The Plains of Passage - Jean M. Auel [88]
Jondalar watched her ride up and saw her coming back down and go into the woods, wondering what she was planning. He had started the belly cut to remove the intestines and stomach of the cow, but he was having mixed feelings as he worked. He did think he was justified in his concerns about the young wolf, but he was sorry he had brought them up to Ayla. He knew how she felt about the animal. His complaints were not going to change anything, and he had to admit her training had accomplished much more than he would have thought possible.
When he heard her chopping wood, he suddenly realized what she planned to do, and he headed for the woods, too. He saw Ayla hacking fiercely at a tall, straight birch tree from the center of the grove of closely spaced trees, venting her anger in the process.
Wolf isn’t as bad as Jondalar says, she was thinking. Maybe he did almost scare off that aurochs, but then he did help. She paused for a moment, resting, and frowned. What if they hadn’t made a kill, wouldn’t that have meant they weren’t welcome? That the spirit of the Mother didn’t want them to stay at the Camp? If Wolf had spoiled their hunting, she wouldn’t be thinking of how to move that cow, they would be leaving. But if they were meant to stay, he couldn’t have spoiled their hunting, could he? She started chopping again. It was getting too complicated. They had killed the spotted cow, even with Wolf’s interference—and his help—so it was all right to use the lodge. Maybe they had been guided to this place, after all, she thought.
Suddenly Jondalar appeared. He tried to take the axe from her. “Why don’t you look for another tree and let me finish this one,” he said.
Though not as angry, Ayla resisted his assistance. “I told you I’d get that cow up to the Camp. I can do it without your help.”
“I know you can, the same way you brought me to your cave in the valley. But with both of us, you’ll have your new poles much faster,” he said, then added, “And yes, I have to admit, you are right. Wolf did help.”
She stopped in midstroke and looked up at him. His brow revealed his earnest concern, but his expressive blue eyes showed mixed feelings. Though she didn’t understand his misgivings about Wolf, the powerful love he felt for her showed in his eyes, too. She felt drawn to those eyes, to the sheer male magnetism of his closeness, to the fascination that he didn’t fully realize he had or know the strength of, and felt her resistance evaporate.
“But you’re right, too,” she said, feeling a little contrite. “He did make them run before we were ready, and he might have spoiled the hunt.”
Jondalar’s frown vanished in a relieved smile. “So we’re both right,” he said. She smiled back, and the next moment they were in each other’s arms, and his mouth found hers. They clung together, relieved that their argument was over, wanting to cancel out the distance that had come between them with physical closeness.
When they stopped expressing their fervent relief, but still stood with their arms around each other, Ayla said, “I do think Wolf could learn to help us hunt. We just have to teach him.”
“I don’t know. Maybe. But since he’s going to be traveling with us, I think you should teach him as much as he’ll learn. If nothing else, maybe you can train him not to interfere when we’re hunting,” he said.
“You should help, too, so he’ll mind both of us.”
“I doubt that he’ll pay attention to me,” he said. Then seeing that she was ready to disagree, he added, “But if you want, I’ll try.” He took the stone axe from her and decided to bring up another idea she had raised. “You said something about using Clan signs when we don’t want to shout. That could be useful.” As Ayla went to look for another tree of the right shape and size, she was smiling.
Jondalar examined the tree she had been working on to see how much more chopping it would need. It was difficult to cut down a hard tree with a stone axe. The brittle flint of the axe head was made rather thick so that it would not break too easily from the force of the blow,