The Plains of Passage - Jean M. Auel [108]
“Remember Feather Grass Camp? The way they acted when they saw us? Think how we must seem to people when they first see us, Ayla. We are traveling with two horses and a wolf. Animals don’t travel with people, they usually avoid them. Even the Mamutoi at the Summer Meeting took a while to get used to us, and we arrived with Lion Camp. When you think about it, Talut was very brave to invite us, with our horses, to his Camp when we first met him,” Jondalar said.
“What should we do?”
“I think we should leave. The people of this Camp are probably hiding in the woods watching us, thinking we must come from some place like the spirit world. That’s what I would think if I saw us coming without any warning.”
“Oh, Jondalar,” Ayla wailed, feeling a rush of disappointment, and loneliness, as she stood in the middle of the vacated Camp. “I was so looking forward to visiting with some people.” She looked around the Camp once more, then nodded her head in acquiescence. “You’re right. If the people are gone and didn’t want to welcome us, we should leave. I just wish I could have met the woman with the child who left that plaything, and talked to her.” She started walking toward Whinney, who was just beyond the Camp. “I don’t want people to be afraid of me,” she said, turning to the man. “Will we be able to talk to anyone on this Journey?”
“I don’t know about strangers, but I’m sure we’ll be able to visit with the Sharamudoi. They might be a little wary at first, but they know me. And you know how people are. After they get over their initial fright, they get very interested in the animals.”
“I’m sorry we frightened these people. Maybe we could leave them a gift, even if we didn’t share their hospitality,” Ayla said. She began to look through her pack baskets. “I think some food would be nice, some meat, I think.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea. I have some extra points. I think I’ll leave one to replace the one that toolmaker ruined. There is nothing more disappointing than to spoil a good tool just when you’re about to finish it,” Jondalar said.
As he reached into his pack for his leather-wrapped tool kit, Jondalar recalled that when he and his brother were traveling they met many people along the way, and they were usually welcomed and often helped. There had even been a couple of occasions when their lives had been saved by strangers. But if people were going to be afraid of them because of their animal companions, what would happen if Ayla and he ever needed help?
They left the Camp and climbed back up the sandy dunes to the level field at the top of the long, narrow island, stopping when they reached the grass. They looked down at the thin column of smoke from the Camp and the brown silty river below, its noticeable current heading for the broad blue expanse of Beran Sea. With unspoken assent, they both mounted and turned east to get a better—and a last—look at the great inland sea.
When they reached the eastern tip of the island, though still within the banks of the river they were so close to the choppy waters of the sea that they could watch its waves washing sandbars with briny foam. Ayla looked out across the water and thought she could almost see the outline of a peninsula. The cave of Brun’s clan, the place where she had grown up, had been at its southern tip. It was there that she had given birth to her son, and there she had to leave him when she was forced out.
I wonder how big he is? she said to herself. Taller than all the boys his age, I’m sure. Is he strong? Healthy? Is he happy? Does he remember me? I wonder. If only I could just see him one more time, she thought, then realized that if she was ever going to look for him, this would be her last chance. From here, Jondalar planned to turn west. She would never be this close to her clan, or Durc, again. Why couldn’t they go east, instead? Just make a short side trip before they went on? If they skirted the northern coast of the sea, they could probably reach the peninsula in a few days. Jondalar did say he would be willing to