The shelters of stone - Jean M. Auel [437]
Ayla and Jondalar walked back to the hunters. Joharran and his two closest friends and advisers, Solaban and Rushemar, were standing together in the middle of the group that was left. It seemed much smaller now.
“We’ve been discussing the best way to hunt them,” Joharran said when the couple returned. “I’m not sure what strategy to use. Should we try to surround them? Or drive them in a certain direction? I will tell you, I know how to hunt for meat: deer, or bison or aurochs, even mammoth. I’ve killed a lion or two that were too close to a camp, with the help of other hunters, but lions are not animals I usually hunt, especially not a whole pride.”
“Since Ayla knows lions,” Thefona said, “let’s ask her.”
Everyone turned to look at Ayla. Most of them had heard about the injured lion cub she had taken in and raised until he was full grown. When Jondalar told them the lion did what she told him the way the wolf did, they believed it.
“What do you think, Ayla?” Joharran asked.
“Do you see how the lions are watching us? It’s the same way we’re looking at them. They think of themselves as the hunters. It might surprise them to be prey for a change,” Ayla said, then paused. “I think we should stay together in a group and walk toward them, shouting and talking loudly perhaps, and see if they back off. But keep our spears ready, in case one or more come after us before we decide to go after them.”
“Just approach them head-on?” Rushemar asked, with a frown.
“It might work,” Solaban said. “And if we stay together, we can watch out for each other.”
“It seems like a good plan, Joharran,” Jondalar said.
“I suppose it’s as good as any, and I like the idea of staying together and watching out for each other,” the leader said.
“I’ll go first,” Jondalar said. He held up his spear, already on his spear-thrower ready to launch. “I can get a spear off fast with this.”
“I’m sure you can, but let’s wait until we get closer so we can all feel comfortable with our aim,” Joharran said.
“Of course,” Jondalar said, “and Ayla is going to be a backup for me in case something unexpected happens.”
“That’s good,” Joharran said. “We all need a partner, someone to be a backup for the ones who throw first, in case they miss and those lions come at us instead of running away. The partners can decide who will cast first, but it will cause less confusion if everyone waits for a signal before anyone throws.”
“What kind of signal?” Rushemar asked.
Joharran paused, then said, “Watch Jondalar. Wait until he throws. That can be our signal.”
“I’ll be your partner, Joharran,” Rushemar volunteered.
The leader nodded.
“I need a backup,” Morizan said. He was the son of Manvelar’s mate, Ayla recalled. “I’m not sure how good I am, but I have been working at it.”
“I can be your partner. I’ve been practicing with the spear-thrower.”
Ayla turned at the sound of the feminine voice and saw that it was Folara’s red-haired friend, Galeya, who had spoken.
Jondalar turned to look, too. That’s one way to get close to the son of a leader’s mate, he thought, and glanced at Ayla, wondering if she had caught the implication.
“I can partner with Thefona, if she would like,” Solaban said, “since I’ll be using a spear like her, not a spear-thrower.”
The young woman smiled at him, glad to have a more mature and experienced hunter close by.
“I’ve been practicing with a spear-thrower,” Palidar said. He was a friend of Tivonan, the apprentice of Willamar, the Trade Master.
“We can be partners, Palidar,” Tivonan said, “but I can only use a spear.”