The Plains of Passage - Jean M. Auel [374]
Verdegia and Madenia were already inside. “I brought some ashes,” Verdegia said. Madenia just smiled, a bit hesitantly.
Solandia was pleased to see her willing to get up out of bed and be around people again. Whatever they did at the hot spring, it seemed to have helped. “I put some cooking stones in the fire for tea. Madenia, would you make some for us?” she asked. “Then I’ll use the rest to reheat the water melting the fat.”
“Where do you want these ashes?” Verdegia asked.
“You can mix them with mine. I started them leaching, but not long ago.”
“Losaduna said you use fat and ashes,” Ayla commented.
“And water,” Solandia added.
“That seems to be a strange combination.”
“Yes, it is.”
“What made you decide to mix those things together? I mean, how did you come to make it? The first time?”
Solandia smiled. “It was really an accident. We had been hunting. I had a fire going outside in a fireplace with a deep pit, and some fat mammoth meat roasting over it. It started to rain, hard. I grabbed the meat, spit and all, and ran for cover. As soon as it let up, we headed back here to the cave, but I forgot a good wooden cooking bowl, and went back for it the next day. The fireplace was full of water, with something that looked like thick foamy scum floating on it. I would never have bothered with it, except I dropped a ladle in it and had to reach in and fish it out. I went to the stream to rinse it off. It felt smooth and slippery, like good soaproot, but more, and my hands got so clean! The ladle, too. All the grease washed off. I went back and put the foam in the bowl, and brought it back.”
“Is it that easy to make?” Ayla asked.
“No. It really isn’t. Not that it’s hard to make, but it does take some practice,” Solandia said. “The first time I was lucky. Everything must have been just right. I’ve been working with it ever since, but it still fails sometimes.”
“How do you make it? You must have developed some ways that work most of the time.”
“It’s not hard to explain. I melt clean rendered fat—any kind will work, but each one makes it a little different. I like mammoth fat best. Then I take wood ashes, mix them with warm water and let them soak for a little while. Then strain it through a mesh, or a basket with holes in the bottom. The mixture that leaches out is strong. It can sting or burn your skin, I found out. You need to rinse it off right away. Anyway, you stir the strong mixture into the fat. If you are lucky, you get a soft foam, that will clean anything, even leather.”
“But you’re not always lucky,” Verdegia said.
“No. Lots of things can go wrong. Sometimes you can stir and stir and stir, and it won’t mix. If that happens, heating it a little will sometimes help. Sometimes it separates and you get a layer that’s too strong and a layer that’s too greasy. Sometimes it curdles into lumps that are not quite mixed. Sometimes it comes out harder than others, but that’s not bad. It tends to harden as it ages, anyway.”
“But sometimes it does work, like the first time,” Ayla said.
“One thing I’ve learned is that both the fat and the liquid from the ashes have to be about the same warmth as the skin of your wrist,” Solandia said. “When you sprinkle a little on, it shouldn’t feel either cool or warm. The ash liquid is harder to tell because it’s strong and can burn a little, then you have to wash it off right away with cool water. If it burns too much, you know you need to add more water. It doesn’t burn too bad, usually, but I wouldn’t want to get it in my eyes. It can sting if you just get too close to the fumes.”
“And it can stink!” Madenia said.
“That’s true,” Solandia said. “It can stink. That’s why I usually go out into the middle of the cave to mix it, even though I get everything ready to mix here.”
“Mother! Mother! Come quick!” Solandia’s second daughter Neladia came dashing in, then ran out.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen to the baby?” the woman said, rushing out after her. Everyone else followed behind and ran to the mouth of the cave.
“Look!” Dosalia said. They all looked outside.