The Plains of Passage - Jean M. Auel [294]
“Well, it seems the Zelandonii was telling the truth after all,” she said. “You came just in time. We thought he was trying to steal meat, and we have barely enough for ourselves. Among the S’Armunai, the penalty for stealing is death. He told us some story about riding on horses, but you can understand why we found it so unbelievable…” Attaroa noticed her words were not being translated and stopped. “S’Armuna! You are not speaking my words,” she snapped.
S’Armuna had been staring at Ayla. She recalled that one of the first hunters who had returned with the group carrying the man had revealed a frightening vision she’d had during the hunt, wanting her to interpret it. She told of a woman sitting on the back of one of the horses they were driving over the cliff, struggling to gain control of it, and finally making it turn back. When the hunters carrying the second load of meat talked about seeing a woman riding away on a horse, S’Armuna wondered at the meaning of the strange visions.
Many things had been bothering the One Who Served the Mother for some time, but when the man they brought in turned out to be a young man who seemed to have materialized out of her own past, and he told a story of a woman on horseback, it distressed her. It had to be a sign, but she had not been able to discern the meaning. The idea had preyed on S’Armuna’s mind while she considered various interpretations of the recurring vision. A woman actually riding into their Camp on the back of a horse gave the sign unprecedented power. It was the manifestation of a vision, and the impact of it put her in a turmoil. She hadn’t been giving her full attention to Attaroa, but a part of her had heard and she quickly translated the headwoman’s words into Zelandonii.
“Death to a hunter as a punishment for hunting is not the way of the Great Mother of All,” Ayla said in Zelandonii when she heard the translation, though she had understood the gist of Attaroa’s statement. S’Armunai was so close to Mamutoi that she could understand much of it, and she had learned a few words, but Zelandonii was easier, and she could express herself better. “The Mother charges Her children to share food and offer hospitality to visitors.”
It was when she was speaking in Zelandonii that S’Armuna noticed Ayla’s speech peculiarity. Though she spoke the language perfectly, there was something … but there was no time to think about it now. Attaroa was waiting.
“That is why we have the penalty,” Attaroa smoothly explained, though the anger she was fighting to control was evident to both S’Armuna and Ayla. “It discourages stealing so there will be enough to share. But a woman like you, so good with weapons, how could you understand the way it was for us when no woman could hunt. Food was scarce. We all suffered.”
“But the Great Earth Mother provides more than meat for Her children. Certainly the women here know the foods that grow and can be gathered,” Ayla said.
“But I had to forbid that! If I had allowed them to spend their time gathering, they would not have learned to hunt.”
“Then your scarcity was of your own doing, and the choice of those who went along with you. That is not a reason to kill people who are not aware of your customs,” Ayla said. “You have taken on yourself the Mother’s right. She calls Her children to Her when She is ready. It is not your place to assume Her authority.”
“All people have customs and traditions that are important, and if their ways are broken, some of them require a punishment of death,” Attaroa said.
That was true enough; Ayla knew it from experience. “But why should your custom require a punishment