. A voice spoke up loudly behind her back.
“Well, look what we have here. The animal lover, and a couple animals.”
She spun around in surprise. A couple of animals, she thought, but I only have Wolf … it took her a moment before she realized that he had called Echozar an animal. She felt her anger rise.
“The only animal I see here is a wolf … or were you thinking of yourself?” Ayla countered.
There were a few guffaws from some who had heard the remarks and she saw the man frown. “I wasn’t saying I was an animal,” he said.
“That’s good. I wouldn’t put yourself in the same category as Wolf. You don’t measure up,” she said.
Some of the other men pulled the brush aside to see what was going on. They saw Ayla holding her daughter on one hip, her leg in front of the wolf to restrain him, and Echozar holding a torch.
“She sneaked up and was watching us,” the man said defensively.
“I was walking along a main path and stopped to see who was making all the noise,” Ayla said.
“Who is she? And why does she talk so funny?” asked a young man Ayla didn’t know. Then he added with surprise, “That’s a wolf!” Ayla had all but forgotten about her “accent” and so had most of the people who knew her, but occasionally a stranger brought it to her attention. From the pattern on the man’s shirt, and the design of the necklace he wore, she guessed he was from a Cave that lived on another river to the north, a group that did not regularly attend their Summer Meeting. He must have arrived only recently.
“She’s Ayla of the Ninth Cave, the one Jondalar brought back with him,” Madroman said.
“And she’s a Zelandoni who can control animals,” another man said. Ayla thought he was from their neighbor, the Fourteenth Cave.
“She’s not Zelandoni,” Madroman said with an air of condescension. “She’s an acolyte, still in training.”
He had obviously not yet seen her new tattoo, Ayla thought.
“But when she came, she could already control that wolf and a couple of horses,” the man from the Fourteenth Cave said.
“I told you she was an animal lover,” the first man said with a sneer, looking pointedly at Echozar.
Echozar glared back, and moved toward Ayla protectively. This was a large group of men, and they had been drinking Laramar’s brew. It had been known to bring out the worst in people.
“You mean like those horses from that Cave camped upstream?” the stranger said. “That’s the first place I was taken when I got here. She’s the one who controls them? I thought it was that man and the girl.”
“Gray is my horse,” Jonayla spoke up.
“They’re all the same hearth,” Brukeval said, strolling into the firelight.
Ayla glanced from Brukeval to Echozar, and saw their similarity immediately. Brukeval was clearly a modified version of Echozar, though neither of them was fully Clan.
“I think you should let Ayla get on her way,” Brukeval continued. “And I think it might be smart to have our parties a little farther off the main path in the future.”
“Yes, I think that is a good idea,” said another voice that had suddenly appeared. Joharran, accompanied by some other men, stepped into the light of the torch held by Echozar. Several of them had unlit torches, which they immediately lit from Echozar’s, showing how many there were. “We heard you, and came to see what was going on. There are plenty of places to have drinking parties, Laramar. I don’t think you men need to