The Plains of Passage - Jean M. Auel [154]
“They know they have nothing to fear from him. They have known him since he was a tiny cub,” Jondalar explained.
“Why aren’t they running away from us?” the leader asked next, as they drew near.
“They have always been around people. I was there when the stallion was born,” Jondalar replied. “I was badly hurt, and Ayla saved my life.”
Dolando stopped suddenly and looked hard at the man. “Is she a shamud?” he asked.
“She is a member of the Mammoth Hearth.”
A short, rather plump young woman spoke up then. “If she is Mamut, where is her tattoo?”
“We left before she was fully trained, Tholie,” Jondalar said, then smiled at her. The young Mamutoi woman hadn’t changed a bit. She was just as direct and outspoken as ever.
Dolando closed his eyes and shook his head. “That’s too bad,” he said, his eyes speaking his despair. “Roshario fell and hurt herself.”
“Darvo told me. He said Shamud died.”
“Yes, last winter. I wish the woman was a competent healer. We sent a messenger to another Cave, but their shamud had gone on a trip. A runner has gone to a different Cave, upstream, but they are farther away, and I’m afraid it is already too late to do any good.”
“The training she lacked was not as a healer. Ayla is a healer, Dolando. A very good one. She was trained by…” Suddenly Jondalar recalled one of Dolando’s few blind spots. “ … the woman who raised her. It’s a long story, but believe me. She is competent.”
They had reached Ayla and the animals, and she listened and watched Jondalar attentively as he spoke. There were some similarities between the language he was speaking and Mamutoi, but it was more by observation that she sensed the meaning of his words and understood that he had been trying to convince the other man of something. Jondalar turned to her.
“Ayla of the Mamutoi, this is Dolando, leader of the Shamudoi, the land-living half of the Sharamudoi,” Jondalar said in Mamutoi. He then changed to Dolando’s language: “Dolando of the Sharamudoi, this is Ayla, Daughter of the Mammoth Hearth of the Mamutoi.”
Dolando hesitated a moment, eying the horses and then the wolf. He was a handsome animal, standing watchfully and quietly beside the tall woman. The man was intrigued. He had never been so close to one before, only to a few skins. They didn’t often hunt wolf, and he had only seen them from a distance or running for cover. Wolf looked up at him in a way that made Dolando think he was being evaluated in return, then turned back to observe the others. The animal didn’t seem to be posing any threat, Dolando thought, and perhaps a woman who had such control over animals was a skilled shamud, regardless of her training. He offered both hands, palms open and up, to the woman.
“In the name of the Great Mother, Mudo, I welcome you, Ayla of the Mamutoi.”
“In the name of Mut, the Great Earth Mother, I thank you, Dolando of the Sharamudoi,” Ayla said, taking both his hands.
The woman has a strange accent, Dolando thought. She speaks Mamutoi, but it does have an odd quality. She doesn’t exactly sound like Tholie. Maybe she’s from a different region. Dolando knew enough Mamutoi to understand it. He had traveled to the end of the great river several times in his life to trade with them, and he had helped to bring back Tholie, the Mamutoi woman. It had been the least he could do for the Ramudoi leader, to help the son of his hearth mate the woman he was determined to have. Tholie had made sure that many people knew her language, and it had been useful on subsequent trading expeditions.
Dolando’s acceptance of Ayla had opened the way for everyone to welcome Jondalar back and to meet the woman he had brought with him. Tholie stepped forward, and Jondalar smiled at her. In a complex way, through his brother’s mating, they were kin, and he was fond of her.
“Tholie!” he said, smiling broadly as he took both of her hands in his. “I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see you.”
“It is wonderful to see you, too. And you have certainly learned to speak Mamutoi well, Jondalar. I must admit there were times when I doubted if you would