The Land of Painted Caves - Jean M. Auel [40]
“Since Jondalar is so comfortable holding the baby, he can stay and keep me company,” Marthona added.
And watch out for her, Ayla thought as she and Willamar started out. I don’t like the idea of her waiting alone. There are many animals that might wander by and think of her as fair game: lions, bears, hyenas, who knows what? Wolf, who had been resting on the ground with his head between his paws, got up and seemed uneasy when he saw that Jonayla was staying, but Ayla was getting ready to leave.
“Wolf, stay!” she said, signaling the same thing to him. “Stay with Jondalar and Jonayla, and Marthona.” The wolf lowered himself back down, but his head was up and his ears cocked forward, alert to any other words or signals from her as she walked away with Willamar.
“If we hadn’t loaded the horses so heavily, Marthona could ride up that hill on a pole-drag,” Ayla commented, after a while.
“Only if she were willing,” Willamar said. “I’ve noticed something interesting since you came with your animals. She has absolutely no fear of that wolf, who is a powerful hunter that could easily kill her if he chose, but the horses are another matter. She doesn’t like to get too close to them. She hunted horses when she was younger, but she fears them much more than the wolf, and they only eat grass.”
“Perhaps it’s because she doesn’t know them as well. They are bigger, and can be skittish when they are nervous, or if something startles them,” Ayla said. “Horses don’t come into the dwelling; maybe if she spent more time with them, she wouldn’t be so anxious about them.”
“Maybe, but first you’d have to persuade her, and if she gets it in her mind that she doesn’t want to, she’s very good at evading what you want and doing what she wants, without seeming to. She’s a very strong-minded woman.”
“Of that, I have no doubt,” Ayla said.
Though they weren’t gone very long, by the time Ayla and Willamar returned, Jonayla had awakened and was now being held by her grandam. Jondalar was with the horses, checking their loads, making sure everything was securely fastened.
“We found a better place to climb that ridge. In some places it’s a little steep, but it is climbable,” Willamar said.
“I’d better get Jonayla,” the young woman said, heading toward Marthona. “She’s probably made a mess and doesn’t smell too good. She usually does when she wakes in the afternoon.”
“She did,” Marthona said, holding the baby so that she was sitting on her lap, facing her. “I haven’t forgotten how to take care of a baby. Have I, Jonayla?” She bounced the infant lightly and smiled at her, and saw her smile returned along with some soft cooing sounds. “She is such a sweet little thing,” she added, giving up the child to her mother.
Ayla couldn’t help smiling at her daughter when she picked her up, and saw the smile returned as she arranged her baby in her carrying blanket, tying it securely. Marthona seemed rested and more lively when she stood up, which pleased her. They headed back along Wood River and around a bend, then started up the easier slope. When they reached the top, they went north again until they reached the small stream that had been spilling down to the river below, then proceeded west. The sun was shining almost directly in their eyes as it neared the horizon before they reached the camp that had been set up by the Third and the Ninth Caves. Proleva had been watching out for them and was relieved to see them when they finally arrived.
“I kept some food warm by the fire. What took you so long?” she said, leading them to the traveling tent they were sharing. She seemed particularly solicitous of Joharran’s mother.
“We walked back along Wood River and found a slope that was easier for the horses to climb, so it was easier for me, too,” Marthona said.
“I didn’t think that the horses would have difficulties. Ayla said they were strong and could carry the loads,” Proleva said.
“It wasn’t the size of the loads, it was those