The Mammoth Hunters - Jean M. Auel [300]
Forgetting his nervousness, Ludeg stared with round-eyed surprise at the toddler manhandling the wolf, but more, at the fierce carnivore’s patient, gentle acceptance. Nor could Wolf keep up his defensive watchfulness of the stranger under the assault, and he was not full grown and not quite capable of the sustained persistence of adult members of his species. Ayla smiled at Rydag, knowing immediately that he had brought Hartal for exactly the purpose that had been achieved. When Tronie came and got her son, Ayla picked up Wolf, deciding the time was right to introduce him to the stranger.
“I think Wolf will get used to you faster if you let him learn your scent,” she said to the young man.
Ayla spoke the language perfectly, but Ludeg noticed a difference in the way she said some of her words. He looked at her carefully for the first time, wondering who she was. He knew she had not been with the Lion Camp when they left last year. In fact, he didn’t recall ever seeing her before, and he was certain he would have remembered such a beautiful woman. Where had she come from? He looked up and noticed a tall, blond stranger watching him.
“What do I need to do?” he asked.
“I think if you just let him smell your hand, it would help. He likes to be petted, too, but I would not try to rush it. He needs a little time to get to know you,” Ayla said.
Rather tentatively, Ludeg reached out his hand. Ayla put Wolf down to let him sniff at it, but stayed protectively close. She didn’t think Wolf would attack, but she wasn’t sure. After a time, the man reached out to touch the thick, shedding fur. He had never touched a living wolf before, and it was rather exciting. He smiled at Ayla, and thought again how beautiful she was when she smiled back.
“Talut, I think I’d better tell my news quickly,” Ludeg said. “I think the Lion Camp has stories I’d like to hear.”
The big headman smiled. This was the kind of interest he welcomed. Runners usually came with news to tell, and were chosen as much because they liked to tell a good story as for their ability to run fast.
“Tell us, then. What news do you bring?” Talut asked.
“Most important is the change of gathering place for the Summer Meeting. The Wolf Camp is hosting. The Meeting place that was chosen last year was washed out. I have other news, sad news. I stopped off at a Sungaea Camp for a night. There is sickness, killing sickness. Some have died, and when I left, the son and daughter of the headwoman were very sick. There was some doubt if they would live.”
“Oh, that’s terrible!” Nezzie said.
“What kind of sickness do they have?” Ayla asked.
“It seems to be in the chest. High fever, deep cough, and hard to breathe.”
“How far is this place?” Ayla asked.
“Don’t you know?”
“Ayla was a visitor, but she has been adopted,” Tulie said. Then she turned to Ayla. “It is not too far.”
“Can we go there, Tulie? Or can someone take me there? If those children are sick, maybe I can help.”
“I don’t know. What do you think, Talut?”
“It’s out of the way if the Summer Meeting is going to be held at Wolf Camp, and they are not even related, Tulie.”
“I think Darnev had distant kin at that Camp,” Tulie said. “And it is a shame for a young brother and sister to be so sick.”
“Perhaps we should go, but we should leave, then, as soon as we can,” Talut said.
Ludeg had been listening with great interest. “Well, now that I’ve told you my news, I’d like to know about the Lion Camp’s new member, Talut. Is she really a Healer? And where did the wolf come from? I never heard of having a wolf in a lodge.”
“And that’s not all,” Frebec said. “Ayla has two horses, a mare and a young stallion, too.”
The visitor looked at Frebec in disbelief, then settled back and prepared to listen to the stories the Lion Camp had to tell.
In the morning, after a long night of storytelling, Ludeg was given an example of Ayla’s and Jondalar’s horse-riding