The shelters of stone - Jean M. Auel [120]
“How long would it take to make one?” Joharran asked.
“It takes a lot of work,” Jondalar acknowledged. “But once it’s made, it could last a while.”
“That won’t help me now, will it?”
“No. I was thinking of what a help it might be later.”
“Perhaps, but I need to get upriver in the next few days,” Joharran said, “and back again. If the Eleventh Cave is planning a trip, it would be easier, and much faster coming back, but I can walk if I have to.”
“You could use the horses,” Ayla said.
“You could use the horses, Ayla.” Joharran gave her a wry grin. “I don’t know how to make them go where I want.”
“A horse can carry two people. You could ride behind me,” she said.
“Or me,” Jondalar said.
“Well, maybe sometime, but right now I think I’ll find out if the Eleventh Cave is planning a trip upriver soon,” Joharran said.
They hadn’t noticed Kareja approach. “In fact, I have been thinking about making a run upriver,” she said. They all looked up. Tm going to the meeting, too, Joharran, and if the hunt is successful … even if it was considered likely, no one ever presumed that any hunt would be successful; it would be bad luck, “ … it might be a good idea to take some meat to the site of the Summer Meeting and cache it nearby beforehand. I think you are right that the Meeting will be particularly well attended this year.” She turned to Ayla. “I know you can’t stay long, but I wanted to show you our place and introduce you to some people.” She didn’t exactly ignore Jondalar, but she directed her comments to Ayla.
Jondalar looked more closely at the leader of the Eleventh Cave. She had been one of the most derisive of those who had teased him about his hunting suggestions and claims about their new hunting weapons, though now she seemed quite impressed with Ayla … after she had shown her skill. Maybe he should wait before bringing up the new kind of boats, and maybe Kareja wasn’t the one he should talk to about them, he thought, wondering who their foremost raft-maker was now.
He tried to remember what he knew about Kareja. She’d never had many men interested in her, he recalled. Not because she wasn’t attractive, but she hadn’t seemed particularly interested in men and didn’t encourage them. But he didn’t recall her being interested in women, either. She had always lived with her mother, Dorova. Jondalar wondered if she still did.
Her mother had never chosen to live with a man, he knew. He couldn’t remember who the man of her hearth was, or if anyone ever knew which man’s spirit the Great Mother had chosen to make Dorova pregnant. People had wondered about the name she had chosen for her daughter, mostly because it resembled the sound of the word courageous. Did she think Kareja would need courage? It did take courage to be the leader of a Cave.
Ayla knew the wolf would draw attention and bent down to reassure him with strokes and words of comfort. She drew comfort from him as well. It was hard to be the focus of so much constant scrutiny, and it was not likely to diminish soon. She was not exactly looking forward to the Summer Meeting for just that reason, even though she was anticipating the Matrimonial that would make her Jondalar’s mate. She took a deep breath and let out a surreptitious sigh, then straightened up. Giving Wolf a signal to stay close, she joined Kareja and walked toward the first of the living shelters.
It was similar to all the other shelters of stone in the region. Relative differences in the hardness of the limestone had caused the cliffs to erode at dissimilar rates, creating spaces in between terraces and overhanging ledges that were protected from precipitation above yet open to daylight. With the addition of structures built to block wind and fire to provide warmth, the spaces in the limestone cliffs provided very advantageous living conditions even during Ice Age winters in periglacial regions.
After meeting several people and introducing Wolf to a few, Ayla was led to