The Plains of Passage - Jean M. Auel [466]
The man shook his head in wonder. It was hard to believe anyone could have such control over a powerful hunting animal.
“Well, Joharran,” Jondalar said. “Do you think it’s safe enough to bring Ayla and Wolf up?”
The man thought for a moment, then nodded. “However, if there is any trouble …”
“There won’t be, Joharran.” Jondalar turned to Ayla. “My mother has invited us to stay with her. Folara still lives with her, but she has her own room, and so do Marthona and Willomar. He’s gone on a trading mission now. She has offered her central living space to us. Of course, we could stay with Zelandoni at the visitors hearth, if you’d rather.”
“I would be pleased to stay with your mother, Jondalar,” Ayla said.
“Good! Mother also suggested that we wait with most formal introductions until we get settled in. It isn’t as though I need to be introduced, and there’s no point in repeating everything to each one when we can do it all at once.”
“We’re already planning a welcoming feast for tonight,” Folara said. “And probably another one later, for all the nearby Caves.”
“I appreciate your mother’s thoughtfulness, Jondalar. It would be easier to meet everyone at once, but you might introduce me to this young woman,” Ayla said.
Folara smiled.
“Of course, I was planning to,” Jondalar said. “Ayla, this is my sister Folara, Blessed of Doni, of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii; Daughter of Marthona, former Leader of the Ninth Cave; born to the hearth of Willomar, Traveler and Trade Master; sister of Joharran, Leader of the Ninth Cave; sister of Jondalar …”
“She knows about you, Jondalar, and I’ve already heard her names and ties,” Folara said, impatient with the formalities, then held out both hands toward Ayla. “In the name of Doni, the Great Earth Mother, I welcome you, Ayla of the Mamutoi, Friend of Horses and Wolves.”
The crowd of people standing on the sunny stone ledge quickly moved back when they saw the woman and the wolf start up the path along with Jondalar and the small group accompanying them. One or two took a step closer while a few others craned their necks around them. When they reached the stone ledge Ayla got her first view of the living space of the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii. The sight surprised her.
Though she knew the word “Cave” in the name of Jondalar’s home did not refer to a place, but to the group of people who lived there, the formation she saw was not a cave, not as she had thought of one. A cave was a dark chamber or series of them within a rock face or cliff, or underground, with an opening to the outside. The living space of these people was the area beneath a huge overhanging shelf jutting out of the limestone cliff, an abri, that provided protection from rain or snow, but was open to daylight.
The high cliffs of the region had once been the floor beneath the surface of an ancient sea. As the calcareous shells of crustaceans that lived in the sea were discarded, they built up on the floor, and eventually became calcium carbonate—limestone. During certain periods of time, for a variety of reasons, some of the deposited shells created thick layers of limestone that were harder than others. When the earth shifted, exposing the seafloor until it eventually became cliffs, the weathering processes of wind and water cut into the relatively softer stone more easily, gouging out deep spaces and leaving ledges of the harder stone between.
Although the cliffs were also riddled with caves, which were common in limestone, these unusual shelflike formations created shelters of stone that made exceptionally good living sites and had been used as such for a great many thousands of years.
Jondalar led Ayla toward the older woman she had seen from the foot of the path. The woman was tall and dignified in her bearing as she waited patiently for them. Her hair, more gray than light brown, was pulled back from her face into one long braid, which was coiled at the back of her head. Her clear, direct, appraising eyes were also gray.
When they reached her, Jondalar began the formal introduction.