The Land of Painted Caves - Jean M. Auel [47]
“Yes,” Ayla said. “But I don’t know her well.”
“Where are Jondecam, Peridal, and Marsheval?” Jondalar asked.
“Marsheval went with Solaban to look for an old woman who knows a lot about carving ivory,” Tishona said.
“Jondecam and Peridal were looking for you,” Levela said. “They couldn’t find you last night.”
“That’s not surprising, since we weren’t here last night,” Jondalar said.
“You weren’t? But I saw many people from the Ninth Cave,” Levela said.
“We stayed at our camp,” Jondalar said.
“Yes,” Ayla said. “We were helping Bologan and Lanoga build a summer lodge.”
Jondalar felt a twinge of indiscretion on her part when Ayla so openly revealed what he thought of as the confidential problems of their Cave. Not that there was anything expressly wrong with talking about them. It was just that he had been raised by a leader and knew how personally most leaders took unresolved situations within their Cave that they hadn’t been able to settle. Laramar and Tremeda had been an embarrassment to the Ninth Cave for some time. Neither Marthona nor Joharran had been able to do much about them. They had lived there many years, and had the right to stay. As he suspected, Ayla’s statement brought curious queries.
“Bologan and Lanoga? Aren’t they Tremeda’s children?” Levela said. “Why were you building their summer lodge?”
“Where were Laramar and Tremeda?” Tishona asked.
“They got in a fight, Laramar decided to move to a fa’lodge, Tremeda went after him, and didn’t return,” Ayla explained.
“I think I saw her,” Janida said.
“Where?” Ayla asked.
“I think she was with some men who were drinking barma and gaming at the edge of the camp, near some of the men’s far lodges,” Janida said. She spoke softly, and seemed shy about speaking out. She shifted her baby and looked at him for a moment before she continued. “There were a couple of other women there, too. I remember being surprised to see Tremeda because I knew she had some little ones. I don’t think those other women had young children.”
“Tremeda has six children, the youngest little more than a one-year. The oldest sister, Lanoga, takes care of them, and she’s barely an eleven-year, herself,” Ayla said, trying to contain herself, but her irritation was obvious. “I think her brother, Bologan, tries to help, but he’s only a thirteen-year. They were trying to put up a tent for themselves last night when we walked past on our way here. But it was wet and falling apart, and they didn’t have any materials for a summer lodge. So we stayed and built one for them.”
“You built a summer lodge by yourselves? With nothing but local materials?” Tishona said, looking at them with awe.
“It was a small one,” Jondalar said, with a smile. “Just enough for their family. No one is sharing with them.”
“I’m not surprised,” Levela said, “but it is a shame. Those youngsters could use someone to help.”
“The Cave helps,” Tishona said, in defense of the Ninth Cave, of which she was now a member. “The other mothers even take turns nursing the baby.”
“I was wondering about that when you said Tremeda didn’t return and the youngest was little more than a one-year,” Levela said.
“Tremeda ran dry a year ago,” Ayla said.
It happens when you don’t nurse enough, she thought, but didn’t say it aloud. There were reasons, sometimes good ones, for a mother’s milk to dry up. She recalled when she had grieved so much after the death of her Clan mother, Iza, that she was oblivious to the needs of her own son. The other nursing mothers of Brun’s clan had been willing to feed Durc, but in her heart she would never quite get over it.
The other women of the Clan understood more than she that it was as much Creb’s fault as anyone’s. When Durc cried to be fed, instead of putting him in his grieving mother’s arms and letting him rouse her, he brought the baby to one of the other women to be fed. They knew he meant well, he hadn’t wanted to disturb Ayla in her sorrow, and they couldn’t refuse him. But the lack of nursing had