The Plains of Passage - Jean M. Auel [41]
“There is another way to go?”
“Yes, Talut told me we could go around the north end of the mountain range we’ll be coming to. And Rutan of Feather Grass Camp said the route was northwest of here. I’ve been thinking that maybe we should go that way, but I had hoped to see the Sharamudoi once more. If I don’t see them now, I’m afraid I never will, and they live around the south end of the mountains, along the Great Mother River,” Jondalar explained.
Ayla nodded, thinking, Now I understand. “The Sharamudoi are the people you lived with for a while; your brother mated a woman of those people, right?”
“Yes, they are like family to me.”
“Then of course we must go south so you can visit them one last time. They are people you love. If it means we may not get to the glacier in time, then we’ll wait until the next season for crossing. Even if it means waiting another year before we reach your home, don’t you think it would be worth it to see your other family again? If part of the reason you want to go home is to tell your mother about your brother, don’t you think the Sharamudoi would like to know what happened to him? They were his family, too.”
Jondalar frowned, then brightened. “You’re right, Ayla. They would want to know about Thonolan. I’ve been so worried about whether I made the right decision, I just didn’t think it through.” He smiled his relief.
Jondalar watched the flames dancing over the blackened sticks of wood, leaping and cavorting in their short-lived joy as they beat back the encroaching dark. He sipped his tea, still thinking about the long Journey ahead of them, but he didn’t feel quite as anxious about it. He looked over at Ayla. “It was a good idea to talk it over. I guess I’m still not used to having someone around that I can talk to about … things. And I think we can make it in time or I wouldn’t have decided to go this way in the first place. It will make a longer trip, but at least I know this route. I don’t know the northern way.”
“I think you made the right decision, Jondalar. If I could, if I hadn’t been cursed with death, I would visit Brun’s clan,” Ayla said, then added, so low that he could hardly hear her, “If I could, if I only could, I would go to see Durc one last time.” The forlorn, empty sound of her voice made him aware that she was feeling her loss acutely just then.
“Do you want to try to find him, Ayla?”
“Yes, of course I want to, but I can’t. It would only cause everyone distress. I was cursed. If they saw me they would think I was an evil spirit. I am dead to them, and there isn’t anything I could do or say that would convince them that I am alive.” Ayla’s eyes seemed to be looking far away, but they were seeing an inner vision, a memory.
“Besides, Durc isn’t the baby I left behind. He is getting close to manhood, though I was late in reaching womanhood, for a woman of the Clan. He is my son, and he may lag behind the other boys, too. But soon Ura will be coming to live with Brun’s clan—no, it’s Broud’s clan now,” Ayla said, frowning. “This is the summer of the Clan Gathering, so this fall Ura will leave her clan and go to live with Brun and Ebra, and when they are both old enough, she will be Durc’s mate.” She paused, then added, “I wish I could be there to welcome her, but I would only scare her, and maybe make her think Durc is unlucky, if the spirit of his strange mother won’t stay where she belongs in the other world.”
“Are you sure, Ayla? I mean it, we’ll take the time to look for them, if you want,” Jondalar said.
“Even if I wanted to find him,” she said, “I wouldn’t know where to look. I don’t know where their new cave is, and I don’t know where the Clan Gathering is. It is not meant for me to see Durc. He is not my son any more. I gave him to Uba. He is Uba’s son now.” Ayla looked up at Jondalar. He noticed that tears were threatening. “I knew when Rydag died I would never see Durc again. I buried Rydag in Durc’s carrying cloak, the one